Courtesy Square Nail Rustic
Two years ago, Square Nail Rustics began as a garage hobby. Eric Mattison, the owner, was making over furniture, adding his personal touch and rustic style to pieces he acquired.
He worked alongside two others while in the garage and finally, in May 2015, Square Nail Rustics became an official LLC and moved into the Chase Bag Building at 15 Boulevard in Queensbury. The number of employees rose to 12.
“In regard to our furniture,” operation manager Marla Norton said, “think of something that your grandfather would have made out of stuff he had left laying around down in the basement during the depression.”
Recently, the company leased 4,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space at 276 Dix Ave. in Queensbury. It moved most its line of production, from the lumber press through assembly, to the new space, she said.
“We moved into 15 Boulevard in June 2016,” Norton said.”Our popularity grew quickly and in turn, we outgrew the space. There wasn’t enough room to store finished product and work on current orders.”
This growth happened as a result of “good old-fashioned word of mouth, powered by social media,” Norton said. “In December of 2015, we gained 20,000 Facebook likes. In July of 2016, we hit 30,000 and in December 2016, we hit 40,000 likes.”
Even the number of employees has grown.
“What started out as a small group of three, grew to a dozen or more while at Chase Bag,” Norton said. “We transitioned to the Boulevard with a crew of around 20 and currently employ over 30 individuals–some that have unique abilities and come with their own job coach.”
According to Norton, a typical day at Square Nail Rustics is, “fairly loud and quite dusty. It’s a constant flurry of cutting, grinding, sanding wood and assembling furniture.”
The furniture is built out of regional lumber bought through Ward Lumber in Lake Placid.
What sets them apart from other furniture manufacturers in the area?
“We offer affordable rustic furniture made with Adirondack lumber and other locally sourced materials,” Norton said. “Our pieces are hand-crafted individually and made to resemble primitive farmhouse furniture. We are not about perfection, but rather imperfection, so occasional cracks, dings, nail holes, wormholes, knots, divots, and screws are to be expected and adds uniqueness and character to the overall design.
“Since no two pieces of wood are exactly alike, the variety of stains we use will show differently in the wood grains with light and dark areas, providing unique individuality to each piece.”
In turn, they fully support other local, small businesses.
The most popular items are farmhouse tables and benches, but they also build pantries, hall-trees, console tables, bars, islands, and wooden flooring.
Square Nail Rustics can be reached at 796-1449 and found on Facebook.