Today we’d like to introduce you to Jodi Krantz and her father, Sam Krantz.
Hi Jodi and Sam, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A family affair, Ohio Wood and Iron Works is a father/daughter team handcrafting exceptional wood accents and iron wares in our 1800’s era schoolhouse.
Our story really began early on when I was a toddler, as our craftsman and blacksmith (otherwise known to me as “Dad”) had me wearing a child’s tool belt complete with plastic tool set around the house and helping him with small projects. He taught my brother and I the valuable skill of working with our hands at a young age. Over the years, I’ve worked with Dad achieving a diverse array of knowledge in the construction field. The skills I have learned and the time spent together is irreplaceable. Sometimes, I still need a little assistance with reading a tape measure, but that will come someday, right?
As time moved ahead, I could see Dad thoroughly enjoyed and took great pride in making custom furniture. I was driven to find a way to show the world his amazing ability but wasn’t sure how to reach out. A friend told me about Etsy, and suddenly, our shop was born! It’s been a blessing to have such wonderful customers and a joy knowing our pieces are loved in homes across the globe.
Not only do we love making things with our hands, but it also helps to have a “cool” place to make them in! Our shop is actually an old one-room schoolhouse built in the late 1800s. Purchased in 1999, we have worked hard to restore it and preserve its historic value. The slate we use in our trivets is slate that was left from the original dwelling. “The shop,” as we call it, has been such a tremendous part of our lives we even used it in our logo (that’s the sketch you see). Our chalkboards are also salvaged from a local high school. I take great joy in hunting and using salvaged materials. I love looking at a piece in front of me wondering what all it has seen over the years and what the story is behind it; we’ll never know. I think about how it was made back then, without power tools and assembly lines. Someone’s hard work, time, and sweat went into those salvaged pieces, and if it weren’t for people who appreciate them, they may be forgotten.
We put heart and soul into every project. Each piece is made uniquely by hand in our shop and is built to be lasting and functional. All materials used are made in the USA. All items are handmade by Sam, never anyone else to assure quality and uniqueness. We take pride in the quality of small business and would never compromise our customer satisfaction to assembly lines or substandard materials. Our shop has evolved into even more of a family business, as my mother and brother have joined us! Each one of us brings a different skill and task to the table, and we couldn’t do this without a team effort!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One of our struggles was developing product lines that were needed by consumers, but yet still allowed us to make the items by hand perfecting our craft. Some other challenges came during the Covid-19 pandemic. We saw a spike in sales from those working from home or those staying home for safety reasons. We were elated to see sales increasing but faced supply chain problems with getting the materials necessary to make the products. There were delays and shortages with our materials, but fortunately for us, our many valued customers were so gracious about waiting!
As sales increased, we needed to make major changes in our shipping department. We upgraded to better boxes, packing material and upped our game with new branding/logo stamps and business cards to send with each order as a cherry on top.
The biggest surprise challenge came in December 2020 when, during a routine work day, the structural floor system collapsed in our shop. The 90+-year-old floor joists reached the end of their lifetime. As a result, we quickly temporarily supported the floor while completing Christmas holiday orders. Over the course of the next seven months, we worked on lifting the building off of her foundation to make repairs. Rim joists, floor joists, bottom plates, subfloor, wall framing repairs, and ventilation were all redone, and today she is good as new! Again, this was all brought upon us during the pandemic, so we worked around supply chain issues to repair our beloved shop.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Our work is hand-forged ironware. We employ old-school methods to shape and connect our pieces. We typically have a standard product line but accept many various types of custom product requests. Some of our favorites include a 48″ high coconut wood mirrored wall organizer, industrial carpenter’s style wooden beverage bar, an iron cross with the silhouette of Jesus, a beautiful Advent wreath adorned with handmade iron roses, custom pot racks, and a 48″ diameter quarter sawn white oak table.
We are well known for our Christmas Advent wreaths, our heavy-duty firewood tongs (great gift idea!), and we’ve been told our peony stakes are the “Cadillac” of flower grates!
We are most proud of the fact that we started our business from nothing- and can now say we have our handmade products finding homes in places as far as Australia, Dubai, Germany, Canada, Hawaii, and the United Kingdom!
We believe our customer service and our competitively priced items allow us to provide the client with a memorable, heirloom quality piece.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
First and foremost, our customers are our biggest supporters. Last week, we shipped a customer her fifth order of flower stakes- we have many repeat customers, and what a huge compliment that is!
OWIW is truly a family affair. Sam, our blacksmith, and creator, welcomes the morning’s orders and heads out to the forge for a day of working on the anvil. Terrie, our director of shipping and accounting, assures that all orders are correct, well packaged, and shipped promptly. Jodi is our head of marketing and customer service. She enjoys interacting with customers during the sales process and providing a personalized approach. Justin is our newest blacksmith and machinist/welder. He is very comfortable putting his own spin on custom orders, utilizing the CNC plasma table.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OhioWoodandIronWorks?ref=pr_shop_more
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohiowoodandironworks/?hl=en
