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Feature Story : Green Acres
From stacks of lumber to top quality furniture Green Acres Furniture creates furniture perfection By Joanne Lehman Green Acres Furniture, LTD, is the place to be if you are looking for top quality handmade furniture displayed in a contemporary home-like atmosphere. The company built a large new addition in 2006, where visitors will see many contemporary designs. They offer an expanse of 17,000-square-feet of well-lit showrooms and well-designed displays against a backdrop of walls painted in a variety of contemporary hues. Green Acres Furniture is unique in that they personally hand-select all timber used in their furniture, then use a local sawmill and dry kiln to prepare the timber for use in furniture construction. Steve Swartzentruber, a son of the family, said they are constantly creating new products, styles and collections to meet the demands of today’s furniture shoppers. “Our younger customers coming in don’t want the styles they saw in their parents’ homes so we try to stay on top of trends in new stains and finishes,” he said. “People don’t expect to see what they see here.” Paul and Naomi Swartzentruber started Green Acres in 1988. They began small and wanted to keep all phases of the process “in house.” Today, a visitor to their shop will see stacks of lumber in one end of the building and workers nearby constructing the hardwood panels used in Green Acres’ products. As the pieces of wood move through the facility, experienced workers who operate state-of-the-art tools carefully handle each phase of construction. Green Acres Furniture generates its own electricity to operate some tools, lighting and office equipment - other tools operate pneumatically. At Green Acres, the owners are working to become a “green” company. Steve said there is little waste in their operation. Scrap wood is passed on to people who craft small accessories, smaller pieces are used for fuel, sawdust is used by local farms for animal bedding and brush and treetops from timber harvesting are chipped for landscape mulch. Green Acres also plans to move toward more environmentally friendly finishing products as they become available in the marketplace. Late last year, a new ductwork system was installed that allows “waste heat” created by two large power units to be captured and piped into the work areas. It will take a number of years to pay for itself, but savings in natural gas used for heating are already being realized. Once the furniture is constructed, stains are applied -- often layered on in a multi-step process. “A group of color designers (CMG) from North Carolina helped us step outside the box,” said Steve. “We know younger people are looking at designs from Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. But, like their parents, these shoppers also want solid hardwood, handcrafted pieces that will last. We educate the customers here - showing them the value of our craftsmanship - drawers that slide easily and quality finishing.” One of the challenges for the owners of Green Acres Furniture was moving into multi-step finishing. By working with experienced designers from North Carolina, the local company has incorporated many unique techniques into their finishing process. Furniture can feature a distressed finish, burnishing or multi-color stains. Popular new finishes include Siesta Sand, a light stain featuring a slight crackle, a midnight black vinyl paint finish, mocha and espresso stains on oak, and furniture accent pieces in antique red. “You can’t brush these finishes on,” said Steve Swartzentruber. Most are a blend of meticulously applied products. “We actually have a recipe book, there are so many steps for some of these,” he said. “At first it looked time consuming and difficult, but now we’re used to the process. These are big sellers and attract a lot of attention in the showroom.” Many of the distressed pieces are made from cherry, a hardwood that lends itself to the artistic touch. The tool kit provided by the Green Acres finish experts includes small hand tools such as planes, chisels and even a couple of quartz rocks. Swartzentruber said the company’s chairs and about half the beds they sell are made in shops located off-site since these pieces require different tools and construction methods. However, these items are also created to meet Green Acres Furniture standards and designed to coordinate with the company’s styles and designs. Such pieces are then finished at the Green Acres facility, using the preferred products and processes. Green Acres Furniture is located at 7412 SR 241 (Massillon Road), two miles north of Mt. Eaton. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Contact them through voicemail at 800-807-0975, or visit them on the Web at www.GreenAcresFurniture.com. |
Address: 7412 Massillon Road SW Navarre, OH 44662 800-807-0975 Visit Us: M-Sat 9-5; closed Sun Email Us: info.oh@greenacresfurniture.com Visit Our Website: www.greenacresfurniture.com
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