Meet Cliff and Jan Hand of Recherche Furnishings

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cliff and Jan Hand.

Recherché Furnishings, Inc. is a family owned and operated business in North Texas operated by Cliff and Jan. The name Recherché is French, which means elegant, extravagant, one-of-a-kind which perfectly describes their home furnishings. Started in 2010, as a custom wood furniture manufacturer specializing in the traditional joinery and hand craftsmanship of the last century, it has now moved into a unique line of rustic home decor. Cliff, who worked in the advertising and design industry for over 25 years, is the lead creative force and artisan, combining both functionality and art into each piece he designs. Jan, a former healthcare executive, runs the day-to-day operations of the business. Both Cliff and Jan oversee daily production.

In 2014, a friend of Cliff’s borrowed a nail gun to fix his fence. Upon returning the nail gun, he gave Cliff the old fence pickets. He built a rustic picture frame out of the old wood using the same quality craftsmanship and attention to detail as he does for his fine home furnishings; hence, “The Naturals Reclaimed Frames” line was born. Staying true to the reclaimed/recycling theme, each frame backing is made from recycled cardboard and can soda tabs are used for the wall hangers. To date thousands of frames have been sold keeping thousands of pounds of wood, cardboard, and soda tabs out of our landfills.

Throughout 2015, more and more people across the US have mailed in soda tabs, saved old cardboard, and called in when their fence had blown down due to a storm. The wood collection team is very busy retrieving old wood for new products and there is no end in sight. By the end of 2015, Recherché had collected over 300,000 pounds of old wood, over 75,000 soda tabs, and 40,000 pounds of used cardboard. The collection of old wood, soda can tabs, and old cardboard has continued due to American’s demand for Green Products and the continuation to make America a better and cleaner place each and every day. For their efforts, Recherché was awarded the 2015 Keep Texas Beautiful Business of the Year and was a 2016 finalist for Keep America Beautiful for promoting environmentally sound practices and their Green Products.

Most importantly, the Hand Family believes in serving others by giving back to those in need. They accomplished this through their “Turning Wood To Water” Campaign. Through this campaign, 10% of all reclaimed wood product sales are donated to a charitable organization at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, to drill water-wells in African communities. Regardless of where in America someone lives, when they purchase these products, they are donating 10% to help needy people with clean water on the other side of the world.

Since 2015, Recherché expanded their reclaimed wood product line to include cut rusty and brushed metal. By 2016, the line of reclaimed products had expanded into an entire new line of rustic home décor for both reclaimed and rustic enthusiast across America. You can find Recherché Furnishings Reclaimed Home Décor in 36 states in America and at your favorite on-line store.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
With any new business, there are struggles along the way. We financed our business 100% from savings and have gone into both personal and business debt to launch our successful home decor business. After 7 years of business, we are seeing the fruits of our labor.

Outgrowing our manufacturing space very quickly has been a challenge. Like many new businesses, we started in our garage in Rowlett and within a few years outgrew the space. We leased space in Caddo Mills that we produced out of for 3 years, In 2016, we built our own building to accommodate our growth and have plenty of land to expand as needed.

Finding skilled workers has been a challenge as well, but through patience and perseverance we have been able to find great help.

Please tell us about Recherche Furnishings, Inc..
What sets us apart:

1. Family owned and operated
2. Only use reclaimed wood out of North Texas
3. All metal designs are unique created in-house by designer Cliff Hand
4. No charge for customization of metal designs
5. 10% of all reclaimed products go back to others in need through our “Turning Wood Into Water” Campaign

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
We would have started in the Reclaimed Metal Home Decor first and not the custom tables and home furnishings. We would have saved more money to start the business. We would have pushed harder to obtain a small business loan to help with cash flow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.recherchefurnishings.com
• Phone: 469-337-3680
• Email: jan@recherchefurnishings.com
• Instagram: @rechercheusa
• Facebook: /recherchefurnishings
• Twitter: @rechercheusa
• Other: www.linkedin.com/in/cliffhand

Image Credit:
Cliff Hand

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