BRYANT POND — Like their rescued stray cats and one dog, Brenda and Randy Malms have had their share of ups and downs. 

Owners-operators of Classic Pet Furniture, the Malms have been crafting luxury hardwood furniture for pets for more than a decade from a custom workshop overlooking Maine’s western mountains. Pieces range from four-poster cat beds, to raised food and water diners to crates that double as an end table.

But three years ago that life ground to a halt after the couple awoke late one winter night to the tell-tale red gleam flickering from their combined garage and workshop. They raced to save possessions from the fire, but watched helplessly as their livelihood went up in flames. 

“We were able to save a few things, but the building was a complete loss. It was terrible,” Brenda Malm said.  

The aftermath of the fire ground production to a halt; four employees had to be let go. 

But industriousness is built into the woodworkers’ fiber: Eight weeks after the shop burned to the ground, Randy and a friend built a custom shop to house a renewed wood-turning business. Randy refurbished the cornerstone of the shop, a 10-foot-long, $135,000 computerized lathe that turns raw wood into wooden legs in a matter of moments for $50,000. Without it, the process takes almost 10 times as long.

“It does everything. I can basically sit back and read the newspaper while it works,” Randy said. 

Just 90 days after the fire, they were up and running again. 

To help pay for the parts, they took out a bank loan and secured funding from the Western Maine Economic Development Group, a division of Community Concepts Finance Corp.

Yet the legacy of the fire that consumed their shop lingers. Underinsured, their savings was spent purchasing equipment necessary for the business, including air compressors, a giant turning glue wheel, jigsaws and the hundreds of miscellaneous tools that make the operation flow. 

With their savings spent on rebuilding the shop, they’ve lacked the funds to meet their potential capacity. 

Despite distribution through national retailers such as online marketplace WayFair, Orvis and a host of pet suppliers, larger orders have been turned down because they can’t guarantee they’ll be able to fulfill them on time. 

“It kills me. This business could be huge,” Brenda said. 

Now they’ve turned their sights to outside investment, hoping a third party could inject funding. 

The American appetite for pet products grows annually. The American Pet Products Association estimated the country spent $14 billion on pets in 1994; by 2014, that figure grew to $58.51 billion. 

Randy, a 30-year veteran woodworker, first tapped into that market nearly 20 years ago at a friend’s suggestion that he make cat beds. 

“I sold 200 of them in a four-month period around Christmas. It was overwhelming,” Randy said.

After a hiatus, he started making a bone-shaped dog feeder after a pet shop owner in Bethel lamented the lack of quality options, and the business ballooned. 

Randy, whose parents moved to the region in the 1960s after falling in love with the area, said the company has the best quality control team for their products — Bootsie and Crap Game, two of their eight cats. 

Copy the Story Link