Until a few moments ago I had never heard of Life O’ Wood furniture polish. Which is surprising because I have a lot of chairs and keep about five cans of furniture polish in my kitchen cupboard at any given time. It’s even more surprising since Life O’ Wood has been manufactured in Buffalo for 100 years. With hand labeled glass bottles and a recipe that has not changed for a century, Life O’ Wood remains a locally owned and operated business. Instant Products Company, Inc. is the manufacturer of the product. But more importantly, Melanie Hachten is the key to the entire operation. That’s because when she’s not teaching music (her day job), Melanie is the crux of the workforce behind the product and the brand.
Due to the incredibly small size of the operation, there is no advertising budget for Life O’ Wood. At the same time, the competition gets more and more fierce and the cost of producing Life O’ Wood increases, which means that the relatively obscure product with a big Buffalo heart gets closer and closer to… well, we’re not going there right now.
“I have been learning about this business since I was 11,” says Melanie. “And now that I have spent 21 years of my life manufacturing Life O’ Wood, I can’t imagine not doing it, however, unless business really picks up, this could very well be one of our last years in business.”
In order to maintain product sales, Melanie counts on word of mouth. Over the years the company has garnered a small but loyal following. “We have a very modest website and Facebook page,” she continues. “[We] have recently updated our label to bring back the cleaning lady that was used on the label during the 1950s and 1960s, to add to the character and heart of our product.”
If you ask Melanie, she will tell you that while sales might not be what she hopes for, customer loyalty is still extremely high. To this day she gets emails from fans who continue to come up with ingenious uses for the versatile product. From use on a number of surfaces ranging from mirrors to glass (by adding supplemental ingredients), “Life O’ Wood is the brand that many people say nothing else compares to.”
“The cleaning aisle has greatly changed over the years,” Melanie explains. “From the overwhelming choices of fragrant sprays, to how they are packaged for the consumer’s convenience, it is becoming almost impossible for our modest Buffalo production company to keep up with our competitors. I am determined that we are not a high volume sale item because once you purchase a bottle, it takes forever to empty the bottle (a little goes a long, long way). Unfortunately the quality and value of our product has a tendency to hurt us and can be contributed to one of the reasons we are struggling to stay in business. Our family has done everything we can to keep costs to a minimum, even going as far as to hand delivering shipments to warehouses to save on trucking costs.”
In a day when we are (hopefully) paying more and more attention to buying local, we must keep in mind that there are products out there that we may not be aware of. It’s too bad that there is not an easier way to learn about more of these types of obscure Made in Buffalo products before it’s too late. As competition grows, the fight to stay in business gets tougher. “Thousands of new products are introduced and rejected from supermarkets every year and it has become very difficult for us to compete with that,” Melanie states. “Back when my grandfather, Harold McDermid, manufactured Life O’ Wood, there used to be a ma and pa or hardware type of store on almost every street corner. Nowadays, you don’t see that. Small grocery stores are becoming a thing of the past while the mega super stores continue to dominate area neighborhoods. We are a wholesaler, and unfortunately we are unable to sell directly to our customers. Because of that, we have to rely on being on grocery store shelves, as well as being featured on a couple of different internet sites. We get calls and emails from all over the country, praising us on how wonderful Life O’ Wood is, but because many customers have moved out of the area, they are unable to find it. They tell us our product is unlike any other they have tried, and refuse to use a competitor’s because of the job Life O’ Wood has done on their household treasures.”
The trick of Life O’ Wood is that the product “cleans and polishes as it restores, without leaving any waxy film or buildup on surfaces.” Unfortunately I personally have never tried the product, as there are countless options available and I have never been prompted to seek out the local brand. That’s going to change the next time that I’m out of my big brand furniture polish. “I take a great deal of pride in our product, and will continue to manufacture Life O’ Wood for as long as we can afford to do so. I can only hope that 2014 is a renaissance year for Life O’ Wood, and that I can continue with the family tradition for many more years to come,” says Melanie.
Sending out an email locally was a good first start to getting the word out there. Hopefully some BRO readers are familiar with the product, or will keep a lookout in days and months to come. The product can be found at Parker Pharmacy on Hertel, Dash’s, a handful of supermarkets, and these other locations.
For more information about Life O’ Wood Furniture Polish, where you can purchase the product, or other uses, please visit the website at www.lifeowood.com or email melanie@lifeowood.com. Melanie would also like to contact any persons or companies that have some ideas or interest in being involved with the company to help it expand.
Instant Products Company Inc., Makers of Life O’ Wood Furniture Polish
1948 Genesee Street
Buffalo, New York 14211
P: (716) 891-5250
F: (716) 901-0567
www.lifeowood.com | Also see Facebook