Baldwin Outdoor Comfort

Husband and wife Max and Cheri Baldwin bought Baldwin Furniture’s Middlefield Street location in 2006 and have been expanding the business with the changing economy ever since. Here they stand beneath one of the firm’s popular pergolas.

Baldwin Furniture of Middletown is best known for its version of rustic wooden plank Adirondack chair designed by Thomas Lee in 1905. It takes its name from the designer’s vacation in the Adirondack Mountains in 1903. When you walk into Baldwin Furniture, you’re met with such a warmth that it’s easy to see how family-oriented the business is.

Although the showroom is the main attraction, the business also holds a playroom, two dogs, and swings in the backyard that sit right next to a scenic river. Max and Cheri Baldwin bought the Middlefield Street location in 2006 and have been expanding the business with the changing economy ever since.
“As the market line changes, the product has to change.” Baldwin says, “You have to adapt quickly.”
The company is best known for its Baldwin chair, a version of rustic wooden plank Adirondack chair designed by Thomas Lee in 1905. It takes its name from the designer’s vacation in the Adirondack Mountains in 1903.
When the economic recession began in 2008, the business was hit hard.
“We’ve never been in a situation where we haven’t had business before,” he said.
They looked at the time off as having more time to spend time with their newborn son Max and make necessary adjustments to their business. Shortly after, sales picked up again. The couple says they owe their success to their customers. “They’re just so great,” Baldwin says. “I would say about 70 percent of our sales are from repeat customers. They show a great amount of loyalty.”
What Baldwin believes keep his customers coming is the fact that he’s always connected with them.
“They’re never isolated,” he says, “I know what they like and don’t like because when we go to their house, we get immediate feedback from the customer.”
Baldwin uses this information to personalize every order. If building a wooden chair for example, he has to be aware of the textiles and colors that go into every board and place them together in a way that his customers love.
“There’s a lot of artistic expression that goes into it,” he says.
With his drive to grow with the changing economy and apply that artistic expression, Baldwin began to build pergolas.
He built the first pergola for his house; and because he enjoyed building it so much, he continued to build more. Baldwin then spent a majority of his time and energy just focused on the pergola line alone and eventually created five different styles of the structure.
“Most people would think I’m crazy for setting up this product line up with really no demand,” he explained. “But I knew from the beginning that my customers would love it.”
As predicted, the pergolas became a hit and they now sell for about $6,000 to $9,000 depending on what the customer wants.
Production of the pergola happens over the span of three weeks. Customers have the option of going to Baldwin’s website, customizing their pergola and getting an estimate price right then and there.