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August 23, 2010 My last few newsletters have been mostly about how the economy is doing…or should I say not doing. I have never been one to tie my personal economy to the fake media generated one. Unfortunately the economy being reported in the media is hard to ignore. As mentioned a few newsletters back, my long term staple “home theater cabinetry” may be an extinct species or at least on the endangered list. I have shifted gears and have been actively promoting more kitchen, bath, home office cabinetry and everything else. This new strategy has me competing head to head with businesses that can apparently sell work for one quarter or less than the amount that I bid. I have recently learned that if you have some hard earned skill and experience, a contractor’s license, workers comp, shop, liability, car and truck insurance, an employee (on the books) and the typical shop overhead of a regular woodworking shop you will not be competitive with some guy working out of the back of his truck. Hmmm..big surprise! This is something that happens traditionally in down times throughout the construction industry that makes bad times even worse. I don’t know who I blame more the supposed consumers that are grinding the trade businesses to a pulp because they are on the ropes or the ignorant trade business owners who are giving them the lowball bids to stay open one more week. I get that things are different (nobody gets this more than me) but fercryinoutloud! I had one homebuilder shopping a price that was less than one quarter what I thought it would take to do his job. I figured it would be better if I wrote him a check for $5k and had him punch me in the nose as hard as he could. That way it would cost me less money, pain and grief and I could at least go ride my motorcycle or to the beach in the time I was working on his Casey Design Inc. subsidized project. I seem to be spending more time promoting than working wood these days so it is needless to say we are actively seeking new projects and work. Please contact me if you, friends or family have any projects no matter how small or large. I would like to hear from you and would greatly appreciate the opportunity. On the home front… the big news is Janet’s 87 year young mom is now a resident in our home. It’s a bit of an adjustment for us all but we can now keep a much better eye on her. Both of our boys will be starting university again in a few weeks. Bryce has one more year (alleluia!) and he will be done. Perry has two to go. Janet has had her hands full with moving her mom and the regular day to day caring for us all. I have been home bound keeping things going with the business. I was able to ride up to the Moto GP motorcycle races in Monterey for a long weekend at the end of last month. That was a great ride and good time with a bunch of my riding buddies. I had an opportunity to do a really nice project last month that was as much a sculpture piece as it was a paneling job. It’s always great to have a client that cuts me loose every once and awhile. I liked it so much I built a similar concept piece for my “showroom”. Till next time, SC Walnut Panel Sculpture #1
Walnut Panel Sculpture #2
June 18, 2010 Well I finally completed the Malibu project that I have been talking about for over a year. It’s hard to believe that I started building the kitchen in March of 2009. This project is a record holder in my career for start to finish time. It didn’t actually take that amount of time to build as it sat in my shop for eight months and then it took several months for the house to be completed. We put the finishing details on the project this Tuesday. Alleluia! Check below and the "What’s New" section for some pictures of the work. Things are still dreadfully slow in the construction industry. I am afraid we may be in half speed mode for some time to come. I think that people are realizing that this is the way of the world now and unfortunately everybody holding back just keeps it going. The good news for us in the trades is that stuff still gets worn out, old and out of style and needs replacing or upgrading. Projects lately have been smaller in scale but the work and projects still need to be done. The good news for consumers is that most trade businesses that have survived up to this point are typically run by good businessmen that are also some of the best craftsmen in their given trade. That is good for consumers because not only have prices been on hold for a couple of years, trade businesses are typically super responsive. Short lead times and good pricing are the rule of the day. That is a very different picture from a few years ago when I remodeled my house. I had to beg other trades to come look at my project and pay them all top dollar. I had to fire a couple of them because they were bums and also had to finish a good chunk of the work I paid for. There is no better time then now to do that project you have been thinking about or putting off. No matter how small or large your project may be, please contact me if you your family or friends need anything I can provide. I would like to hear from you and would greatly appreciate the opportunity. In case you missed the email announcement a couple of months ago, the