Businesses Diversify the Economy By Adapting To a Changing Environment
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Things are looking up for the business climate in Martin sville. Entrepreneurs are adapting to a changing envi ronment‚ finding new ways to invest‚ experiencing success and meeting the need for a more diversified economy.
A business that has successfully reinvented itself is J.G. Edelen Co.‚ formerly a supplier to the huge furniture manufacturing industry in the region. J.G. Edelen opened a warehouse here in 1997‚ but by 2000‚ it was apparent to third-generation owner Jay Edelen that furniture manufacturing was moving overseas rapidly‚ necessitating a change in approach.
“We made the decision to try to sell cabinet hardware online‚ direct to con sumers‚” Edelen says. They developed a line of cabinet hardware suitable for kitchens and bathrooms‚ and with the help of Edelen’s wife‚ Masha‚ got the Web site‚ www.coolknobsandpulls.com‚ up and running. Although launched when e-commerce still was relatively new‚ the venture has been so successful that by June 2007‚ the company was shipping about 100 orders per day‚ representing more than half a million pieces of hardware.
“We have one foot in the past and one in the future‚” Edelen says. “We’ve found a bridge to take us from the old furniture manufacturing economy into the new direct-to-consumer‚ e-commerce economy.”
Employment at the company has grown from four to 13.
Masha Edelen‚ meanwhile‚ took what she learned and developed her own company‚ HerDesign. Although her husband’s company remains her best customer‚ she and three employees have helped 39 other clients with the tech nology of processing orders online‚ as well as designing print materials. About three years ago‚ she moved the company from her home to the West Piedmont Business Development Center‚ an incubator uptown.
Another couple‚ Joey and Kathy Arrington‚ has reached further back into history to develop their new busi ness‚ The Clubhouse Resort. The resort became a reality when the Arringtons took the opportunity to purchase the historic former Fieldcrest Lodge‚ once the private clubhouse of Marshall Field & Co.‚ three years ago.
Joey Arrington is well known in Martinsville and nationally for the race engine business he founded‚ Arrington Engines.
“We just drove up here one day and saw it‚ and Joey fell in love with it‚” recalls Kathy Arrington‚ who now man ages The Clubhouse Resort.
They decided that the once-exclusive and beautifully appointed lodge‚ built in 1917 on a secluded hilltop‚ should be open to the public for parties‚ receptions‚ business meetings‚ retreats and other events. Getting to the resort requires a long drive through the woods‚ but once you’ve arrived it’s clearly worth it.
“The place is just special‚ but the people around here were never allowed to be part of it or to come up and see it‚” she says. “It’s just too pretty to keep to itself. We want other people to enjoy it‚ too.”
Story by Jim Elliott
Photo by Ian Curcio
