Testimonials and Referrals

Currently we are in the process of updating the design of our website.

One area I have been looking to expand is the Testimonials and Referrals page. On that note I have been pleasantly surprised at the positive and enthusiastic response we've received from many of our customers.

Some examples are as follows:

“John's work is truly extraordinary! Working through Vivavi we explained the concept of our home, the lighting we had chosen for our bedroom and how much we loved one of the beds that he had designed. He melded these ideas and created a highly contemporary art deco inspired bedroom suite with a very exotic veneer he selected for our project. We were blown away by his final design and the actual pieces were beyond measure in their perfection. There are no words to describe it's beauty or the positive change it brings to our daily life. It inspires us and helps us to come together as a couple. We are blessed by John's work.”

Ara Lucia A. and Michael A.
Greater Chicago area, Illinois

***

"There are maybe a handful of people in the world who can create at the level John does."

J. Wade Beam
VP Sales and Marketing
Brueton Industries, Inc.
New York, New York

***

John:

"Thank you so much for the wonderful desk you made for me. It surpassed my expectations in both beauty and quality. Your customization of the design fits my needs perfectly and it receives daily notice for its seamless lines and gentle but bold curves."

Dr. Sean Boutros, MD, FACS
Houston, Texas

***

"Several years ago we were introduced to John Wiggers through a designer in Chicago and were very happy with several pieces he made to order for us. When we hired a design firm to do our home in Florida we insisted that the designer use Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd. for as much of the woodwork as possible. My only mistake is that we did not insist that he do all the wood furniture in the home. The quality, craftsmanship, attention to detail was amazing. You can see and feel the difference between John’s work and the other pieces in our home. Everyone who comes to our home comments on how magnificent John's pieces are and are amazed at not only the appearance but the substance and quality of the woodwork. Our designer could not understand how we could use some one from Canada when he had local craftsman available to do the work. Now he knows better."

Arleen and Ken G.
Chicago, Illinois

***

"I have worked with Wiggers Custom Furniture for over 20 years, and am continually impressed with John's design sensibility, customer service, and attention to detail. John is always sensitive to the goals of the project, and offers continual design improvements through his tremendous experience and creative eye. His pieces are much more than simply furniture - they communicate the joy and commitment to artistic creation that are the vanguard of his work. I am honored to work with Wiggers Custom Furniture on any project, anywhere in the world, as I know the standards will always of the highest caliber."

Bob Halper, LC IESNA
Halper Lighting Solutions
Chagrin Falls, Ohio

***

"John is one of the finest furniture makers around."

Vladimir Kagan
Vladimir Kagan Design Group, Inc.
New York, New York, USA

***

“Wiggers Custom is an excellent source for custom furniture product. They have the best mix of technology, craftsmanship, and finish quality. John takes a personal interest in his customers and stays involved throughout the process. He brings great experience and production knowledge to each project; you can always count on the integrity of whatever his company makes.”

Mark Logan
Vice President
Dakota Jackson Inc.
New York, New York

***

"For over 10 years I had the pleasure of working with Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd.
I found their work to be of exceptional quality and craftsmanship. They always provided expertise in the construction details and manufacturing, thus providing our clients with the most creative furniture available. In my 35 years of experience in the high end American furniture market I never found any manufacturer who produced a
more beautiful finished piece of contemporary furniture than Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd."

Dale Leland Mardiros
Pacific Showrooms West
San Francisco, California

***

"In my experience as a designer of high end residential, it is imperative to find great artisans to partner with.

John Wiggers raises the bar in every aspect of the custom design process.

It is a pleasure to work with his team and the level of client services his company delivers time after time is tops in the industry."

Olga Markoff
Olga Markoff Design
Chicago, Illinois

***

"This is a short note to thank you for producing the beautiful, oval, black walnut boxes for presentation to the recipients of the Women's Health Research Awards, 2004 - and to thank you for making them under such a tight deadline!

The boxes were presented at a reception to honour the women and men who are leading the way in women's health research in Ontario, and we were delighted to be able to give the beautiful work of an Ontario artist to each of them.