new “Store” is up and running. There are two of my signature pieces currently available for sale. I will add new pieces as they are developed and available. On the home front...Bryce has returned from his adventure in Thailand. He had the time of his life exploring different cultures and places while he got college credit for one quarter. He is back up in San Louis Obispo for summer school and work. Perry is out of school for the summer but working part time and doing his artwork for fun. My wife Janet has been busy holding down the fort and taking care of her mom. I am plugging away as usual working, riding my bikes and generally goofing off as much as I can. Just like last time though no new guns, motorcycles, cars, trucks or fishing trips to report. I did build myself a nice roll-a-way toolbox for my mechanics tools though. You can see pictures of it in the "What's New" section. I am looking forward to riding up to the Moto-GP races at Laguna Seca next month. That is always a blast. Until next time, wealth, health, prosperity and good luck to all of you. SC
February 24, 2010 Hey did you hear the recession is over? The media is banging the “we are out of the woods” drum so it must be true. It reminds me of when George Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in May of 2003 and declared victory in the war with Iraq. Since most people haven’t got the good word on the “recession” ending I have for the last few weeks been actively promoting my business. I have been searching out local design, audio /video, architecture and construction professionals and then contacting them individually one business at a time. I admit complacency in the past when it comes to promoting as I don’t especially enjoy the process. Regular advertising venues and approaches have never worked for me and word of mouth along with a long client list has sustained us until recent history. Since that picture has changed radically in the last two years I think it prudent to now go out into the cold cruel world seeking new contacts. It has been an interesting process cold-calling people I think would like to know about my work. In general most people I have talked with are not busy and are looking for new work themselves. However there are some that are doing well and are staying busy. Most professionals I spoke with that are busy either had work lined up for some time or took action to promote their businesses when they saw things slowing down. Some admit to just being lucky and appreciative of the amount of work they currently have. I have basically been underground in our current location for the last twenty years because as mentioned I don’t advertise. My approach when promoting a professional clientele is to just make myself available as a resource for the type of work I do. No hard sell, no products to push, just a simple introduction to make them aware of the work I can provide. My goal over time is to have every design, construction and AV professional in the Los Angeles area at least aware that I exist and that I still do hands-on custom woodwork. So… the emails and cold calls continue. For many years all the work I have done has been expensive built-in commissioned projects and one of a kind custom furniture. I have always wanted to have some signature work available for sale “off the shelf” for people that can’t justify the expense of commissioning one of a kind pieces. I have recently been developing a couple of accessible original design pieces to make them available for sale. The two pieces I am developing on are a small whimsical cocktail table and an interesting small sculpture piece. (see picture and links below) I designed and built the originals of both of these pieces more years ago than I would like to admit but they are still a couple of my all time favorites. I am pretty much done with the development process and have built the first examples of each piece. Each individual piece is hand made by me and is signed and dated. I still need to get all the pieces photographed, build the online store and then set up a shopping cart on my site so they can be purchased online 24 / 7. I will be notifying everyone by email when I am ready to go on this. If you would like more info on these pieces before I get the shopping cart online please contact me by phone or email. You can click the links below for details and prices on the pieces. I will take early orders by email or phone. On the home front: Our eldest son Bryce is going to travel to Thailand for several weeks as part of his international business major at Cal Poly. He is excited about the prospect of studying abroad and the experience he will gain living in a different culture. #2 son Perry is plugging away studying and doing his artwork. He is developing some excellent skills and doing some really nice work. Janet is doing her usual great job maintaining all our paperwork and holding down the fort for all of us men. Unfortunately for me I have no new guns, motorcycles, cars, trucks or fishing trips to report. That should all change real soon though, after all the recession is over don’t you know? As usual please drop me a note or give me a call, I would love to hear from you. SC
For more information on the Squiggle Leg Table and the Puzzle Sculpture click on the text link.
