Why not local products

[RobS.]

I have a lot of wood that will likely, eventually, become cutting boards. I know there are a lot of gift shops at the coast that sell wood items like cutting boards, bowls and spoons. I've thought about talking to some of the shop owners about selling mine in their shops. I don't have any made right now but don't want to make a lot of them without having somewhere to sell them already lined up.

So we just got back from 3 days at Ocracoke. I wandered through several stores and looked at some of what they had. Some nice stuff but obviously all machine cut. All of the wood items in one store had a manufacturer stamp on the under side. None were made in NC or near by states.

Somehow I had always just assumed they were made right her in NC by local artists. Instead I see they are cranked out somewhere else. Needless to say I didn't buy anything.

I don't have a thing against other places. Just seems like they could find something local. I'm just sick of imports. Next time I'm down there I may just make a point of that to the shop owners. In fact, I think I'll start making a point of that everywhere I shop no matter what the product. :tongue2:

Thanks for letting me rant.

 

[Mike Davis]

I've been fighting that battle for 10 years and a small few are just beginning to listen. Good Luck in finding a place to sell your work! :icon_thum

 

[toolman]

Rob

Make you up two cutting boards and see if they will sell it on consignment. If not sell them on ebay or give as a gift.

 

[Tarhead]

Rob,
Did you talk with the shop owner's about this? Wonder who their wholesaler is? Maybe the problem is that no one has approached the shops or the wholesaler about supporting local artists. Reliability (as a supplier) and cost would be the value proposition you would need to make.

 

[Tom Dunn]

It may simply be a case of the shop owners not having a reliable source of the product locally. Once an item sells, the shop needs to be able to procure a replacement with going on a "hunting trip".
If a store has a reliable source for a quality product that they can sell at a profit, the rest should be easy. I agree with the comment that you should approach the shop owners individually,

 

[ScottM]

Please continue to keep this discussion within our site guidelines.

 

[nickster]

Not sure what the guide line is on this... but PM me I have a couple "in's" I could use...

 

[CarvedTones]

I think Tom is on the right track. The store owner needs to be convinced that it will sell and that the space won't sit empty long if it does. If you cook a lot, cutting boards are consumables so they should move if they are good quality and reasonably priced, plus they are stackable so stock could be kept up easier than bulkier items. But, return to the first half of my sentence - they are consumables; they do get "used up" - the average customer is not going to take it down 1/32" and re-oil it. When the top gets scarred up and/or stained and/or the whole thing is destroyed from improper cleaning, it is going in the trash. I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but unless there is something really special about a cutting board (so special that it will be a decoration), it has to be priced competitively to sell well IMO.

 

[Bigdog72]

IBTL!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

The next one that is!:gar-La;

 

[CarvedTones]

Well, I hope I won't provoke a lock. I really don't mean to make anyone mad with that, just pointing out that this is a product category where the vast majority of the products sold are utilitarian and inexpensive. There are exceptions, of course, but the shop owners know what moves. Nick nacks and other artsy items, furniture or lots of other wood products will potentially be kept for generations and buyers are more likely to care whether it is locally made as it will potentially be a momento of the trip for a very long time.

 

[CrealBilly]

I have a lot of wood that will likely, eventually, become cutting boards. I know there are a lot of gift shops at the coast that sell wood items like cutting boards, bowls and spoons. I've thought about talking to some of the shop owners about selling mine in their shops. I don't have any made right now but don't want to make a lot of them without having somewhere to sell them already lined up.

So we just got back from 3 days at Ocracoke. I wandered through several stores and looked at some of what they had. Some nice stuff but obviously all machine cut. All of the wood items in one store had a manufacturer stamp on the under side. None were made in NC or near by states.

Somehow I had always just assumed they were made right her in NC by local artists. Instead I see they are cranked out somewhere else. Needless to say I didn't buy anything.

I don't have a thing against other places. Just seems like they could find something local. I'm just sick of imports. Next time I'm down there I may just make a point of that to the shop owners. In fact, I think I'll start making a point of that everywhere I shop no matter what the product. :tongue2:

Thanks for letting me rant.

I'm not trying to start any trouble so I'll be extra cautious in my response. This is also something I feel very passionate about.