Several recipients have contacted us since the reception to tell us how much they admired the box. It turned out to be the perfect way to acknowledge all of the work they are doing on behalf of Ontario women.

Thank you again for your wonderful work."

Marnie MacKinnon
Chief Operating Officer
Ontario Women's Health Council
Toronto, Ontario

***

Dear John,

"It was a pleasure dealing with you for our order of 16 pieces from your beautiful selection. Whatever custom detail we could dream up, you found a way to put it in reality.

When the U.S. government formally put formaldehyde on the list of known carcinogens on June 10, 2011 (finally!), you must have smiled - and so did we. You have been so much ahead of your time. Thanks to your foresight and care, we could enjoy your pieces from day one without headaches from outgassing and knowing that we purchased truly “healthy” furniture.

Whether it is the wonderful sunburst design of our two Ellipse tables; the fact they are made from sustainable bamboo; the brilliantly manufactured Inamorata nightstands. dresser and boxer chest; the elegant Irenic beds including the clever height adjustment you came up with; the versatility of the Island Tables - it’s more than just excellent workmanship - these are pieces of art made for practical use.

And, not to forget, this furniture comes with a “soul” created by all the spiritual details you put in your work: the Amboyna inlays from the Solomon Islands or the sacred stone in the beds’ headboards, just to name a few.

Thanks again for all your assistance from the planning stages up to the day you personally delivered the beauties into our home."

Kind regards,
H. Meissner
Florida

***

“I have had the privilege of working with John Wiggers, whose passion for high quality craftsmanship and sustainability are contagious. We have shared many inspirational conversations that have resulted in a trust that is unshakeable. John has beautifully crafted my challenging furniture designs with every infinite detail mastered and an environmental integrity that is unmatched by any other.”

Jill Salisbury
el: Environmental Language
Chicago, Illinois

***

"We just finished building a custom home and had been searching for the "perfect" desk for our new home office. We wanted something that was original in style, made to last a lifetime and not too large. It was impossible to find something ready-made that fit all of our criteria. We contacted John and within a few days he had prepared detailed drawings for us to consider. After some fine tuning, we quickly settled on our perfect desk. The desk is flawless and looks exactly as drawn, down to the last detail."

Barry S.
Toronto, Ontario

***

John:

"We wanted you to know how appreciative we are of all the assistance you have provided for us in the manufacturing of our furniture line. Your expertise and knowledge of construction methods, the properties of various wood species, and the techniques available for intricate and complex finishes has been an invaluable asset to our (Shaver/Melahn) furniture division.

Your work goes well beyond the often-difficult task of manufacturing. You have always been there to guide us through design alternatives, providing solutions to design problems and corrections to flaws in concept. As we were designing in the United States you were able to see flaws in prototype and send out red flags warning us of possible problems.

You also kept our price points in mind always trying to deliver product at a level commensurate with the quality and high standards our furniture line demanded. Should you ever need a reference please know that we would be honored to pass on our recommendation of your excellent work."

Rick Shaver and Lee Melahn
Pleasant Living
Madison, Wisconsin

***

"I recently had been retained by one of my Los Angeles clients to do the interior of their home in Toronto. I initially thought I would have to make all the furniture in Los Angeles by my cabinetmakers and finishers and have them shipped and installed in the Toronto location. Through a very good reference, I was given the name of John Wiggers of Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd. I sent him our plans for many built-ins and furniture pieces, mainly done in exotic and rare woods, and requiring either a low-VOC high-polished or polyurethane finish, which is very difficult to find a manufacturer that is able to do it.

I contracted with John to make and install all of the pieces that I required. During the process, I went to his shop and saw how beautiful he was set up and how clean and organized it was, and knew at that time I was going to receive, from John, quality of the highest level for all cabinetwork and finishing.

When the furniture and cabinets were completed, his workmanship excelled my greatest expectations and my clients were extremely pleased. I wish John would open a shop in Los Angeles, because of the quality of his work, and how pleasant he is to deal with."

