All About The Arbor Shop
OUR STORY
Our Mission
Craig Schultz, founder, spent his career developing furniture products for commercial and residential manufacturing companies. The goal in those environments is to design products that require minimal craftsmanship. Putting that criteria on a new concept can omit some great product designs. That is not the goal of the Arbor Shop. The Arbor Shop hand selects hardwoods and builds beautiful products one at a time.
The Arbor Shop hits the sweet spot between handcrafted quality and the reliability of a product that is refined by building dozens of prototypes. The goal is to focus on items that will be used every day and make beautiful versions of those products. Design + Craftsmanship.
The Arbor Shop is conscious of the environment, highly values trees (of course!), and believes that the beauty of the tree lives on in the products made. The Arbor Shop is committed to giving back and cherishes its Plant a Tree Promise.
Plant a Tree Promise
In honor of each Step Stool purchased, The Arbor Shop plants one tree.
About Us
The Arbor Shop makes heirloom quality wood products for the home. Founder, Craig Schultz has been working in Product Design for more than three decades and has 48 patents to his credit. The company was formed in 2023 and is focused on original, functional designs that don't shy away from the need for craftsmanship. The Arbor Shop is a net positive, sustainable company. The Step Stool is Arbor Shop's first product. Product integrity is at the heart of The Arbor Shop wheelhouse. The Arbor Shop plans to expand its product line going forward. The "Plant a Tree Promise" means that we plant one tree for each step stool sold.
“The beauty of the tree used, lives on in the product made from it.”
-Craig Schultz, Founder
Our Story
Our first product, the Step Stool, was made for Craig’s daughter so that she could learn to brush her teeth on her own. It was given as a Christmas gift in December 1996 when she was two. Craig saw that people liked his Step Stool and that there was a demand for them. He made a few more for his son, nieces and nephews, and co-workers.
The Step Stool was originally created by putting pencil to paper and drawing up some basic sketches. While creating the Step Stool, Craig wanted it to be a classic, but aesthetically beautiful. Many prototypes have been made over the years of different variations to fine tune the original design. The Step Stool is patented, meets OSHA standards, and has been tested in an independent, third-party lab.
Growing up in Northern Wisconsin, Craig’s father instilled a strong respect and responsibility around trees in his two sons. Trees were used for shade, shelter, heating, and tapped to make the syrup they provided. His father had a nursery where he gave away trees to anyone who wanted one. He even curated a large section of forest, using the ones that weren’t as healthy or beautiful for firewood. He built his log cabin among the near perfect trees left in the forest.
Craig took shop classes in high school where he learned more about the different species of woods and what they’re best used for. Those classes ended up getting him his first job in furniture, a skill set he built upon in college and throughout his over three decade career in product design.