Read More Articles by Karen Koenig

Profile picture for user karenkoenig
Karen Koenig
Editor

Karen M. Koenig has more than 35 years of experience in the woodworking industry, including visits to wood products manufacturing facilities throughout North America, Europe and Asia. As senior editor, her responsibilities include writing and editing for Woodworking Network publications FDMC Magazine and Closets & Organized Storage Magazine, as well as the website. She also oversees many of Woodworking Network's special projects and programs, including Red Book: Resource Guide for Best Practice, FDMC 300, 40 Under 40, and the Wood Industry Market Leaders. She can be reached at [email protected].

H.M. Richards

Woodworking Industry News

Upholstered Furniture Maker H.M. Richards Expands Operations

GUNTOWN, MS — Upholstered furniture manufacturer H.M. Richards is investing $8 million to expand  operations at its facility in Guntown, MS. The expansion is expected to create 500 jobs.Founded in 1997, H.M. Richards currently has 977 employees. For the expansion, the residential furniture maker is purchasing land adjacent to its 900,000-square-foot facility to build the new plant.
By Karen M. Koenig, June 9, 2015 | 9:45 am CDT

Furniture

Producing Furniture: From the Ground Up

Full Grown takes zero-waste furniture manufacturing to new levels. Owned by designer Gavin Munro, the UK-based firm literally grows its furniture into the desired shapes. And with each piece of furniture produces, Munro says, "There's no way not to see it came from a tree.Read UK Designer Grows Complete Furniture Pieces on Woodworking Network.Visit Full Grown's website at FullGrown.co.UK 
By Karen M. Koenig, June 8, 2015 | 4:16 pm CDT
Schad Family-Abby-Diana-Matt-Tim-Verna-Brandon-and-Colleen-Norris.jpg

Woodworking Industry News

Nucraft Expands Contract Furniture Facility

COMSTOCK PARK, MI – Contract furniture maker Nucraft  recently broke ground on a 47,700-square-foot expansion to its manufacturing facility. When completed, Nucraft will have nearly 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
 
“Nucraft is pleased to continue to invest in West Michigan, a community that we’ve called home since our founding in 1944,” said Matt Schad, CEO.
By Karen M. Koenig, June 4, 2015 | 2:52 pm CDT
Full Grown, furniture

Furniture

UK Designer Grows Complete Furniture Pieces

 Gavin Munro has grown his business literally from the ground up.  “We’ve taken a complete rethink of how wood is used as a material,” says Munro, a furniture designer and owner of Full Grown, an ecological, zero-waste producer of wood furniture.Instead of traditional methods — harvesting trees, milling, shaping and assembling the wood into furniture —   “We’ve bypassed that completely and we now grow trees directly into the shapes and forms that we want,” he says.
By Karen M. Koenig, June 2, 2015 | 2:18 pm CDT
applied molding cell.jpg

Cabinets

Custom Wood Component Maker, Decore-ative Specialties, Marks 50th Anniversary

In 1965, standard-sized cabinets were all the rage, the average turnaround time on components was weeks — not days — and the tape-controlled routing and shaping machine was still a year away from making its mark in the woodworking industry. It was against this backdrop that Jack Lansford Sr. made the pivotal decision to start a custom wood door factory to service small cabinetmakers in Southern California.
By Karen M. Koenig, June 2, 2015 | 1:44 pm CDT
CPA logo on panel.jpg

Woodworking Industry News

Composite Panel Group Meeting Kicks Off with Optimism, High Attendance

BONITA SPRINGS, FL - Business is improving, albeit slowly, for the composite panel industry. The news set the tone for the Composite Panel Association's spring annual meeting, which saw its highest attendance since 2007. More than 280 people, representing 118 woodworking firms and related organizations, converged on Bonita Springs, Florida, May 31-June 3 for the event.
By Karen M. Koenig, June 2, 2015 | 1:22 pm CDT