Vermont Woods Studios - Eco Furniture Blog

Happy New Year! It's 2012 Already?

Check out Jacquie Lawson Greeting Cards… the best I've seen on the web.

Hard to believe we're turning over another year already, isn't it?  2011 was a year of huge challenges at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture Store.  Let's see, there was:

• Moving out of the spare bedroom in my house (all 5 of us) and into our first official office space in the "heart of downtown Vernon"
• Making our sales goal of doubling last years sales
• Welcoming our newest staff member, Shannon
• Adding Polywood, recycled outdoor furniture to our store
• Adding sustainable, Vermont made Copeland Furniture to our store
• Sponsoring a number of charitable events, including fundraising for Hurricane Irene victims

Oh, and I finally got an iphone for Christmas this year.  That was big too.  Plus many other milestones I can't believe we actually achieved-- thanks to our hot-shot staff, our visionary customers, all the talented Vermont craftspeople who build our fine furniture and the many vendors and supporters who help us out every single day.  To all of you, we are immensely grateful.

2012 is going to be even bigger, better and more challenging as we look to again double our sales and become smarter, faster, and more efficient at sending Vermont's fine furniture out to the rest of the country and the world.

To me the most exciting project next year will be transforming the American icon that was Skyline Restaurant  on Hogback Mountain into an environmental learning center-- that showcases Vermont made furniture and tells the story of how it makes it's way from the trees in our Green Mountain Forest to the dining table in your kitchen. 

I hope you'll continue to join us as our unlikely, but unstoppable journey moves into 2012.  We wish you and your family a very Happy New Year!

Thanks to Jacquie Lawson Greeting Cards for our New Years Card

Copeland Furniture Update

Last month I mentioned that we had made the decision to add Copeland Furniture's beautiful Vermont made collection to our online furniture store. Since then we've been researching and studying the details about this luxury furniture line.  I am amazed at the diversity of styles and construction designs offered by Copeland.  And at the affordability they have engineered into their furniture through high-precision processes.

Tim Copeland started his company in 1974 as a one-man operation in a garage in rural Vermont. His earlier designs were inspired by Shaker furniture but now Copeland Furniture offers many creative styles including Shaker, Mid Century modern, Danish, Scandinavian, Asian, Arts and Crafts, Japanese, and transitional designs. 

Dennis is our point person on Copeland Furniture and he's been feverishly working away over the last several weeks. He's drafted over 100 new Copeland product pages and has been bringing the rest of us up to speed on Copeland styles and construction details.  My job is to polish and publish Dennis' draft pages.  Kendall is creating information pages that explain construction details and finish options for the different collections.  Manjula is orchestrating the whole project and fixing our mistakes as we go.

So far we've been able to add most of the products in Copeland's Berkeley, Catalina, Harbor Island, Horizon and Lily collections.  I figure we're about 30% through the project but we're picking up speed and we're hoping to have it complete within a couple weeks.  In the meantime, if you're interested in purchasing and our website doesn't yet have the details you need, you can find our Copeland Furniture catalog, policies and prices here.  Or give Rebecca and Shannon a call at 888-390-5571 with your questions.  We'll look forward to hearing your thoughts about this new Vermont made furniture line.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays

From all of us here at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture, we send our very best wishes for a Happy Holiday season to you and your family.

 

Thanks for making 2011 our best year ever!

 

Front row from left:  Rebecca, Peggy, Manjula, Shannon

Back row from left:  Douglas, Ken, Dennis

Adopt A Family For Christmas

We're down to the wire on Christmas shopping. How about you relax and not worry about the rest of those stocking stuffers?  Instead make a donation to a local charity-- in honor or your friends and family members.  Most local charities at this point, are desperately trying to figure out how they're going to come through for the families relying on them this Christmas.  Families who won't have the means to buy gifts for their children or a turkey for their table.

Your donation could be used to adopt one of those families and provide the kids with warm clothing or toys.  Or maybe even a Christmas dinner.  At Vermont Woods Studios we're working with a local school where we know our donation is being put to work for people in our own community who need it the most.  The staff tells me they are seeing a greater need for food and winter clothing in their student families now than they can ever remember.  Many families that donated to projects like this last year are now in line to receive.

