March 20, 2006
Against the grain | A chat with Paul Benedetto Sandini, owner of Benedetto's Furniture and Lamp Repair in Kennebunk.
By Whit Richardson
Founded: October 2004
Employees: Two
Startup costs: $10,000
Revenues, year one: $40,000
Projected revenues, year two: $80,000
Contact: 985-6444
75 York St., Kennebunk 04043
benedettos@adelphia.net
Tell me about Benedetto's Furniture.
Well, Benedetto was my grandfather's first name and I named the store after him. The type of furniture I have a long time ago used to be described as early American. Today it's sort of contemporary ˆ like distressed furniture pieces and wooden, outdoor rocking chairs. I also have a couple of cabinetmakers, local guys that do custom pieces for me on occasion. I also have other miscellaneous furniture pieces that I pick up from furniture shows and bring in. And I also do lamp repair.
What were you doing before you opened the store?
I had worked in the computer industry for 35 years. The computer industry was wonderful and I enjoyed it, but I was just in it a little bit too long. My last job was with a consulting firm, Mason Associates in Brunswick, and I was a consultant for The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. They went to a different computer platform and I just didn't feel like learning it. After 35 years of trying to stay on the bleeding edge of technology, I finally gave up. It was time for me to let the younger kids step in and do it.
Then I went through the Maine Enterprise Option program. If you're laid off from a job and you qualify for the MEO program, you don't have to look for another job and can still collect unemployment because what you're doing is building a job for yourself. I've now been working and earning my own money for the past 16 months, and it's because of them that I was able to work on my company.
So why furniture?
I've done a lot of woodworking, so I understand how this stuff is made. I try to purchase the best quality furniture at the lowest prices I can find, and all of my furniture is made in the United States. That's been very hard to do, because people see the prices ˆ and the prices, even though they're very good prices, seem to be a little steep once they've come from Bob's [Discount Furniture] out in South Portland.
You mention Bob's Discount Furniture. Is that who you consider competition?
No. People that are going to go to Bob's are going to go to Bob's ˆ they're not going to come here. If you're going to buy something at Wal-Mart, there's nothing I can do there. We are who we are. We're not Chilton's, and we're not Ethan Allen. We fall in the middle; I find we're just unique enough that we're different.
How do you market your business?
Right now it's word of mouth and my sign out front. [My wife] Vicky wants me to have a website. But I've been in computers for 35 years and I don't see the big deal for it.
It's been said that a website is the storefront of the 21st Century. Why wouldn't you want one for your business?
Well, I think that it would be good, but I don't think it's necessary. I'm as busy right now as I almost can be before I have to hire somebody. If I did have a website, it would be nothing more than having my email address and then pointing to all the other companies I buy things from, and then a little blurb saying I have miscellaneous pieces, and we have this, that and the other thing.
What are your plans for growth?
Right now we are thinking of building a new facility in our backyard. We have six acres of land here, and we just passed our site plan review for a 6,000-square-foot commercial building on our property. And that building will be broken up into six, 1000-square-foot spaces for retail or office use. One or two of those units out back will be a Benedetto's, and the rest of it will be all leased. And we are on the verge of hiring somebody, no question. I'm tired ˆ there's a lot going on here.
What do you enjoy about the furniture business?
I like working with wood, just the creative process ˆ the feel of it, the smell of it. Wood is such a wonderful product. You can nail it, you can glue it, you can screw it, you can paint it, you can twist it, you can bend it and you can make it into real pretty things.
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to wrichardson@mainebiz.biz.
Employees: Two
Startup costs: $10,000
Revenues, year one: $40,000
Projected revenues, year two: $80,000
Contact: 985-6444
75 York St., Kennebunk 04043
benedettos@adelphia.net
Tell me about Benedetto's Furniture.
Well, Benedetto was my grandfather's first name and I named the store after him. The type of furniture I have a long time ago used to be described as early American. Today it's sort of contemporary ˆ like distressed furniture pieces and wooden, outdoor rocking chairs. I also have a couple of cabinetmakers, local guys that do custom pieces for me on occasion. I also have other miscellaneous furniture pieces that I pick up from furniture shows and bring in. And I also do lamp repair.
What were you doing before you opened the store?
I had worked in the computer industry for 35 years. The computer industry was wonderful and I enjoyed it, but I was just in it a little bit too long. My last job was with a consulting firm, Mason Associates in Brunswick, and I was a consultant for The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. They went to a different computer platform and I just didn't feel like learning it. After 35 years of trying to stay on the bleeding edge of technology, I finally gave up. It was time for me to let the younger kids step in and do it.
Then I went through the Maine Enterprise Option program. If you're laid off from a job and you qualify for the MEO program, you don't have to look for another job and can still collect unemployment because what you're doing is building a job for yourself. I've now been working and earning my own money for the past 16 months, and it's because of them that I was able to work on my company.
So why furniture?
I've done a lot of woodworking, so I understand how this stuff is made. I try to purchase the best quality furniture at the lowest prices I can find, and all of my furniture is made in the United States. That's been very hard to do, because people see the prices ˆ and the prices, even though they're very good prices, seem to be a little steep once they've come from Bob's [Discount Furniture] out in South Portland.
You mention Bob's Discount Furniture. Is that who you consider competition?
No. People that are going to go to Bob's are going to go to Bob's ˆ they're not going to come here. If you're going to buy something at Wal-Mart, there's nothing I can do there. We are who we are. We're not Chilton's, and we're not Ethan Allen. We fall in the middle; I find we're just unique enough that we're different.
How do you market your business?
Right now it's word of mouth and my sign out front. [My wife] Vicky wants me to have a website. But I've been in computers for 35 years and I don't see the big deal for it.
It's been said that a website is the storefront of the 21st Century. Why wouldn't you want one for your business?
Well, I think that it would be good, but I don't think it's necessary. I'm as busy right now as I almost can be before I have to hire somebody. If I did have a website, it would be nothing more than having my email address and then pointing to all the other companies I buy things from, and then a little blurb saying I have miscellaneous pieces, and we have this, that and the other thing.
What are your plans for growth?
Right now we are thinking of building a new facility in our backyard. We have six acres of land here, and we just passed our site plan review for a 6,000-square-foot commercial building on our property. And that building will be broken up into six, 1000-square-foot spaces for retail or office use. One or two of those units out back will be a Benedetto's, and the rest of it will be all leased. And we are on the verge of hiring somebody, no question. I'm tired ˆ there's a lot going on here.
What do you enjoy about the furniture business?
I like working with wood, just the creative process ˆ the feel of it, the smell of it. Wood is such a wonderful product. You can nail it, you can glue it, you can screw it, you can paint it, you can twist it, you can bend it and you can make it into real pretty things.
New Entrepreneurs profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to wrichardson@mainebiz.biz.
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