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Thread: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,883

    Default J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    I got a phone call this morning at 8:30 a.m. from a very sad and upset Sherry Treharn, they are closing effective today. Not enough orders to stay afloat, they had no other choice. I am their oldest dealer, we go back 30 years to 1986 when they first started. I've been steadfast in selling their product and they are genuinely nice people, who always did the right thing for their customers. Even today I have close to (30) pieces on my floor and now its time to close them all out. The market changed for their style of furniture and they failed to change with it. Many customers today want transitional style which they did not have. Add to that the price pressure from imports - many wood products coming out of Vietnam are pretty well made - and another American small business bites the dust.

    Big companies get bailed out. Little ones just die. Its not quite as bad as going to a funeral, but its a sad affair to hear the tears come through the phone, all the hopes dashed.

    There was a time when I used to sell 2,000 handcrafted USA-made windsor chairs a year. No one in the country sold more than we did. Last year I think I sold one set of 6. Two at the most. I saw the handwriting on the wall for the 18th Century Reproductions around 2005, and transitioned into leather upholstery as a primary line. That look will eventually come back in style, but likely it will be 2176, the American Tricentennial, and that's sixty years from now. All styles are cyclic and come and go over time.

    If you have wanted a Treharn piece, yet were putting it off - now is the time to get one from whatever dealer stock you can find. They have a few pieces left at their workshop, but its a pretty small group. I wish the Treharn family well on their next endeavor. They have been a good supplier and my friends.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Posts
    26

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    That really is terrible. The dining table and chairs they made for us are some of my favorite pieces. They did great work and will be missed. Just a very depressing day.

  3. #3
    Ci2Eye Guest

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    That's unfortunate but looking at the pieces shown on their website illustrates why. First of all, there isn't much of a market anymore for the styles they produce and even their 'Treharn Today' line isn't very current. What I see is well-made furniture that needs better design. Perhaps they needed someone to help them get the proportions right, as well as the wood selections and stains right. For example, Tiger Maple is an interesting wood but I personally would have used it more sparingly. It has a very bold grain so having an entire piece in that wood is, to my sensibilities, like a person wearing striped pants with a striped shirt and tie; it's too much. I also see issues with proportion on pieces like the SDC402 (Six Drawer Tall Chest) where the top appears to be too small to provide the appropriate balance of proportion with the bottom. That's just one example. To my eyes there are many pieces that just aren't proportioned correctly where legs are too thin or other such design errors are present.

    I know nothing about this company but I wonder if perhaps they aren't outstanding craftsmen in need of a design department, or maybe just a better one. Instead of going out of business, I'd hire a recent design school graduate and get their take on how to make the pieces more appealing.
    Last edited by Ci2Eye; 12-14-2016 at 11:48 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Columbus, OH
    Posts
    562

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    Sad to hear. I agree they did not keep up with changing styles very well, but they were always known for making good solid furniture. I am sorry they did not/could not adapt and are closing.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    Oklahoma
    Posts
    56

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    I have to respectively disagree concerning Treharn 's use of Tiger Maple and their finish selection.

    I have a set of all tiger maple kitchen chairs and when they were delivered, I could not believe how good they looked when compared to the website photos. Under the right lighting conditions and in front of walls with a Tuscany plaster finish, my Treharn's chairs appear to glow and shimmer in a manner similar to a tiger eye gemstone. Obviously, this is an optical illusion created in part by the combination of wood selection, craftsmanship, and the color and depth of the finish.

    The problem with photographs on most websites is they do not reproduce images in the same manner as the human eye sees. I have always wondered if there are techniques similar to high dynamic resolution imagining that would capture the beauty of tiger maple furniture.

  6. #6
    Ci2Eye Guest

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    Quote Originally Posted by Kevin View Post
    I have to respectively disagree concerning Treharn 's use of Tiger Maple and their finish selection.

    I have a set of all tiger maple kitchen chairs and when they were delivered, I could not believe how good they looked when compared to the website photos. Under the right lighting conditions and in front of walls with a Tuscany plaster finish, my Treharn's chairs appear to glow and shimmer in a manner similar to a tiger eye gemstone. Obviously, this is an optical illusion created in part by the combination of wood selection, craftsmanship, and the color and depth of the finish.

