YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
Take a kid who competes in furniture design in high school and put him on an aerospace engineering track in college, and that’s a perfect formula for innovation. Outdoor Wonders LLC co-owner Brent Clark was that kid, who left college behind and started a business making furniture from high-density polyethylene lumber – the plastic used in milk jugs and detergent bottles.
SBJ: Why HDPE – or poly, as you call it?
Brent Clark: Primarily because of its durability. The manufacturer of our raw material guarantees it for 50 years. Additionally, it’s a recycled product, and it’s UV stabilized to hold its color year after year. It has all the advantages of wood and none of the disadvantages. Customers have added pieces over a span of 10-12 years, and you can’t tell the first from the last.
SBJ: Is recycling your main goal?
Clark: Using recycled content is a great secondary benefit, but the primary benefit is the longevity and durability of the product. It’s certainly a benefit that we can contribute to recycling, and HDPE is one of the most inert and environmentally safe plastics there is. It doesn’t emit any toxins, even when we machine it.
SBJ: Last year, you moved from your location in a Nixa industrial park to a factory and showroom in Highlandville. How’s that working for you?
Clark: We’re the biggest building in Highlandville, at [U.S.] 160 and [State Highway] EE. We chose that because of the lake traffic, and it was close to home for me. In Nixa, we were strictly manufacturing with no showroom. Now we have a showroom, and we’re still striving more for the view of the public and to attract local business. We do only sell direct, and everything we do, we deliver fully assembled.
SBJ: Is there a lot of variety in outdoor poly furniture?
Clark: We offer entirely custom designs. Every product’s made to order and includes a 20-year guarantee, and there’s nearly an infinite number of possible combinations of styles and colors. We do maintain some limited pieces, so if somebody wants to stop in and pick something up, we can do that. The pure Adirondack look is traditional, and we do a lot of that.
SBJ: Where does most of your business come from?
Clark: We do a lot of custom projects for designers and architects. The Springfield Lawn & Garden Show is where we first got started – we tried to get our roots in the ground there – and that’s coming up. We do a lot of business in Florida and Texas, too. Early on when we started, there was a limited season locally, so I instinctively thought to reach out to somewhere with a more temperate climate to extend the season.
SBJ: Any regrets about leaving aerospace engineering behind?
Clark: My dad nearly did kill me when I dropped out of the engineering program and started a cabinet shop. Then I got this going, and for 10 years, Dad stayed at Branson Landing and sold our products. Our son Ben runs the day-to-day manufacturing operation, and I’m on the road a lot. We are a family business.
Taking shape on 3.5 acres just east of State Highway H/Glenstone Avenue in the area of Valley Water Mill Park are the Fulbright Heights Apartments – three 23,000-square-foot buildings with 24 units each for a total of 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