Stephen Tomar, ASID, CCIDC
Tomar Lampert Associates
Los Angeles, California

***

"On a recent project I chose Wiggers Custom Furniture Ltd. because I knew their quality and expertise was to the high standard my client required. I have to say their ability went way beyond my expectation. I was able to customize each piece - choose from their extensive range of woods and veneers, stains/finishes and hardware.

John's knowledge of his profession and his company's customer service is an asset to the clients who want the very best - his concern for a green approach and his thinking behind some of his designs - like the Solomon's Desk, is awesome.

The finished pieces are exquisite and to top it off the packaging, which was for overseas, was of the same standard. Each piece will be enjoyed for many, many years.

Thank you for making it such a pleasure to work with your company and know that we will always receive furniture that is perfect."

Heather Tomei
Tomei & Tomei Creative Consultants Limited
Maui, Hawaii

***

"John Wiggers is one of the best furniture makers I have ever met. He is one of only a few that I truly trust with our designs. His dedication to quality construction, material selection, fine finishes, and his sensitivity to design and detail is unmatched in the high-end custom furniture industry. His finished pieces are of an heirloom quality, so rare with today's "throw-away" attitudes. Very, very impressive."

Lee Weitzman
Lee Weitzman Furniture
Chicago, Illinois

***

"My husband and I decided to upgrade from a double to a queen sized bed, but were discouraged by the poor quality and questionable materials of today’s mass-produced furniture. Thus, we decided to have a new bed built that matched our current suite, with the additional criteria of sustainable and nontoxic practices. John Wiggers exceeded our expectations on all counts. John worked closely with us, providing detailed design drawings and photos by email. The Irenic Bed design was adjusted to our exact specifications, and was beautifully constructed such that the grain of the oak veneer radiates in an arc, providing a visually spectacular head and footboard. The materials used are FSC certified, the plywood core and glue are urea formaldehyde free, and the wood was darkened naturally with a vinegar/iron process. John and his son delivered our bed and assisted with its setup. We couldn’t be more pleased with the ease of the process and the final result. We highly recommend commissioning custom furniture from this talented, environmentally conscious, and service oriented craftsman!"

Kimberly and Mark Z.
Peterborough, Ontario

Why I Number My Furniture

Every once in a while I get asked why I number each piece of furniture that gets made in my shop. It may surprise some people to find out that it's not an attempt to give my work any special cachet.

The numbering system was actually created for very practical reasons.

Back in the late 1980s we went through a busy stretch where we found our shop completely innundated with a wide variety of custom furniture work. Because of this my desk was overflowing with all sorts of drawings, finish samples and coils of thermal fax paper containing all types of pertinent information. Looking back I am amazed that we found a way to keep this chaos organized.

Although we already had an informal job numbering system in place, it was largely ineffective in a situation where there were 40 or 50 different projects on the go at any one time. (Remember, this was before computerized databases and scheduling software became widely available to small business).

Then, one day in the late 1980s I happened to be in New York to meet with a fellow named Mark Logan, who at the time was the general manager for Dakota Jackson's furniture company. I saw on Mark's desk a bin of numbered folders with each folder containing all the pertinent information for each individual job. Mark's system formed the basis for revising our own job tracking system, and from that day forward we assigned each project with a specific number that was used to identify all drawings, samples, faxes and other correspondence related to that particular job. That same number was also used to track timesheets and the hours it took to do each job.

In subsequent years this system was easily fine tuned with the introduction of computerization, meaning that we could now organize everything into one massive digital database.

Upon completion of each job all samples, drawings, photos, time sheet summaries, color matching formulas and other related information is gathered and sealed in the folder so that it can be stored sequentially in an archives room for future reference. In many cases these archives prove to be an invaluable resource in situations where we have a custom project to make that is similar to something we've already done. In other cases we get asked to make things to match something we've made over 10 years earlier. Having access to these records ends up saving us a great deal of time and effort.

Over the years our archives have grown to the point where we now have over 4 decades worth of records, cutlists, cabinet making notes and vintage drawings stored in one large room. Whenever I am in that room I am reminded of an old shop called Davies and Son, which claims to be the oldest independent tailor in and around Savile Row in London, England.




