While store closings continue to crowd news headlines, Simply Amish announced that it is entering a period of expansion. Simply Amish, a furniture retailer named for its standard of excellence, celebrated the grand opening of its newest licensed store in Davenport, IA, in February.
“This economy has hit the furniture business hard,” Simply Amish cofounder Kevin Kauffman said. “But that’s when companies like us have an advantage. We continue to do the things that have given us a sought after-product for several generations: supplying the best quality of furniture available and providing the best possible service to our customers.”
While Simply Amish has sold its extensive line of solid-wood furniture to hundreds of furniture retailers in North America for more than 30 years, this licensed store in Davenport represents the eighth of its kind. Other locations that operate under the Simply Amish License Program include Rockford and Champaign in Illinois, Indianapolis, IN, Overland Park, KS, Albuquerque NM, and Courtenay and Parksville, BC, Canada.
Partnering to open the 14,000-square-foot Davenport store are John and Linda Reisenbigler, who also own the Simply Amish store in Rockford, and Arlyn and Shirley Tegeler. The Reisenbiglers and Teglers have been selling Simply Amish furniture for more than 20 years.
“At Simply Amish, we make many styles of furniture, but with one standard,” Kauffman said. “When people hear ‘Amish,’ they often think of bow-back chairs and round tables made of only oak. They don’t think of the contemporary, well-designed, custom products that we make — all by hand and in the Amish tradition. Many styles. One standard.”
Simply Amish furniture is still made by authentic Amish craftsmen, working on more than 50 family farms scattered throughout the heartland of America. Most are small family shops with only four or five craftsmen, while some shops might employ as many as 30 skilled workers.
Regardless of the size, tradition still dictates the construction of every design. Each piece of lumber is still cut, shaped, sanded and stained by seasoned hands, using a keen eye to eliminate any imperfections and bring out the natural beauty of rich maple, solid oak and other select hardwoods.
The firm is mainly a wholesale company, Kauffman said, with 225 dealers internationally that sell Simply Amish furniture in their own stores.
“When people go in our stores, they are always amazed at the quality and style of our furniture and how many choices they have,” Kauffman said. “That’s because everything is made by hand, can be customized, and is held to a standard that impresses the most discerning of customers, even the Amish.”
For more information about Simply Amish, visit www.simplyamish.com.