We were lucky to catch up with Herb Lancaster recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Herb, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

What started out as a basic trade taught me by an old world craftsman, has evolved into a mission to prove the furniture industry can blend traditional values with modern insight. Through my many battles with loss of my spouse, loss of my business (due to imports in 2009), and hurricane Harvey dropping the city water tower on my factory, I have learned to be resourceful and feel I can demonstrate to others the ability to not only survive, but thrive under the most seemingly impossible conditions. After having to shut down my small town furniture manufacturing company that employed over 100 people, I even trademarked the term “Brining Back Made in America” in order to share it with other companies with the same passion to rebuild and restore those regional small businesses that make things
I feel that through my method of resourcing raw materials materials, use of modern and traditional equipment, providing job training, relationship with my customers, and the support of the small town economy, I can make a difference.

In this world of excess by virtue of technology, people don’t tend to care as much anymore because they don’t need to care anymore.
We have become so successful through technology that we’re losing some of what it is to be human.
One of those things is the pride and joy that comes from actually making something with skills that you have learned. Something that people appreciate and are willing to pay for.

Finally, my next endeavor is a company called StormWood.
After surviving multiple natural disasters like hurricanes, and freezes, I observed the horrible amount of waste, (and expense to discard), our governments incur when clean things up. Also, in the name of progress, structures and trees are destroyed as highways, pipelines, and developments etc. cut down beautiful trees.
So I decided to take a stand and start my own logging, kiln drying and Lumber business that Only uses naturally fallen trees, or buildings and structures that would otherwise be destroyed by virtue of natural disasters, construction, clearing, etc.
I have made an almost $1 million investment in this endeavor and I am very excited about the future and how this can be a role model to the furniture and Wood industry in general.
(FYI ….. making things in wood (including buildings etc.) is the best way to do carbon capture)

Herb, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sorry, I sort of did that in the previous section. To expand on that, being a “last of the analogues” (I’m 67), I feel people like me must share the memory of what it was like to function in a society where technology meant less and social skills, job skills and a strong well deserved self-esteem meant more.

I feel we need to bring back manufacturing to America for strategic reasons.

First, it will revitalize our small towns.

Hopefully people will find themselves less focused on where they’re gonna get their next fentanyl or meth fix and more on their families because of their rebuilt self-esteem by virtue of job skills and the income they now make.

Secondly, in this global environment, we need to remember it’s dangerous to stretch out the supply chain too far.
That’s one of the REAL things Covid taught us

And finally, it’s what the consumer is looking for.
People want to know what they consume. My customers love to know the history of the materials. They love to learn about the machinery that made it. They especially want to know about the skills and sincerity of the individual who made it.
It means more and the value is forever.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Each of these chapters in my life have significant stories behind them. I won’t really going to detail here. I’ll expand on it when necessary First, I was not a good student. I was separated from the rest of the class in grammar school. Obviously I had ADD or some other condition. But the good news is that in my isolation I learn to make things and do things. I became obsessed with science and learning how things work.

In 74 I was accepted to Texas A&M and was going to study marine biology. I wanted to get into aquaculture. Then in the mid-70s, the wetlands protection act went into affect and it more or less destroyed how I intended to raise shrimp and fish in titled flats along the Gulf of Mexico. So basically my vision would not work anymore based on the new laws.
College wasn’t for me.anyway so I dropped out went back to woodworking
Initially I restored antique furniture where I learned more traditional joinery and started my own business selling antique reproductions. By the end of the 90s, I had 250 employees in two factories. I designed and built much of what folks saw with Tommy Hilfiger store fixtures, Cabela’s stores, Dillards department stores, Estee Lauder companies and even the Texas state capital after a fire in the late 80s.

Anyway, that all came crashing down in 2007 2008 during the subprime mortgage collapse.

I had to fire on my employees and it was the most traumatic experience I’ve ever been through

Shortly after that, my wife of 28 years passed away, in a year after that, I was diagnosed with cancer.

After a long battle rebuilding my business, that’s when I began to value what it means to be an employer to a small community.

I started my current business in 2010.

In 2017, Hurricane Harvey toppled the city water tower onto my 14,000 sq ft shop completely destroying it.
This is a long and complicated recovery story. But basically I worked under tarps on the generator for almost 3 years. Never fired his soul and never lost a customer.

This is when I appreciated the need to utilize naturally fallen trees and started my StormWood division.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

In the mid 70’s my mama, father’s mom, passed away and I got $1200.

I bought a tablesaw, a drill press, and a radial arm saw from a hardware store going out of business in Houston.

It was then that I officially started building furniture in my parents garage

Contact Info:

• Website: Hlancaster.com
• Facebook: H Lancaster co
• Other: Sorry, I know we have all those other social media connections but I’ll have to reach out to my office to get them. Remember, I’m a “last of the analogues”.

Image Credits
Herb