The Salvation Army sponsors Adopt A Family for Christmas projects across the country.  You local churches probably do the same.

It's not too late to help.  You then either write a check or purchase food for a Christmas dinner.  So simple, but it means so much!

Our Made in America Challenge Finally Aired on ABC News

At last, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer ran the segment on our "Made in America" Holiday Shopping Challenge yesterday.  YAY!  Here is the link to view it online.  We'd like to thank ABC producers Christine Brozyna and Eric Noll for coming to Vernon to film the segment.  Theirs' is not an easy job. 

When Christine and Eric came to Vermont last month it was because they had read a blog about our "Made in America" project way back in September.  They were impressed that such a small company would take on a project about creating American jobs and they wanted to put the size and strength of ABC behind it.

Well, a lot of time has passed since then and I'm sure that as each new idea came into the newsroom, our story morphed depending on the context of the day.  There were a couple times we were considered for inclusion in earlier segments but for whatever reason they fell through.  In the end we were pretty disappointed to see that our segment really wasn't about the jobs or the furniture being created by small independent companies like Vermont Woods Studios or Woodruff Custom Furniture. 

Instead we got spun into a segment on American schools.  Go figure.  But it was indeed an educational experience, learning how news stories get created (I'll be much more wary now, about believing what I see in the news).  We're trying to just be grateful for the fact that ABC has been able to raise awareness (much more than we ever could) all across the country about the jobs that can be created by buying American made holiday gifts.

 

Defining Fine Furniture: Finish

So far, in an effort to define "fine furniture" we've discussed craftsmanship and the type of wood used, so now let's talk about finish.  One thing most people are surprised to learn is that even though a piece of fine furniture is crafted and assembled it's a long way from being finished. 

I like the way Vermont furniture maker, Bob Gasperetti of Mount Tabor puts it:  "The saying that it takes 90% of the time to accomplish the last 10% of the work couldn't be more true than in handmade furniture."

He is right!  I wish you could run your hand across one of Bob's table tops right now.  After a piece is built, Bob sands the surface to 320 grit (this requires multiple sandings with increasingly fine sandpaper).  That takes forever but there is no substitute if you're looking for the kind of smooth, supple feeling you get when touching Bob's furniture.

After sanding, Bob applies multiple coats of a non-toxic, environmentally-friendly oil until the surface of his furniture feels as smooth and soft as a baby's skin.

Some people would opine that an oil finish is the only option for "fine furniture" but as someone who doesn't like to take the time to maintain (aka re-oil and it's really no big deal, but I'm lazy) an oil finish  I'll say oil is not the only option.  Vermont furniture makers offer dozens of other choices, including a blend of oil and beeswax, non-toxic lacquers and even an eco-friendly clear finish made out of whey (a byproduct of our Vermont dairy industry).  Copeland Furniture is once again leading the green furniture industry in the research and application of eco-friendly water=based lacquer finishes.  I'll write about them next time when we wrap up this disucssion of fine furniture definitions with the topic of sustainability and karma.

Anyway, no study of fine furniture finishes would be complete without a visit to the workshops of a few fine furniture makers where you can run your hands over the furniture and compare the sensations from different finishes.  Information and driving directions to the shops I've talked about (and many more) are available in the Vermont Forest Heritage brochure.  If you're coming in from Boston or New York to go skiing, you'll pass by a number of them.  So if there's no snow, or it's too cold to ski or if you're just too tired... take a day off and treat yourself to a tour of some of the world's best fine furniture workshops.

Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture

Fine Furniture Definitions: Craftsmanship

The other day I noted that a customer asked us for a definition of "fine furniture" and since we could find no real consensus out there I decided to put out-- well-- yet another opinion, actually.  My first post was about the type of wood used for fine furniture.  I think the next aspect ought to be about craftsmanship.

I found this video by Brent and Derek Karner and their craftspeople at Clear Lake Furniture in Ludlow, VT.  It's really a great illustration of both the human and machine-driven craftsmanship that defines fine furniture.  In the video Brent shows the process of how fine wood furniture starts as trees, sustainably harvested from well managed forests.  Then he brings you into his workshop where to see his craftsmanship up close:  wood is rough sawn, planed, shaped, prepared for joinery and assembled.  He explains different types of joinery, like dovetails, mortise and tenon, splines and how they are created. 

