Have and Earth Day Lunch and join us at our Green Up Your Workplace Challenge on Facebook

Since Earth Day is on Sunday this year, we decided to have our Vermont Woods Studios Earth Day party today.  Here are a few photos of the crew indulging in local, organic food from The Works, a cafe, bakery and deli in Brattleboro.

We love the food and the people at the Works but we also like their green brand.

The Works Deli in Brattleboro VT was built with reclaimed barnwood and other recycled materials

This sign on the wall at the back of the deli tells where all the recycled materials that make up the store came from.  Furniture and cabinetry were made by our friend Chad Woodruff of Woodruff Custom Furniture here in Vernon, VT.  Chad used old tractor seats and scythe handles for chairs.

The vintage steel lighting at the Works was salvaged from from an old amusement park in Rye, New York. 

The menu is written on an old slate chalkboard reclaimed from Northfield Mount Hermon School, in Northfield MA.

They just used a lot of imagination in designing and building the Works and everyone in Brattleboro loves going there for the good green vibe.

So here's another idea for our "Greening Up Your Workplace" Challenge on Facebook– have an Earth Day lunch with natural food from a local restaurant or deli.

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Part of our feasibility study to see if the Skyline property on Vermont's Hogback Mountain would work for Vermont Woods Studios is anaylzing the possibility of co-locating a cafe or wine bar with the furniture showroom. It's not a real natural combination, is it (furniture and food)?

But two factors keep pointing to the pairing of these functions at Skyline:

• The Skyline location, on top of Hogback Mountain, with it's 100 mile view of the Green Mountain Forest offers what I've been looking for to raise awareness about where your wood furniture comes from.  After all, you can buy imported wood furniture anywhere but it's probably going to be made from illegally harvested trees, clear-cut from the world's rapidly disappearing tropical rainforests.  Our customers are interested in acquiring heirloom quality, Vermont-made furniture that's crafted from natural, solid, wood that's been sustainably harvested from beautiful, well-managed American forests (more about green, environmental concerns here). 
• The other factor is that:  How could  you operate ANYTHING at Skyline without inviting people to come up and enjoy the view?  It would be kinda like that commercial for Ally bank where the guy asks 2 little girls if they'd like a pony. He shows a real pony to one of the girls but only gives her a little figurine instead.  The announcer says something like:  "even kids know it's wrong to hold out on somebody."  That's how I'd feel having a business at Skyline that didn't offer people a place to relax and enjoy the view with a cup of tea or a glass of wine.

So now we're trying to figure out how to strategically pair a Vermont-made furniture showroom with a cafe or wine bar.  Allocating space is the conundrum of the day.  60% furniture — 40% cafe? Additional seasonal seating outside?  I guess the answers will reveal themselves as we do our research. 

Got ideas?  Suggestions? Interested in running an upscale cafe at Skyline?  Contact us on Facebook and jump into the conversation.  We'll be looking for local help as we navigate through the feasibility study and (hopefully) beyond.

The post A Vermont Furniture Showroom and Cafe: Co-located at Skyline? appeared first on Vermont Woods Studios.