By Joe Olenick
E-mail Joe
Lockport Union-Sun & Journal

TOWN OF LOCKPORT — Crawford Furniture is coming directly to the Town of Lockport.

The widely known furniture wholesale and retailer will be holding a grand opening at 10 a.m. Feb. 12 at its newest location, 5724 South Transit Road. Located next in the Home Depot Plaza, Crawford will be bringing products that are manufactured in Western New York. The company has a plant in Jamestown, as well as other locations in Amherst, Hamburg and Williamsville.

“All of it is made in Jamestown,” said Tim Schoonens, Crawford’s Buffalo district manager. “Like it has been for 125 years.”

Crawford Furniture uses black cherry, maple, ash and oak lumber to make its solid wood furniture. Even the wood, itself, is of Western New York origin, as it comes from the Allegany region in the Southern Tier. The wood locally is thought of as among the best to use in the furniture business, Schoonens said.

“Due to the winter and the four seasons, the wood here is better than that of the South, it’s able to stand against a lot,” he said.

The Lockport location is expected to employ between 10 and 15 people.

Crawford Furniture has been in the business for 125 years. Beginning in 1883, two Swedish craftsmen started a furniture factory in Jamestown and ran it until Clyne Crawford bought the company in 1941. After Crawford died in 1968, Carl Cappa took over Crawford Furniture and purchased the company in 1983. Cappa, who was known for his philanthropic work, passed away in 2001 and his son, Michael, took over. Michael Cappa is the company’s current president and CEO.

For the majority of its existence, Crawford has been a wholesale company, but recently decided to start opening its own locations. Following the success of the first Buffalo area store in Amherst in 2012, Crawford opened Hamburg and Williamsville stores. The company expects there to be an increase in purchases of American-made goods. With lower quality goods becoming available on the market, sales of American made goods went down some nationally.

“For Western New York there’s a high demand for (higher quality goods). We’ve already seen sales start to go up,” Schoonens said.

He added that with a union workforce in place at its Jamestown plant, Crawford Furniture liked Lockport’s history with unions. Schoonens said a number of Crawford customers in the past have been workers or retirees of either General Motors or Delphi. Lockport’s Upper Mountain Road plant was previously owned by Delphi until GM bought the facility in October 2016.

Schoonens said what people are really going to like about Crawford is the furniture, itself. The pieces are made with solid wood, meaning durability and lasting quality, he said. Aside from quality construction, each piece features a hand-rubbed finish.

“They’re going to come back — this furniture will be handed down for generations,” Schoonens said.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

Source : www.lockportjournal.co