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Show B-10 The Park Record WedThurFri, May 8-10, 2002 Mountain Timber celebrates 10 Michael Conti turns store into successful By JANA MCQUAY (l thf Rciord sin' Sewn years ;hm. Michael Conti ciimc to I'iirk City horn Colorado to urn a L'oiim-oulol t)iisincss sale lor a ncai bankrupt luiniture store in Summit County. When he arrived, however, lie loiik a second look at the destitute store and decided it was a jircal business opportunity. " I lell in love with the area and convinced the owners to sell it to me." said Conti. who houtiht the slme and renamed it Mountain limhei I uinishins. "i was a preal challeiiL-c to lake a business that was lailinu and turn it into something pietlv special and rewarding." Conti lell Colorado, where his mother started up another Mountain 'limber Furnishings store on her own. (onti's sister manages the Winter Park. Colorado, store lor then mother, and his brother is controller con-troller at the Park City store. All in all. it's basically a lanuly business. Alter making the move to Park Citv. Conti turned the business around. Il didn't hurt that Summit ( 'ountv's pi ipulation was growing by leaps and bounds. It went from a $100,000 business to a mulli-nullion business," Conti said. "Mul it didn't happen overnight." In the beginning, it was just Conti running the show. My day. he sold Immune and accessories. My night, he delivered merchandise. "Now. we have a lull time delivery deliv-ery stall and a lull lime sales staff." Conti said. Ami sometime in the next year. ( onli plans to move into a bigger store to accommodate a growing inventory. He also has Rachel Aicalean. the store manager. "She makes my hie a lot easier." Conl i said. "Mul we all work as a team here." I'nlike most furniture stores. Mountain "limber's sales stall is conipnsed ol nun commissioned employees. Conti would rather pay the sales stall more money than have them jumping on customers as soon as they walk in the door. "The customer wins when we're not lighting over them." Conti said. "We leave you alone and let you 3 r m i ' 1 MA " , - I F. 1 1 J : 'i ' ipiw a failing furniture business browse." Conversely, Conti doesn't forget what's important. "Customer service is No. 1 here." he said. They can expect guidance in selecting whatever they need in the store. But many customers already have in mind what they want. They'll see a certain couch or chair they like, but want a different wxk1 stain or they may want it upholstered uphol-stered in a different labric. "Most of our business is custom order," Conti said. As the name of the business suggests, sug-gests, the store is all about mountain furnishings - formal and informal. Along with comfortable overstuffed over-stuffed leather and fabric upholstered uphol-stered couches and chairs and unique wood furniture for every room in the house, the store also offers a plentiful inventory of accessories. acces-sories. F rom pillows, lamps, mirrors, pictures and rugs to drawer pulls, towel bars, coat hooks and candles. Customers can choose a theme accented with moose pillows and antler chandeliers, or avoid them altogether. The store even carries some antiques. Shoppers can find anything from old snowshoes and skis to an antique Vermont sled coffee cof-fee table. And "could" is a big word in the store. "If you come back in two weeks, the store will be different," Conti said. "We sell directly off the floor." Although mountain furniture is the store's mainstay, unique pieces of furniture are scattered about, like a 32-inch wide arm chair that will fit in a small bednxim. To look at it, the chair spoils a retro look. But the piece, which is upholstered in leather, blends nicely with other mountain furnishings. "I think the most interesting stuff comes out of Indonesia and Thailand," Conti said. "Just the different dif-ferent wiHids they use." The store carries about 3(K) lines of furniture and accessories, according accord-ing to Conti. Even with that many lines, however, rustic furniture can be limited. "So often manufacturers discontinue dis-continue items because they do not sell well nationally," Conti said. r) It- lrf -' A it' v tif'T ' The situation has led Conti to design his own line of furniture that he contracts to be manufactured on the Indonesian island of Java. "J design the line, and they are contracted to produce it," Conti said. It's a pretty slick process. Conti can e-mail CAD Computer Aided Drafting) drawings to a manufacturer, manufactur-er, who e-mails back pictures of samples sam-ples and finished products. "We are about six weeks on the w ater to get here," Conti said. But it's not all work in Conti's life. "1 work to play," Conti said. "I definitely enjoy any time off and take as much of it as I can." Time off means climbing Mt. McKinley in Alaska and Mt. Vinson in Antarctica, and four-wheeling in Moab with his 196 Bronco. He meets his buddies from Colorado half way in Moab. Some of these friends climb with him too. "1 like Denali, but Antarctica was the most remote climb," he said. "It was 60 below zero on the summit of Ml. Vinson." Climbing is a part of Conti's life. It's time away from work minus cell phones and interruptions. He's been to six out of the seven continents. "My goal is to climb the highest peak on every continent," he said. "The seven summits." As much as Conti enjoys climbing, climb-ing, however, his first love is the business. "I show up on my days off because I love what I do." Conti said. "1 feel fortunate every day that I can live and work in Park City - in such a beautiful place." It's been 10 years since the original origi-nal furniture store established roots at 2756 West Rasmussen Road in Summit County. In honor of the store's decade of accomplishments. Conti has planned a 10-year anniversary celebration in the store on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11, between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mountain Timber Furnishings entire inventory will be marked 30 percent off original prices. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is closed on Sunday. For more information, call Mountain Timber, 647-5880, or access its Web site, www.mountain-: www.mountain-: timber.com, or e-mail, salesmoun-taintimber.com. w .1 .4. n I May PETER CHUDLEIGHfilflK RECORD Michael Conti, owner of Mountain Timber Furnishings, 2756 W. Rasmussen Road, kicks back in his favorite leather sofa at the store. Although business is No. 1 in Conti's life, he still enjoys time off. He has climbed Mt. McKinley in Alaska and Mt. Vinson in Antarctica and hopes to climb the highest peak in every continent. GENERAL STOil PARK CITY, UTAH Come visit the store and choose from a variety of wonderful Mother's Day Gift Ideas, and Home Decorative Accessories. 3-4 & 10-11 SAVE ON OUR UNIQUE SELECTION OF HOME DECORATIVE ACCESSORIES , ACCENTS AND MOTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEAS. 541 Main Street Park City, UT 84060 435-658-2302 osmondgeneralstore.com years of ( , from 10am 20 growth v. , a to 9pm |