Vermont Woods Studios

Last updated

Vermont Woods Studios (VWS) is a retailer of Vermont-manufactured wood furniture, established in 2005. [1] [2] The company markets and sells products online and from a showroom in Vernon, Vermont. [3]

Contents

Business

VWS sells furniture from several independent Vermont woodworking businesses, as well as from larger wholesale companies. [4] The company seeks to promote Vermont's custom furniture industry by unifying marketing efforts for its producers. [4] In a 2014 Vermont Life article, Steve Holman, a furniture maker from Dorset, Vermont, noted that Vermont's isolation from large markets represents a major business challenge, and that small producers rarely have time to manage their online presence adequately. [1] The company sells products under two models: it connects custom furniture makers with customers in exchange for a referral fee, and it directly retails furniture from wholesale producers. [5]

The company was established in 2005 by Peggy Farabaugh and her husband Ken, after Farabaugh lost her position at Tulane University in the aftermath of flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina. [6] [2] Farabaugh drew up the business plan for a $20,000 grant competition; she did not win, but implemented the plan nonetheless. [7] The company took in approximately $800,000 in sales in 2010, [8] and grew by 35% between 2012 and 2014. [1]

The company's Vernon showroom is located in a circa 1790 farmhouse and former ski lodge, and features artworks from Vermont artists. [1] The building's renovation used primarily local materials, and was financed in part through a $100,000 grant from Vermont's Working Lands Enterprise Fund. [1] [3] The showroom features large windows looking out onto a forest, intended to reflect the company's emphasis on using locally sourced wood. [4] [3]

Social responsibility

VWS was a founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council, whose members seek to minimize the environmental impact of their products. [9] In keeping with Farabaugh's advocacy for rainforest conservation, the company's products are made with wood sourced from Vermont or neighboring states rather than internationally. [6]

Farabaugh has helped to plant trees in Central and South America. [10] In 2016, the company partnered with the Mexican nonprofit Forests for Monarchs for an educational tour of New England encouraging residents to plant milkweed to aid in butterfly conservation. [11]

The company's challenge to its employees to purchase only American-made holiday gifts was the subject of a 2011 segment on ABC's "Made in America" program. [12]

Lawsuit

In 2012, Farabaugh inadvertently used a photograph whose copyright she did not own in the course of a business transaction. In what Mitch Stoltz of the Electronic Frontier Foundation called a "bullying tactic", the copyright owner then sued the company for $150,000 in damages. The lawsuit was dropped, and then refiled, in 2014, [13] and settled out of court in July 2015. [14]

Related Research Articles

Marlboro College Private coeducational liberal arts college in Marlboro, Vermont

Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998 the college added a graduate school.

Brattleboro, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Massachusetts state line, at the confluence of Vermont's West River and the Connecticut. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 12,184.

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Closed nuclear power plant in Vermont, US

Vermont Yankee was an electricity generating nuclear power plant, located in the town of Vernon, Vermont, in the northeastern United States. It generated 620 megawatts (MWe) of electricity at full power. The plant was a boiling water reactor (BWR), designed by General Electric. It operated from 1972 until December 29, 2014, when its owner Entergy shut down the plant. In 2008, the plant provided 71.8% of all electricity generated within Vermont, amounting to 35% of Vermont's electricity consumption. The plant is on the Connecticut River, upstream of the Vernon, Vermont Hydroelectric Dam and used the reservoir pool for its cooling water.

Haworth Inc. is a privately held, family-owned office furniture manufacturer headquartered in Holland, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1948 by G. W. Haworth, the company designs and manufactures adaptable workspaces, including movable walls, systems furniture, seating, storage, and wood casegoods. Haworth serves markets in more than 120 countries through 650 dealers. In 2017, Haworth's worldwide sales were US$2.04 billion. Haworth employs nearly 7,500 people. in 20 wholly owned factories and 55 sales offices.

Fort Dummer First permanent European settlement in Vermont

Fort Dummer was built in the winter of 1724 in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. Today, it is notable as the first permanent European settlement in Vermont. The original site of the fort is now lost below the waters of the Connecticut River impoundment of the Vernon Dam.

Herman Miller, Inc. is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings. Its products include the Equa chair, Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is credited with the invention of the office cubicle in 1968 under then-director of research Robert Propst.

The Brattleboro Reformer is the third-largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Vermont. With a weekday circulation of just over 10,000, it is behind the Burlington Free Press and the Rutland Herald, respectively. It publishes six days a week, Monday through Saturday, with its Weekend Reformer having the largest readership; the offices of the paper are in Brattleboro, Vermont and it has a market penetration of 62.8 in its home zip code.

Union Station (Brattleboro, Vermont)

Union Station is an Amtrak intercity rail station located in downtown Brattleboro, Vermont, United States. It is served by the one daily round trip of the Vermonter service. Most of the 1915-built station is occupied by the 1972-opened Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, while Amtrak uses a waiting room on the lower floor. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Disney Consumer Products, Inc. is the retailing and licensing subsidiary of the Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment of The Walt Disney Company. Previously, Consumer Products was a segment of Disney until 2016, then a unit of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media (2016–2018).

DirectBuy

DirectBuy is an American membership buying service headquartered in Merrillville, Indiana. Members pay a fee, which entitles them to buy products at a discount, directly from the manufacturer and its authorized suppliers. Product categories include home furnishings, home improvement, entertainment, outdoor, flooring, and accessories.

