By William J. Lynott How did you get started? Trevor grew up in the upholstery trade; his stepfather had his upholstery shop in the basement of the family home, which meant Trevor was always in the shop after school. By the time he was a teenager, his stepdad started to formally train him, and by [...]

How did you get started? I belong to a sailing club, and one year, I helped a friend put his canvas on the boat in the spring. He had just gotten a new dodger, and I looked at it and saw lots of small details I didn’t like. He encouraged me to look into doing [...]

How did your shop get started? We wanted to diversify, and market research indicated a void in marine fabrication. Omaha doesn’t come to mind as a huge boating community, but it is home to quite a few boat owners. Our research turned up limited options for either them or dealers who wanted to work with [...]

How did your shop get started? We started as a one-man operation out of Paul Charpentier’s basement. After one year, Paul was able to move into a smaller building. We moved into our current building in 1999. What is your product focus? Our main focus is marine canvas and upholstery. What unique design elements are [...]

I would like to share some tips Trevor and I have found useful in our shop in order to work more efficiently and reduce unnecessary stress. All of our systems have evolved from one principle: Don’t reinvent the wheel! Enough thought and planning goes into each custom job that you need to keep the number [...]

How did your shop get started? I learned to sew from my mother, as did my three daughters; she helped me with my wedding dress and the first furniture I had, some car seats and a motorcycle seat. When the food factory I worked in for many years closed, I went to work for a [...]

How big is your shop? I work entirely out of my home. The area used in my basement is 400 square feet, taken up mostly by my 6- by 16-foot table and sewing machines. I also have another room in the house with a serger and a portable sewing machine that I can take to [...]

Larry Schneider's Milwaukee-based Homestyle Custom Upholstery shop, which began in his parents basement, now features 1,000 square feet of office space alone. Steve Jobs started Apple in his parents’ garage. Amazon, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Mattel and Microsoft also began in garages. Dell and Facebook began in dorm rooms. And Virgin Group’s humble beginnings trace [...]

What unique design elements are built into your products? We fabricate high-end marine canvas and upholstery. We use only the highest quality products in our tops and enclosures, and our workmanship is second to none. What other products, other than marine products, do you produce? We will do work on anything that comes through our [...]

How did your shop get started? Terri Madden, owner of Sand Sea and Air Interiors (SSA), began her career as a Textile Designer in the Home Furnishings Division of Burlington Industries in New York, upon receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in textile design. Her responsibilities included research and development for color trends and woven [...]