    The problem with photographs on most websites is they do not reproduce images in the same manner as the human eye sees. I have always wondered if there are techniques similar to high dynamic resolution imagining that would capture the beauty of tiger maple furniture.
    Kevin,

    I don't disagree with you. I found images of your chairs (first link below) and they are very attractive. I would be very pleased with those too. They are beautiful and don't in any way look like too much. However, looking at images on Treharn's website, some of the pieces do look like they could benefit from a bit more subtlety; the second link would be an example of that to me.

    Perhaps it is merely the photography though. As I said, I have no knowledge of the company and have never seen their work.

    http://www.myfurnitureforum.com/show...n-Bella-Chairs

    https://jltreharn.oursafeserver.com/...et-4009-sc-15/

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,883

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    They had really poor photos and website at JL Treharn, they have always operated on a shoestring budget and perhaps didn't grasp how important good photography is to show their products. They look FAR better in person.

    Treharn was the last holdout for reasonably-priced handcrafted furniture of its nature. Most the shops doing that were crushed by the Recession and the few that survived have been in the Intensive Care Unit since 2008. But its really a simple matter of not building what the customer wants. What folks wanted in 1986 is not what they want thirty years later. I send them several ideas (always have) and most recently wanted to see if they would get into gray-stained tiger maple with Oak primary woods in Coffee color. Would make for a very unique look. Send them samples of what I had in mind but they never responded.

    For my existing customers that like that look, I will continue to build custom through John Buchanan, who as you know does excellent work - at a higher level than even Treharn. However, he's a one-man operation and is slow, and there are certain things he prefers not to build such as Chippendale Chairs / QA Chairs (far more complex and costly than most people realize) and large case pieces he cannot handle by himself.

    I'm going to close out my remaining Treharn stock at 20 % off. FOB Alexandria VA. The two sets of Windsor chairs I have (4 sides / 2 arms) will be sold as a set of six only.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  8. #8
    Ci2Eye Guest

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    Quote Originally Posted by drcollie View Post
    They had really poor photos and website at JL Treharn, they have always operated on a shoestring budget and perhaps didn't grasp how important good photography is to show their products. They look FAR better in person.

    Treharn was the last holdout for reasonably-priced handcrafted furniture of its nature. Most the shops doing that were crushed by the Recession and the few that survived have been in the Intensive Care Unit since 2008. But its really a simple matter of not building what the customer wants. What folks wanted in 1986 is not what they want thirty years later. I send them several ideas (always have) and most recently wanted to see if they would get into gray-stained tiger maple with Oak primary woods in Coffee color. Would make for a very unique look. Send them samples of what I had in mind but they never responded.

    For my existing customers that like that look, I will continue to build custom through John Buchanan, who as you know does excellent work - at a higher level than even Treharn. However, he's a one-man operation and is slow, and there are certain things he prefers not to build such as Chippendale Chairs / QA Chairs (far more complex and costly than most people realize) and large case pieces he cannot handle by himself.

    I'm going to close out my remaining Treharn stock at 20 % off. FOB Alexandria VA. The two sets of Windsor chairs I have (4 sides / 2 arms) will be sold as a set of six only.
    I would say that's exactly what they needed to do. Updated looks with coffee stains and the grey aged wood stains would've vastly widened their appeal. Obviously craftsmanship wasn't an issue and their prices weren't out-of-line for the quality but at the end of the day, it doesn't matter how well made things are, if they don't appeal to modern tastes, a company will find few takers. Just at this website alone, there are frequently comments that say "I like the look of Restoration Hardware but I'm looking for something of better quality that is Made in USA". Treharn already had the latter half of that comment covered. They had USA-made and quality but they needed to adapt to the market on the style end.

    I said earlier that they needed a better design staff and I would add a better website with improved photography. I suspect they didn't think they could afford those things but the sad fact is they couldn't afford to not have those things.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Beautiful Texas Hill Country
    Posts
    188

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    Well, Duane, I am sad they are closing shop. Their pieces are very beautiful and nicely made. Whatever the reason, it's just sad to lose a company that made quality pieces.

    TXCajun

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    NW Pennsylvania
    Posts
    216

    Default Re: J.L. Treharn and Company has closed its doors

    Sad to hear J.L. Treharn is closing it's door, I know they were well regarded by a lot of people on this forum. As for their website photos - I was amazed how much better the photos posted by Duane and others who purchased Treharn pieces looked on this forum, it was night and day sometimes and the pics here really showed off the woods and craftsmanship.

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