Business Profile: Kobasic Creations went from a hobby to a business
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EDITOR NOTE: The Daily Press will be featuring a series of articles on local businesses, highlighting their history and what makes them unique. The series will run on a regular basis in the Daily Press.
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ESCANABA -- What began as a hobby for Valine and Jake Kobasic developed into a "side hustle" before morphing into a progressively larger business that now occupies a 50,000-square-foot warehouse space that produces custom orders taken locally or placed online; sells huge, untreated slabs of wood and small, laser-cut pieces for people who want to bring their own projects to life; and houses a storefront for unique local gifts produced in-house or sourced nearby.
The storefront of Kobasic Creations at 433 Stephenson Ave. is open to the public Wednesday from noon to 3 p.m., Thursday and Friday from noon to 6 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., but operations buzz behind the scenes far beyond those hours. Kobasic said they get about 40-50 online orders a day and that a truck under contract with USPS collects packages five days a week. The majority of their business currently is conducted through Etsy, but the present stage of Kobasic Creations is one of many, and the couple looks forward to continued growth.
"We technically started in 2016 in our house," said Valine, "just doing vinyl cutouts and a little bit of woodworking in our basement."
Jake said their early craftsmanship was "more of a hobby, just looking for something to do -- some pastime."
Seven years ago, they were both working other jobs. Valine was a rural carrier for the post office, and Jake was a welder at Marinette Marine.
At the time, said Valine, "We wanted a down payment for a house, so we thought it would be good if we started a little side hustle."
Valine said the creation of the young couple's own "Mr. & Mrs. Kobasic" sign, which she photographed and posted online, was followed by an explosion of requests for similar items.
"People would ask us to make certain things, and then I had things in my head that I wanted to make. And every time I made something new for someone or for myself, I would then take pictures of it, style it, and put it on Etsy. And then it kind of snowballed for us."
Pulling up the website, Valine showed the Daily Press a few Kobasic Creations products for sale on Etsy. "They can put any personalized text … sizes, colors, different fonts," she said of their most popular listing. But even the customizable options online don't cover the breadth of possibilities available from the materials and machines in the massive space, which housed a mattress factory until just last year.
Before turning left into the gift shop area, customers first see stacks of thick slabs of wood -- cross-sections from trees felled by Dombrowski Tree Service. Many impress, but one stack in particular provides wood that has been wowing shoppers.
A black walnut tree cut down near Ludington Park was sliced to reveal nails more than a foot in from the where the bark was, meaning that it continued to grow and swallowed the nails decades after they were hammered into the already-sizeable trunk. Jake, who counted the rings, said the tree was over 200 years old. A measurement of one section showed the tree 65 inches wide (almost five-and-a-half feet) before it branched out.
One slab was used to create a fully finished table that sits toward the rear of the gift shop, a testament to the potential of the others. Another was sold last Saturday to a woman who was making a bench.
"Most of the customers that have been coming in lately to check out the wood are older ladies," said Valine. "So that's been interesting, because I expected men to come in and kind of be looking at the lumber, but it's not."
Jake was impressed, too. He reported that men do a lot of looking and nodding, but it's the women who demonstrate the follow-through.
As for that house the couple hoped to earn a down payment for -- it's been secured. They now live in the country in Powers. Jake said he greatly prefers the remote setting and scenic drive over living in town:
"You're just observing the trees … it's deer and wildlife and peace. And the Northern Lights."
Despite everything Kobasics Creations has done, Jake described their current state as "phase one" last Monday.
"Phase two is a production facility," he said. "I envision I would say about five -- My vision is five people over here working, which is strictly just doing things with the wood products, storefront, making tables." (That would be in addition to the five people they currently employ.)
Local buyers may prefer to drop into the shop on Stephenson in person during the hours mentioned above or visit the more local-friendly website, kobasiccreations.com. That domain makes it easier for customers to choose the option to pick up their finished product in-store. The Kobasics laughed as they reported that many people insist on collecting in person even when shipping is free.