Small Idea Turns Into Big Business

SPRINGDALE — James Smith was looking for furniture and couldn’t find anything he liked.

Two years ago, he started building a coffee table in his garage. Smith was unemployed and decided to try making furniture.

He partnered with James Eldridge within a few months to form James + James. They are working today in 7,200 square feet and have 22 employees.

“Neither of us knew about building furniture when we started,” Eldridge said. “It was a lot of long hours, but we are making a living at it now.”

All James + James products are custom made at 460B W. Randall Wobbe Lane in Springdale. The site also serves as office space, warehouse and showroom. All lumber used is sustainable and trees are planted to replace those cut, Eldridge said.

The custom, solid-wood pieces include a variety of tables, bookshelves and bedroom furniture. Eldridge describes their furniture as practical with clean, straight lines.

All sales are online, direct to the customer. The company uses its website, Facebook and Pinterest. It also uses Instagram as a marketing tool and refers users to its website.

Only 2.3 percent of furniture sales industrywide go straight to the end user, according to the “Household Furniture Manufacturing in the U.S.” report by IBISWorld. Almost 43 percent of sales are to retailers and 31 percent to wholesalers.

The report states direct-to-buyer sales are expected to grow over the long term as buyers increasingly favor bypassing wholesalers and retailers to avoid price markups.

Smith said they use that trend to their advantage.

“Furniture going to stores has to go through so many people. This often means customers are getting less quality at higher prices,” he said.

James + James workers create about 300 pieces every month. Eldridge would not provide dollar amounts, but said May sales were 184 percent higher than January.

Furniture sales nationwide are expected to increase 6.3 percent this year to $24.5 billion, according to IBISWorld. Smith said they have customers in 27 states and about 20 percent of sales stay in Arkansas. Positive feedback is key for any small business, but particularly ones that rely on the Internet.

Loria Oliver counts herself as a customer and an advocate.

She bought a farmhouse table with bench seating about 18 months ago. The 6-foot farmhouse table is James + James’ most popular item, Smith said.

She discovered the custom furniture on Craigslist after months of looking for a family friendly table. She is the mother of two small children.

“We were looking for something interesting and different,” she said. “The table is casual but unique. It is a talking point whenever people come over to the house.”

Oliver recently reconnected with the owners when they asked her to help promote the business. She owns public relations firm OWC PR.

“I was a fan before I started working for them. I admired their craftsmanship,” she said.

Success has been quick, but not overnight. Smith built his first coffee table in September 2011 when he was an unemployed digital marketing professional. He posted the finished piece on Craigslist and waited for someone to buy it.

The first piece did not sell for more than a month, but it stirred interest. He started getting calls asking if he could make other custom pieces.

One of those was Eldridge. He and his wife, Jessa, were surfing the Web when they came across the coffee table made by Eldridge’s former classmate at John Brown University.

Eldridge had recently returned from active military duty, was attending nursing school at NorthWest Arkansas Community College and working three part-time jobs: tutor, caretaker and lawn worker.

Shortly after Smith and Eldridge started their company, Smith got a full-time job. He said he worked 80 to 90 hours some weeks for 10 months at his job and starting the company. He was able to focus just on the furniture business once orders started coming in.

“My wife had to wait eight months before she got her coffee table,” Eldridge said with a laugh.

The business has continued to grow debt-free.

“We could grow faster, but we like this pace,” Smith said. “We always have the cash on hand to grow.”