Rob & Barbie Jones The Wholesale Showman...Continued

Additionally, there is a museum displaying many of Rob’s other woodwork. He has created traditionally brass musical instruments from wood, meticulously handcrafting each piece. They all play; for example, the banjo is the one Rob played when he was in a local band.

Every day at the shop, they get to experience the delight of their visitors. Many folks return, tell others, and take home beautiful gifts they can only find at Wooden Alchemy.

One of the other aspects of having the shop is that now they can experience their products from their customer’s point of view. For example, they discovered that their single orphan coasters were top sellers! Building on this insight, they found a way to increase coaster sales by displaying them singly and letting shoppers put together their own sets. It was a wild success and is now the only way they sell coasters in the shop. It takes less display room, and people love to ‘do their own thing.’ And they have shared this marketing technique with their buyers, a service they would have never experienced without adding a retail location. Watch here to hear the story of their discovery of marketing coasters. You can borrow the idea and use it in your product displays! The story would only be complete by taking you inside Rob’s workshop. And what a space!

Three lasers and well-thought-out sanding, painting, and drying areas. Along with the assembly, stock, and shipping areas, this modestsized space is impressive for its production volume. Rob’s ability to meticulously plan and create made this space into an efficient, organized production machine.

Barbie keeps the operations running smoothly, leaning on her organizational skills from her Army days. Keeping track of orders and corraling the production schedule

Waiting to be Assembled

Drying Racks

on track is what makes quality and excellent customer service possible. The operation also has two employees: Lea, the oldest of their six adult children, who does most of the gluing and works in the store, and Zach, their other employee, runs the lasers and does some sanding and painting. Joining the team this summer is a high school art student who will work part-time in the

Workhorses

The Machines

For the first year, Rob drove plywood to the manufacturer to have the cuts done. He would return a week later to pick up the cut pieces.

Finally, Rob could afford his own machine, a Full Spectrum 18x24 with a 60W tube. He eventually upgraded to a 90W and then again to a 150W.

His 2nd machine was one that the manufacturer he was using had bought used and couldn’t get going. They thought something was wrong with it, so they gave Rob a sweet deal on it. Figuring he’d take a chance that it could be fixed, he bought it. And fix it, he did! That electronics training from the Navy? Here is where those skills intersected with his artistry! He has been using that ‘trashed’ laser for the last eight years without issue.

Rob’s third machine is a Boss LS1630. It is his favorite one. He took this machine and butchered it up, installing a 300W eCO2 combined laser tube. He blazes through projects – I watched it laser out a five-layer design in 48 seconds. Be still my lasering heart!!

workshop. This is not only helpful to the business, it also gives the student exposure to a type of art they probably wouldn’t find anywhere else.

On the personal front, Rob and Barbie prove that online dating can work. They met more than nine years ago and are one of those couples who prove that it’s possible to find true happiness over the Internet! An interesting twist is that Barbie had seen Rob’s work well before she met him. So she knew of him but didn’t know him! Today they are inseperable and a dynamic duo!

As we wind up, Rob’s business advice is grounded in a saying by Henry Ford, “Sell to the masses, dine with the classes,” which he explains is making products that the bulk of people can afford easily - the majority of his items are in the $20-$30 range and always of excellent quality. He says, “It might not feed your artistic soul, but it feeds your wallet, and then you can work on the fancy, fun, big pieces.”

The wholesale gift show is an untapped opportunity for laser creators. Rob and Barbie invite and encourage anyone with questions and aspirations to follow this concept to reach out. The Wholesale Showman is ready to mentor motivated makers wanting to launch into one of the greatest business models on earth!