HATFIELD — The three owners of Danco Modern furniture store knew they were getting close to the 50th anniversary of their business when, while doing some organizing, they found an old typewritten document.
Articles of incorporation, it read. The date was July 1971.
“Well, at least that’s when they told they state and made it official,” said one of the owners, Ross Grant, of Shelburne Falls. “We think they started before that.”
Nonetheless, Danco Modern chose July 2021 to host a 50th anniversary party, doing so at an interesting time for the furniture business with COVID-19 driving demand for anything home-related and global supply chain worries slow delivery of new pieces. And, like many industries, furniture is seeing the demise of locally-owned shops like Danco and a shift toward chains, big-boxes and online.
“The way people shop has changed,” says Grant, who at 46 wasn’t even alive when his business was founded. “Today, 95 to 100% have researched it online before they come in. Some of them have as much product knowledge as our salespeople.”
But they still come in, he says, and at Danco, they meet with a knowledgeable salesperson, one who doesn’t work on commission. “The thing is that unlike some consumer goods, you really need to sit on a sofa,” Grant explains.
He describes customers moving from chair to chair like Goldilocks looking for a “just right” seat with salespeople measuring customers to help determine the best fit.
Dan and Joan Haugaard founded Danco — the name came from “Dan’s Company” with a shop on Green Street in Northampton that sold home goods, clothing and gifts and a store situated in a old potato barn in Hadley selling Scandinavian furniture, rugs and lamps.
Peter Knapp, 71, of Sunderland, started working at Danco in 1972.
“The furniture they made back then was really well built and cheap,” Knapp said in a written statement. “Dan kept bringing in more and more stuff. There was no place to put it, so they would stack coffee tables 6 feet high. Later they had a radio ad that said, ‘New displays, and they’re not cluttered like before’.”
Haugaard later moved into space at the Florence Silk Mill, adding an art gallery.
By 1980, the growing company had moved into 55,000-square feet of space in a former Agway store on Routes 5 and 10 in Hatfield, just north of Northampton.
It was the beginning, Grant said, of containerized shipping and the Haugaards capitalized on the Danish modern trend of furniture design helped along by a favorable exchange rate.
They expanded quickly, opening stores elsewhere in the country, including ones in North Carolina and South Carolina that the Haugaard family still has.
The Hatfield store was first sold to Danish Inspirations, a small chain based in Houston. Danish inspirations lasted until the next recession, selling to Knapp in 2007.
Business was tough, but he partnered with Grant and created an online store in 2010.
Grant, who began as a marketing consultant for the store in 2010, purchased the company in 2017 along with two partners. Emily Luippold, 39, of Erving, had been hired as an interior designer in 2014, and now leads the design and merchandising team. Miguel Candelaria Jr., 45, of Northampton, began as a delivery person in 2011 and worked his way up to manage the warehouse and customer service departments.
Their ages are important, says Grant. They are old enough to bring experience but young enough to have fresh takes on the business.
“That is the difference between being an employee and making decisions. That was five years ago,” he said. “Anytime someone puts fresh energy into something, that’s what happens,”
Today, he and his partners describe Danco’s furniture as “country modern,” a take on modern furniture that fits well in a New England home.
“Clean lines,” he said. “A lack of ornate ornamentation. Simple designs. Practical.”
While Danco sells some European-built or Asian-made lines of furniture, including furniture from Sweden and Norway, the majority is made in North America and most of that comes from Canada and the United States.
Makers from right here in New England include craftsman Bill Sheckles in Greenfield and manufacturers Copeland and Thor’s Elegance, both in Vermont.
Danco Modern has changed its strategy recently, according to Grant, securing more inventory so consumers have a wider selection of furniture they can take home or get delivered in a few days.
Manufacturers tell Danco they are dealing with backlogs, a common occurrence as the economy emerges from the pandemic. Some are saying to wait 18 to 20 weeks for order fulfillment. That’s more than twice the normal lead times even for custom work.
“(Customers) come in knowing that they need to be patient,” he said.
Business is good, even during the traditionally slower summer months headed into the busier fall. Like many other home-focused industries, furniture saw a boost during the pandemic as people quantified, worked and learned from home and let their nesting instincts take over.
``All of the sudden you are spending all day in your home, ”Grant said. “It’s only natural you would want to improve it. We’re fortunate (because) we were well positioned.”
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Danco Modern celebrates 50 years of European-style furniture as COVID drives spending home furnishings - MassLive.com
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