Townsman, 1991-07, Page 23Return of the
craftsman
Caring craftsmen return furniture making to Kincardine, a town
where furniture was once the name of the game
By Bonnie Gropp
With the advent of GST, Free
Trade, and the recession, many Cana-
dian businesses have been facing
bleak times, with one of the hardest
hit over the last few years, being the
mass production furniture manufactur-
ers.
In the Lake Huron resort town of
Kincardine, where fumiture manufac-
turing industries were once prevalent,
the arrival of the Ontario Hydro's
Douglas Point nuclear power plant,
two decades ago, led to the demise of
such businesses as Werner Furniture
and Andrew Malcolm Ltd. as it
became difficult to find factory work-
ers, with more lucrative employment
so close at hand.
Now, there is a special kind of
craftsman carving a niche in today's
market, and a revitalizing trend is tak-
ing place in the form of smaller
Canadian furniture makers. These
craftspeople are offering consumers a
new look in furnishings; man-made
from Canadian products, solidly built
and unique in design.
Alex Nichols and his wife Suzanne
are the owners of Pine River Furniture
Company, located in the old Mahood
Lumber building at the corner of
Durham Market and Queen Street in
Kincardine. It takes wood to make a
newspaper and wood to build good
furniture and Alex has worked in both
businesses. An advertising executive
for newspapers across Ontario for 10
years he has always been fascinated
by handcrafted products and dallied in
woodworking as a hobby.
After leaving the newspaper busi-
ness he worked for a time building log
homes. In the fall of 1987, he began
crafting his distinct Pine River furni-
ture part-time, then opened the present
Photo by Bonnie Gropp
With the new renovations complete at Pine River Furniture's showroom, Suzanne
and Alex Nichols relax and enjoy some of the beautiful handcrafted, pieces.
TOWNSMAN/JULY-AUGUST 1991 21