Industrial Strength: Woodworkers Show The Way In Holden
Dovetail, Woodmeister find home on Industrial Drive
Books at the library where I went to college were kept on typical, rickety, grey steel shelves. There were copy-paper signs with things like "A-J" written on them, guiding students from the ends of each row. The tables were old, with graffiti carved over their surfaces, and the circulation desk was makeshift at best.
Of course, it's not the appearance that counts, and for a very small state school, the place had a decent collection. But walk into libraries at Yale, Harvard, Princeton or MIT, and you get a sense of serious scholarship.
At any of those schools, those feelings are conveyed to students, faculty and visitors in part by beautiful, stately wood furniture. And at any of those schools, that wood furniture was crafted off Industrial Drive in Holden at Furniture by Dovetail. Dovetail's furniture can also be found in public libraries, and they'll be happy to craft furniture for your home, as well.
Dovetail has been in business 20 years, and moved to Holden from West Boylston Street in Worcester about six years ago. Most of its 20 employees are craftsmen. The master woodworkers take projects from beginning to end in a rather nondescript 40,000-square-foot building that houses the workshop as well as the company's offices and showroom.
According to Jonas Geiger, Dovetail's vice president of operations, about half the company's work is for schools and public libraries. This year alone, Dovetail finished library furniture for the aforementioned Yale, Harvard, Princeton and MIT. Last year, the company crafted library furniture for Bentley and Simmons, and has also done work for Emory and Bates.
Lathe-Like Precision
Geiger said the company has built a reputation for its library furnishings, but those projects make up only about half the company's business. The rest is residential. "Any-thing for the house," Geiger said. He said the company builds furniture for home offices, entertainment centers, kitchens and bathrooms, "most things when it comes to wood."
And it almost appears as if Dovetail has begun to form a reputation for the Industrial Drive area as a woodworking district. Just last year, Woodmeister Master Builders, which specializes in luxury home construction, cabinetry and interiors, moved from Worcester to One Woodmeister Way, an extension of Industrial Drive adjacent to Dovetail.
Geiger said Dovetail owner Rob Loring and Woodmeister owner Theodore Goodnow have known each other for years, and their friendship may have played a part in Woodmeister's decision to move to Holden.
Despite all the woodworking going on along Industrial Drive, fine furniture is not all that the factories there crank out.
Probably the most visible presence on Industrial Drive is the massive Pepsi Cola Bottling Co. of Worcester bottling plant.
There's also the Rexam custom plastic injection molding plant, the Reed-Rico machine shop, Inner Tite Corp. fabricated metals, and of course, Holden Veterinary Clinic.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments