The Silver Birch Woodshop Story
Leading up the holidays in 2017, Jeff needed gifts for his extended family, so he decided to make a few Shut the Box games out of reclaimed barn wood. He also made a few sets of Scatter—a lawn game he had recently learned about that’s similar to his long-time favorite, kubb.
Friends and acquaintances showed interest in purchasing extra games he had for their own gift giving, and the idea of turning a lifetime woodworking hobby into a small business began to develop.
In February 2018, Silver Birch Woodshop got its official start with registration as a business in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the establishment of an Etsy shop. The products offered varied; there were games, serving trays, and home decor pieces that featured antique or upcycled components.
In January 2020, Jeff purchased the URL “silverbirchwoodshop.com” and planned to launch a flagship website of the business, hoping he could find some spare time to set it up. Of course, he had no inkling that very soon Covid-19 restrictions would provide the needed time to tinker around and build the site (which took much longer than he expected!)
In the summer of 2020, Jeff inked a deal with Uncommon Goods (a Brooklyn-based online and catalog retailer) to sell Classic Scatter game sets by the pallet. Scaling up was a challenge, but it provided great opportunities to learn an entirely new set of business skills. Later that year Jeff made the business a limited liability company, renaming it Silver Birch Woodshop, LLC.
Today, SBW is focused on creating pieces that offer timeless appeal with handcrafted quality. Each item is made with pride and care, with the expectation that it will be used and enjoyed for many years to come.
