Sticks and Stones are a custom, contemporary concrete and wood furniture manufacturer based in Squamish, BC. Over the years, Sticks and Stones have established a reputation for producing innovative, unique, and high-quality designs, by integrating a combination of wood and concrete. The company's distinctive production is in part due to their strong belief in local sourcing of talent and materials, which are predominantly drawn from British Columbia. Their products span from signature firepits and outdoor living products, to wine cellars. 

In January, Sticks and Stones began a new chapter under the direction of Ciaran Donnelly. Donnelly, recently hailing from Ireland, has a background in civil engineering and spent years operating companies in the concrete industry. Upon moving to Canada, Donnelly had no intention of acquiring a business; however, after having purchased a table from the previous owner, an opportunity for involvement presented itself. Upon conducting more in-depth research, Donnelly realized that Sticks and Stones is a company that has excellent potential for growth, in part due to their profound commitment to using local sourced materials, as well as their one-of-a-kind designs. Donnelly also cited that the operations backdrop of the picturesque Squamish, BC, did not hurt his assessment. 

Donnelly appreciates that Sticks and Stones' competitive advantage is their unrelenting motivation to innovate and create unique products. The organization has backed up their proclamation for improvement by investing in workshop facilities and production techniques. They have also recently fortified their technical abilities with the investment in Fusion 360, a 3D software tool that streamlines the entire product development process. If you would like to see a variety of Sticks and Stones' innovative products for yourself, you can do so in their showroom located in downtown Squamish, and open to the public Mo nday through Friday. 

Want to know more about Sticks and Stones? You can check out their website at sticks-and-stones.ca, view their photos on Instagram @sticksstonesfurniture, and keep up-to-date with them on Twitter @ SticksStonesCan. For more information, feel free to contact Ciaran Donnelly directly at [email protected].

A few comments, suggestions, and ideas...

Lots of news coming out our neighbor to the South with the continued Softwood Lumber dispute, the new NAFTA 2.0 agreement and the drama surrounding the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. One thing that the Americans can never be accused of is being boring! On that note, I thought it would be interesting to take a more mellow approach and look at a couple of key markets in California to see how the residential and light commercial construction sector is doing.

Lake Tahoe; Lake Tahoe is a resort market that straddles the states of California and Nevada high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is home to world class skiing, golfing, boating and other resort activities. Best of all, it's a short 2.5-hour drive from the population centers of San Francisco and Silicon Valley. It is home to a booming economy in the high-end residential and vacation home sector. In speaking with builders in this market, they continue to be extremely busy as they have been so for the last 3 to 4 years. Many are waiting for a slowdown so that they can "catch their breath", but it hasn't happened yet. The top residential developments in the Tahoe market include, Martis Camp, Lahontan, Schaffer's Mill and Incline Village.

The market is driven by the strength in the tech industry as Tahoe is viewed as a great place to own vacation property for people in this sector. It's also a great market for BC Industry due to its close geographic proximity. Also, with the popularity of the "Modern Mountain" Design aesthetic, wood is a prominent feature in both the structural and appearance applications. There is a number of influencers in the Tahoe market including key builders, architects, and distributors. For a list of these companies please feel free to contact me at [email protected].

In the next Wood Connections, we will give a review of opportunities a little further south down the I-80 corridor, with a review for the Napa/ Sonoma and St Helena markets. A hint would be that there is a lot more to this market than just great wine.

As always, you can reach me at [email protected] or on my cell at 604-728-8786.

 

For the past few years, the organizers of the Japan Home Show have been targeting the hospitality industry with a new zone for interior fixtures. This is of course because of the rush to build and refurbish hotels and resorts to accommodate the growing number of inbound travelers. Last year almost 30 million people visited Japan and this number is expected to grow to 40 million annual visitors by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, so there is a great need to expand Japan ' s tourism infrastructure.