I like Brent's discussion of craftsmanship in terms of man versus machine.  He concludes that, done properly, both methods can have excellent results although he shows that in many cases it's a blend of man and machine that's optimal.

In Vermont we have several woodworking purists who focus almost exclusively on the use of traditional hand tools, and their craftsmanship is exquisite.  One of my favorite companies working to preserve traditional handwork traditions is Shackleton-Thomas.  But the majority of Vermont's fine furniture makers do employ high precision modern machinery which not only brings the price of furniture down, but sometimes produces a more exacting result. 

The next aspect of fine furniture craftsmanship I want to mention is finish.  But let's do that another day. 

In the meantime, if you're in Vermont (which after all IS the Fine Furniture Capital of America) and you're looking to get a better understanding of fine craftsmanship, there are hundreds of small furniture makers who would be happy to introduce you to their craft.  Check out this great Vermont Forest Heritage brochure which lists furniture makers all around the state and provides a map showing where each one is and what their hours of operation are. Clearlake furniture is on the map and is on your way to Okemo Mountain.  It's open almost every day but call ahead for an appointment if you want to get a tour of their workshop and see their fine craftsmanship in motion.

Making America Great Again: Collaboration vs Competition

In my mind, green businesses are our best chance to make America great again.  NGOs (non-governmental organizations) are effective in many ways but they have to be funded by either government or business.  Governments (both state and local) are so big, and bulky and fickle.  They can help, but they're not really providing much leadership these days, are they?

So it seems to me the burden of leading an American renaissance rests squarely on the broad shoulders of business. In Vermont, businesses are small though.  The average business has only a handful of employees.  But that hasn't stopped all of us from trying to change the world... because we have a secret weapon.  It's collaboration over competition.

Take, for example the Vermont Wood Manufacturer's Association, VWMA. This is an organization of over 100 small businesses in Vermont's wood industry that employ about 6000 people who produce wood furniture, bowls, toys, carvings, flooring, windows, doors and much more. VWMA's mission is to "support the industry in Vermont and promote its long-term viability by expanding members presence in the marketplace, ensuring a sustainable supply of raw materials, increasing workforce skill and acting as responsible employers and community members".  All of us who produce wood products in Vermont need the services that VWMA provides us, but none of us could do that work on our own.

Organizations like VWMA are going to play a huge role in making America great again.  Does your small business belong to an industry group like VWMA?  If not, maybe you need to sign up and get a seat at the table.  There is strength in numbers and the Internet has made collaboration pervasive and necessary.  If you're not collaborating with the right people, you're being passed by.   Don't get me wrong... Vermonter's aren't just collaborative.  We're extremely competitive too, but we're competing against foreign imports that steal American jobs and wreck local economies.  Join us.  Let's get going!  There's no time to lose.

Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture

The Ultimate "Made in America" Christmas Gift

One caveat before we get started.  This gift is probably for adults only.  It wouldn't really be fair to give this to little kids.  I mean... you definitely don't want to get reactions like the ones in this Jimmy Kimmel video.

So what's the ultimate Made in America Christmas gift?  Well first you have to check out this link Annette posted on her Facebook.  It's a Matthew West video titled One Last Christmas. It's a story about a 13 month old boy who was diagnosed with childhood leukemia and the family and community that was determined to give him one last Christmas. 

Considering the meaning of Christmas (or Hanukkah or whichever holiday you're celebrating) my vote for the ultimate gift is one that helps someone else.  Why not give your friends who already have everything the gift of a donation in their name to a favorite charity?  Maybe that's a gift to St Jude's Children's hospital to help the families of kids with cancer or a donation to your local food bank or animal shelter or... 

Your donation will be quickly spent to stimulate the local economy, create jobs and maybe even change someone's life.  Wouldn't that be the ultimate "Made in America" Christmas gift?

Thanks to SodaHead.com for the artwork.

Our "Made in America" Office Christmas Party

It was way back in September that Dennis challenged all of us at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture to help support our economy by promising to buy American Made gifts for Christmas.  A lot of ups and downs have happened since then with our Made in America Holiday Shopping Challenge. 

