Amid the whining of power sanders, the droning of drills, and stereos playing Mexican folk music, the interior of a future bar or restaurant was taking shape in the corner of a Fair Haven factory. A light haze of sawdust mixed with the strong scent of varnish as a bee’s nest of activity continues.
The factory, BoldWood Interiors on Haven Street near John Murphy Drive and the Mill River, has been specializing in bar and restaurant-specific furnishings since 1991. That year, owner Rob Bolduc took over the business from his father. At the time, Bolduc said, the company was doing residential cabinetry. He transitioned first to commercial cabinetry, then into commercial bar furnishings.
“We sell wholesale through equipment dealers and designers,” Bolduc said.
In 2010, the factory expanded at its Fair Haven location.
According to Bolduc, he understands not only his customers’ needs, but their customers’ needs as well.
“I’ve spent a lot of time sitting on the other end of the bar,” Bolduc said. “Many, many years of that.”
BoldWood is positioned in a small city with a large number of watering holes and eateries, but most of the company’s customers are from out of town. A majority of the work, Bolduc said, is for customers that operate chains. Ninety-Nine Restaurants and locally-headquartered Barcelona restaurant group are two of BoldWood’s customers.
While speaking, Bolduc pointed to partially completed black cabinets, and said they were going to Barcelona’s Washington D.C. restaurant.
“We ship wherever we need to, to do a project,” he said. “I’ve gone to California, Guatemala, Dubai.”
Derek Torrellas photo
BoldWood Interiors, in Fair Haven.
Still, Bolduc said the most fun projects are for New Haven restaurants.
“I try to do as much work in New Haven as we can,” Bolduc said “because it’s in my backyard.”
BoldWood works closely on projects with the co-located New England Seating, a restaurant booth and furniture manufacturer. Aside from sharing the building, the two employ the same salespeople. According to Bolduc, this relationship has been advantageous to both.
“We’re a one-stop shop,” he said. “We’re the only ones in the northeast that you can come in and you can buy everything from the millwork to the booth seating, everything in one building”
In the far rear of the workshop, a large CNC machine cut and drilled into a large, flat panel of wood almost autonomously. See video above for demonstration.
BoldWood purchased the CNC machine in December.
A worker came over occasionally to check the nearby computer screen and load another panel of wood onto it.
The CNC, computer numerical control, is an automated machine that precisely cuts wood to the desired dimensions based on a computer file. Mike McKinn, of East Haven, is the one who creates the designs on a computer.
“Everything that goes into the CNC comes from CAD software which turns it into CAM,” McKinn said, as he hovered near his screen that showed a three-dimensional rendering of a bar and wall.
CAD is computer aided drafting, and CAM is computer aided manufacturing, McKinn added. He taught himself how to use CAD, though later McKinn received some training from CNC machine makers and software developers.
“It’s more precise, it’s repeatable,” McKinn said. “I can get a standard cabinet and reproduce it 20 times.”
With the push of a button, the parts would be made on the CNC in 12 minutes. The same job done manually would take a “really good cabinet maker” 30 minutes to an hour, and a less-experienced worker half a day, according to McKinn.
“Having the CNC machine,” Bolduc said, “is a big game changer for us. It’s changing how we’re going to do things and operate and grow.”
BoldWood Interiors has a direct relation to the health of the restaurant business, so when the recent economic recession affected the restaurants, it could be felt in BoldWood’s manufacturing shop.
“People weren’t really doing new restaurants, they were kind of just slapping a coat of paint on and reopening,” Bolduc said. “So there weren’t as many openings for a couple of years; we got a little slower.”
According to Bolduc, the chain restaurants hampered by the recession feel more confident now. Ninety-Nine Restaurants, which spent five years closing some of their sites, have been more active and remodeled restaurants in the past two years.
It’s good when the restaurant chains know they’ll be able to afford the changes they’re making, said Bolduc, and the last two and a half years have been busy at BoldWood Interiors.
“I think it’s a good sign for the economy in general,” Bolduc said.
This article was reported through a collaboration between the New Haven Independent and the Multimedia Journalism class at Southern Connecticut State University. The students are profiling small businesses around the New Haven area.