A Craftsman Branches Out
A passion for wood carving evolves into a New York retail chain.
By Eliza Gallo -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 11/1/2000
The path a man's life takes after he decides to devote it to art is not always one of deprivation and hardship. In the 1960s, actor Richard Rothbard felt his passion for woodworking drawing him away from his existing profession. Over the years since, he has shown singular talent not only in wood carving but in turning his art into business ventures that are profitable for both himself and for other dedicated craftspeople.
All's Fair
Abandoning acting, Rothbard began his woodworking career by creating furniture and accessories, and in 1967 he made his first foray into retail, with a handcrafted furniture store on New York's Upper East Side. He closed that shop in 1977, and moved with his new wife, Joanna, to a rural area of New Jersey. During that time, Richard was developing what would become his signature piece: the puzzle box, an intricately carved creation with interlocking parts and hidden compartments, often crafted from exotic woods such as ebony, imbuya, or zebrawood. Richard sold his boxes at craft fairs, and in 1980 he launched his own show, which gathered anywhere from 50 to 300 exhibitors in the shadow of a larger fair in Rhinebeck, New York.
While Rothbard never abandoned the craft fair circuit (he still produces a quarterly show in Westfield, New Jersey, and exhibits his boxes at roughly 20 shows a year), he began to apply the experience and relationships he had developed to a less nomadic purpose. In June 1988, Richard and Joanna opened the first of their retail chain, An American Craftsman, in New York's Greenwich Village. An American Craftsman is now comprised of six stores. The most recent additions are the shop in Rockefeller Center, which opened this May; and the Stockbridge, Massachusetts, store (the first to be located outside of New York City), which opened in June. The shops range in size from a very modest 240 square feet of selling space to 1,800 square feet of selling space, and they carry not only Rothbard's product line, dubbed Boxology, but the work of many artists and friends from the craft fair years. The stores carry a mix of handcrafted wares in wood, glass, clay, and other materials. According to Rothbard, An American Craftsman features the creations of 300 to 400 artists at any given time, and stocks the work of more than 800 artists each year.
This diversity, coupled with the fact that the products are one-of-a-kind, makes for an unusual and challenging retail situation. Problems of ordering and inventory loom large, particularly since there are several locations. "When you need to do the buying for all of these stores, you can't order and try something out, and three months later say, 'Hey, I need another shipment,'" Rothbard explained. "If you really want to cover yourself, you have to order with the greater number of people for the year. So in February, you have to figure out what you're going to need much later on in the year." According to Rothbard, there are other headaches involved in dealing with merchandise that is not mass-produced. He noted that many artists ship late, wreaking havoc on retailers' finances. "Your cash flow projections go out the window," he said. "And your lines of credit all of a sudden are eaten up, when you didn't even plan on using them." He explained that the secret to success, given these issues, is experience. His years with craft fairs were an apprenticeship, providing him with strong friendships with artisans, an inside track when it comes to getting the best work, and a sense of what sells. He also credits Joanna with having a keen instinct for buying.
Location, Location.
Another aspect of An American Craftsman that differs from the normal retail operation is Rothbard's promotion strategy. His decision has been to forgo almost all advertising, and to instead channel money into the high rents required to secure high-traffic locations. Rockefeller Center is a perfect example, as it draws crowds of people from all over the world with a willingness to spend. The store in the Sheraton Manhattan Hotel in midtown is another prime example. And Greenwich Village has always been a magnet for visitors with an interest in the arts.
According to Richard, he doesn't have the budget to do the kind and amount of advertising that would really make an impact-for example, repeated ads in The New York Times. "The cost to get real visual impact on the page for our business, I don't think is worth it," he commented. An American Craftsman does advertise in a local tourist magazine, which Richard believes is more economical and useful. He has also experimented with radio advertising. But the stores' success has more to do with word of mouth, and being in the right place, all the time.
Out of the Woods
And that success is considerable. An American Craftsman will take in an estimated $4.5 million in sales in 2000, a significant increase over the $3.7 million it generated in 1999. All told, the stores employ about 40 people, and Rothbard employs ten woodworkers to help with the Boxology line.
Rothbard constantly explores ways to develop his business. He established a niche in corporate gifts, handcrafting anywhere from two to several hundred wood pieces for a customer. He sent out a Boxology catalog to the more than 20,000 people on his mailing list. But, based on the response, he feels that the next catalog will be an online one. An American Craftsman has a Web address, www.anamericancraftsman.com, but the site hasn't been launched yet. He plans to get into online sales at some point. "I'm not a firm believer, at this point, that this is for me a way to sell high-end craft," he admitted. Accordingly, the goal of An American Craftsman's Web site will be to promote the stores, providing information and "great visuals."
And there is the possibility of new store openings, albeit under slightly different conditions. Rothbard explained: "We are interested in forming an alliance with either a venture capitalist or a large retailer. It's just more than my wife and I can really take on."
Whatever the future holds, we can expect shrewd moves from a man who has managed to meld art with business, turning a modest hobby into a flourishing retail chain.