But regardless of all that, we had a mission in the office and that was to learn more about American companies and the things they make--and to support them with our Christmas shopping budgets.  And to see if we could start a movement where others would do the same.  Thanks to ABC that has happened.

So our office Christmas party was yesterday and fortunately it was a Yankee Swap (because it's possible that some of us are on the naughty list).  Anyway we all gave gifts that were made in America:

A bottle of Kendall Jackson California wine, a Harley Davidson beer mug, a handcarved wooden letter opener (Ken picked that one out, of course), a Cangles bracelet made out of recycled soda cans, a handmade glass ornament, a paperwhite bulb, Vermont made goat's milk caramels (yum!), a Vermont made silk scarf and a cool necklace that has a hidden pen in it.

If you haven't had your holiday office party yet, it's not too late!  See if your colleagues will go for an American made theme.  Then let us know what you bought either in the comments section below or on our facebook.

Defining Fine Furniture: Type of Wood

Similar to the term American Made Furniture, there's no standard definition for "fine furniture".  But a customer brought this up yesterday so I thought I'd take a shot at it.  At Vermont Woods Studios we specialize in fine wood furniture, rather than upholstered furniture so I'll keep the discussion confined to that. 

This may seem odd, but I'm going to put style aside for another subject because I think each creative woodworker has his or her own ideas about style.  Naturally there has to be a strategic blending of form and function, but making a judgement about that is personal and subjective-- you could write a library of books about it and still not reach a conclusion.  I'm not sure style belongs in a definition for fine furniture.

So for now I'll stick to tangible perameters like craftsmanship, uniqueness, joinery, type of wood, type of finish, sustainability and durability-- plus one intangible which I'll call karma.  Today let's look at the type of wood a piece of furniture is made with first-- then we can consider the other characteristics in the next few posts.

Fine wood furniture starts with hardwood (like cherry, maple, walnut and oak) as opposed to soft wood (like pine and other coniferous woods).  Furthermore, in today's world (by my definition anyway) those hardwoods are grown sustainably in America as opposed to imported woods that are clear cut from the world's rapidly disappearing rainforests (like ipe, rubberwood, mahogany, jatoba and teak--this ties into a karma discussion).  You can learn more about American hardwood species here:  cherry wood, maple wood, walnut wood, oak wood.

It's not just the wood species that sets fine wood furniture apart.  Once a species is selected, fine woodworkers go to greath lengths to carefully select each board that goes into a piece of furniture, depending on where the board is being placed (like in a drawer front, part of a table top, an accent piece or part of the frame). 

Woodworkers select boards based on things like grain, color, texture, shape, character and whether it's part of the tree's heartwood (inner circles of the tree and dark in color) or sapwood (outer circles of the tree and light in color).  There are different levels of attention to detail in wood selection and they are reflected in the price of a piece of furniture. Many of our woodworkers in Vermont are aligned with the philosophy of George Nakishima who felt that wood selection is an almost sacred art that honors The Soul of a Tree. Others are more practical but both philosophies on wood selection can be the foundation of a great piece of "fine furniture" depending on what the customer is looking for.

Later we'll talk about how craftsmanship, origin and sustainability add to the definition of fine furniture.

 

Animals Are People Too

Here's a great story and just in time for Christmas.  Resarchers at The University of Chicago did a series of experiments to demonstrate that other animals (besides humans) can be kind, compassionate and unselfish.

They used pairs of rats.  One rat was locked in a tube and the other was free outside the tube.  Free rats were able to figure out how to liberate their imprisoned pals.

So they did.  Pretty cool, right?

But the amazing thing is that even when a favorite treat (chocolate chips!) was placed on the scene, the free rats unlocked their friends FIRST even though they subsequently had to share!   “Basically they told us (freeing another rat) is as important as eating chocolate,” said study author Peggy Mason of the University of Chicago. “That’s a very striking thing.  In some cases, the rats first took the chocolate chips out of a container, but didn’t eat them, then freed the other rat and shared “almost as if they were serving them chocolate.”

So Ken says the lesson is to eat chocolate chips with your friends this Chirstmas, but there might just be something more that we could learn from rats.

