Crossover Skills Give Upholsterers Business Opportunities in Many Markets

 

The president of the Professional Upholsterers’ Association of Minnesota proudly states that she was the fifth woman to graduate from an upholstery curriculum at Minneapolis Technical College in 1977.

 

“It was considered a man’s field back then,” says Diana Shroyer Guenther, owner of Shroyer Custom Upholstery in Coon Rapids, Minn. She worked one year for the program’s third woman graduate before starting her own home-based business. She subsequently worked for a furniture manufacturer, a foam and upholstery company and a restaurant booth manufacturer before her recent semi-retirement that sees her back on her own footing with residential, boat and small commercial jobs.

 

“When I started in the business, reupholstering cost less or the same as buying new. Now, with the economical lines of furniture, it often costs more than buying new, unless you are comparing it to upper-end, quality furniture lines,” Guenther says. “The clients we have know the value of better-built furniture or are reupholstering furniture that has sentimental value.”

 

Chip Lueck, owner of Recovery Room in Panama City Beach, Fla., started in the upholstery industry a year after Guenther and says his business—with a team of eight upholsterers—continues to evolve.

 

“I gave up automotive upholstery three years ago, because I can’t find employees to do it. I gave up $200,000 a year in gross receipts,” he says, noting that the employee he had working on automotive upholstery left for a better-paying job with a local dealership.

 

Due to the same difficulty in finding qualified workers, Lueck also abandoned the furniture upholstery market, though he occasionally does porch and patio furniture cushions.

 

Sand Sea and Air Interiors took on the challenge of upholstering careful transitions within the custom-crafted headboard of the “Fernando” bed shown here, using Gaston Y Daniela Javier Azul cotton fabric. Photo: Sand Sea and Air Interiors Inc.

 

“At one time, I was full service,” he says, estimating his markets were 65 percent marine, 10 percent each automotive and furniture, and 15 percent awnings. These days, awnings account for 50 percent of his business.

 

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Writtten by Janice Kleinschmidt.

Janice Kleinschmidt is a writer and magazine editor based in San Diego, Calif.