Anonymous websites?

By Guest Blogger, Dennis Shanoff

The way we shop is certainly changing. Shopping via the internet has provided us greater variety & access to products. In a physical or regional shopping experience you have the chance to at least drive by or poke in and see what the business is about. Meet the people, get a feel for the product or service, and develop trust and confidence in the business. You know, feel good about spending your money there.

So with almost every product or service you seek you have many choices as to where to purchase it. And it’s your decision who gets your hard earned money, right?

So why is it that there are a number of web stores that reveal so little about themselves? At the very least you should be able to find in one click from the home page where they are located, how long the have been in business, and as many ways to contact them as possible. And of course it wouldn’t hurt to learn more about the people behind the scenes. And are they truly experts in this product field or just capitalizing on a trend or popular product? It’s not hard to build a website that simply collects orders and transfers the order fulfillment via drop shipping? In that case have they ever seen or used the product before? Do they know how to use it, maintain it, properly size it, etc? Can they speak from experience about a products satisfaction, performance or reliability?

It just gives me the impression that they want you to just buy online and they not be bothered. Some even tempt buyers in with unusually low prices? Are they marking up list price just to mark it down? Or it makes you wonder how they might cut corners to sell for so low or how they can run perpetual sales? When buying something sight unseen online you want to feel confident that you will get exactly what you expect and that if something does indeed go wrong there is an expert ready and willing to help with an easy resolution.

So you may want to do what I do. When you find a few web sites offering what you want, take the time and poke deeper into each site. It should be easy to uncover the web business that not only has the best expertise but is working hardest for your business and appreciates it the most!

Happy Father's Day

 

 

What are you getting Dad for Father's Day?  Kendall and Riley have been raking their brains trying to think of something other than the usual wallet or tie we get Ken every year. 

 

Used to be we could get him some fishing gear too, but that's out now-- with the limited mobility issue.

 

I've been thinking about a gift certificate to the Vermont Woodworking School in Cambridge VT.   This is a very cool school and they offer all different types of courses and workshops-- from beginner to advanced.

 

They even offer an immersion program where you can live at the Farm House or in a silo housing unit (see photo) while you learn the finer points of woodworking.  Students take field trips to meet some of the world's best artisan furniture makers and see their studios. 

 

 

 

 

What a gift for Dad, right?  Getting him out of the house to do guy things on his own?  And I think they may even take a field trip to near-by micro-breweries.  What could be more better than wood and hops?  And honestly, Dad's not likely to get into much trouble in rural Vermont. 

Convinced?

Vermont's Best PYO Strawberry Festival: Mark You Calendar For June 25

 

You may not even have noticed because of all the rain, but this is STRAWBERRY season in Vermont.  Usually by this time of the summer, we've been to Dutton's PYO Berry Farm a couple times to pick our own berries. 

When the boys were toddlers we would get to the check-out stand and have several quarts of berries to weigh-- as well as an empty container in each of the boys fat little hands.  We really should have been weighing the boys on the way in and then weighing them again at check-out to get an accurate price for the strawberries they picked.  But the nice people at Duttons were always happy just to estimate that.

Anyway, this year's strawberry crop is about at peak now.  The rain has made some of the fields too soggy to pick in, but the fields that are drained are said to have an INCREDIBLE crop.  Loads of berries on every plant and the rain has super-sized them.  It's

There are strawberry festivals all over Vermont but perhaps the most well known festival is at Sam Mazza's Farm Market in Colchester, Vermont this Saturday, June 25 from noon-4pm.   Here you'll find fresh-picked Strawberry Shortcake piled high with Whipped Cream and Ripe, Juicy Vermont Strawberries grown on the farm.  Strawberry Milkshakes, Strawberry Fudge, Strawberry Jam & Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries are also favorites. Pony Rides, Kid's Games, a Petting Zoo, Face Painting & Vermont Specialty Food Samples and WVMT Radio Personality Charlie Papillo will be there to keep you entertained.  Check it out, pick your own strawberries and let us know how you liked it!  Or if you've found another Strawberry Festival you love, tell us about it in the comments section.

Vermont Woods Studios Furniture

Pepper Comes Through For Kendall

Last week Kendall sent a very nice email out to all our Vermont Woods Studios Furniture office staff politely asking them for input to a STAFF BIO page he's putting together.  Everyone completely blew him off, including me, I'm sorry to say. 

Well everyone but Pepper.  As you can see, she is very serious about her job, especially when it involves working with a mouse.  Always on top of things (like our documents, keyboards and laps) Pepper is once again setting the standard for cooperative behavior in the Vermont Furniture World.