Oh, I wasn't going to mention this but it IS a critical part of the study.  Female rats freed their pals every time.  17 of the 24 males did and... sadly... there were days when the male rats took the day off from helping their trapped partner althogether.  But the females never did.

Enough said ;)

What Makes Vermont The Fine Furniture Capital of America?

 

Over the last 30 years, almost all the big American furniture manufacturers (including La-Z-Boy, Vaughan-Bassett, Broyhill, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Hickory Chair, Lane, Thomasville, Ethan Allen and so on) have moved their operations overseas to China, Vietnam and other third world countries.  The result has been cheaper prices, lower quality and the emergence of what we call "curbside furniture".

 

But there are still many companies that make high quality fine furniture right here in the USA and Vermont has more than it's share of them.  That's why we call Vermont the Fine Furniture Capital of America.  Throughout the off-shoring movement, only one Vermont furniture company I know of moved it's operations overseas.  The rest stayed here in Vermont remaining true to their values of quality, integrity, sustainability and community.

 

We've profiled a number of these great American furniture makers including Vermont companies like Copeland Furniture and Lyndon Furniture as well as many small, custom, fine furniture makers including Steve Holman, Dan Mosheim, Chad Woodruff and Greg Goodman. 

 

Today I wanted to highlight the work of Kit Clark, a consumate craftsman who specializes in luxury custom rocking chairs.  "Furniture that fits you" is Kit's mantra and he makes custom rockers much like a  tailor would make a custom suit.  Each rocker is designed specifically to fit its owner.  Kit studies a customer's posture, records their measurements and interviews them to understand any subtleties that could be used to enhance the comfort of their rocker.  Then he goes back to the shop and eventually emerges with masterpiece in hand.  Stop by Kit's shop in Ferrisburgh, VT if you get a chance.  I can't think of a more luxurious Made in America Christmas present than a Kit Clark Rocker.

Fine Furniture Shipping and DIY Delivery

Vermont woodworkers are among the best in the world, so the furniture making part of our online business at Vermont Woods Studios Fine Furniture is the easy part.  It's the shipping and delivery that's our biggest challenge. 

All of our furniture is made to order in small and medium-sized woodworking shops around our state.  Furniture makers work with great care and precision to make sure their pieces leave the workshop in tip-top condition. The last thing we want is to have to ask them to make something over again because it got broken by a shipper.  Not to mention that receiving damaged furniture is a huge let down to our customers and totally unacceptable by any measure.

So over the years we developed a policy where (unless it was something small or a customer absolutely needed a RUSH delivery) we ship furniture via a white glove delivery service.  With white glove delivery, furniture is handled by only one company from the time it is picked up in Vermont until the time it's set up in a customer's kitchen, home office, dining room or bedroom. 

The delivery crew arranges a convenient time for delivery several days in advance.  They arrive at a customer's home in uniform, bring the furniture inside, unpackage it, help inspect it and set it up (including assembly, if any).  For fine furniture I've always felt this is the only acceptable shipping solution.

Our new partner, Copeland Furniture, however is beginning to persuade me that it's possible to engineer a successful DIY (do-it-yourself) furniture delivery system that will save customers money. Copeland has made significant advances in the art, science and technology of fine furniture packaging and shipping over the last couple years.  They are now the world leader in safe, efficient, economical fine furniture shipping. 

So, for Copeland furniture only we now offer free shipping and do-it-yourself (DIY) delivery as a more affordable option for customers who are willing and able to handle their own delivery.  With DIY delivery, your furniture is brought to your doorstep where you must unpackage and inspect it yourself, then sign for it.  You are responsible to bring your furniture into your home and assemble it, if needed.  For chests, dressers and desks, there is typically no assembly required, with the exception of drawer and door knobs.  With beds and tables, you must assemble them yourself-- and easy directions are provided.

Customers can save an average of $300 with a DIY delivery.  If you're interested, just give us a call or specify DIY as your choice in the pull-down menu for shipping when you're making an online purchase.  Of course, Copeland furniture can also be purchased with white glove delivery for an additional fee.  You can specify that on the pull-down menu as well.  Either way, if you're purchasing furniture online be sure to review the applicable Furniture Delivery and Inspection procedures to protect yourself in case of any possible problems down the road.

We are eager to get your feedback on this new method of shipping.

