Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 7, 1995 TAG: 9502070062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Twists & Turns, a metal-furniture maker and retailer launched three years ago in Roanoke, has been growing lately - by leaps and bounds.
The business, which occupies two storefronts on the Roanoke City Market, said a store featuring its furniture opened in October in the Carytown section of Richmond. Another opens March 15 near the Carolina Place Mall in Charlotte, N.C.
Other store openings are planned this year for Raleigh, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; and Virginia Beach.
With the exception of the Roanoke store, Twists and Turns doesn't own any of its locations, said company President Cynthia Cassell. Rather, it sells use of its name to independent operators, helps them establish their business and then provides metal furniture made in Twists & Turns' factory in Roanoke.
The company recently completed a 16-page color catalog, which should be ready for distribution next month. The catalog, designed by local artist Jerry Forbes, will be mass-mailed to potential customers in all of the cities with stores, Cassell said.
Cassell declined to release sales or earnings figures for the privately owned business, saying only that sales double ``every time you turn around.''
Local people have been very supportive, bringing friends and out-of-town visitors to the Roanoke store, Cassell said. Twists & Turns, as a consequence, ships its furniture all over the country, she said.
The business, which employs 10 people in Roanoke, has enough manufacturing capacity to take care of the new stores, said Cassell's husband, Joe, the company's secretary-treasurer.
``The last thing you need is having customers mad at you because you're selling more than you can make,'' he said.
Joe Cassell and David Selfe, two owners of Superior Metal and Manufacturing Inc. in Vinton, started Twists & Turns in 1992 during a lull in their metal fabrication business. Superior does metalwork for such companies as Norfolk Southern Corp. and Volvo GM Heavy Truck Corp.
Both men still are involved with Twists & Turns and design the company's furniture, but Cassell has parted from Superior.
A Roanoke Valley native, Cassell has worked with metal all of his life and with several metal fabricators in the area in sales and management jobs. For him, Twists & Turns started off as a hobby. ``It was something to do with no expectation whatsoever of this happening,'' he said of the business's success.
The company began by making patio furniture, then added a line of metal beds and a variety of accent pieces, such as tables and corner shelves. Decorative metal lighting soon will be added to the product mix.
The furniture is finished with a durable metal paint, available in about 280 colors, used by the automotive industry. Although the patio furniture is designed for outside use, many buyers use it indoors, Cynthia Cassell said.
The hottest-selling items last year were the company's beds, she said. They come in six major styles: Chippendale, Wheel-back, Tulip, English Garden, Infinity and the company's own Tree, which is the most popular. Prices range from $600 to $2,295 for beds and $745 to $1,791 for sets including a patio table and chairs.
The furniture in the Roanoke store is for display, not sale. Pieces are made only after a customer places an order; sometimes that means a custom fit, such as the extra long bed made for a 6-foot-8 man.
A key to Twists & Turns' success, Cynthia Cassell said, has been listening carefully to what customers ask for. One example is a patio set that features long-legged table and chairs. The idea came from listening to people complain how they couldn't see over their deck railing when sitting in conventional patio furniture, she said.
The company also listens to customers when purchasing the accessories that fill out the Roanoke store's inventory, which include plaster cherubs and yard-tall stone rabbits. Rabbits are hot this year, Cassell said. But the owners at the other store locations are free to buy accessory items that are suited to their own markets, she said.
Twists & Turns tries to feature local artists and artisans whenever possible, Cassell said. Its cushions are made by a Bent Mountain man, Freddy Boitnott. The Roanoke store sells grapevine wreathes by Pat Roessal and paintings by Diane Patton, both local artists.
by CNB