You can read her corporate profile as she enters her new supervisory assignment right here on our Vermont made furniture website. 

Now as for Rebecca, Manjula, Dennis, Douglas, Ken, Riley and Kendall-- well I don't want to put any pressure on you but you should know that at this moment Pepper is setting up an account at her favorite store and lobbying hard for YOUR bonuses in order to fund her next binge.  I'd say you might want to get crackin on those bios! 

Just sayin...

A HUGE Custom Walnut Slab Table

http://lyndon.com/blog/?p=141

 

http://truexcullins.blogspot.com/2011/06/samoset-construction-update-part-ii.html

 

Eco Friendly Furniture Options: Why North American Hardwood Is The Best Choice

http://www.nhla.com/pdf/Why_North_American_Hardwoods_web.pdf

How about a Vermont Summer Vacation!

By Dennis Shanoff

Where did Spring go? It seems like suddenly it is summer! So have you planned your summer family vacation yet? Or are you still looking for vacation ideas?

Well if you haven’t planned your summer vacation you just might want to consider a Vermont Vacation. We might be a tad biased but we think Vermont is one of the best vacation spots. And if you like fresh air, rolling green hills, arts & crafts and artisan foods Vermont is absolutely one of the best places to vacation!

Where to stay? The choice is yours. Vermont accommodations range from quiet campgrounds and cozy cabins to luxury inns and classy resorts. You can make one area your base camp while you work the region or hop scotch the state on a theme vacation such as following a cheese, wine, or micro brewed beer trail.

What to do? Here are a few of our favorite Vermont vacation ideas and popular destinations:

It’s hard to beat the quaintness of Woodstock, a postcard picture perfect New England Village. Be sure to visit the Gillingham & Sons General Store. You will be amazed at the diversity of products they carry! Nearby Queeche Gorge offers great scenic opportunities, antiquing, and fine dining. You might consider lunch or dinner at the Simon Pearce restaurant where you will have the added treat of dining on a balcony overlooking a dramatic waterfall. Prefer your activities to be a little more strenuous? Try hiking or mountain biking in the Killington area.

Or visit our big city of Burlington where we don’t quite have skyscrapers but you might find a building more then a few stories tall. Burlington is not only a great pedestrian town, but very dog friendly. Take a Lake Champlain tour (Americas 6th largest lake) or wander about Church Street where outside dining and unique shops abound.

Need more ideas? When it comes to finding Vermont vacation attractions the official Vermont tourism website has a great search feature to help you discover fun and interesting things to do. And if your route brings you in the southeastern area of Vermont and you have an interest in seeing some of Vermont’s best wood furniture please stop by and visit our showroom in Vernon.

So this year take a Vermont family vacation! Oh, and bring an empty suitcase… you are going to find a lot of goodies you’ll want to bring back!

Photo courtesy of Vermont State Parks.

 

 

The Best of Vermont's 4th of July Events (Including Our American Made Furniture Sale)

My favorite 4th of July event in Vermont has always been the Vermont Symphony Orchestra (VSO) concert.  In Southeastern Vermont the concert is on July 3 this year at Grafton Ponds.  It's an incredibly lovely, typically Vermont setting where you can stretch out with your finest picnic wares and enjoy wine, cheese and other favorite delicasies.  For those in the northern part of the state, the VSO concert will be at Shelburne Farms on the 4th.

Lots of other fun events are going on this Independence weekend and one of the best places to scope them out is Vermont Vacation.  Many Vermont State Parks have fireworks, free entry and later hours on the Fourth.  Another favorite activity, especially for families is the Old Vermont 4th at the Billings Farm & Museum, a working dairy farm where they have historic debates, wagon rides, a spelling bee, an egg toss, and more.

And of course, at Vermont Woods Studios we're celebrating America’s Independence with a 4^th of July, USA Made Furniture Sale.  While you’re traveling to Vermont’s music festivals, concerts, fireworks displays, parades, carnivals or fairs-- stop in and see our solid wood furniture.  Or shop online or by phone to save time and make the most of your outdoor events schedule.

In honor of our nation's Revolutionary heros, we're offering 20% off every piece of our 100% American made, solid wood furniture storewide.  This is huge because as you may know, we offer this big discount only twice a year.  We have a Black Friday sale at Thanksgiving and one other storewide sale, which is usually in the summer.  This is it!  These are the best prices we can offer -- it's a great time to finally buy the authentic, USA  made handcrafted solid wood furniture you've been longing for.  Give us a call today with your questions or customizations.  We look forward to serving you.

