2-man firm creates custom tables

'If a customer can draw it, we can build it'

Tim Koors/The Arizona Republic Sante Fe Furniture Stylings owners Mike Hall (left) and Tom Hathaway show off one of the coffee tables they made with inlaid tile. "People can supply ceramic floor tile and we'll build a table around it," Hathaway says.

By Jo-An Holstein
Special for The Republic
April 13, 2000

"Build it and they will come" is an expression co-owners Tom Hathaway and Mike Hall apply to their business, Santa Fe Furniture Stylings.

The Chandler-based company builds custom tables, and its customers come without advertising, according to Hathaway and Hall.

"The majority of our business is repeat and referral now. We haven't advertised for over a year," Hall said.

Santa Fe Furniture Stylings specializes in end, sofa and coffee tables made in any size and color. Customers can opt for their tables to have decorative Southwestern cutouts, lower shelves, and tops that are left solid or have glass or tile inlays.

"People can supply ceramic floor tile and we'll build a table around it," said Hathaway, whose home garage in Chandler serves as the company's manufacturing site.

According to Hall, customers must provide the tile rather than just tile names or style numbers because coloring can vary with each lot.

"Customers can match anything in their house instead of being stuck with what they see in the store. We can do any size, any color. If there's something in the house they want to match, we can match it," Hathaway said. Hall said many customers bring in drawers or table leaves so finishes can be matched.

Tim Koors/The Arizona Republic Tom Hathaway checks a measurement while Mike Hall sands an aquarium stand that is nearly finished.

Santa Fe Furniture Stylings' tables are constructed of the customer's choice of solid wood or medium density fiber board. Fiber board is a step above particle board with a texture rolled on top, Hathaway said, and can be painted in any color, with white being the most popular.

He said most of the company's table orders are for solid oak. However, Santa Fe Furniture Stylings has built items in other woods including a child-size table and chairs made of teakwood.

Hathaway said the company's tables are coated with polyurethane, which not only protects the finish but also makes it washable and easy to clean.

Hall said the company's wood end tables with tile inlays generally start at $150 each and coffee tables with tile inlays start at $195 each. The company charges an additional $26 for glass inlays on end tables and $61 for glass inlays on coffee tables.

Customers get a break if they purchase a set consisting of two end tables, a sofa table and a coffee table. Such a set, made in fiber board, starts at $450. A set of three plant stands, in varying heights, is offered for $150. Prices include delivery.

In addition to tables, Santa Fe Furniture Stylings has made other items including bookcases and computer desks.

Hall told of a $1,200 solid maple computer desk made to match a customer's kitchen cabinets. An entertainment center also was made for that customer.

One of the company's latest specialties is a large aquarium stand with a canopy. Hall said the business recently has made one such stand weekly for a Scottsdale aquarium store, whose owner refers clients to Santa Fe.

In general, Hall said, "If a customer can draw it, we can build it."

One item the company doesn't make, however, is built-in bookcases.

"Technically, when you screw something into the wall, you're a contractor and we don't have a contractor's license," Hathaway explained.

Customers can generally expect their furniture to be ready within 10 working days after placing the orders, Hall said. It takes three to four days to build an item and another five days to put the finish on it, a process he said can be difficult during Arizona summers because the finishes dry so quickly.

Hall and Hathaway, who knew each other while both lived in Chicago, moved to Arizona six months apart in 1994. They started Santa Fe Furniture Stylings in 1995.

Hall, who lives in north Phoenix, said he has been a longtime carpenter while Hathaway previously worked as a machinist.

"We both saw textured furniture in the store. Once we saw the price tag, we said, "we can't afford it, so we better build it,' " Hall said.

At first they sold their products through small furniture stores, but now they sell directly to customers.

"We've eliminated the middle man," Hathaway said.

Noting that Santa Fe Furniture Stylings has "no intentions" of hiring others, Hall said he and Hathaway plan to remain a "mom-and-pop operation."

"We can count on ourselves and that works," he said.