In the early 19th Century it was said that Davies and Son were the quality tailors who dressed all the crowned heads of Europe. They were also the bespoke tailor for Admiral Lord Nelson, who at the time was the most famous sailor of the age based on his service to the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars.




According to legend Davies and Son have managed to keep meticulous records of all their fine tailoring work done over the past 200+ years, and it is said that Admiral Nelson's specific measurements are still on file. Having said that, if Nelson was alive today he would not only be able to custom order a finely tailored suit from the Davies and Son website via his IPad or Blackberry, but he would also be guaranteed a perfect fit.

How cool is that?

The Journey Continues (Pt.8) - Rapid Deceleration

The end of our working relationship with Richard Mark in 1989 impacted our shop immediately, although for a while the decline in work volume was partly offset by new orders coming in from Dakota Jackson and Ron Seff in New York, and a showroom called Carriage House in Miami.

We also had a scattering of custom work from interior designers in the Toronto area, which I tried to augument through participation in the IIDEX shows of 1989, 1990 and 1991. But for a variety of reasons it didn't really matter what I tried to do to bring in more work - our order book kept shrinking during this time.

There were a variety of reasons for this - many of which were out of my hands. First, there was the Savings & Loans crisis in the United States which was having a crippling effect on financial markets. There was also the Gulf War from 1990-1991 which caused oil prices to spike up, and overall consumer spending to pull back. On a technical level the economy was in a severe recession between mid 1990 to mid 1991, and in this environment discretionary spending of any kind - including custom furniture - was a low priority.

Compounding this were some additional shocks. By 1991 both Karl Springer and Ron Seff had passed away. In the case of Springer his iconic furniture business collapsed almost immediately. When Karl's former partner Ron Seff passed away, Ron's company was transferred to new ownership - and our business relationship effectively ended there.

Dakota Jackson seemed to have a considerable backlog to carry him through the slow times, but as his order book shrank he decided to keep more of his work in-house, rather than subcontract overflow to our shop as he had been doing. In addition, at this stage of his career Dakota had grown weary of doing one-off custom work. It was too restrictive for growth, and given his aspiration to become a large scale 20th Century industrialist, Dakota's design focus shifted to things like the Vik-ter Chair and Library seating which could be made and sold in multiples.

I was now scrambling to find other sources of work, and the Toronto IIDEX show became the focus of my efforts. In order to participate in shows such as IIDEX, it was necessary to show examples of what you were capable of doing. Given the OEM (private label) relationship we had with collections such as Dakota Jackson, it was not possible for us to show examples of Dakota's furniture under our own banner at a design show. It would be perceived as a knock-off.

On multiple levels this was OK with me, especially because for the first time this gave me the opportunity to design and build something entirely of my own creation.

My first piece was a custom desk inspired by a Biedermeier table I had seen some years earlier. The initial prototype was crafted out of a combination of Lacewood and Myrtle Burl, and there was an inlaid band set into the perimeter of the top. There were also three pencil drawers with concealed mitred corners discretely inset into the side of the floating top.

This desk was unveiled at the 1990 IIDEX show, and although the response from the design community was lukewarm (probably due to the slow economic climate) I did manage to find a buyer who absolutely fell in love with the piece. An author was looking for an inspirational desk from which he could write books, and in his mind what I had made was absolutely perfect.

I still remember clearly the immense satisfaction I felt at knowing how something I had first envisioned, then made, could resonate so positively with another human being.

A second incarnation of this desk (shown below) followed a year or so later, made of Macassar Ebony and Carpathian Elm Burl. Dubbed the Rainforest Desk, it ended up being auctioned off as part of a fund raising effort to support a group called W.A.R.P. (Woodworkers' Alliance for Rainforest Protection). That story will be told in a later post.


Also for the 1990 IIDEX show I designed and built an entertainment center called the "Tower of Power". This piece consisted of a tall cabinet made of flat cut cherry, and the cabinet interior was configured to house audio components behind a sandblasted glass door. For ventilation of components there was an Electrosonic whisper fan built in to the back of the cabinet. The television pedestal and door medallion were made of Curly English Sycamore inlaid into herringbone patterns. The plinth base and rotating platform for television were finished in high gloss ebonized anigre.

