The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
HITCHCOCK LOOKS TO THE FUTURE
In for the long haul: Longtime chair company looking to stay in town
RIVERTON >> If the Farmington River is the soul of this village, you might say The Hitchcock Chair Co. is its heart.
After earlier plans to close its retail store and relocate the business, Hitchcock managing partner Rick Swenson said this week that his family is in the process of buying the building and property that currently houses the business, with the intent to keep its operation in Riverton.
That’s good news for many in town who remember when the business previously closed its doors nearly a decade ago.
“They’re a huge part of town,” said Leslie DiMartino, owner of the Riverton General Store. “Everyone looks at this town as Hitchcock ... We do need them.”
A big part of the equation was the lowering of the sales price at 13 Riverton Road, the currently home to all of Hitchcock’s operations, including sales, retail, manufacturing and restoration work.
According to online listing, the price on the property was lowered from $229,000 to $150,000 just a day after
the announcement from Hitchcock that it planned to leave.
“It was sort of a game changer at that point,” Swenson said.
If all goes as planned, the company will explore an addition to the back of the building, which would allow the company to expand its cramped manufacturing and shipping areas, Swenson said.
“We can start to look at a potential addition on the property, expanding our abilities that way,” he said.
The 13 Riverton Road property, a converted 1855 home, is not an original Hitchcock building but has been a part of the company’s operations since 1958.
Hitchcock’s history is a complex one and the company has gone through many reiterations and two shutterings. Since 1818, when Lambert Hitchcock first set up shop at the Benham-Doolittle sawmill at the “Fork of the Rivers,” (Farmington and Still) the company has been a part of the village’s psyche. The village, a part of Barkhamsted, was even once known as Hitchcocksville.
“It’s been a big part of Riverton,” said Paul Hart, vice president of the Barkhamsted Historical Society.
Hitchcock, who had apprenticed under Litchfield woodworker Silas Cheney, brought the concept of mass production and interchangeable parts to the chair-making industry. The company was also known for its stenciling process, a much easier way to mark and decorate its products.
Circa 1825, the company built the large factory on the banks of the Farmington River. Today Riverton Self Storage occupies a portion of that space.
Also in 1825, according to John Tarrant Kenney’s “The Hitchcock Chair,” was the year he established his trademark “L. Hitchcock, Hitchcocks-ville. Conn. Warranted,” a marking still stenciled on the company’s varied products.
After financial trouble, the company reorganized in 1832, with business partner Arba Alford, and established Hitchcock, Alford and Co.
Hitchcock and various business partners would go through more reiterations, including Alford & Co. and the Hitchcocks-ville Co., and business partners would acquire other companies and operated retail stores in Hitchcocksville and Hartford.
From 1825 to 1829, Hitchcock and a business partner also operated a general store in Riverton, according to Kenney’s book.
In 1944, Hitchcock, who also served in the state legislature, opened a cabinet manufacturing factory in Unionville and for a time remained a partner in what was then known as The Hitchcocks-ville Co.
Hitchcock died in 1852 and the successor companies ceased production around the time of the Civil War, Swenson said.
Hitchcock was relegated to the history books and antique stores until 1946, when John Tarrant Kenney came to the Farmington River on a fishing trip and soon after revived the name and started the company anew.
Under new owners, the business also had its ups and downs and eventually ownership changed, but it remained a large presence in town, adding an annex to the original factory, opening a museum, utilizing the space where the current facility operates and expanding some manufacturing to facilities in surrounding towns.
In their heyday, Hitchcock recorded as much as 50,000 vehicle visits a year. First Selectman Donald Stein said he has been told that sales events could draw 20,000 people.
Swenson said the company does not have good visitation figures for the past few years but acknowledged it’s been much less.
But further business struggles and changes took their toll and the company closed again in 2006.
“I think it took all the spirit of this immediate area and deflated it,” said Paul J. Panettiere, chef/ proprietor at Sweet Pea’s Restaurant in Riverton.
In 2010, however, the Hitchcock name was revived once again.
Local resident and furniture restorer and dealer and longtime Still River Antiques owner Rick Swenson and his wife Nancy partnered with Gary and Maryanne Hath of Canton and purchased the rights to the Hitchcock name and products to bring the company back to life.
