About Us
The Simply Amish Story
It was a time of turmoil, firmly rooted in the upheaval of the 60s. And it was enough to make a lot of people pine for a simpler time, and a slower pace.
Of course, Amish-built furniture and cabinetry has always been highly sought-after by those “in-the-know” … in part due to the Amish tradition of solid, long-lasting quality in everything they make – from buggies to cupboards to quilts. But in that decade of discontent, the handmade furniture of the Amish began to gain a much wider appeal among city-dwellers and others as they discovered the simple pleasures of real wood, well-crafted.
Trouble was … the only place to find
Amish furniture was in “Amish Country” – which tends to be a long, long
drive from those cities full of people looking for it!
Enter the Kauffman family … and a novel solution to the problem…
Yeah, It’s A Family Affair
In 1979, Kevin Kauffman and his brothers got together with their father on the family farm and started creating fine solid-wood furniture, applying those values that were such a large part of their Amish upbringing … along with an exceptional eye for detail.
Shortly after, Kevin and his uncle John Mast decided they’d start a company with the unheard-of dream of linking traditional Amish artisans from around America’s heartland into a single modern distribution system … one that could answer the wider call for more and more Amish furniture to satisfy a growing – and seemingly insatiable – audience.
With the addition of John’s brother Butch, and Kent Patterson, the four partners began fine-tuning their innovative ideas into the system that today handles the warehousing and order-tracking for a network of more than 50 small wood shops, each run by another Amish family.
Kevin’s older brother, in fact, still builds all of Simply Amish’s beds … with the help of his sons, and a few other highly-skilled community members.
Those Amish craftsmen get to work undisturbed … lovingly creating masterpieces in solid oak, maple, cherry, walnut, hickory … all made to order, as the orders come in … and all made in the time-honored Amish tradition – cutting, shaping, sanding, and staining by hand.
Today, you can find Simply Amish furniture in around 250 stores across the continent … and even in this volatile economy, Simply Amish continues to grow at a pace that outstrips a lot of those faceless, inhuman, corporate “furniture machines”. Maybe that’s because, more than ever before, people like yourself are coming to understand and appreciate the long-term value of a product so well-made that it’s expected to last through generations of your family … and actually comes with a Lifetime Guarantee!
I hope you’ll agree, we must be doing something right … after all, a very big part of our business comes from repeat customers – folks who come back again and again. And the reasons they give:
- Quality
- Selection
- Service
Even newlyweds will visit our showrooms and decide that, rather than settle for a house full of inferior furnishings just because they can afford it all at once (and will likely have to start replacing it soon after) … it makes more sense to acquire a few pieces of high-quality Simply Amish furniture now … then a couple more, a few months later … and more later on. Because they know it’s furniture that won’t fall apart on them, or split, or warp. They know it’ll literally “last a lifetime”.
And speaking of making things last, here’s another thing we’re quite proud of, here at Simply Amish – our environmental commitment.
You see, we were…
‘Green’ Before Green Was Cool
Yes, we’ve been environmentalists for a LONG, long time – riding around in horse-drawn buggies, growing and canning our own food, drying our laundry with that (usually trusty) “original dryer” … the sun.
It’s always been a fortunate side-benefit to some of our other closely-held values. But, as you probably figured we would, Simply Amish goes several steps beyond.
Our first “good deed” for the environment comes from a commitment we mentioned earlier: We build things to LAST!
We make furniture to heirloom-quality standards because that’s exactly what your new furniture is – an instant heirloom that you’ll pass down from generation to generation. We kinda figure … the best thing we can do for our landfills is not fill them up in the first place.
Our hardwood suppliers, too, take great pains to practice environmentally-responsible, socially-beneficial, and economically-viable forestry standards. And all our lumber is sourced from within 500 miles of our shops, to save on fuel and shipping costs. We don’t use any of those exotic woods that deplete the rainforests, and have to be shipped all the way from overseas.
And as part of our commitment to develop, and spread the word about, environmentally-responsible manufacturing practices, Simply Amish is a proud founding member of the Sustainable Furniture Council.
If you ever visit our national distribution center, you may be surprised to find Amish folks using a high-tech energy-efficient geothermal system, and special insulation materials with a higher R-value than most homes … to keep our heating and cooling needs, our costs, and our “carbon footprint” to a minimum.
By the way … our geothermal field is a two-acre pond that shelters and feeds the local natural ecosystem, and serves as a reservoir for our rural firefighters, should they ever need it.
And finally … after all is said and done, and your finished furniture is ready for shipping … we tenderly wrap it in thick blankets, just like you would. Because you and I know there’s no better way to ensure it arrives at your door in the same condition it leaves ours. (And at the same time, we’re more than happy to cut down on all that cardboard and plastic packing material that other shippers ultimately send to the landfill.)
We’re Amish – being environmentally friendly just comes natural to us. It was never our intention to be trend-setters … but if someone’s gotta do it, I guess we’ll just have to get used to it.
Simply Amish … environmentally friendly since 1693.