January 18, 2010
So 2009 is dead and gone and the first month of the New Year is already half over. I wound down last year uneventfully except for getting myself a new motorcycle. I have had my eye out for a new machine for some time but the right bike and deal had not shown itself until I found a low mileage 2006 KTM 625 supermoto. A word of advice to all, watch out when you buy used vehicles and the guy tells you he did his own maintenance. I was able to sell my old Suzuki DRZ supermoto to a friend and so I was able to keep my old bike in the family and cover most of my cost on the new bike. Yay! Enough about motorcycles though.
On the home front things are back to normal after the holidays. My eldest son Bryce came down from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo for a few days and left after Christmas diner. He is back at school full time and working part time. My younger son Perry was off from Cal State Channel Islands but he still lives at home. He worked quite a bit during the break and is just now going back to start the new semester. My wife Janet still does not want to move to Oregon so I can stay relaxed about that. I am still plugging away working, riding and target shooting when I can all the while wondering who that old grey haired dude is that I keep seeing in the mirror. I did finally get the kitchen part of the Malibu project that I have mentioned in newsletters past installed last month. It was quite a challenge given the site conditions but we managed to get all those perfect cabinets loaded, transported, staged and installed without wrecking anything. When it was done (less appliances) we wrapped it up so it would not get destroyed while all the other work on the project is being done. I did not take any pictures because I want to show you the finished job here on the website when it is complete. We will be putting in the master bath in a week or so and the monster buffet and entertainment center when it is safe to do so. We do have a really nice flat screen TV unit going that has some future potential. The design is an evolution of the hanging unit I built for myself and backboard build system that I developed a few years ago. The design is a collaborative effort for a custom interior done by Deborah Goldstein / Deborah Goldstein Design Inc. The original concept started out as a full blown backboard supported system but with budget restrictions eventually evolved into a 9’ 6” long wall hanging piece with a matching low support console. The TV is exposed when you want to watch but hidden away behind sliding doors when not in use. With the flat screen I was able to do the hanging section with bookcase depth dimensions. We used two contrasting materials, Quartered Wenge and Maple to give it some visual impact and drama. It is elegant and clean but has an amazing presence because of the colors, scale and how the two pieces of the unit relate to each other and the negative and positive space on the wall. I will post up pictures of this completed project after it is installed. It is interesting (and a real bummer) that conventional home theater cabinetry that was the bulk of my business for years has all but dried up and blown away. With old style big box TVs people were compelled to hide them and/ or integrate them into an acceptable physical package. As TVs slimmed down I adapted to the design solutions they presented. In fact that was the subject of my first published article for Fine Woodworking Magazine in the March /April 2006 issue. Unfortunately for me flat panel displays evolved to be so slim and so common that no one is compelled to hide them away. In fact just the opposite is the norm. People are now proud of their flat screens and that they watch TV and so they hang them any and everywhere. Since there is so much you can watch on TV now the old stigma of watching network television pap has gone away with the big box TV. The cost of these flat panel systems has become so reasonable that just about anyone can afford a decent system. It was not uncommon just a few years ago to see AV systems where the price of the gear alone was $100k or more. Selling expensive handmade support cabinetry at 15/ 20% of that cost was no big deal. Not so today. Small support consoles (my last article for Fine Woodworking) are now the norm if there is any support furniture needed at all. I do think there is a market for well designed and crafted self contained console type piece of furniture. I have a design or two in mind and may develop a working prototype to test the market. This will be a much more accessible piece then my one off custom work as it will be designed with limited production in mind. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more on this as I develop the work. As a result of the home theater business slowing so dramatically I am shifting gears to offer my services designing, building and installing custom kitchens, home offices and other residential cabinetry. I am also going to focus more on promoting design and building of library projects that are similar to the Dragon Bookstore I did a few years back. I have always done this kind of work but have never really marketed it. I am also contemplating finding a Los Angeles based gallery to represent my original work that has been sidelined for years while I pursued commissioned custom work. That being said I am still actively seeking new work of any size or type. If you, your friends or family have any need for woodwork of any kind please don't hesitate getting in touch with me. I will be happy to discuss “any project” with you because as mentioned above, besides living with a goofed up economy I have two kids in college. photo: Dragon Books
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