Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Neuwirth.
Patrick, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I first started bending metal into “Functional Art” in 1992 while working as a welder in my home town of Des Moines, IA. It didn’t take long for my hobby to draw the eye of the owner at the hip Asian restaurant where I was a bartender in the evenings, resulting in my first “real” job designing and fabricating 30 tables for their new dining room – not a bad start for someone with no art or design degree. The tables were such a hit, I set up shop in a friend’s garage and began self marketing my unique spin on furniture. This initial venture proved to be a bit more profitable in experience than income, but it gave me a good idea of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.
Desiring a change of scenery and a larger market, I moved to the Dallas/Ft Worth area in July of 1995 and continued the pursuit of a business that centered around my designs. I spent the better part of 5 years tinkering with small projects but was never able to give the business my full attention.
The start of a new decade would prove to be a turning point in my life as well as the life of the Iron Chinchilla. Shortly after getting married in May of 2000, I ended my career as a restaurant manager, dusted off my welder, and gave the “art as a business” another try. Once again, I would self market some of my smaller pieces, including wild picture frames and candle sticks, to some local galleries and small retailers in the area. Even achieving a bit of success with a new line of wall crosses. Sales were steady, but not enough to support my new family.
Then, in 2001, just when I thought I was going to have to return to my welding career, a chance meeting with a prospective customer looking for a cool headboard… turned into an 8-year partnership. I was able to move out of my garage and into an 8000-square foot manufacturing facility, and eventually employ five full time apprentices. I taught them to fabricate more than 50 designs to meet the demand of 250 gallery representatives as well as stocking a trailer to visit more than 30 of the top street festivals in the country. It was a wonderful, yet exhausting time. By the summer of 2008 it was evident that the cost of long hours on the road and unrealistic production demands would take their toll, and the partnership dissolved at the end of 2008.
In 2009, desiring a return to a more custom centered business; I took over all operations of the Chinchilla. Acting on faith, I abandoned the large studio and apprentices, as well as the grueling show and festival schedule, deciding instead to maintain the valued customer base the Chinchilla had accumulated and expanding its online presence with a brand-new website. These changes have not only taken the company back to where it started, but where it was most efficient, the quality of craftsmanship was easier to control and…most importantly, the designs were the most creative and unique.
The Iron Chinchilla today is everything I could have dreamed all those years ago. A wonderful mix of large production runs of some of my most popular items that keeps the bank accounts in the black…blended with enough custom orders to keep things interesting. Occasionally, I even find the time to design something completely new and direct marked to my Facebook and Instagram followers
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not smooth…
Partnerships are difficult on the best of days but I have endured 2 of the most difficult “break-ups” I could have imagined.
The first was very early on (1994) After the tables I designed for Cafe Su (the “Hip” Asian restaurant I referenced) began to draw attention…my best friend and I decided to join forces and see if we couldn’t make a go as a furniture business. We had no money and no experience but word of mouth was strong and we were able to scrape together the basic elements to give it a go. After securing a 2-month lease in a building that housed other artists and creative types, we gained an interesting following as the “loud guys that make crazy Alice In Wonderland furniture.” Within nine months we were featured at several local galleries, a punk rock night club and a popular pizza place. Sadly, the business fell apart as did the friendship and we both went our separate ways.
A move to DFW and a failed attempt at restaurant management had me bending iron again in my garage right after getting married. It was here that I designed my popular “Promise Cross” and marketed it to local galleries. It was at one of these galleries that I met my second partner and his wife around the year 2001. They hired me to bring their idea for a headboard to life. This led to several other items before he proposed the idea of a partnership in a furniture store concept featuring my designs. Who could say no to that!
For the next 8 years, we grew in to a 10,000-square foot manufacturing facility with apprentices cranking out my designs as fast as we could make them and loading the finished pieces onto trucks headed to wholesale and retail shows all over the country. While this was not the “furniture store” concept I was sold on…I went along with it for the steady income and the chance to do what I loved. But after 8 years…it was evident that I had become more of a production manager than an artist and the long hours on the road we taking their toll on my partner. So at the end of 2008, I made the choice to lay off all our employees, sell the trucks, purchase all aspects of the Iron Chinchilla from my partner and signed a lease on a much smaller studio.
As It turned out…that was the best thing I could have done as the economy tanked and I was able to maintain the pricing while extracting more profit by reducing overhead.
It was scary, but the phone kept ringing and the orders kept coming and I was even able to relocate once more to a 3000-ft. space that fills all my needs.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Iron Chinchilla Design Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
I am known as a “Functional Art Company” meaning that nearly everything I create is a work of art that serves a function. Be it a wine rack, end table, barstool or chair.
Each piece is handmade using a “cold bend” technique with different shapes and dimensions of carbon steel. No heat or hydraulic equipment is used in the bending of the iron.
My pride is mostly derived by appealing to that whimsical side of my customers tastes. helping them understand that furniture can be fun and functional and come with a story.
To my knowledge, there are few who combine the hand bent aspect of the iron with the skill and attention to detail in regards to the welding that I do.
I am also proud of my latest partnership with Concerns of Police Survivors as I donate a portion of each American Flag I make all year to their charity that supports the families of Officers that are killed protecting others.
I am probably most known for my Promise Cross design. To date, I think I have sold nearly 300,000 of them since designing them in my garage all those years ago. There is even a Pinterest page dedicated to tattoos individuals have had designed using the Promise Cross.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Probably the most glaring example of luck was deciding to close the old Iron Chinchilla LLC at the end of 2008 and re-opening as the Iron Chinchilla Design Studio Inc. as a solo operation in January 2009. Changing the business model from that of traveling the country and getting in front of the customers to one of a more Website/Social Media type was a risk but it was one that paid off.
Cutting the crew from 6 to 1 and reducing from 10,000 square feet down to 2000 just as the economy tanked helped too.
Pricing:
- I have several different price points from 65.00 up to 1400.00
Contact Info:
- Address: 5601 Feed Mill Dr
#300 - Website: ironchinchilla.com
- Phone: 817-337-0309
- Email: patrick@ironchinchilla.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iron.chinchilla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IronChinchilla/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Nekchek?lang=en
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