Today, Hitchcock, which makes a wide array of furniture, operates solely out of the Riverton Road facility. The company employs approximately 13 people, about 10 full time, Swenson said. Many of them had worked at the previous iteration of the company and have decades of service.
Most furniture pieces are still crafted at the facility, with a few being outsourced to other places in the northeast. Assembly, staining, stenciling and other processes are still done on site.
“They still have that handcrafted touch,” Swenson said.
Eight dealers around New England carry their products, which are also sold directly at the retail store.
Swenson is quick to admit that the business has at times struggled, and he said at less than a million units, sales are half of what they once were.
The last few weeks have been an exception, but by and large the summer has been extremely slow, Swenson said. Internet sales have been better, but not always predictable.
“It’s been so sporadic,” he said. “There no recognizable rhythm to anything anymore. That’s the hard thing to figure out.”
To some degree, the company faces problems in the area due to availability of its furniture in the used market and the people who already have the company’s products.
“One of the problems with our furniture is the stuff does last forever,” Swenson said.
Restorations do help the company’s business and Still River Antiques remains as a division of Hitchcock.
“We have the restoration business and that does help us,” he said.
For Swenson, part of the problem is that Riverton, while a popular spot for outdoor enthusiasts, is no longer a huge retail destination.
“It’s not a shopping destination,” Swenson said.
The village retains a small mix of restaurants, eateries, a tackle shop, Hitchcock and Inns, but some of its retails stores have closed in the last couple of decades and other buildings, like the original Hitchcock factory site, remain partially empty.
Businesses in town report a mixed picture when it comes to traffic.
Ten years ago Peter Greenwood bought the historic 1829 stone church from Hitchcock, which for many years operated a museum out of the facility.
The 2006 Hitchcock closing and the move of the Village Sweet Shoppe to Collinsville accounted for a loss of an estimated 100,000 visitors per year, according to Greenwood.
Greenwood said he wouldn’t sustain his business if he relied on retail traffic. He also does much of his commerce online. Getting a sustained shopping base is an uphill climb, he said.
“It’s a drive-through town,” he said. “There’s never going to be a lot of traffic here.”
But other businesses, especially those that offer the everyday type product, like food and drink, have had better luck with walk-in customers.
DiMartino said the Riverton General Store has had a busy summer.
Panettiere said the restaurant has also done well. On weekends, the restaurant has routinely filled its seating for 40 inside and 12 outside.
“It’s been good,” he said. “I believe the economy’s getting better.”
Barkhamsted First Selectman Don Stein said Riverton has certainly been a mixed picture over the years.
One of the main challenges is its location. Many area towns have their center’s right along the busy Route 44 corridor. Still, Riverton has many of the characteristics of a center with its walkability, natural amenities and mix of businesses. But the location of the village is a challenge, Stein said.
“We keep trying but it’s hard to do in a small town,” he said.
But there are bright spots, Stein said, including well-established events like the Riverton Fair that draws more than 15,000 people each October. Christmas in Riverton and newer ideas such as a possible Halloween event sponsored by a revitalized Barkhamsted Lions Club are other bright spots, along with a planned new bed and breakfast at the site of the former Village Gateway B&B.
“We’ve looked at various ways of making Riverton become the village center,” Stein said. “We’re really looking at promoting tourism.”
DiMartino agrees that additional retail would be a huge help and said the village really needs some movement on properties and a creative approach.
“Additional retail spots would be great for town,” said DiMartino, who is also secretary of the Riverton Merchants Association. “There’s a lot of potential in Riverton.”
The businesses that are here do work well together, Panettiere said.
“That’s what’s unique about here,” said Panettiere. “We are a community that works together.
And while he worries about the business climate and the peaks and valleys, Swenson also feels that Riverton is the right home for Hitchcock.
“This village needs this here,” he said. “And this business needs the village to be vibrant.”
The company is located at 13 Riverton Road. For information about retail, call 860-738-9958. For information about restoration, call 860-379-2998. The company is also available online at www.hitchcockchair.com.