NewsMakers

NewsMakers: "Amish Furniture Haus
Tim and Shelby Huchthausen

4/15/2005
by Chuck Watson


Tim and Shelby Huchthausen turned a personal furniture experience into their own retailing venture.
�Amish furniture is a long-term investment,� said Tim Huchthausen who, with his wife Shelby, owns Amish Furniture Haus at 2104 W. Superior St in Duluth�s Lincoln Park.
�We love the furniture. My parents started buying it when we were engaged. I was always impressed by the solid wood construction,� he said.
Shelby is from Superior and Tim was raised in a farming community outside of Verona in southern Wisconsin, closer to the Amish communities and hardwood country. Since opening in June, 2004, the Huchthausens have seen steady growth in sales and inventory at their 3,000 square-foot showroom and 3,500 square-foot warehouse. They anticipate major growth in 2005.
Before opening Amish Furniture Haus, Huchthausen was a union laborer and then a technician and product development coordinator for ARCO Coffee. The Twin Ports couple has three young children.
�There�s definitely a unique market here in west Duluth,� he said. The Hucht-hausens chose the current location based on geography, visibility and rent.
The Amish procure their red and white oak, maple and cherry from Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylva-nia. All furniture, beds, dining chairs recliners, tables, office furniture, china cabinets and children�s port-o-potties are constructed by Amish communities in the southern Rust Belt.
They can build any style, including antique reproductions, and that keeps the inventory unique. �All external panels are solid through and through,� no particle board or medium density fiberboard, Huchthausen said. Only a few pieces have plywood backs.
The Amish work in verbal"