Giving Hope For Christmas

All across the USA people are talking about giving Christmas Gifts that are "Made in America" and-- we're beginning to see some pretty impressive results in the form of job creation. 

Well, here's another way do something great with your holiday shopping.  How about donating to local food pantries and shelters in honor of the people on your Christmas list?  Instead of scrambling around trying to figure out what on earth to get all those people who already have everything, why not honor them by helping someone who's hungry or cold? 

Give the gift of hope to those who have lost hope.  How many parents who were in a position just like you and me very recently--  have no job today?

In our area we have many local organizations in need of donations, including the Reformer Christmas Stocking, Feed the Thousands and The Vermont Food Bank, in addition to local churches that each have a program to give hope and help.  This year the need is more critical than ever.

What's interesting is that when given a choice, all of the people I polled said they would rather have this kind of donation given in their name than receive another pair of gloves for Christmas.  I bet your friends would say the same.  What do you think?

How Is Your "Made in America" Christmas Shopping Coming Along?

The "Made in America" Holiday Shopping Challenge we started way back in September at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture is in full swing now.  ABC News has jumped on board and done an amazing job of raising awareness about how much we as consumers can do to provide jobs in our communities, just by "buying American". 

Their favorite statistic is that the average American spends $700 on Christmas gifts each year and if only $64 of that was used for American made gifts, we could create 200,000 jobs.  So the question in, "Are you IN?"

We've been finding a lot of great American made stuff in our own back yards at local shops, craft fairs and farmer's markets.  But since a lot of things on your list won't be available locally, we've got some great American gift ideas for you on our Facebook like:

 

  *   For the kids-- American Flyer Sleds

  *   For Mom-- Colorful bud vases from Fiestaware

  *   For Dad--  Rugged tool sets from Channellock

  *   For Aunt Clara--  Handwoven baskets by Longaberger Basket

  *   For the art lover-- Creative gifts from $10- $5000 at The Art of Making a Difference

Have other ideas or American made gift suggestions?  Post them on our American Made Christmas Shopping Facebook Event.  We ARE making a difference.  Jobs are starting to come back.  What was is that Margaret Mead once said... something about "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

 

 

 

Latest on ABC World News "Made in America" Segment Featuring Vernon, Vermont

Everyone has been asking me to keep them posted about when the Vernon, Vermont segment of ABC's Made in America Christmas Shopping Challenge is going to air.  I just spoke to Christine Brozyna, the producer from ABC World News.  Vernon's segment is tentatively planned for next Monday or Tuesday, Dec 12 or 13.  If they can't fit it in then, Christine said they'll probably push it back--  to the following Mon or Tues, Dec 19 or 20.  No promises on the schedule though.

If you live in Vernon and want additional information, check our Vermont Furniture Facebook.  We hope to see you on TV!  Keep you fingers crossed for Monday or Tuesday.

Online Furniture Shopping: Customer Reviews, Ratings and Complaints Drive Continuous Improvement

 As fate would have it, a customer called Vermont Woods Studios today with a serious and urgent problem, just as I was in the middle of writing this blog about customer reviews and ratings.  Although our ratings are generally excellent (see yesterday's customer review ratings) occasionally something goes awry.  So we constantly push ourselves, our craftsmen, our shippers and our vendors to do better and avoid future errors.

I thought today's issue might be a good illustration of what can go wrong with furniture deliveries and what our process is for resolving customer complaints.  Here's what happened:  a customer in Arizona ordered a king size Vermont Shaker Moon bed.  The next day a customer in Sacramento ordered the same bed in California king size.  Somehow, the beds were switched and today the CA king bed was delivered to the wrong customer... clearly a huge mistake on our part.

So getting the beds un-switched and delivered to the corrrect customer is the (relatively) easy part for us.  The hard part of resolving this issue is compensating the customers for their time, frustration and inconvenience.  People often have to take time off work to accept and inspect deliveries. Understandably they can get angry over this kind of mistake. 

Since every issue is different, we try very hard to understand each customer's situation and needs as we're seeking a resolution they'll be happy with.  Today, after discussing options with the customer we offered an immediate full refund if the customer wanted to return the bed or a cash payment of $400 to compensate for the inconvenience of having to wait for the correct bed to be delivered.  The customer  thought it over and decided to return the bed for a full refund. 

