JK Adams: Cutting Boards, Rolling Pins, Wine Racks … and a Whole Lot More
JK Adams is a family-owned company manufacturing wood products for the home in a small Vermont village. You might well ask how it could possibly survive in a competitive international marketplace dominated by Internet sales. The answer? By being supremely good at leveraging all three of these attributes and pivoting with the times.
The company began in 1944 when Josiah K. Adams started his wood products business in a garage in Dorset, somewhat on a whim. Five years later, Malcolm Cooper Sr., an engineer and a lawyer by training, arrived just after a fire in the shop had caused prospects to be bleak. Cooper bought half the company. After the war, the business gradually grew, first by manufacturing a popular toy called the Speedy Racer, then in partnership with a major American company that made surveying equipment. For technical reasons this equipment had to be constructed of the finest hardwood like maple and ash. In a moment of splendid serendipity, the company decided to use those scraps to make simple cutting boards. In true Vermont fashion, they left the boards on the loading dock with a can for free-will donations. Pretty soon the factory could barely keep up with the demand.
The timing was perfect. It was the 1970s, when Julia Child and others were getting home cooks enthralled with what they could do in the kitchen. Cooper came up with the idea for a slanted knife block. He wanted a knife organizer that could hold different-sized knives at a low enough angle to fit under a cabinet, so he designed and made the Kangaroo knife block, the first of its kind. This innovation was followed by others: the revolving spice rack and the dowel-constructed wine rack, still available.
Malcolm Cooper Jr. joined the business in these years and, now as president, has expanded what had been a manufacturer of specialty wood products into a customer-oriented culinary mecca that prides itself on high-quality products and excellent customer service.
With so many cooks in the kitchen these days, there are thousands of new products developed every year to help you do everything from effortlessly removing fresh rosemary leaves to joining the latest culinary trend (sous vide anyone?). This array of gadgets vying for our attention can get pretty overwhelming, which is where JK Adams makes it easy.
On a recent visit to the Dorset-based company, I was agog at the variety of products skillfully arranged over three floors: plates, linens, knives, pots, wine racks, gourmet food … and lots of cutting boards. Filled with everything one could possibly need for cooking a meal, as well as serving it, the shelves are intelligently arranged according to the object of your search. The latest in pots and electronic cooking gear are right next to related products, so you don’t have to wander far. In the baking section there’s an array of products answering every baker’s need as well as beautiful casseroles from England, France and Italy, and wine glasses of every shape.
Jessi Kerner, director of retail, has worked at JK Adams for 10 years. She and her staff are knowledgeable and enthusiastic home cooks and bakers who are always ready to discuss cooking tips with their customers, from how to make gravy to choosing the perfect rolling pin. They study the market and source products with their customers’ interests in mind, including many hard-to-find items. The displays are, indeed, intended to tell a story, and that’s what makes them so satisfying as well as practical.
As we talked, I kept hearing this buzzing sound coming from behind the store. There aren’t many consumer businesses left in America where you can witness raw materials being turned into finished products. On a tour of the factory with CEO Jon Blatchford, he explained that all the wood products are still made in the original factory that sits behind the storefront and is barely visible from the road. He pointed out a large door on the back side of the factory building where the local suppliers used to drop off the hardwood logs that were milled on-site. Today, kiln-dried hardwood pieces of maple, cherry, walnut, alder, ash and hickory come from a variety of suppliers on the East Coast and Canada, delivered by semi-trucks. The machinery is staged throughout the large plant where 42 employees manufacture, pack and ship the finished pieces. Many of the staff have been with the company for decades, including one woman who has been there for 50 years.
What distinguishes JK Adams from others in this business is the integrity of their materials and the craftsmanship that goes into each item. The cutting boards, still the most popular of their products, come in several sizes and a variety of styles and food-safe finishes. The fact that they have been carried for years by such national brands as Crate & Barrel and Williams-Sonoma tells you something about their enduring appeal. Blatchford pointed out that they also work with their clients to design new products that are unique in the market. Picking up a square wooden board, he showed me how a well had been routed out on all sides leaving a flat area in the center where a bowl could rest. This was a pistachio dish: a genius answer to the problem of where to put all those shells!
Simple products that are the mainstays of any kitchen come in many sizes and shapes, but what distinguishes a rolling pin that has been consistently rated the best by several national magazines? Professional bakers consider the pins from JK Adams to be the finest in the world. “We spent a lot of time looking at how they function,” says Blatchford, “making sure the size and weight were right.” Made of turned maple by a partner in Maine, the rolling pins have a slightly rough finish that is effective and reliable over many years of use. From the handle-less French pin to one with handles and stainless-steel bearings, there’s a rolling pin for every baker’s style. They are functional, beautiful and a pleasure to hold.
JK Adams remains an important player in the local economy and a partner in the community’s culture. Diversifying the products means pulling in home goods made by local Vermont artisans. The company also plays host to the Dorset Farmers’ Market in winter, and in summer is the place to go for fresh food from nearby Someday Farm, which has a farm stand on-site. In the store entrance you can find works by local artists. But the heart of the company remains the wood products still made in Vermont with precision and care that come with a lifetime warranty. It’s a matter of keeping faith with the past and keeping an eye on the future.
JK Adams | @jkadams
Crate & Barrel | @crateandbarrel
Williams-Sonoma | @williamssonoma
Dorset Farmers’ Market | @dorsetfarmersmarketvt
Someday Farm | @somedayfarmvt
