Dan Smith's Candy & Our New Small Business Partnership
Every "set back" is also an opportunity! When shows this year started canceling on us, Lexi (my daughter in law) and I started brainstorming ideas on how to get our furniture out there for the public to see, feel, and sit in! We talked about a few options, but hadn't really decided on anything, when she called me out of the blue a little panicked.
Lexi quickly explained that a casual conversation with her best friend Emily was quickly turning in to a business opportunity. She had spoken to Emily about the challenges we were facing due to covid, and said how she wished there was a place to show some of our work, without having to open a store location (we know the art and craft shows is what works for us, and we were just waiting for everything to clear up so we could get back on the road - not possible with opening a new store).
Emily told her how her employer was opening a new store location with seating for the first time. He would need tables and chairs, so she said she would talk to him, and see if he would be willing to use our table sets.
She called Lexi three days later to say it was a go, and when could Joe (her boss and owner of Dan Smith's Candy talk to her about the details.
Everything was moving fast, and she didn't know how Paul and I would feel. After talking it over though, we decided it was worth a shot!
The Perfect Partner
We didn't know exactly what to expect going in to this partnership, because we had never done anything like it before. Our vision was to have different table and chair sets in the store, with different colors and textures to truly show what we can do.
As a store owner though, we figured Joe and his wife Amy would probably want everything to be the same. That would have been understandable, and a compromise we would have strongly considered. After a brief phone call though, it was clear that we were being valued as contributor, and were given creative freedom!
Selecting Our Designs
Amy invited us over to see their space, and to discuss design options. After talking for a bit, it became clear Dan Smith's Brookville location would be colorful and fun. With mint green and bubble gum pink walls, our tables would would need to coordinate, but we could do a pop of color too. We snapped a few photos, discussed sizes, and went home full of ideas.
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Right away we knew we needed our designs to coordinate with each other. They didn't have to match to go well in the space, they just couldn't clash. Lexi and I quickly came up with a white and grey color scheme, which allowed us to to show various shades of white and grey. By keeping with that pallet, we could also get really fun with one of the table sets. Here's what we came up with.
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One Difference You May Have Noticed
Paul and I have made chairs for restaurant use before. We added an extra support bar at the bottom of the chairs, to allow for extra use.
Visit Dan Smith's Candy
Dan Smith's Candy is an established candy making company that also has several retail stores in Pennsylvania. Our furniture is featured at their Brookville, PA location, where they sell many made in Pennsylvania items.
We are so happy to find a business partner who so proudly supports and promotes other small businesses, including ours! Stop in to see our table sets in person, and to patron their awesome business! There is something there for everyone including ice cream, milk shakes, coffee, wood flowers, gift items, and of course their world class chocolates and candies among other things!
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Dan Smith’s Candies Brookville location
Corner Plaza 301 W. Main Street Brookville, PA 15825 (814) 849-8893 (800) 393-1323 Hours: Monday – Saturday 10 – 7 Sunday 12 – 7 |
People Always Ask If We Have A Showroom
We don't exactly (although we have a few things set up in the shop), BUT we consider Dan Smith's Brookville location to be a mini showcase of our white and grey color scheme. If you are interested in what we can do with our whites and greys, a trip to the store would really help you out.
You can also make the trip just to try out our chairs for yourself, and to be inspired by the various looks you can create on your very own IP Furniture Design!