Look last year my wife wanted me to put up some closet pole in a few closets. No problem... I went to the local blue brog and grabbed a few lengths of poplar closet pole. Got home and noticed the poles were made in a far away land, 1/2 way around the world. I started thinking... and did some reseach... you guys know that the only place on earth where yellow poplar grows in right here on the east coast? So I asked myself how can it be cheaper or have lesser impact on the environment, dropping poplars, putting them on a boat, unloading them 1/2 way across the world, cutting them in to blanks, kiln drying them, making them into poles, putting them back on a boat, and trucking them to my local blue borg, so I can hang my shirts and pants in a closet. I am totally dumb founded how this works and could cheaper or more environmentally friendly than making poles here all locally. Not to mention it would put some local folks back to work.

I am I stupid or crazy? I don't think so...

Thanks

 

[scsmith42]

Look last year my wife wanted me to put up some closet pole in a few closets. No problem... I went to the local blue brog and grabbed a few lengths of poplar closet pole. Got home and noticed the poles were made in a far away land, 1/2 way around the world. I started thinking... and did some reseach... you guys know that the only place on earth where yellow poplar grows in right here on the east coast? So I asked myself how can it be cheaper or have lesser impact on the environment, dropping poplars, putting them on a boat, unloading them 1/2 way across the world, cutting them in to blanks, kiln drying them, making them into poles, putting them back on a boat, and trucking them to my local blue borg, so I can hang my shirts and pants in a closet. I am totally dumb founded how this works and could cheaper or more environmentally friendly than making poles here all locally. Not to mention it would put some local folks back to work.

I am I stupid or crazy? I don't think so...

Thanks

Jeff, I've been told - but have not confirmed - that there are large lumber processing ships that will anchor off-shore. They will float US logs out to those ships, be processed and Kiln dried onboard, and then returned to the US Market.

Whatever nationality that the ship is registered in is used for the "Made in XXX" label.

 

[Bigdog72]

Jeff, I've been told - but have not confirmed - that there are large lumber processing ships that will anchor off-shore. They will float US logs out to those ships, be processed and Kiln dried onboard, and then returned to the US Market.

Whatever nationality that the ship is registered in is used for the "Made in XXX" label.

Scott is correct. You have to give them credit for ingenuity and wonder how we have allowed this to happen. It's almost like we are the host and many organisms are sucking us dry. I guess turnabout is fair play though. NC is trying to market our tobacco over there. Seems they are hooked and can't grow the good stuff!!:banana: :banana: :banana:

 

[dkeller_nc]

"I have a lot of wood that will likely, eventually, become cutting boards. I know there are a lot of gift shops at the coast that sell wood items like cutting boards, bowls and spoons. I've thought about talking to some of the shop owners about selling mine in their shops. I don't have any made right now but don't want to make a lot of them without having somewhere to sell them already lined up."

Andy's right about this - a lot of these kinds of items are both bought by the store owner and sold to the consumer strictly on low price. Often that price is so low that is not worthwhile for a one-person shop to make them, and in some cases is low enough that the average WW in the States will not be able to recover the wood costs.

One other aspect is that the store owners often have relationships with distributors, which cuts way down on the amount of ordering and bookeeping that they have to do. In order to set up a relationship with a distributor, a woodworker would need to commit to making whatever on a regular and on-going basis.

This is quite different than one-off, high-end items that are sold as art by galleries, or in some cases, musical instrument dealers, where an individual artist is the expected norm, and the galleries account for the additional bookeeping time in the prices asked.

 

[CarvedTones]

Well, I felt a little bad about making the comment, hoping I had not been misunderstood. There are high end cutting boards:

http://www.butcherblockco.com/butcher-block-cutting-boards.html

Several of those are over $100. But most of what I see in stores is $50 or under and you can bet the stores are paying less than that. They also have to compete with this stuff:

http://www.centralchef.com/storefro...Detail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=123094&c=0&i=185259896

 

[Mike Davis]

I have a friend in the furniture business who regularly orders parts from "other countries" and has to search and or demand the lowest price. He did an experiment to see just how low "they" would go.

He finally got down to 5% below raw materials cost on the world market and they agreed to that price for finished parts shipped to a US port. The only way that is possible is with some entity supporting the producer.

We don't have that kind of price support (for obvious reasons) in the US.

