NEWS

 

On Saturday March 16, Spencer Bloom and Jacob Johnson smiled brightly at a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of their new retail location, Bloom & Johnson Millworks. They were joined by many proud family members and friends as they stood in front of the new location at Linden Mill on Eden Street in Davidson.

The two entrepreneurs are remarkably young. Spencer Bloom is 18 and is currently finishing senior year of high school as a busy, multi-tasking homeschooler. Jacob Johnson is a few years older. He will be graduating this spring from the Belk College of Business at UNCC. The two have been friends since they were kids.

Bloom and his family have lived in Davidson for 13 years. Johnson grew up in Mooresville and began developing the mill working business as a teenager on his family’s Mooresville farm. Johnson is the grandson of Phifer Johnson. Phifer I. Johnson Bulldozing, Inc. was well known for “grading about half of Mooresville,” mused Bloom.

During the isolation of COVID, the two friends were restless and interested in developing skills and expertise in woodworking. They started out in an unused space in Mooresville, experimenting with chainsaws before moving to larger wood saws. The two were young enough to need adult supervision during their earliest efforts.

Recognizing that they both had a passion for millwork and a dream to start a business, they incorporated their new business in August 2020. The business is rooted in the sawmill in Mooresville, which contains ample space for multiple saws, kilns, and expanses for drying and straightening large pieces of wood.  “We have saws that can cut 60” in diameter, 5’ across, which makes a good-sized table,” said Bloom. They currently house about 30,000 board feet of lumber which, according to Bloom, is a measurement of volume, not length.

Bloom explained that while they work with a lot of salvaged or reclaimed wood from sources across the United States, the primary source of their wood comes from what he calls “urban logging.” In other words, when yard trees are cut down by homeowners, or when large numbers of trees are cut during urban or suburban construction projects, Bloom & Johnson Millworks reaches out to the tree services, construction crews, and landowners to request the lumber.

“If we hear of a project where large trees are being removed, we make contact by phone, or stop in at the site and ask about salvaging the downed trees,” explained Bloom. He said that construction crews and tree removal services have virtually no incentive to salvage the trees that are cut down. Beautiful, valuable wood species are often simply thrown away.

If Bloom & Johnson Millworks can persuade tree services and construction crews to set trees aside temporarily at a job site, they can show up with trucks, hydraulic booms, skid steers, and other heavy equipment to lift and load the large logs and rounds.

Recently, Davidson’s stream restoration project has been their largest single source of wood. While the stream restoration project sought to minimize tree loss, some loss of large trees was necessary. Several landowners granted access to their property to remove large trees that were cut down during stream restoration.

Bloom said that right now he is intent on trying to gain access to some of the large legacy trees that have been removed as part of the ongoing U-5873 project. He pointed to some photos of large piles of trees at the roundabout construction site on the border of Cornelius and Davidson. “We could rescue that whole pile of wood and put it to good use,” he said. So far, he hasn’t gotten a firm answer from the crews.

Once the trees are back at the mill, the owners assess how best to cut the wood for various uses. The wood is frequently used for fireplace mantels, bar tops, tabletops, ceiling beams, shelving, and many other creative design elements. Bloom and Johnson frequently work with individual customers who have a specific design idea but need help selecting the right material for their project.

Bloom explained that freshly cut wood holds a lot of moisture, and that preparing wood carefully takes time. “We prefer the bourbon approach,” he said. “Long and slow is better for quality.” Slowly air-drying wood after cutting can take a year, even two for larger slabs. The final drying happens in a large kiln, which ensures sanitation of the wood.

After a few years of growing their mill working business, Bloom and Johnson began looking for a retail location to display their material and designs. After walking through the 5,200 square foot location at Linden Mill in Davidson, Bloom and Johnson decided that this was the right place for their new showroom. Their Mooresville sawmill is only 10 minutes away. They liked the Davidson location and being close to established businesses like The Rumor Mill Market, Haerfest Coffee, CrossFit, and State Fair Donuts. They also were excited that the new space faced Jackson Street and would be easily visible to the busy Farmers Market traffic on Saturday mornings. They painted the office doors and bay door a vibrant blue to attract attention.

Bloom and Johnson began updating and outfitting the space in December. They painted the gray cinderblocks white and put in bright overhead lights. They established a reception area with a TV monitor to showcase examples and ideas, then added rows and rows of racks to help display wood. By early February, they started moving in product – slabs, rounds, finished and unfinished wood, reclaimed wood, in all shapes and sizes for display.

At the center of the floor there are two large “curious craft bins.” The bins are filled with interesting pieces of wood of smaller sizes that people can buy for their own DIY projects. Customers can purchase smaller sizes of stain, varnish, lacquer, and epoxy on site so that they can practice with different effects at home.

Additionally, Bloom and Johnson have repurposed a fully enclosed interior room to the left of the showroom as a finishing room for wood that has been treated with stains, resins, oils, and epoxies. The enclosed room protects the wood from any particles or debris as it is curing. The entire retail and showroom space is in the process of being upgraded with advanced filtration systems to help clear the air of particles after cutting and sanding.

Bloom is excited about next steps. He looks forward to creating more finished wood products in the new space, working with homeowners and business owners to imagine and design creative uses for wood, and helping local DIY woodworkers to create their own designs.