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Saturday Openings winter 2017

10/25/2017

Additional hours November 4 and December 2 from 10-2 pm. I don't plan to stay open later because it seems Bellingham are off to their Saturday doings. But if people do show up at 2, its an opportunity to stay and talk.

Do I give shop tours? As long as I don't have to abandon people in the showroom, yes!
If we do a tour, tell me if I am too detailed about what we do. Its easy to get on a roll.

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The dealer saga continues

10/19/2017

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First Geek Chic. I knew they were skating on ice and bravado but didn't quite understand the depth of their story and antics.

Then Mckinnon Furniture in Seattle.

And yesterday I received news of yet another closing to be announced .

This has pushed us to the forefront, where formerly I stepped back, letting the dealers do all the messy and visible work of dealing with a diverse public.

Sailing into these unknown waters alternates between giddiness and a queasy stomach.

But the assumptions of the refugee customers I speak with daily are most surprising. Such as-
Mckinnon and Geek Chic were the apotheosis of woodworking, had the worlds best design sense, knew how to ship furniture and get the most out of the freight companies. Oddly, the employees losing their jobs now tell me we were the model, the gold standard they were continually trying to emulate. We were the designers, the technical woodworkers, the furniture engineers. The furnituremakers with decades of experience, making furniture for other people to put their names on. We just kept going on and on with slow predictable growth. I have always been far more concerned with the dog rather than its tail

Why is a tail even important? And how is it we keep going on and on while other open, reach for the stars then close when they are no longer able sustain the image? I am a woodworker first, furniture maker second, lover of my crew third and all that other stuff is somewhere trailing behind where it can guide from the back. Its not the tails job or place to wag the dog. The tail is pretty important (just stay with me through this please), but no dog, no tail. What we do and make is our core focus and we can never know enough about how to do our jobs better. Continuous improvement. I have always run my shop at a ratio of at least four woodworkers to each office person usually more. Debt and dicey business decisions are like making a piece of furniture: making an overly slender chair leg can bring the entire chair crashing down, with people getting hurt in the process.

So why is a tail important?
"For the most part, canines and felines use their tails to communicate — from the wide, sweeping wag of a happy dog to the quick tail swish of an annoyed cat. In canines, a tail may also serve as a type of rudder to help stabilize dogs in the water." Vetstreet

"Many land animals use their tails to brush away flies and other biting insects. Some species, including cats and kangaroos, use their tails for balance; and some, such as New World monkeys and opossums, have what are known as prehensile tails, which are adapted to allow them to grasp tree branches."
Wikipedia

Like most ideas this one could be seen as an over simplification, but metaphors sure are fun to play with.

And yes, those are our Pacific Dining Chairs in the photo below. But we are not massively in debt, nor have we closed nor let go any of our talented people. We are alive and thriving though licking our wounds (yes we lost quite a bit of money in these closings and bankruptcys). And we are making some of those gaming table now with our own name on them! And by the way- nice photos, a luscious showroom and cute monikers have little to do with the quality of the furniture made or the strength of a business.

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Saturday Openings winter 2017

The dealer saga continues

Written by Greg.

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