Commissioned in 1997, a road warrior was tired from the journey his consulting practice. Recently had the guitar, and although he has no natural ability, he had accumulated a small collection of stringed instruments. With every guitar in their cases, it took more than an adequate amount of space in the living room. He decided to mount 3 of his guitars on the wall, but soon finds that there is not much in "furniture quality" guitar storage. Thanappropriately qualified carpenter, he decided to hold a guitar wall rack craft to 3 of his guitars. The piece looked great, and the visitors to his home frequently asked where they buy such a rack. Soon came the revelation of his head ... "If I want such a device, then perhaps other !!!".
With 5 prototypes are composed of a guitar, guitar wall rack, 2-music stands, and a guitar foot rest, these entrepreneurs found a contract manufacturer to produce his small number of music furniture.Filling orders out of his wife's potting shed, his business was launched. Two years later, he took over all of the production of his furniture, and moved the business to a historic textile mill in Lewiston, Maine.
The specialty woodworking company now offers more than 60 pieces of furniture on its website. Most pieces are intended for the music room, or home library. However, the company has customers who have commissioned pieces for every room in their homes. All the furniture is handcrafted one-at-a-time from select hardwood, including cherry, black walnut, mahogany, and birdseye maple. The product line now includes a full array of wood music stands, guitar stands, sheet music cabinets, seating, cello stands, as well as violin and guitar display cabinets. Without a doubt, this small business now offers the most complete line of music room furniture for the home in the world.
Most of it's customers are not professional musicians, but are people who have a passion for their instrument of choice, and for the time they spend with this instrument. However, it is not uncommon for customers to work with familiar names like Melissa Etheridge, Andy Griffith, and Kevin Eubanks from the Jay Leno show.
This year, the owner was an experienced craftsman who has more than 30 years of good experience, joined in woodworking and has worked with high-end carpentry such as Thos. Moser and McIntosh & Tuttle. The production hall was more than doubledsize, and a studio showroom and office area has been built adjacent to the shop.
Current plans call for a continuation of focused one-on-one marketing directly with its customer list, which is nearing 2000 clients. A deliberate effort is being made to develop close ties with architects and interior designers. Over the next year or so, ground work will take place to locate a retail store in one of Maine's tourist centers. The company intends to add craftspeople to the production shop shortly.
The founder of the craft-based business attributes its success to 2 things ... customized products, high quality, solving problems, and relentless customer service. These foundations have been ingrained in him when he was a manager of quality control at LL Bean in the 70s and 80s. He says that these values are not out of step with the market ... and driven by them to ensure a robust business model, even in difficult economic times.
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