We find it hard to believe the reaction that we received to our recent e-mail about our relationship with Tomlinson. We got congratulations, visits, and comments. A significant number of you linked to the Tomlinson website and to their history.
In this day and age of hard sell and enormous (usually phony) discounts, we keep being told by professionals that it's not good to be wordy, just try to pitch the sale. Yet, you should only know how many people tell us they love our e-mails and in fact look forward to reading them.
So here we go again with another story about another vendor and our relationship with them. This time it's Charleston Forge. We haven't done business with them as long as we have with Tomlinson, but then they haven't been around as long. Our partnership with them started shortly after they went into business.
So here, without further comment is our piece about Charleston Forge that will appear in our website.
It has been our pleasure to be part of the Charleston Forge family from their very early days when Art and Susan Barber first started manufacturing. Back then they made baker's racks of every size and description. Then they added bar stools, counter stools, tables and chairs. From the very beginning one thing has never changed. Their products have always been made by hand, have always been made to the highest quality standards and have always been made in the mountains of North Carolina. We have always had a very good relationship with the Barbers to the point that Art once told us that whenever he writes a letter to his dealers he always starts it Dear Mr. Bograd. It's good to have that kind of relationship with your supplier. Over the years, the company has evolved to the point that now a great deal of their production is custom. It is still made of the highest quality, but no longer are baker's racks their main product. We feel very responsible for the direction they have taken, since back in 2006 we said to Art that he should scale up his product line and stop worrying about competing with Asian product. We were thrilled to discover at the fall market of 2006 that they had hired a series of top flight designers and metalworkers from around the country to design product for them and to teach their employees how to create more elegant work. Our involvement was recognized in an article in Furniture Today which is our industry's leading trade publication. Charleston Forge products are found today in fine homes, offices, restaurants, and all sorts of commercial buildings. Their website is filled with all sorts of interesting information about their history and how they make their furniture. We invite you to look at it
 
Now you have the Charleston Forge story as it will appear in our website. We hope you will continue to enjoy learning about the relationships that we have developed over the years with our suppliers. And we hope you will continue learning about why our customers have developed the same sort of relation with us as we have with our suppliers.
Remember that we are open Monday through Saturday 11 to 5. We hope to see you soon.
Mark, Marcia and Joe Bograd
@Bograds
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