Debby Anderson never planned to turn her hobby into a $2.3 million company. But that was before she wrapped up her first year in business with $100,000 in sales.
Anderson owns and operates By the Yard, which manufactures deck and patio furniture from recycled plastic. Her company operates from a 15,000-square-foot facility in Jordan, offering more than 70 styles of outdoor furniture in six different colors. Besides its retail showroom, By the Yard sells wholesale to distributors from Michigan to California.
It all started as a fluke. Anderson’s husband, Roger, who worked as a purchasing manager for a plastic extrusion company, read about the growing trend of making decking material from recycled milk jugs. The decks didn’t need staining, waterproofing, or much maintenance. The Andersons ordered 30 one-by-six-foot boards but couldn’t agree on the how their deck should look, and so put the boards in storage.
“I was tripping over these plastic boards in the garage for some time and decided to finally do something with them,” Debby recalls. She built two Adirondack-style chairs for her backyard, then made some to give to friends and family. Recipients found that they could leave the furniture out on the patio without worrying about weather damage. And as word of mouth spread, she decided to set up a space at the 1996 Minnesota State Fair.
She found that the chairs were popular, particularly among older consumers, and closed the week with $30,000 worth of orders. By The Yard was born, and eventually expanded into rockers, benches, tables and chairs, planters, and even decking, which now accounts for 20 percent of the company’s business. In 1998, Roger quit his job to help Debby run the business.
“The house was paid off, the kids were on their own, so we decided to take the plunge,” Debby recalls.
Plastic furniture isn’t unusual, of course. Besides the design, what sets By the Yard apart is what Debby calls the “recipe” of its material. The company buys repelletized recycled plastic, which it melts down, adding color concentrate and a foaming agent. The foam helps the liquid plastic take the shape of the board. The secret, she says, is using the right amount of foam. Too much and the boards become brittle; too little, and the board isn’t rigid enough.
While the company’s chief market remains folks over 40 years old, By the Yard’s recent radio campaign has targeted younger, environmentally conscious consumers.
