National Hardwood Magazine - May 2023

“Today, we can offer numerous designs and we have the equipment that
allows us to make whatever a person wants. Just about every week, a customer
finds a picture and wants to duplicate it or modify it. Our approach
is, if you want high quality, if you want something different, here is our
catalogue. If you don’t see it, we can make it for you.”
David Weissman, President of Oak Pointe
“When it comes to custom, not everybody has
the stomach for this kind of business, but at Oak
Pointe, we make parts like these all the time; we
know what we are doing,” said David Weissman,
President of Oak Pointe, located in Newcomerstown,
OH.
if you went into a car dealership and
they were selling the same cars from
10 years ago.” Instead of relying only
on classic stairway components, Oak
Pointe began introducing variations,
driven by a desire to distinguish itself
from the competition, but also by necessity,
as Weissman remembered.
“There was the housing market crash
that came right after buying the company,”
he said, adding that it turned out to
be an opportunity to differentiate Oak
Pointe. “Our business dropped and
many other companies began importing
rather than making their products.
We were small and couldn’t do the im-
ports; we couldn’t compete with imports
from the other companies on
price. We started making new designs
of newels, balusters, and other
components. We did that for several
years and our catalogue ballooned
up. It is an ongoing process.”
A quick look through the company’s
catalogue reveals dozens of
species including Red and White
Oak, Quartersawn White Oak,
Hard and Soft Maple, Beech, Alder,
American Cherry, Walnut, Poplar,
Hickory, Jatoba and Sapele, as well
as other species upon request, of
which Oak Pointe purchases over
Oak Pointe’s operations are housed in a single 30,000 square-foot building that includes
the company’s plant and offices. Across the parking lot is another 15,000 square-foot facility
that handles the warehousing and shipping operations.
100,000 board feet annually.
Weissman quickly pointed out
that as with designs, if a customer
wants something that’s not in
the catalogue, Oak Pointe will do
everything it can to source whatever
wood is desired.
“It changes over time, just like
design changes,” Weissman
said about wood preferences.
“Back in 2007, Jatoba (Brazilian
Cherry) was popular. Then it
was American Cherry that was
popular, and then that faded. Today,
White Oak is very hot; some
days it seems that 50 percent of
the quotes we do are for White
Oak. There’s been a shortage,
however, because in addition to
the construction industry, it’s also
used for bourbon barrels and a
lot of it is being exported.”
He noted that White Oak also
once enjoyed a nice price point
relative to Red Oak, which has
been a staple species for many
years. Now, however, White Oak
is much more than Red Oak.
Hard Maple and Poplar are also
popular, as well as Walnut. In
terms of imported species, there
are a variety of Mahoganies that
are used consistently, including
Sapele Mahogany and Genuine
Mahogany, which is the same
species of tree that used to come
from Honduras. African Mahogany
and European White Oak
have also sparked substantial
consumer interest. Weissman
pointed out that while Oak Pointe
does offer a wide variety of species
and design options, most of
the company’s success can be
traced back to its most valuable
Please turn to page 58
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MAY 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 25