Amish furniture comes to Mansfield

The building on the northeast corner of Airport Road and Highway 89 has been many things over the past few years – a deli, an Italian restaurant, a women’s clothing boutique, and now a furniture store.
The Amish Furniture Outlet (complete with buggy parked out front) is the latest venture by a well known family of local entrepreneurs, the Saseks.
Store manager Talon Sasek says his parents have long been fans of well-made wood furniture and were looking for a product line to bridge the significant price gap between the sort of “fast fashion” mass-produced furniture sold by Ikea and pricier offerings at traditional furniture stores. They attended many furniture shows looking for the right suppliers, and eventually connected with some traditional Amish furniture makers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Sasek describes Lancaster as the epicentre of the Amish furniture world, where strict adherence to a very traditional way of life influences the products. Pieces created there are characterized by quality hardware and furniture joints, and beautiful finishes inside and out. This is in contrast to Amish and Mennonite furniture built elsewhere which tends to be slightly more rustic.
Dealing directly with Amish builders in Lancaster allows the Saseks to offer their furniture at very attractive prices, but comes with certain challenges. They are dealing with suppliers who don’t use the internet and e-mail, or offer shipping. That means every five weeks, they must drive the roughly 550 km to south central Pennsylvania to restock. The Mansfield store has a variety of furniture including dining sets, hall trees and dressers on display. All can be ordered in a range of finishes for customers who want something slightly different than what is in stock and picked up on the next trip. By the end of January, they expect to have a catalogue with additional items available for custom order, and they will expand the product line to include quality outdoor furniture by next spring.
Since the store opened in early December, Sasek says response has been very positive. Based on initial traffic, he expects The Amish Furniture Outlet to be popular with local residents and the cottage/chalet set as well.