Tony Ferraro sounds a little bemused as he shows off a new desk built by his company, Logan Street Fine Wood Products. The top stands significantly higher than a standard design and there's no accompanying desk. This is supposed to be the new rage, he said. Young executives don't want to sit down. There's something else about the desk, in addition to its height and the gorgeous wood it's made of. The legs are turned in different directions, a design feature Ferraro saw somewhere and put to use. To me, it just adds some style to it, he said.
Giving people what they want and doing it with style has been the key to Ferraro's steady rise. He came to Kansas from Pennsylvania during a college break 36 years ago and never went back. Going into the construction business with absolutely no skills, he developed into a finish carpenter and then a contractor himself one who just happens to have built the single biggest private residence in the state (it's located in Andover).
About five years ago, unable to find the custom furnishings he needed in the contracting business, he bought a millworks in Belle Plaine, Kan., where he lives and starting making them himself. Logan Street Fine Wood Products is named for the street where it's located.
In July, Ferraro opened a showroom on Douglas, in Wichita's Design District, to be closer to the designers and homeowners with whom he does most of his business.
This changed Logan Street, Ferraro said. We're more visible now. We had a nice showroom down there, but people think Belle Plaine is in South America or something.
