Interesting Idea for a store

Wonder what they pay in insurance or if they have it?
Sounds lika a BIG liability!!
Also a good idea, not only to try machines but access to one you only use once in a while.

-- MARK IN BOB, So. CAL

Looks interesting.

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Great idea. I used to frequent a bicycle shop that would rent space and access to special tools. I think it is a good public service.

-- Maplewood, MN

for $75.00 unimited access any time there open, they would have to chase me out with a gun. Think about it they pay for saw blades, utility’s, equipment, etc. etc. i can’t heat my little shop in my garage for $75.00
Where is Stow Ohio, I maybe moving there before they change prices.
Like Miske said how do they pay for their liability insurance
The question is are they going to sell so many memberships that you have to wait in line to do anything. Kind of like what some of these health clubs do.

-- Ed Collinge- Edmonds, WA.

That’s a slick idea. There’s a lot of people out there who wish they could’ve learned more in high school shop, or would like to learn new tricks, etc. This gives them the chance. I have a cousin who lives in that area. Since he’s severely limited to a one car garage/shop, I’ll have to have him check it out. Thanx for the link.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

For everyone’s reference:
Stow is about 1 hour south of Cleveland Ohio.
Or just to the West of Kent State University( I know it is a little morbid, but alot of people from elsewhere in the country, know about Kent State from the evnets there in the 1970’s).

Dadoo: Where about is your cousin? I grew up in that area ( my parents still live in town I grew up in) I just always find it interesting how people can be “connected” to oneanother in many different ways.

Wow, I see lot’s of equipment in that shop. A shaper, two large lathes and two small lathes. A dual drum sander. Two bandsaws. A panel cutting saw. I think I see a 20” planer. Lot’s of wide open space! A dedicated finishing booth. Too bad I live in Iowa instead of Stow Ohio. I wonder if they are looking at a franchising model. Heck, maybe I should just steal the idea and open my own store. Now, who can I get to loan me $500,000 to $750,000 to open up a woodworking store and shop? Anyone offering? ;)

-- Owen Johnson - aka IowaWoodcrafter

A nice setup. I think I’ve heard of them before but never seen one in operation.

Our woodworking club currently meets at a VFW hall. And we meet for toy making at the shop of a previous member who passed away 3 years ago. He told his wife to let us keep working there. But her family is trying to get mom out of her home. So we may be losing our working shop.

The VFW has talked about building us a workshop on their property. (Note we pay no rent for our meeting place) They’ve been very gracious to the club.

In Maryland any VFW facality that has slot machines must donate like 60% of the profit to charities. So I don’t know if they will use those funds to build the shop. They already have the land.

If we get it, we’d use it for meetings and also for holding classes and workshops.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Someone opened a shop like that in Gwinnett County a few years ago.
It got some good publicity.
Unfortunately, it didn’t last.
I don’t know why.
Gwinnett County has a very active guild and maybe too many prospective users had their own tools.

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

It is a great idea, but requires a good business model. To make a store like this work, I think that you would need to form clubs and special interest groups to grow business. Lets hope that these folks have a great success. I would love to see a model like this work.

-- making sawdust....

I came across a very similar store located in Rockville, Maryland.

http://www.woodcraft.com/stores/store.aspx?id=101

We just had a place open in Mio Michigan wood teck, they have wood classes, and the also have all the shop tools for you to use, and then for $40.00 per month you can just use the shop. it sounds nice, they have full classes like building a table, or turning pens ($7.00 each pen)

-- Doug Cedar Log Furniture, www.cedar-stuff.com

I actually talked with the people who own this place. I was talking with a friend about opening this type of place and so I contacted them. It’s 950.00 for a year-long membership. You definately need a good business model. They told me the biggest hurdle was getting the insurance. It’s a very neat idea but you need a good customer base.

-- Tony, Ohio