North Portland-based UpholsteryShop finds warehouse space

Daily Journal of Commerce (Portland, OR), Jan 29, 2004 by Jessica Swanson

Starting a new business - especially a nonprofit with a mind to bolster the economy - means adhering to a grueling schedule of tasks and priorities. The UpholsteryShop, a North Portland-based nonprofit that aims to ready skilled apprentices for the work force, just checked a few big hurdles off an ever-growing list - 5,000 feet of warehouse space and work to pay the rent.

The shop was formed by upholsterers Michael Lanowski and Patrick Henry after their for-profit business, Booth Masters, dwindled during Oregon's recent recession. The two developed a program to pass old- world upholstering skills on to people who needed job skills training and retraining. Using tools already available to them from Booth Masters, they began taking students into their home studio, which doubled as a crowded shop chocked full of furniture, fabric and machines.

Taking a break over the winter holiday, Henry and Lanowski started to fish around for a new location for their fast-growing operation, as well as projects to pay start-up fees.

Through Craig's List, http://www.craigslist.com - a local Web site designed for posting a variety of needs such as housing, jobs, positions available and goods for purchase or trade - they have made many contacts, not the least of whom is Charlie Moore, partner in Handy Hands of Portland.

Moore has a long-term lease on a 10,000-square-foot warehouse building on Interstate and North Denver avenues in Portland. At $4,000 a month, Moore was making rent, but he was only using 2,000 square feet of the space and decided to sublease space to another business. He had limited but clear specifications on potential tenants.

I wanted someone who had a safe business, not a hazard to the community, said Moore, who has been in his space for two years. He wanted to share space with a business that wanted to give back to the community and that shared his sense of responsibility to people of lesser means. Moore particularly liked that Henry and Lanowski were training people in a hands-on trade.

Not everybody is a computer technician or a medical technician, he said.

Moore had only small concerns about subleasing space to a start- up business, but, he said, when he saw the long hours the partners were spending in the place and the number of volunteers around since he handed over the key last Wednesday, his concerns have mostly abated.

What can they take from me but a little bit a space and a few months rent - that's not going to break me, he said. Everybody has to make a start somewhere.

After just a week, the shop's space is already divided into workstations, active storage areas and a customer lobby. About 8,000 pounds of a 24,000-pound load of fabric donated from Crypton Fabrics out of the Hi-Tex textiles mill in North Carolina is stacked against the west wall. A multilayer fabric cutter, an industrial glue pot, a 5-horsepower arbor saw, two sewing machines, several huge fabric cutting tables and a 60-gallon air compressor are among the many machines that already crowd the enormous space. Piled in the center are a mismatched collection of couches, chairs and end tables - work that has started to come in.

Jenny Belcher, an area graphic designer, hooked into the UpholsteryShop via Craig's List. A barter between the two quickly emerged - she is creating a logo for them in trade for some upholstery work.

I asked for them to create a cushion for a window seat that I have, and Mike was more than happy to do that, Belcher said. He came out and measured, talked to me about fabric choices and showed me a couple books chock full of beautiful samples.

Lanowski and Henry charge a flat rate for labor, which will be done by students as students are available - $7.95 a yard for most fabric, 20 percent above cost for foam and extra for other add-ons such as springs.

At some point, we'll have a production line going, said Henry. He added that some customers have called to donate furniture to the shop for students to work on and sell later and ended up contracting with the shop for work instead.

Classes will begin Monday morning using a core curriculum provided by the Canadian government via Saskatchewan Learning in Regina. It's a module system designed to provide a complete skill set unique to the upholstery industry and is augmented by Booth Masters' contacts in commercial manufacturing.

Lanowski said students are starting to inquire and that businesses aren't afraid to work and partner with UpholsteryShop because the business is showing progress.

They're seeing what we're doing is real, he said. Every week something new is happening.