Summer Shaker Style Furniture Sale

Of all of our Vermont furniture styles and collections, our Shaker inspired collections and pieces are some of our most popular. So we're working with our craftspeople to offer all Shaker furniture for our current sale-- give the people what they want! Starting today and running through July 19^th all Shaker furniture is 10% off (plus free shipping)!

You can browse our online gallery where you will find 6 Shaker Style Furniture collections including dozens of finely crafted Shaker inspired pieces for every room in your home. All our Shaker furniture is traditionally handcrafted in Vermont and is available in solid Cherry, Walnut and Maple hardwoods.

Being a network of small workshops, plus with the current demand it can take about 6-10 weeks to have your furniture built. So while we are just rolling into mid-summer you may want to think about ordering furniture now for late summer or early fall delivery.  Even for Thanksgiving dinner!  With handcrafted furniture that's made to order the best advice we can give is plan ahead.

So we welcome you to our online “Finest of Vermont” furniture gallery! Hope you enjoy your visit and please get in touch with us if there is anything we can assist you with. Thanks for visiting us today!

Note! Like us on Facebook and you can save additional $50! (And learn about new designs, upcoming sales, and other happenings here and throughout Vermont)

Vermont Furniture Store: Expansion Plans

I guess I should say expansion plans, hopes and dreams.  Well at any rate, we are once again very excited to be out-growing our space at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture and we're looking at options for the future.  We love our landlord here in Vernon and we've already rented a second suite from him.  But we're also starting to think that purchasing a property might be smart. 

Here's Ken, waiting for me to climb onto his bike as we cruise around Vermont looking at potential places.  We asked our favorite real estate agent, Suzanne King of Masiello Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate for help and she's been kind enough to show us dozens and dozens of properties, including these:

• Brattleboro, High Street


• Brattleboro, Western Ave


• Stowe, Above the Clouds (not really, but I wish ;)

I feel horrible asking Suzanne to trek around all over tarnation with us, but as we grow our needs keep changing, so the properties we looked at 3-6 months ago are no longer adequate.   We keep needing more room!  Lately we've been looking at an old, historic property in Marlboro, Vermont where the Skyline Restaurant used to be.  The building is dilapidated but it's on a property with a stunning view and it's right in the middle of Vermont's Green Mountain Forest.  It's an interesting possibility as we work to raise awareness about forest conservation and our green mission.

Have any other ideas we should check out for our next move?  Let me know and I'll keep you posted on our progress as we move forward.

 

 

August Vermont Arts & Crafts Festival Scene

By Dennis Shanoff

 

I’m not sure what the official count of craftspeople & artisans (making some or all of their income from their crafts) in the state of Vermont is but if I had to guess I would say it is easily in the thousands? Vermont certainly has to be one of the top states for high quality, fine arts & crafts work. Studios, workshops, and galleries can be found in practically every Vermont city and town. I suppose it could take months to visit even half of them.  The diversity of the media choice these talented artisans choose is equally overwhelming! Clay, fiber, paper, wood, glass, jewelry, and metal works are all well represented. And expect to find not only traditional type works but plenty of one of a kind pieces. Saying one could build a vast and eclectic collection of Vermont art pieces is absolutely an understatement.

 

So from now through the fall is about the time we start to see the larger organized craft festivals and open studio weekends in Vermont. I will highlight a few popular August ones below and no doubt a quick web search would yield many more.

 

 

The first weekend in August brings the very popular Southern Vermont Art and Craft Festival held at the historical Hildene's Meadow in Manchester, VT  (Hildene, as shown here was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary Harlan Lincoln-- Robert was the eldest son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln). At the Hildene festival you will be able to meet and see the work of 150 artisans plus take in some great food and music. This long running juried festival is a must attend for the arts & crafts aficionado.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving up to the middle of the state and the middle of the month (Aug 13 & 14) is an “Art in the Park” event hosted by the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland, VT.  Fifty years running, this event brings in juried, high quality craftsman as well as fine art, great food and live music. The estimated 7000 – 9000 attendees suggests that this event is worth the trip!

The following Saturday (August 20^th) and just down the street from Rutland in Ludlow, VT is the Fletcher Farm School Annual Arts & Crafts Festival. Over 90 fine artist and craftsman will be exhibiting top quality works across all medias. And if seeing all this beautiful handiwork inspires your creative side you are in the right place! The Fletcher Farm just happens to be a school for the arts and crafts. Their course program covers just about every type of art or craft!