Although this cabinet did win a special award thanks to a revolutionary waterbased finish we developed, once again the response from the design community was tepid at best.

By 1992 things as a business were nearing rock bottom. Although the recession was technically over we were slower than we had ever been. Where we once employed a staff of 20, we were now hanging on with barely 5.


I was also now the father to three small children, and I was beginning to seriously question my abilities as a provider.


At this stage I was willing to take on just about anything.

The Journey Continues (Pt.7) - Our Biggest Customer Goes Supernova

The year 1987 was pretty much the high water mark for the economic boom attributed to Reaganomics. At the time I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to things like the stock market, but what I do know is that we were exceptionally busy at work. Even the stock market crash of 1987 seemed to have little impact - at least at first.

In addition to my furniture work there was also a great deal happening in my personal life at the time. In 1983 I met a wonderful gal named Teresa, and we ended up getting married the following year. In 1985 we bought our first house togther, and in 1987 our first child was born - a son by the name of Bradley.

As a mirror to that timeline my parents split up and divorced, which meant that in 1987 I ended up buying out my mother's half of the business as part of her settlement with my father. Later that year, as a complete surprise to me, my father suddenly announced that he was semi-retiring to Florida. The news caught me totally off guard.

Suddenly, at the age of 28, and with a wife and baby at home I found myself thrust into the role of sole proprietor of a busy custom woodworking shop that was now employing a staff of 20. I worked my butt off day and night to stay on top of things, and it was overwhelming to say the least.

On a personal level it became exceptionally difficult to work the long hours that are the norm for small business owners, because by the time my son turned the age of one he had become accustomed to the routine of me coming home at night to play and spend time with him. On nights when I had to go back to finish a project to meet a deadline he would cry as I headed out the door. It broke my heart when this happened.

During this time Richard Mark was our biggest customer. This showroom was owned by a fellow who loved to live large, and I was never comfortable with this guy's ability to spend lavishly on a lifestyle that was far bigger than his business could sustain. If you can afford the lifestyle - that's one thing. But if you're burning through money faster than it's coming in: that's a disaster waiting to happen.

As long as orders and deposits kept flowing in faster than he could spend it, I figured he could stay above water. But once the tide turned, I knew it would be time to get off the proverbial beach - because the tsunami of economic reality was going to crash hard.

After the stock market crash of October 1987 it didn't take long for the warning signs to begin to flash. Initially it became evident that new money was being used to pay older bills - a classic example of "robbing Peter to pay Paul". Things gradually worsened as evidence of check kiting began to appear.

To understand what check kiting is, one has to realize that in the 1980s electronic banking was pretty much non-existent for small business. When you wrote a check that was drawn on an account in one bank, and deposited in an account at another bank, the process of clearing and transferring the funds was mostly a paper process that sometimes took days to work through the system. This window of time was known as a "float", and it created the opportunity to write checks and make payments in situations where there were insufficient funds in the account.

In light of the eroding financial situation at Richard Mark, I stepped up my efforts to transition into more work from companies such as Brueton, Dakota Jackson, Karl Springer and Ron Seff. At Brueton I was always turned away stone cold at the door. The folks at Springer seemed immersed in their own internal chaos, and I also made little headway there. But fortunately some doors were opened at Ron Seff and Dakota Jackson. These latter two seemed to have a backlog of work that would give them some forward momentum in the face of a rapidly slowing market, and I was happy to segue into these new opportunities to make tables, wall units, built-ins and other assorted furniture.

By 1989 the situation at Richard Mark had reached detonation point. Although we were now shipping on a truckload basis, the payment situation had deteriorated to the point where old balances weren't getting paid until new shipments were ready to deliver. Checks from Richard Mark were now bouncing on a continuous basis, with new checks replacing old checks at a rate that made it near impossible to figure out what our true account balance was at any given time.

This dynamic also created a situation of perpetual financial entrapment, because the only way to leverage payment for owed monies was to literally roll over debt with new deliveries. In this scenario I figured there was only one way of escape, but it would involve a 2-step process.

