Columns that do not have a width setting become invisible when one or more columns are frozen. Our grids have widths for all columns except one column which expands the amount necessary to fill all space in a grid when grid is set to 100% width of the page. Once frozen columns are turned on, the main column then disappears until a width is added, then there is unused column space in the grid.
Setting explicit column widths in pixels is a prerequisite for the frozen columns feature to work properly. See this help article for more info: http://docs.telerik.com/kendo-ui/getting-started/web/grid/walkthrough#frozen-columns-locked-columns