Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993 TAG: 9304080475
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-28 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
WOODWORKER CARVES A NICHE
Wood has been an important part of Larry W. Brewer's life for as long as he can remember.He was introduced to it while a boy in his father's home workshop in Richmond.
"That's where I learned the tricks of the trade," he said. In his father's shadow, Brewer learned about wood and the tools to use on it.
"But I did a lot of digging on my own," and that basic training has paid off.
Not only has Brewer, 58, had fun with woodworking, he has made it a second career by recently opening a retail shop, Reproduction Shop, in Salem to sell his products.
Among items the shop will offer are accessory chairs, tables, stools, quilt racks, wine racks and children's chairs in many sizes and styles.
Brewer, who began his second career in the late 1980s after heart bypass surgery, said he will also do custom work.
"All they need to do is tell me what they want and give me the measurements and I'll make it for them."
Of the work that he turns out from his own design, Brewer said he thinks his chairs and small tables will prove most popular.
Even though the name of the shop is The Reproduction Shop, Brewer said the furniture he makes is reproduction, but with some personal touches.
For instance, he might give a Shaker chair a decorative seat instead of the traditional plain seat.
Or he might give a table leg an extra groove or two.
Brewer uses many kinds of wood but favors pine, maple, cherry and oak. He sometimes mixes woods in tables.
The type of wood depends on how the furniture is to be used, Brewer said, whether as a showpiece or a utility piece in an out-of-the-way place.
Brewer said he will try to keep everything in The Reproduction Shop under $300 and cheaper than comparable furniture by mail order.
Over the years, Brewer estimated, he's invested almost $30,000 - including furniture, tools and equipment he already had - in the shop.
He does not have any employees. However, he hopes to get occasional help from his wife, Joanne, and their two daughters, Tracy and Jodi.
He said he does not want the shop to grow into a large business. "There are a lot of advantages to owning your own business, particularly if you keep it small," he said.
Brewer once sold his furniture through the Wiley-Seymour House, a gift and speciality shop in Salem. Before that he owned and operated Old Salem Manufacturing Co., a cabinet-making business.
And before wood became his second career, he was a highway design engineer, first with the Virginia Department of Transportation in Richmond and then for 20 years with Hayes Seay Mattern & Mattern, an architectural and engineering firm in Roanoke.
Working with wood, he said, "comes natural to me. I love wood. I can't turn it down."
The Reproduction Shop, at 13-A E. Main St., Salem, can be reached by calling 389-7349.