Estey Organ United States historic place

Estey Organ Company was an organ manufacturer based in Brattleboro, Vermont. The company was founded in 1852 by Jacob Estey, who bought out another Brattleboro manufacturing business. At its peak, the company was one of the world's largest organ manufacturers, employed about 700 people, and sold its high-quality items as far away as Africa, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. Estey built around 500,000 to 520,000 pump organs between 1846 and 1955. Estey also produced pianos, made at the Estey Piano Company Factory in New York City.

The Hermitage Club at Haystack Mountain is a private, member owned club, which provides alpine skiing on Haystack Mountain in Wilmington, Vermont to its members.

Erie J. Sauder was an American inventor and furniture-maker. He invented a knock-down table in 1951 that could be assembled by the average person with minimal skills. The line expanded into cocktail tables, lamp tables, end tables, step tables and corner tables. This started the ready-to-assemble furniture industry.

R. John Wright Dolls Art doll making workshop

R. John Wright Dolls is an art doll making workshop located in Bennington, Vermont. Established in 1976, R. John Wright Dolls (RJW) is a privately held company founded by R. John Wright.

Michelle Holzapfel

Michelle Holzapfel is an American woodturner and a participant in the American Craft movement. Michelle Holzapfel has five decades of experience turning and carving native hardwoods in Marlboro, Vermont, where she has lived her adult life. Holzapfel fits the definitions of both Studio artist and Material movement artist. A product of the revolutionary back-to-the-earth movement of 1960s and 1970s, she attributes the expressiveness of her turned and carved forms to the idealism of those years. Raised in rural Rhode Island, she has worked alone in her Vermont studio—shared only with her husband, the furniture maker and educator David Holzapfel—since 1976. Her wood pieces which feature intricate carvings have been exhibited in museums and galleries in the U.S., Australia and Europe. Publications featuring her work include but are not limited to House Beautiful, American Craft, Woodworking, and Fine Woodworking.

Seth Andrew American educational entrepreneur

Seth Andrew is an American entrepreneur and convicted thief, who helped found Democracy Prep Public Schools, a national network of charter schools based in Harlem, and Democracy Builders, a social sector incubator that launched Washington Leadership Academy, the Arena Summit, and Degrees of Freedom. He was an advisor for former-president Obama.

Giroux Furniture Company Building United States historic place

The Giroux Furniture Company Building is a historic commercial building at 10-18 Catherine Street in the city of St. Albans, Vermont. Built in two parts, it is a reminder of the city's railroad-related history, and served for many years as an enduring commercial presence. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Southeast Vermont Transit

Southeast Vermont Transit (SEVT) is a local bus operator serving Windham County, Vermont, southern Windsor County, and parts of southern Bennington County. Three Brattleboro local routes and ten regional routes to the north are branded as Rockingham MOOver; five regional routes and eight ski resort circulator routes to the west are branded as Wilmington MOOver. The agency was formed in July 2015 by the merger of the Deerfield Valley Transit Association (DVTA) and Connecticut River Transit (CRT).

Titos Tacos

Tito's Tacos is a taco stand in Culver City, California. Opened in 1959, it is known for its American-style hard-shell taco and burritos. Considered a Los Angeles-area icon, the restaurant was named to Fox News' list of the ten best tacos in America in 2014, and was ranked #1 on The Daily Meal's "Top 35 Burritos in America" list in 2015.

Virco American furniture manufacturer

The Virco Manufacturing Corporation, more commonly known as Virco, is an American furniture manufacturer based in Torrance, California which focuses on providing products for educational markets. The principal products of the company include student desks and activity tables, school and office seating, computer stations, lightweight folding tables, and upholstered chairs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Anderson, Bill (Autumn 2014). "The Ideal Setting". Vermont Life: 42. Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Patel, Nina (March 14, 2013). "Furniture makers show 'made in the USA' pride". USA Today. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Faher, Mike (November 8, 2013). "Vernon business creates 'welcome center' in historic home". Brattleboro Reformer. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 Schumake, Matt (Jul 5, 2014). "Mass Appeal for Master Craftsmen: Vermont Woods Studios". Woodworking Network. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ Sampson, William (July 2010). "Innovator: Peggy Farabaugh". FDMC Digital. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  6. 1 2 Chiaravallo, Anthony (Jun 14, 2013). "Peggy Farabaugh, Founder Vermont Woods Studios". Conscious Connection Magazine. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  7. ↑ Todé, Chantal (Jun 2, 2006). "New Web Site Sees Light Through the Trees". DMN. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ Maltby, Emily (Sep 22, 2010). "Entrepreneurs Mixed on Small-Business Bill". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  9. ↑ Floyd, Harry (May 18, 2015). "10 Best Places To Find Eco-Friendly Furniture When You're Trying To Be Green". Thought Catalog. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  10. ↑ Dunn, Laura (August 6, 2015). "Women in Business Q&A: Peggy Farabaugh, Owner and Operator, Vermont Woods Studios". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ Shaw, Maddi (Jun 24, 2016). "Monarch Butterflies get some local help". Brattleboro Reformer. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  12. ↑ Stilts, Josh (23 November 2011). "The power of consumers". Brattleboro Reformer. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Audette, Bob (Aug 4, 2014). "Copyright lawsuit against Vermont Woods Studios dropped, refiled". VTDigger. Retrieved Jul 5, 2016.
  14. ↑ Audette, Robert (Sep 18, 2015). "Vermont company settles suit with 'copyright troll'". The Brattleboro Reformer. Retrieved Jul 30, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.