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The changing face of Virginia business
Cynthia
Gardner
Twist & Turns
Roanoke
by
Deborah Nason
Virginia Business
March
2005
Cynthia
Gardner is revved up like a race car. Petite and forceful,
she is the owner of Twist & Turns, a furniture store
and manufacturing operation based in Roanoke. The company
is known for its custom-designed metal furniture, etched
with precise and striking designs. The store features
indoor and outdoor furnishings with a certain look:
oversize, eclectic, fanciful and even regal. “Heirlooms
waiting to happen,” she says.
Sitting
on the edge of her chair, Gardner, 55, describes her
entrepreneurial journey.
Twist & Turns began as a family business about 15
years ago. “Wood was extraordinarily expensive,”
she says, “and metal took off in a big way.”
In 1992, the operation moved from a garage to a 1,000-square-foot
retail space. Since then, it has grown about tenfold,
and a manufacturing facility was established a mile
away.
The store’s expansion was a boon not only to Gardner,
but also to Roanoke. In 2000, she was a partner in the
renovation of an old hotel, The Shenandoah, whose lobby
the store now occupies. “The building was a huge
eyesore, and the gateway to downtown,” says Phil
Sparks, who was the city’s economic development
director at the time. “Her store has been a tremendous
boost for downtown.”
Success has resulted from a combination of customer
service and customization. For instance, Gardner approached
local businesses such as the venerable Hotel Roanoke,
and asked “Why are you buying your furniture from
Mexico? We’re cheaper, and we’re local.”
Gary Walton, Hotel Roanoke’s general manager,
enjoys working with Gardner. “She always has a
big smile, and provides a tremendous amount of customer
service. And their stuff is so interesting. I’ve
never seen this type of [merchandise] with other vendors.”
Much of Twist & Turns’ work is custom-made.
“If not, we’d be gone,” says Gardner,
citing low-price foreign manufacturers. But because
of the unique look of the company’s designs, she
says competition is “negligible.”
She describes her revenue as “under $4 million”
a year, with approximately two-thirds coming from outside
the region. A recent $30,000 order for a zoo is typical,
encompassing 12 tables, 48 chairs and 12 benches. The
manufacturing side has three divisions: retail, commercial
and equestrian, which focuses on horse shows. To grow
the business, she is looking into licensing designs
on certain furniture. Potential growth markets include
universities, country clubs and zoos.
Over the years, Gardner says she has had to overcome
gender bias. “I’ve had a tremendously difficult
time in securing funding,” she says. “I
would listen to other people who had lines of credit,
and they never had to put up as much collateral as I
did. When you have to put up $400,000 to get $50,000,
that’s ridiculous.”
Focusing on her vision has enabled her to weather many
obstacles: a bout with cancer, a devastating flood,
the retail-dampening effects of 9/11, and a fire that
destroyed everything in her manufacturing facility.
How does she go on? “When you have had so many
things happen to you, each time makes you stronger,”
she says.
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