After being open for seven years, the MakerHouse Co.'s Woodshop branch in Hintonburg is closing up shop.

The owner of MakerHouse, Gareth Davies, said this is due to rising costs and competition that made it challenging to stay open. 

Davies told CityNews that while it was great to be open for as long as they could to provide custom-made furniture to the community, the store couldn’t keep up with the rising demand of prices, especially when it came to labour costs. 

“In terms of production, things have just been more challenging over the past two years, with costs going up, both material costs, lumber and we used steel for a lot of our custom dining tables and things like that,” he explained, adding the branch also invested in staff space and marketing but said that they haven’t gotten a response from the broader market as well. 

The Woodshop, which works in collaboration with MakerHouse (on 987 Wellington W. St.), opened its doors back in 2015, where woodworkers created unique and custom-made pieces from dinner tables to table tops to benches over the last several years. The branch originally partnered with GROW studio and eventually expanded into its current location in the City Centre complex. 

The current location is on 250 City Centre, Bay 220. 

Davis said the Woodshop always strived for a hands-on customer experience and personal interaction with the woodworkers.

“(The customers) get to see it come to life over a number of weeks, and they get to meet with the woodworker and connect with the story behind the furniture they will live with,” he said, adding that affordability and sustainability were a few other goals that the shop always kept in mind. 

“Our model was always trying to keep it affordable, to make something that will cost more than IKEA, but it’s not going to cost $5,000 for a dining table," he said. "It’s something you can own for a long time.”

MakerHouse on Wellington W. St. will remain open, Davies said, and will continue to provide a space for hand-made and local items. 

Davies said the Woodshop will accept custom orders until Sunday, Sept. 18, and he anticipates those orders will be worked on well into the fall.

The Woodshop will have its last sale of custom-made furniture on Friday, Sept. 16 and Saturday, Sept. 17.

About the Author: Perushka Gopalkista