Lyndon Woodworking puts fine finish on '94

Vermont Business Magazine, Jan 1995 by Hentcy, Kathy

Dave Allard raises replacement beef heifers, Christmas trees, and each year sells dozens of cords of firewood from the 400 acres of farm land he manages. In the spring, he makes more than 600 gallons of maple syrup.

Those are Allards' activities in his spare time.

During the work day, he oversees operations Lyndon Woodworking, a multi-million dollar furniture-making factory he started as Lyndon Cabinet Shop in 1979. Allard co-owns the business with his wife Judy.

Today, Lyndon Furniture, known generally as Lyndon Woodworking, is the fastest growing business in Vermont Business Magazine's annual Vermont 100+, of those under $5 million. In 1994, gross sales tripled from $1 million o $3 million. Staff increased from 12 to 40 people, a 233 percent increase.

Lyndon Woodworking accounts range from local retail furniture shops, such as Barbara Stratton Interiors in Stowe and the Crosby Farm Barn in Vergennes to Temp Department Stores in Burlington and South Burlington--as well as the national mail order catalog, Levenger's Tools for Serious Readers.

The success of Allard's business is impressive by any measure and due in large part to steady hard work and attention to detail.

Allard, who closes down operations every year For two weeks around Christmas, couldn't be reached for comment, but in a July interview for Vermont Business Magazine, he had this to say about the impressive growth of his company.

"I don't have a plan, I just go day to day. I don't know how to plan ahead, I guess. How do you predict? I never expected it to get this big, but I like to sell and it just keeps going."

He does plan somewhat, however. For example, when he built the first shop in 1979, using lumber sawn from trees he had cut from the surrounding land, he designed it so it could easily be converted to apartments, should the business fail.

Since then, Allard bought a second shop in nearby Concord, and he is in the process of applying for an Act 250 permit to expand his Lyndon factory. When he is done, he will have increased his total p]ant space from 25,000 square feet to more than 42,000 square feet.

Allard estimates he uses more than a half million board feet of lumber a year making "high end" furniture. or top of the line hardwood dining room tables. bedroom furniture, "occasional tables" and chairs.

"You're not going to get a $199 dining room table from me," Allard said. Retailers from Alaska to Maine start his dining room tables at $900, he said.

What some might call "poor planning" may in Allard's case be called "market responsiveness." Because he has not been locked into a single path, he has been able to keep his business profitable even when he couldn't focus on the kind of furniture making he would have liked.

For example, in the early 1980s, he made wooden transformer parts for use on electrical poles, and then began making dining room and occasional tables for condominiums during the 1980s condominium boom.

When the condo market dried up in the late 1980s, he took advantage of a program run by the state Department of Economic Development that sent furniture makers to the twice annual furniture show in Highpoint, NC.

With 250 acres of furniture displayed, the show is the place for furniture makers to win the largest accounts.

"We picked up some tremendous accounts from that show," Allard said. "We're going to do more than $1 million in business with one of them this year," which he said is Levenger's.