Amid Ownership Change, James+James Turns Two

Springdale startup James+James is now just James … sort of.

While the name of the fast-growing furniture company hasn’t changed, one of the two namesake principals has exited the ownership picture.

In early October, James Eldridge sold his half of the business — James+James LLC — to company founder James Smith.

The buyout price is not known, but Smith said two new stakeholders are now backing the business, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in September.

“They’re good friends of mine and they prefer, really, just to be silent investors,” he said.

Good friends or not, attracting investment dollars shouldn’t have been too difficult for Smith, whose story of startup success in the manufacturing industry is impressive, especially considering research suggests only about half of all manufacturing startups are still operating after three years.

A venture launched from a Rogers garage now has between 15 and 20 employees on the payroll depending on the week, and now maintains its headquarters in a 7,800-SF facility on West Randall Wobbe Lane.

Revenue has surpassed $100,000 per month — and that’s growing — and Smith said in several metrics, the company is three times larger than it was in January.

“It really is mind-boggling,” he said. “Two years ago we were excited about selling $1,500 each month in the garage. We’ve grown really fast, but it’s been at an aggressive and manageable rate.”

 

Farmhouse Following

When Smith, 26, begins talking about his company, his speech picks up. He speaks quickly, with passion and excitement, about different facets of the furniture industry, an area he knew exactly nothing about two years ago.

“The first thing I built was a coffee table,” he recalled. “People saw it and I started to get phone calls saying they really loved my style. I thought, ‘My style? It’s just a coffee table. I don’t have a style.’”

That’s no longer the case. James+James has cultivated a significant domestic following for its custom-made wood furniture made by hand.

The company’s products can be found in 40 states, Smith said, and in early October, James+James opened the door to additional markets by filling its first international orders for customers in Canada and Bermuda.

“We had an order for a bed from a lady in Canada, and another woman in Bermuda ordered a table.”

Smith said between 30 and 35 customers place orders for furniture each week.

Carpenters there build a variety of tables and dining room furniture, bedroom furniture, end tables, benches and bookshelves. About the only item the company can’t provide is chairs.

Smith said about 80 percent of sales are for private residences and 20 percent are filled for commercial clients.

Most customers Smith talks to tell him they heard about his company through a Google search, social media, or through a friend.

Smith said he’s spent “tons” on traditional advertising in the past, but none of it really worked.

“One of our largest tools we have as far as advertising goes is our Facebook page,” he said. “We have over 16,000 fans now and at our website, the first thing you will notice is we push people to pur Facebook page like crazy. It helps validate us, to be honest.”

The company’s most popular item, Smith said, is the rustic Farmhouse table, which can be built from four to 14 feet, and in a variety of stain finishes.

A 10-foot-long Farmhouse from James+James costs $760. Smith said it’s the most affordable product in his inventory. However, it’s difficult to do an apples-to-apples price comparison to other stores.

“A lot of furniture in our competitor stores is veneered, faux wood, pressed wood etc., and even those competitors that build solid wood furniture don’t always use the same quality wood,” Smith said.

I.O. Metro doesn’t list a 10-foot table on its site. Hank’s Fine Furniture, Ashley Furniture HomeStore and Brashears Furniture don’t post their pricing online.

Pottery Barn has a few designs that expand to around 10-feet, and those are priced between $1,400 and $1,900.

Sam’s Club doesn’t have a 10-foot table listed online, and its prices are for table and chair bundles.

 

Starting From Nothing

The story of Smith’s success is relatable — out-of-work individual needs money, has an idea to make money, puts it into action, and makes a living from it. Voila. A thriving company is born.

Smith recently recounted his journey in an episode of a podcast series called “Starting From Nothing.”

It’s produced by an online mentoring program called The Foundation, and profiles successful entrepreneurs who’ve built their business entirely from scratch.

Smith earned a marketing degree from John Brown University in 2009 and did freelance video work for several months after that while trying to find a job.

By late summer of 2011, he was still trying to make ends meet when he had the idea to build and sell coffee tables. He spent about $150 on a Skil saw, wood, sand paper and wood stain and, using design instructions from a how-to website, built the items.

For a guy with no carpentry experience, the process was anything but smooth.

 “I didn’t have all the clamps and saw horses or any of the awesome things I have now as a growing business, had just spent all that money, nothing was working and I had spent about five or six hours in the garage building that table,” Smith recalled. “I thought to myself, literally, ‘This is the stupidest idea I’ve ever had. This is not going to work. I’m just wasting money.’”

Smith advertised the product via social media. It didn’t sell for a month. But even before that, Smith began fielding inquiries about the possibility of designing and building dining room tables and other products.

“I needed the money, so I said yes,” he said. “But I had no idea how to do it. It’s amazing what you can find when you really need the money and you have a computer connected to Google.”

Smith got busier and busier making furniture, using the garage of a house he and three others were renting in Rogers as a makeshift manufacturing facility.

Smith eventually did secure a full-time job with a digital advertising agency in Rogers, and James+James was operated as a sideline.

 “I had a job that came through and we would do [furniture work] after work until 2 a.m.,” he said.

That schedule lasted about eight months, when the production of James+James demanded full-time attention.

 

Simple Logistics

The logistics of ordering from James+James are, much like the furniture itself, simplistic.

The company’s shop does have a small space dedicated to showcasing a few of its items, but it’s primarily for manufacturing, and very few items are sold straight from the store.

Orders are taken over the telephone. Customers are then sent an order confirmation and receipt via email to confirm order details in writing. Once confirmed as accurate, the order is built.

Customers must pay half the order cost when ordering, with the remainder due upon delivery.

As a cost-saving measure, Smith offers group pickup from a central location on a set delivery date. For $80, a customer in Iowa, for example, can pick up their order from Des Moines on  the pre-arranged date of Nov. 3.

James+James has 23 group delivery dates scheduled in November in multiple cities throughout 15 states.

Or, for $200 per order, customers who live within 20 miles of a pickup site can arrange home delivery.

Smith said he partners with logistics firm CaseStack and trucking company Old Dominion Freight Line to provide distribution.

 

E-Commerce Coming

As impressive as the growth of James+James is, an equally remarkable accomplishment is how it’s being done.

“You can’t go on to our website and buy our product online,” Smith said. “It’s all phone sales.”

That will soon change. Smith said he is presently “knee-deep” in developing an e-commerce platform for the company’s website.

“We are hoping to have it live sometime in November,” Smith said. “We have a designer working on the layout right now, and once we wrap that up it will go straight to development. That will, we hope, dramatically increase our conversion rate.”