BY LU ANN FRANKLIN –Times Correspondent
Indigenous to the Indiana Dunes, the prickly pear is a member of the cactus family.
It’s also the name of a company run by two artisan entrepreneurs who have a passion for creating fine art furniture from trees harvested from urban forests and wood salvaged from old buildings or discarded furniture.
“This is truly a green, eco-friendly business,” said Joseph Jaeger, who partners with Larry Burr in Prickly Pear Furnishings Inc. The pair uses wood from trees that have been damaged by wind or lightning, killed by insects or removed through utility work.
“These are trees from urban forests, from municipalities, that would end up being burned or in landfills,” Burr said. “We use anything that grows locally — white oak, red oak, walnut, cherry, maple, even hackberry.”
Much of this wood comes from Horigan Urban Forest Products, a tree service in Skokie, Ill. Other sources of wood include old buildings being demolished or discarded built-ins and furniture.
For example, Burr is crafting a wine rack from wood salvaged from an old icebox and a lingerie cabinet from a broken Victrola. Prickly Pear’s signature piece is a beveled chair made from ash harvested from trees killed by the Emerald Ash Bore.
The chair was part of a traveling exhibit, “Rising from the Ashes: Furniture from Lost Trees,” sponsored by the Chicago Furniture Designers Association. Burr and Jaeger won a spot in the exhibit in a 2015 contest. That win spurred them on to start their own business.
“We offer a one-of-a-kind in-house consulting service and design within the styles and sizes customers want to make the furniture unique to their houses,” Jaeger said. “We meet with clients and as we talk, the details of what kind of furniture is wanted comes out.”
Burr and Jaeger met 15 years ago while working at a cabinet shop in Mokena, Ill. Each has more than 20 years experience in millwork and refurbishing furniture, but the economic downturn left Burr and Jaeger without full-time jobs.
“We decided to reinvent ourselves,” Jaeger said. “We have a passion for creating one-of-a-kind fine art furniture and decided to take the chance.”
Using $12,000 of their own savings, the partners are crafting furniture for various shows around the area and making contacts with interior designers.
They’re also working with the Hammond INnovation Center, Purdue University Calumet’s Entrepreneur Center in Merrillville and the Small Business Development Center.
“They’re helping us write our business plan, and we’re close to finalizing it,” Jaeger said.
The pair is seeking a suitable site for a workshop and gallery, preferably in downtown Hammond, Jaeger said.
“We’re working with Karen Maravilla and Ray Garcia (the marketing director and general manager of El Taco Real Restaurant, respectively). They’re trying to bring artists and other urban professionals to downtown Hammond,” Jaeger said. “Local businesses are willing to work with us. So is the Downtown Hammond Business Council.”
The hurdles in starting a new business are “great,” Jaeger says. “If they were not all helping us, this would be more difficult.”
MADE IN INDIANA
Company name: Prickly Pear Furnishings
Type of business: Custom wooden furniture
When opened: 2015
Location: Hammond
Phone: (219) 803-4177
Owners: Larry Burr and Joseph Jaeger
Number of employees: Two
Web site: www.pricklypearfurnishings.com
Source : http://nwitimes.com
