History of our Business
I’m glad your here! Learning about the History of our Business before you purchase a product can be very meaningful.
Hobby
Dan’s Outdoor Furniture began in 1984 when Dan began building picnic tables and began selling on State Highway 13 and Country Road V in Spencer WI. In less than three years it had become a full-time business and using his parents garage was no longer large enough.
The Purchase of Land
In 1989 land was purchased at our current location on Highway 13 between Spencer and Marshfield and a shop was built. The following year a 5000 square foot warehouse was built. At that time all our products were built in Pressure Treated Pine, and also in Western Red Cedar. Then in 1994 we discontinued using pine and focused just on building with Western Red Cedar.
In the years to come a dealer network grew to include our products being sold all through the Midwest states.
The Need for Expansion
In 2007 we built a new shop and office building with an additional 3500 square feet. This building is heated with an outdoor wood furnace by heating water and passing it through the floor. We now use all our wood scrap to help to heat this water. Our new office provided needed space and the shop was large enough to hold most of our lumber all the way to completion of products to be sold. We added a dust collection system, wide-belt sander, joiner and other sanding equipment in the years to follow.
In the slow years of the great-recession we retooled and started a new line of patio furniture that we call the Ozark Collection. It features contoured seats and a higher back. It is now our best seller.
Selling Online
In the early years of the internet we published our first website Dansoutdoorfurniture.com and started to sell our products online. In 1998 we sold our first picnic table to a customer in California and within 4 more years online sales were 42% of our annual sales. Last year our online sales surpassed all other years and were 92% or our total yearly sales. We have shipped to all 50 states and to Canada and Italy.
Everyone in our family helps in some way to make a true “family business”. We start young with age appropriate jobs. Sweeping leads to jobs with more responsibility. We are teaching our boys responsibility and the value of work, use of their God given talents and understanding how to make money and the spending of it.
Thank you for reading about the History of our Business. We hope you decide to make a purchase from us and in turn we will give you a well-made product that will be a part of your yard for many, many years!
Sincerely,
Dan and Rhonda Anderson Family
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