We're now working with our shippers and craftspeople to fine tune our systems and make sure this error doesn't happen again.

I'd be interested to get your feedback, either in the comments below or on our Vermont Furniture Facebook.  You can see from our customer reviews and ratings that Shipping and Delivery are our greatest challenges.  This is true not just for us, but for the furniture industry as a whole.  What I can say, is that even though there are occasional shipping issues, we'll do almost anything the customer asks to make things right.  That includes complete replacement, repair, refund, cash compensation and a bunch of other things that customers have requested.  I think that's reflected in the results for this question:  Would you purchase from Vermont Woods Studios Furniture again?  98.53% of customers said yes.  We're trying to improve that too.

 

 

Online Furniture Shopping: 2011 Customer Satisfaction Survey Results

Yesterday I mentioned our Vermont Woods Studios Furniture Customer Satisfaction Survey.  As far as I know we are the only company in the furniture industry that's willing to publish candid customer reviews and survey rating results. 

 

It's not all perfect and I'll admit, I'm more than a bit uncomfortable publishing it.  Not because we're doing badly (we're actually doing great and getting better every day), but because there is much discussion needed to interpret the results. 

 

I'll be writing a number of additional posts over the next few weeks to discuss the details behind the numbers as well as our plans for improving them as we move forward.  I have to ask you to read the whole series of posts or you won't have an accurate picture of our customer reviews, and how they fit in with the broader context of the furniture industry.

 

I welcome your comments and suggestions throughout the process.  You can post them in the comments section below or on our Vermont Furniture Facebook.  To all of those customers who contributed to this assessment, we say thanks as we continue to work through implementing your input.

 

So... here's how customers rated our performance in the following areas:

   *   Would you purchase from Vermont Woods Studios Furniture again?

1. Yes - 98.53%
2. No - 0%
3. No answer or not applicable - 1.47%

   *  Ease of ordering

1. Excellent or very good - 97.1%
2. Neutral - 2.9%
3. Needs improvement - 1.45%
4. Unsatisfactory - 0%
5. No answer or not applicable - 0%

   *  Quality of furniture

1. Excellent or very good - 94.03%
2. Neutral - 1.49%
3. Needs improvement - 0%
4. Unsatisfactory - 0%
5. No answer or not applicable - 4.48%

   *  Shipping and delivery

1. Excellent or very good - 89.55%
2. Neutral - 2.99%
3. Needs improvement - 4.48%
4. Unsatisfactory - 2.99%
5. No answer or not applicable - 0%

   *  Response of customer sevice personnel

1. Excellent or very good - 86.95% (many online orders require no interaction with customer service personnel, thus the 13% response for NA)
2. Neutral - 0%
3. Needs improvement - 0%
4. Unsatisfactory - 0%
5. No answer or not applicable - 13.04%

So there you have it-- the good, the bad and the ugly of our customer satisfaction survey results.  Please check in over the next few weeks to see further details about what's behind the numbers and how we're working to continuously improve them.

Online Furniture Shopping: 2011 Customer Reviews, Complaints and Performance Metrics

If I'm investing a lot of money in something-- say a new car, I spend a significant amount of time researching my options.  Then when I've made a decision on a particular car I continue to research everything about that model and the company that makes it. 

Well, I figure the same is true for people when they're investing in high end, handmade furniture.  But unfortunately not much performance data is available from furniture companies.  Either they don't do customer satisfaction surveys or they choose not to publish their results.  Why is that?

Although we're a small company, we've been surveying our customers since we started our business 6 years ago.  I thought I would share some of our results and performance metrics with you over the next couple weeks.  These results are taken from a survey of 130 customers who just received their new furniture over the last few months.  We received 69 customer responses for a pretty decent response rate of 53%.  The questions we asked them included:

 

Please rate our performance in the following areas

*  Quality of furniture
*  Ease of ordering
*  Shipping and delivery
*  Response of customer sevice personnel
*  Would you purchase from Vermont Woods Studios Furniture again?

 

Here's the link to follow the results of our customer reviews, complaints and satisfaction survey as they emerge.  Check back in now and then over the next few weeks to see what our customers are saying about their furniture.