At Amish Furniture Gallery’s new 16,000 square foot store in Batavia, store manager Brian Zerm told me there are 61 different styles of tables on display. One in particular caught my eye: a tabletop of cherry wood with hickory log legs. The matching chairs had cherry wood seats and hickory log chair backs and legs. It was gorgeous, rustic, and heavy. “Here, lift one. See how it dents the carpet,” said Zerm.

“People are surprised when they come into the store for the first time,” said Zerm. “Many people think we have only rustic and country. But we have Shaker, Mission, Arts/crafts and contemporary styling as well. People tell me they’ve been looking for a dining room set for two years. They come in here and find two or three right off. For just a little more than something made in China, people can have heirloom quality. It’ll last forever.”

Amish Furniture Gallery was founded in Crystal Lake in 1998 by Dick Hubbard, who produces many of the furniture designs for his five stores. “Dick’s got that ‘it’ quality,” said Zerm. “He knows what people want. And our customers tell us what they’d like to see if we don’t have it. Any of those 61 tables can be made in a variety of hardwoods and finishes.”

It takes about 10 to 12 weeks for a custom order to be produced by the Amish community of furniture makers in Ohio that Hubbard uses. “Some of them are just one guy working in a barn with a hand sander. Others maybe employ 8 to 10 people. They tend to specialize: tables, or beds, or entertainment centers and bookcases. That way they can achieve a level of efficiency without sacrificing quality.”

The Amish craftsmen don’t use electricity in their homes or their workshops. Their tools are either hand tools or powered by air pressured provided by a diesel generator. “It’s dark out there at night,” said Zerm.

Prices for the Amish-made tables and chairs range from $999 to $3,600. A six-foot wide rolltop desk of quarter sawed oak sells for $5,899. About a third of the furniture is bedrooms sets; a third, tables and chairs and the other third is office furniture, occasional tables, entertainment centers and case goods.

The store also carries Quoizel Tiffany-style shades and lamps. Which use electricity.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 12:11 am and is filed under Craft, Furniture Store, Handicraft. Tags: Arts, Cherry, Chicago, China, Design, electricity, Furniture, Furniture Gallery, furniture maker, furniture makers, Hickory, Office Furniture, Ohio, Price, Set, Table, Tiffany, Works, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.