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In 1974, Fox Manufacturing Co., Inc. began
in a garage with the intent of making wood products. The first
products were decoupage plaques for local western retailers.
The next products were bootjacks, wooden pieces of wood with
a horseshoe cutout that you put your cowboy boot heel into
to remove your boots. As the business moved out of the garage
other products were added such as picture frames, boot hooks,
boot bags, and garment bags.
The first lines of furniture were for
director’s chairs for the western J.C. Penny stores. Then
some beach chairs and chaises. Some other local furniture
stores wanted us to make dining chairs for them. After some
arguing over exclusivity, we opened our factory to the public
and AutumnWOOD Furniture was born. We offered simple dining
tables and chairs and coffee and end tables. A partnership
was started with a company in Denver who made the “guts” to
sofas and loveseats. A trade was made so that we made arms
for the sofas and they made the guts. We traded work and both
sold the end products.
As business grew, a new, larger factory
was needed and we found an old rodeo barn on the south side
of Albuquerque. The bootjack business flourished and the retail
space grew to showcase all of our growing lines of furniture
including entertainment centers, bedroom furniture, and office
furniture.
In order to offer our furniture more close
to the center of Albuquerque, we opened a retail store at
7004 Menaul, east of Louisiana (next door to Midas). We stayed
there for almost 10 years when we needed more space.
Our Santa Fe showroom opened in XXX and
after a relocation, moved to XXX Cerrillos Rd.
We moved to 4636 Menaul and opened a new
Leather Gallery as well as the first Closet Interiors venture.
This location did well and again, growth was in the cards
and a larger store was needed.
To service the southern portion of the
state we opened a store in Las Cruces. The last Albuquerque
location was at 3900 Menaul, which also showcased our ready-made
furniture division, Sofas To Go. During this time period,
we started making solid wood doors. AutumnWOOD Doors were
offered to the public. After some time perfecting the designs,
it was clear that manufacturing solid wood doors was going
to surpass furniture production. A decision was made to concentrate
more on door production and less on furniture.
In 1996, through some business contacts
we were introduced to the west coast buyer for Home Depot.
After some negotiations, we began making doors that were sold
through the Home Depot stores. The growth continued and we
are a featured door manufacturer in fourteen states.
In 2001, the Menaul furniture store was
closed and we relocated all retail operations to our factory
location. This allowed us to concentrate on door production
and to grow the door business.
The furniture showroom reopened in 2003
and continues to service new consumers as well as our twenty
plus year stable of previous customers.
Fox Manufacturing Co., Inc. is a privately
held company.
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