Recession Pushes Woodworker Into Custom Wood Floor Biz

Before the recession hit, woodworker Joe Guida of Flagstaff, Az., was making more than a million rubber stamp mounts per year, and he had six employees. After the economy tanked, he decided to keep his workers busy by creating a line of custom wood flooring, according to a recent story from AZdailysun.com. Through an advantageous arrangement with a mill in Michigan, Guida gets all of his wood direct, and he also sells exclusively to contractors and builders; this helps keep his costs lower. "I've been buying from the same mill for the last 20 years," he told the newspaper. "I don't buy from a wholesaler, so I am able to get things that are difficult for other people to get." Guida produces white oak, red oak, hickory, soft maple, birch, American beech, walnut and cherry. With the new home market in a major slump, he has focused his efforts on the remodeling market as of late: "People are remodeling, and new floors are part of that," he said.