MOSTLY DANISH

A PUBLIC SERVANT TRAINED IN GEOGRAPHY BECAME A DESIGNER AND RETAILER OF TEAK FURNITURE.

It isn't that often that a woodpile yields treasure, but Zvi Gross knew it at first sight two decades ago. He was thinking of going into business for himself and discovered a huge amount of damaged teak table tops in a warehouse.

The owner of the "wood pile" was a Montreal furniture manufacturer who was selling out. Mr. Gross saw his opportunity for a new career and offered $5,000 for the wood. From there grew Mostly Danish Furniture, and he still makes the occasional piece out of that wood.

He recalls that he "discovered Danish furniture by accident" while working on his master's degree in geography at Carleton University. Married with a young son living on a tight budget, the grad student hunted for furniture at bargain prices. He was particularly interested in simple, functional pieces-two design features generally advertised as the focus of Scandinavian furniture design.

As he haunted auctions for a couple of months, he became something of "an expert on Danish furniture," he smiles. But, he had never studied woodwork or furniture design and did not think of his new expertise as the start of an entrepreneurial career. That was to happen some years later.

First, after graduating, he went to work for the federal government. Three years later, he took a leave of absence from the Department of Supply and Services to branch out on his own.

Then he discovered the woodpile.
He estimates that the teak was worth more that 10 times the amount, but there was a downside: " It was certainly cheap to buy. But I had to rent warehouse space for two years to store it and that was expensive."

The next stage was to turn the raw material into furniture. He sold his home to finance the venture and the family rented a home. He then rented 1,800 square feet of commercial space and opened his first Mostly Danish Furniture store in Halldon Square near Carlingwood.

His brother, a cabinet-maker, worked with him during his first summer in business. Learning from him and through evening courses at Algonquin, Mr. Gross became a skilled craftsman.

In the last two years, he has won awards for his original designs of such items as teak lamps and multi-purpose music stands.

"I think everybody wants to dream they have special ability for something," he says. "I never knew I had any ability for woodwork until 15 years ago. Until then, I didn't even know how the machinery worked. Its never too late to learn."

But in 1982, when he opened that first tiny store, he specialized not in producing award-winning original pieces but in selling end-of-line, clearance and used items.

"That was my niche, because then there were several teak stores in town," explains Mr. Gross. The particular focus also meant that he did not have to invest much cash in high priced inventory when interest rates were hitting the roof. ("They were up to 20 or 25 per cent in 1982."

"It was a long haul before I started to take a pay cheque, says the 53-year-old businessman, who has moved to larger and larger premises five times since he opened his first store. "And it was 10 years before banks were willing to (advance) a line of credit."

But patience ("You have to give business time"), a love of the product ("Look at the beauty of wood"), increasing expertise and the gradual demise of other teak stores have led to the emergence of Mostly Danish Furniture as "the only furniture store between Ottawa and the Atlantic specializing in Scandinavian designs in teak, oak, cherry and rosewood."

"I ship a lot of furniture to the Atlantic provinces and get a lot of customers from hotels," says Mr. Gross, whose current premises two blocks from the Rideau Centre have expanded to 10,000 square feet over three storeys.

Though the showroom now focuses on top-quality items, it still carries some used furniture and accepts trade-ins. Mr. Gross also repairs furniture as well as continuing woodwork as art.

"Everybody benefits," he says, "Customers (buying and trading) can get something really nice under market price. While not everyone can afford new Scandinavian teak, most can find something in their price range in a trade-in."

He points to a massive tile-topped teak buffet, finished on both sides. The price of this trade-in is $1,250.00. A new model of a similar item imported from Denmark would run at more than $3,000.00.

He also has items in that price range, and others that run higher or considerably lower.

Some solid teak dining tables cost $3.300.00 for instance. Custom orders, such as a massive rosewood dining table that will sell for $4,500.00, are also an important part of this business.

But his special interest lies in creating his own pieces, often from exotic woods.

"If I design something that is successful, I farm out production," says Mr. Gross, whose designs have netted awards at the last two Ottawa wood shows.

"I don't have the time or machinery for mass production, but over the years, I have developed a group of reliable craftspeople that I work with."

Six months ago, he added a new line: 220-volt appliances designed for export. These are shipped directly overseas, although a few samples are housed in the store for purchases to view.

It's too soon to say whether this venture will take off. But the unusual step fits in with Mr. Gross's philosophy of trying something new and giving it time to grow. There's an art in developing new business lines as well as in original woodworking.