Patrick Mayock
Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management
Scot Lowry
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By establishing a deep network of local vendors, designers and architects, Rustbelt Reclamation is often first in line to reclaim wood castings, frames and other discarded materials for use in its custom furniture business. The outcome is not only beautiful furniture that tells a story, but also a business practice that reduces waste generation through recycling and reuse.
Megan November wasn’t surprised when she received a call from developers of the Nord Family Greenway. While realizing their ambitious vision of a 430,000-square-foot commons that connects Case Western Reserve University’s student center with a historic performing arts center across campus, the developers had to cut down several Chinese Ash trees but didn’t want them to go to the landfill. They called a trusted local partner instead.
November’s Rustbelt Reclamation has made its name deferring lumber from landfills and reclaiming material from abandoned factories throughout Northeast Ohio. What many would see as junk, November and her team at the custom furniture manufacturer see as potential works of art.
“That’s what the company needs to do to stay relevant and keep the story alive,” November said. “We have a lot of customers who really, really want that.”
They want something that tells a story—something that’s truly unique, she said. You can buy beautiful furniture from any number of national furniture stores, but so can tens of thousands of other buyers. At Rustbelt, the table or chair or desk you buy is one-of-a-kind, November explained.
One-of-a-kind pieces require one-of-a-kind materials, which November sources through a robust network of area vendors, architects and designers. When they come across something old or unexpected, they often call Rustbelt before the landfill. Felled trees like those pulled from the Nord Family Greenway are common, as are long-forgotten remnants of an industrial era long past. In one corner of Rustbelt’s production facility, for instance, sits a mountain of pecan stamping blocks from a shuttered auto manufacturing plant. The old owner saw them as junk, November explained, “but some of our best pieces are made out of that material.”
November acknowledges the importance of sustainable composition and production in Rustbelt’s business model. The company’s innovative sourcing practice was there from the outset, when founder Deej Lincoln couldn’t keep the company’s reclaimed wood bottle openers in stock. Other small knick knacks followed, as did stools, chairs, and eventually the full suite of custom-made furniture Rustbelt now offers.
Today, nearly 80% of the company’s furniture is made using reclaimed materials.
“Utilizing reclaimed materials tells a story,” said Colin Schmitz, Rustbelt’s marketing coordinator. “That material once served a purpose somewhere else as a structure ... A lot of people would look at it and say, ‘To hell with it.’ We like to build a statement piece that tells a story.”
Stories abound in the Rustbelt, the once-thriving industrial tract that stretches through Pennsylvania, Ohio and much of the Midwest, he said. The region is blotted by empty edifices that previously housed bustling steel mills and factories—relics of a bygone era eroded by globalization and foreign competition. There is history between those empty walls. There is a past. And Rustbelt Reclamation is doing its part to keep that history and past alive.
Rustbelt’s innovative sourcing practice helped the company gain traction quickly soon after its founding in 2013.
“Early on we gained a lot of positive attention for doing creative work in an ethical way,” Schmitz said. Those first bottle openers and stools cultivated a following locally, which allowed the company to expand into more ambitious pieces—first for residential, and then for the corporate and hospitality spaces.
Rustbelt has amassed an enviable portfolio in that limited span. November and the team frequently are commissioned to build custom tables and counters for Hilton and Marriott, two of the largest hotel chains in the country. One particularly ambitious project was designed for the Sheraton Hotel & Spa in Anchorage, Alaska. (The logistical coordination of transporting the table was more complex than the table itself, Schmitz said with a laugh.)
The company also has won highly visible bids for Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, and First Energy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns. In the former, Rustbelt designed reclaimed bar tops and tables for “The Corner,” a massive, two-story bar in the right field stands.
November, who acquired the company in early 2018, sees a sweet spot where innovative sourcing overlaps with high-touch customer service and beautiful design.
“I don’t want anyone to feel like the door is closed on them ... that we only do fancy hotels or corporate boardrooms,” she said. “I want everyone to think we can service them in some way.”
“I see us branching out more to the corporate world,” November added. “There’s a huge market out there for us that we can service with big boardroom tables and unique workstations that are not off-the-shelf products, that people in the corporate setting are valuing more now than they used to.”
High-end residential is another huge growth avenue, she said.
“When people come in here, they get really excited about what we’re doing. Residential customers do that even more so than interior designers. We all love that excitement and feed off that.”
That Rustbelt benefits the environment and the Cleveland area is icing on the cake, Schmitz said.
In addition to sourcing responsibility, Rustbelt consumes responsibly as well. The company has donated its saw dust to the local botanical gardens in the past. And it uses almost every inch of material.
Oftentimes, the skilled carpentry team will use the scraps in creative ways, adding eye-catching design elements such as wood inlays in other custom pieces.
It’s a holistic approach that’s often lost in the furniture manufacturing space—and one only possible by maintaining that deep network of local vendors and suppliers. How else would the Nord Family Greenway developers know to call?
“They reached out to us, which we’re immensely grateful for,” Schmitz said. “There’s awareness out there for us.”
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Megan November, Owner
Colin Schmitz, Marketing Coordinator
Rustbelt Reclamation is proud to offer exceptional quality custom furniture for commercial and residential applications that feature unique materials crafted entirely within the United States. The company's signature pieces made primarily from wood often integrate steel, stone and power/data ports. The Rustbelt team of project managers and craftsmen have extensive experience working with designers, architects, and purchasing agents across multiple industries.