How to survive a pandemic the Orr-Reed way
My parents bought Orr-Reed in 1993 when I was four years old. I grew up climbing wood piles and helping customers find the right hardware for their doors. I knew the differences of wood grain before I knew how to count to 20. I took over in 2013 after my dad died (which is a doozy of story for a different day) and with my incredible moms help, we not only kept the business going, we also managed to actually turn a profit which is something my dad hadn’t done in years. Before 2020 a good 70% of our business came from things such as new restaurant and bar build outs, the film industry, large and small retail stores, art pop ups and entertainment venues. Basically, all the things that a pesky pandemic shuts down are what our store depended on to survive. When the lock down hit, we really had no idea how to keep going but we did know that we couldn’t give up. Although we were allowed to be open as an essential business, without any customers being open didn’t really matter. My mom and I even offered to fire everyone because frankly, they would make more off unemployment then what we could pay them but they all refused. Our bunch of ragtag misfits stuck together and as grateful as I was for that, it didn’t solve how we were actually make any money.
I was desperately trying to come up with something to generate income during a lock down, which is hard enough on its own but was made even more difficult by my 4 year old, very energetic son, Sawyer. Brief tangent, I have so much respect for you incredible stay at home moms but I’m just not cut from that cloth. Pre-pandemic I was very fortunate in that I could set my own work hours which meant I got to spend every morning until preschool drop off at 9 with my kid and I got to leave by 3:00 to go get him. It was the best of both worlds. I got to go to work and spend a ton of time with my son. It was the perfect balance for me and as soon as lock down started my 6 hours a day away from my kid went away. I didn’t realize how much I depended on that time to actually accomplish things. I was not used to trying to do it all at the same time. It was on day two of hearing non stop mommy mommy mommy that I came up with the idea of craft kits that people could do at home with their kids that could serve as some sort of distraction from the craziness that was surrounding us all.
We started small with hanging coat racks made of reclaimed wood and antique door knobs. Without those coat racks, we wouldn’t be open today. They gave us enough breathing room to come up with more kits ranging from different styles of planter boxes to birdhouses to fold out patio bars to bat houses to key racks to shelving to holiday kits. Most of my ideas for the kits came from things I was doing with Sawyer that I thought other people would also enjoy doing.
If last year taught me anything, its how important it is to spend time with your family. By the time I was brainstorming our holiday kits, I knew I wanted to come up with a project families could do together that would not just function as cute holiday decor, that would last for years but would also serve as a reminder of spending time with family. I knew it had to be classic, incredibly sturdy, simple enough that kids could help put it together and it had to be made out of things we carried at the store. With those parameters in mind, I came up with the pumpkin kits. By the end of the 2020 fall holiday season, we had made over 500 pumpkins kits. It sounds silly, but the pumpkins really brought the entire Orr Reed family even closer together. Our small crew of 5 managed to cut over 5,000 pumpkin pieces, poured over 1,500 ramekins of paint and put over 12,000 screws into bags. Each completed pumpkin kit served as a reminder that through imagination, teamwork and a little bit of ingenuity we were capable of getting through anything. It was never a question if we were going to bring the pumpkins back because of what they represent to us. We might have started doing them out of desperation but they became a symbol of so much more for us. Driving the streets of my beloved Dallas and seeing houses with our pumpkins decorating their porches is such a joy. I love that a part of our story is now a part of so many others as well.
As a small thank you to all our fabulous customers, I have made a special coupon code just for the pumpkins. Now until 9/16 save 10% on your pumpkin order with the code pumpkinseason. To order, go to our shop page and click holiday kits.
