GARDNER. Necessity is the mother of invention, and this is especially true when describing how Justin Robichaud got into the woodworking industry and what inspired him to start his own furniture business, Wood You Build It.
It all started with a simple homemade wooden kitchen island/junk to meet basic household needs.
"It was all a fluke," Robichaud said in a recent interview. You could say it's a fairy tale, he said.
12 years ago, Justin Robichaud and his wife, Kate, lived in a small rental apartment, so they hung a garbage bag on the doorknob because there was no room for a garbage can in the kitchen. But with a baby on the way, his wife said things would go wrong. - Can you do something? he asked her.
Using reclaimed attic floorboards, with ingenuity born out of necessity and a tight budget, he built a small wooden kitchen island with storage and a built-in trash can. He solved the problem and it cost him next to nothing. Robichaud said his only expenses were "five or six dollars for equipment."
The coincidence that started Robichaud's success story happened two months later when he heard about an online marketplace called Etsy. "I saw the CEO doing an interview with Oprah," he said.
This was his chance to turn his invention into much-needed cash. "It was manual labor oriented," he said. The first advertised installation was quickly sold out, and from there his new career began.
Robichaud started his business in 2012. He said he is opening a store in Gardner, which has a "rich history" of furniture manufacturing. Nicknamed the "City of Chairs", it was once a shopping center. A giant chair still stands outside, symbolizing the city's proud past. However, most of the carpentry and furniture factories that the city was famous for have long since disappeared.
The wood you built is exceptional and the company is still growing. Seven years after its founding, Robichaud hired its first employee. By then, he's gone from rustic prototypes to classic freestanding kitchen islands that he says are "built from the ground up" and custom-made.
The islands are covered in finished butcher block and can be customized in size and configuration from simple styles to almost any design. With or without seats. Boxes, shelves, removable containers, shelves for spices. Wood species, colors and finishes, etc. Parts set the price up to $4,000. Buyer's choice. "We'll make it the way you want it ... exactly," he said.
When asked about his business plan, he said his idea was to keep it simple: buy the right materials, price your work piece by piece, and put the profits back into the business. "It works," he said. And he did all this without excusing himself, he said. Returning to the rags to riches theme, he said his story can inspire others.
There isn't much in the inventory, he said, with "several designs" for customers to choose from unless they have their own custom design, which he says "99%" have.
The 25,000 square meter workshop has no showroom. Finished parts are usually delivered to the customer's door. When asked about the equipment, he said that it is also quite simple. All good, but nothing too high-tech.
"Because it's handmade, we use power tools every day," he said.
Robichaud said kitchen islands account for 85% of his business, adding that it is possibly the largest furniture account on Etsy.
"We stick to what works ... that's our bread and butter," he said.
Recently featured in two television segments on Channel 5, the company's products under the Chronicle and Made in Massachusetts brands are sold to customers across the country. "We provide," he said, a service he sees as a mixed blessing. In return, he can travel to various cities and towns in the United States. He said he recently returned from a trip to Wyoming.
"We're like dairy farmers," Robichaud said.
Robichaud said his passion for what he does for a living has developed over time. Robichaud was born and raised in Fitchburg. He says he's not into woodworking, although his family history goes back to his French-Canadian heritage.
"My dad says it's in my blood," she said.
When asked about other paths he's taken, other interests, Robichaud mentioned some of the places he's worked and said he played baseball in college but probably didn't have a clear career path he wanted to pursue .
"Then life happened," he said.
When asked if he sees the business as a family affair, Robichaud said his wife Kate is not directly involved, although she deserves credit for inspiring them. As for her children Lexi, 12, and Bryson, 10, she said they have different interests. Considering his age, this is not a disappointment. He loves what he is doing now and his business is thriving.
"I never hated going to work," he said.
"My team is as passionate as I am, and their effort definitely shows," Robichaud said.
When asked about customer feedback, he said delivery to a couple in Brooklyn stood out. When she arrived, she was asked to wait before removing the protective cloth blanket. "A woman shouted upstairs to call her six children, and all eight were 'lined up for the big reveal,'" Robichaud said.
The online site can be reached at Etsy or at Justin@Woodyoubuildit.com