I really strained to keep this as non political as possible and I really believe it is essential that our people know what is happening in the world market. Our production businesses are being driven out of the market for strategic reasons. Eventually this will come into the light and maybe the effects are already being felt. I'm afraid it may be too late to do anything about it.

I have made it a practice in my family to buy locally made products whenever possible, this is "GREEN" and sustainable, lower distances traveled equate to less strain on the environment. When we can't buy new local products we buy used hard goods that are high quality, well made with long life expectancy.

And lastly we make new items to suit our needs or make do with what we already have.

I know this doesn't fit the "buy now, buy big, buy more and throw away the old" philosophy of today. But it may help to prevent the possibility of don't have, can't get, not available at any price reality of the future.

 

[walnutjerry]

Well, I felt a little bad about making the comment, hoping I had not been misunderstood. There are high end cutting boards:

http://www.butcherblockco.com/butcher-block-cutting-boards.html

Several of those are over $100. But most of what I see in stores is $50 or under and you can bet the stores are paying less than that. They also have to compete with this stuff:

http://www.centralchef.com/storefro...Detail.aspx?sid=1&sfid=123094&c=0&i=185259896

I have to grin at this subject--------I tried to figure it out for over 15 years while I was doing craft shows. Never did succeed in figuring it out.

Go to Lazy Days this week end and camp out with Rob(Makingsawdust) and Brian----watch and listen to the people that come through.

As far as galleries-------seems only a few stay in operation over a long period of time. Most of the ones I dealt with were good for 2 or 3 years and gone under or looking for something else to sell. The galleries have to have enough profit margine to remain open-------so you can figure they will double what they pay you-------will that price it out of the market for what it is?

A lot of gift shops are strictly consignment-------you leave your work there at your own risk.
I decided early on that was not for me.

When you guys figure it out---write a book and you will make a bunch of money----more than you will selling small item woodwork.:gar-Bi

Jerry

 

[CarvedTones]

Jerry,

I have a perfect plan. I am padding the retirement account programming computers. Then in a few years when the kids are all gone, I can switch to luthery and bowyery until the money runs out...

 

[Makinsawdust]

I resisted posting to this thread yesterday because I'm too close to the situation but here goes.
Dkeller's post is pretty much dead on except most, run of the mill, gift shops buy their stuff not through a distributor, but at national wholesale shows. They attend a couple of the them early in the year, get wined and dined by vendors, and place their yearly orders. Basically they are able to order their entire inventory for the year by attending these shows. These shops pay 50% or less of the retail price you see in their store. There are a few larger domestic operations that seem to have most of the cutting board market cornered. A couple of them are in the northeast, one in the mid-west and one I think is in Montana. I believe the one in the mid-west is the largest operation and they manufacture butcher block countertops as well. These are the brands you will find in department stores and specialty stores. The others seen in gift shops and grocery stores are Asian made out of mystery wood. I can't figure out how to compete price wise with either of these on basic cutting boards and almost no one cares where they come from. It's all about meeting a price point.
Now with all that said, there are exceptions and there are opportunities out there. It's just not as easy as a lot of folks think.

 

[CarvedTones]

I have met (online mostly, some in person) a few "crafty" (building things besides furnishings) woodworkers who stay busy and make a living. One group is luthiers. Only a few will stay busy and make good money building instruments to order; most spend a lot of their time doing adjustments and repairs. The failure rate for people with formal training is actually pretty low, but self taught hobbyists like me face long odds. Bowyers can move their bows at reasonable prices once they get good at it but very few will pass the level of self sustaining hobby or near poverty income. There is one thing I have run across that can be learned fairly quickly, done with few tools and provide a pretty a fairly reliable income stream - Santa carving. The income generally isn't very much though.

What those have in common is that there are a lot of customers that are looking for items made by an individual rather than a factory, and they are crafts and not just assembly. I don't mean to demean anyone, but you really can't make a butcher block cutting board better than a factory. You can make one prettier, but the point I am making is there isn't much opportunity to add any effort into the process to make that product better in a way that makes it worthwhile to most people to seek out an item made by an individual.

Let me put it another way... If I succed at luthery in semi-retirement in a few years, it will not be by competing with Yamaha, it will be by making an instrument well enough that someone will want to have a CarvedTones in their collection or possibly even as their primary or only instrument. The secret is there is no secret. It's hard work. If I don't have any success, I will blame only myself.