The first step was to create a "phantom truck". For one month we went through the motions of pretending to work on a new batch of orders. Phone calls were made and faxes were exchanged to maintain the illusion of business as usual. Meanwhile, we established an account at Barclay's Bank in New York - at the same branch that Richard Mark had their account.

The deal was that when the next truck was ready to ship Richard Mark would make a direct deposit into our account at Barclay's. By this point Richard Mark was struggling to pay balances on old orders that had already been delivered and THEY had been paid for. Given the small float window of an intra-bank transaction I knew there would only be a brief opportunity of time to clear our funds from the account before that check also bounced.

On the scheduled day of delivery I caught an early flight to New York and cabbed myself to a street corner opposite the bank. And there I waited. Shortly after the bank opened at 9:00 a.m. - and right on cue - I watched from a distance as Richard Mark's accountant walked down the street and into the bank to deposit the check as agreed. I knew the check was worthless, and so did the accountant, but Barclay's wouldn't figure it out until the paperwork made the round of the desks.

After watching the accountant leave the bank I made my way inside, and drew a certified check to empty our account. Due to the nature of the paper system at the time the funds were there - at least as far as the bank was concerned. Therefore they didn't balk at giving me the money.

With certified check in hand I called Richard Mark's president to give him the news.

To make a long story short: our relationship with our biggest customer was now terminated.

As difficult as this was to do, the outcome was inevitable because Richard Mark was now unravelling to the point of no return. Under these circumstances I felt it was better to decelerate our company now than go full bore into financial oblivion as an unsecured creditor.

Teresa was also now pregnant with our second child.

The Journey Continues (Pt. 4) - My "Ah-ha" Moment

By the summer of 1983 showrooms in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, Philadelphia and New York were representing our work. Sales, however, were tight thanks largely to a severe recession that was still in the process of unwinding.

In June 1983 (or possibly 1984) I was in Chicago attending a large contract furniture show called NEOCON - which was an event hosted annually at the Merchandise Mart. This was a mind-boggling experience for a kid from rural Canada, because you have to realize at that time there was no Internet available for the average person to see what was new and happening in the world of design. Whatever you saw could only be found either on television, or in a brochure, newspaper or magazine. Alternatively you could visit showrooms or attend trade shows to see things first hand.

It was during my first NEOCON that I decided to roam the Merchandise Mart to see what else was out there. The Mart (as it's known in Chicago) is a large bunker of a building located on the city's North Side - at the branches of the Chicago River.

Boasting 4 million square feet of floor space this building is so imposing that it even has its own zip code. In the 1980s this space was dedicated primarily to the furniture trade, and some of the finest examples of work on the planet could be found there.

While walking from floor to floor I stumbled upon a high end showroom called Karl Mann, and when I looked through the doors my jaw literally hit the floor. What caught my eye was a presentation of exquisite furniture pieces - on display in an open concept, minimalist space.

At first glance the pieces looked more like sculpture than furniture.

Venturing inside I carefully examined each piece with abject awe.

I was particularly drawn to a lacquered bar cabinet on display.

Measuring 71" high x 30" wide x 22" deep this unusual masterpiece had discrete drawers and hidden compartments, which cleverly concealed its real function.

What I noticed most, however, was that these pieces were of a quality level I had never seen before. The high gloss finish was a perfectly polished automotive paint, and the seamless execution of the mitred corners was absolutely flawless.

While our work was good, I realized that this was taking things to a whole new level.

"This is it" I remember saying to myself.

"This is it."

I soon learned that the person responsible for designing and making these pieces was a New York artist by the name of Dakota Jackson. Dakota was then a rising talent in the Art Furniture movement that emerged in the 1970s, and he soon rose to the top of the scene.

As luck would have it the economic doldrums of the time would soon be dissipated by an economic phenomena known as Reaganomics. The New York market in particular turned white hot, and we were soon presented with abundant opportunities to do custom furniture commissions there.

Within a few years we would also find ourselves collaborating with Dakota Jackson on some of his more complex custom pieces.