And if you can’t make these dates you can always visit one or more of the Vermont State Craft Centers. Open year round, these centers are state approved and they showcase exclusively Vermont made works that meet high quality, uniqueness and variety standards. 

We at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture hope you get the chance to travel to and discover the incredible Vermont arts & craft scene soon. We know you will find something you just can’t live without! And so you know, our connection to the Vermont artisan scene is our representation and marketing of the works of over 20 highly skilled and acclaimed fine wood furniture makers. We like to think of these craftsman as creators of functional art!

Vermont Style Furniture: Best Sellers on Sale This Week

It seems unbelievable to me but we have almost 2000 items in our Vermont Made Furniture Store now. 

We're always trying to improve the navigation to make it easy to find what you like.  Recently a number of customers have suggested that we showcase our Best Sellers so they can learn from existing customer experience. 

So Rebecca worked with our craftspeople to come up with a category and a discount this week for our Top 20 Best Selling Furniture items. 

Manjula just posted the Best Seller Sale.  You can save 10% off any single best seller and 15% if you buy 2 or more.  Kendall also added a  $50 Facebook coupon:  like us on Facebook and you save an additional $50.

The sale starts now and ends at midnight on July 26.  Check it out!

Walk the Talk!

By Dennis Shanoff

An irony of our love of the outdoors and our great appreciation of nature and natural environments is that we at Vermont Woods Studios Furniture spend quite a bit of time each day indoors in front of a computer! That’s just the nature of a web business I suppose. We sure do need to be “hard wired” or “connected” for a lot of our eCommerce business functions.

 

 

Manjula, Kendall and Dennis on a Walk and Talk by The Brown Farm on West Road in Vernon

 

But for a lot of us these days, our work days are much less physical then they use to be. Some days it just seems that you could spend the entire day in your chair as everything you need either comes in or goes out via the computer. We don’t even have to get up out of our chair to send or receive faxes anymore! But then what about times where you don’t need the computer like meetings and discussions? Times when we can work unplugged? Just everyone roll your chairs a little closer together?

Well we have found a better alternative that works great for us and gets us up, out & about! You see in our office we have taken to walking meetings, or what we like to call our “Walk & Talks”. Near our office we have the luxury of having some great scenic, and quiet rural roads. So most days of the week we take to the streets and conduct our “non computer” work during our walk. Just a quick divided road crossing and then under the railroad bridge to the right and we are in perfect walking territory!

Dennis, Peggy and Manjula at Annette's Malhanna Farm on Pond Road in Vernon

 

These quiet tree lined streets lead us past dairy & horse farms, corn fields, and into some nice residential neighborhoods. Ringing phones replaced by singing birds and rustling leaves! Moving more then just your hands and fingers! And if we time it right the cows will be by the fence waiting for us or my favorite black & white pony will be in view. It seems most of our best ideas and problem solving takes place out on these walks. We hope you work in an area that provides a quiet and safe walking area. If so give walking meetings a try! It just feels great to get some fresh air, real light, stretch the legs and just be up, out & about!

Mid Summer Solid Wood Bedroom Furniture Sale!

Customers, fans, and admirers of Vermont Woods Studios fine wood furniture spend the most time browsing in our bedroom furniture galleries. So beds and bedroom sets have become some of the most popular pieces we sell. And it is around this time every summer we see the interest in bedroom furnishings peak. Perhaps the actions of spring see someone just moving into a new home, or just completing a home or room remodel? Maybe a child is going off to college and their bedroom is being reclaimed and being transformed into a guest bedroom?

So starting today and running through August 9th your first piece of bedroom furniture is on sale for 10% off. Or buy two or more pieces and we’ll take 15% off your total order (plus free shipping)! This is a storewide bedroom sale so the savings applies to every bedroom collection and piece. Sound interesting? Hop on over to our online furniture showroom where you can find over 40 beautiful handcrafted wood beds plus dozens of matching wood dressers, chests, and nightstands. Every piece of our real wood bedroom furniture is traditionally handcrafted right here in Vermont and is available in solid Cherry, Walnut and Maple hardwoods.

So enjoy your web gallery visit and please get in touch with us if there is anything at all we can assist you with. And a big thanks to all our customers, fans, and admirers of Vermont Style Furniture! If you are not quite ready for some new Vermont made bedroom furniture right now, please keep checking back with us. Look for more new products and specials in the coming months!

Note! If you “Like us on Facebook” you can save an additional $50! (and learn about new designs, upcoming sales, and other happenings here and throughout Vermont)