Like the handcrafted furniture he makes, Leroy Stutzman is as uncomplicated as they come. “In this day and age I find them so refreshingly honest,” says Bruce Alexander, owner of Findlay’s Guardian Drug Store in New Liskeard.
He has purchased two tables from Stutzman’s Woodcraft, a Mennonite-owned and operated furniture, cabinet and door making shop nestled in the back roads of New Liskeard, approximately eight kilometres northwest of civilization (or three hours north of North Bay).
“Generally when the product arrives it’s even nicer than we thought it would be.”
Born in Indiana, Stutzman has come from a long line of Mennonite brethren and sisters. At 19, he migrated to Northern Ontario after hearing a church was to be opened outside of New Liskeard. The United States’ loss was northern Ontario’s gain. He worked as the community schoolteacher and also as a carpenter for a contractor of the faith.
In his spare time Stutzman enjoyed creating practical home pieces from wood for his new family. It was a step of faith that gently guided him into believing his talent was not only marketable but beneficial to the Mennonite community.
“Really I was looking to be self employed,” he says in his understated manner.
In 1996 he approached his uncles and other men from churches back home and asked them to lend him some money to bring his idea of a cabinet and furniture-making shop to reality. He managed to convince six to invest, and today five men custom-make wood dining room and bedroom sets, armoires, end tables, kitchen cabinets and doors.
They do no wholesale furniture.
Alexander says the workers have a knack for using the wood’s grain to accentuate the pieces. Straight lines, perfect cuts, and above all the practicality of each finished product lure many a buyer to the Northern backwoods.
“It is growing as fast as I can handle it,” he says. “I am not looking for further markets at this point.”
Most of the clientele is from North Bay, Sudbury and Timmins. They ship as far as Thunder Bay as well, but 30 per cent of their clientele live within a 40-kilometre radius.
He has sold some furniture to Torontonians, but is not too keen about expanding further right now. Bumping up the volume means he would have to buy more equipment and at this point it is not economical.
“With the facilities I have I am about running at capacity,” he says.”
Usually the operation consists of one man in the office doing the finishing touches on pieces slated for delivery. Stutzman brings in pine, birch maple and oak to his 7,000 square foot shop. He prefers to work with oak because of its attractive appeal and easy milling quality.
In the first full year of sales the company brought in $110,000. Eight years later annual sales are closer to $449,000.
“I like what we are doing,” he says. “My oldest son, Leon, (12 years) comes in after school sometimes to help out.”
