Clif McKenzie, CEO of Watson Furniture, is framed by office furniture in various stages of production as he gives a tour of the factory in Poulsbo on Tuesday. (Photo: MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN)
Graham Watson stands at a table saw, overalls on, sleeves rolled up, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. There are no guards on the saw, the work area is simple.
A giant print of the old black and white photo of Watson Furniture’s founder hangs in the lobby at the company’s manufacturing facility, a reminder of the business’ roots decades back.
The company began in the 1960s as Watson’s humble shop in downtown Winslow on Bainbridge Island and has since grown far beyond into a thriving operation churning out swaths of European-inspired office pieces every year. The company is set to grow yet again soon.
Tucked away in a secluded business park just north of Poulsbo, company workers design and assemble adjustable desks, benches, and tables, elegant shelving units, and credenzas, even markerboards, which are then shipped out around the country. Companies like Boeing, Nike, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Airbnb, and Spotify have all been clients, according to Clif McKenzie, Watson’s CEO.
In the coming months, Watson employees will soon have more space to make furnishings in an expansion to the company’s manufacturing facility. A pair of additions are in the works. The first will add 20,000 square feet and the second another 10,000 square feet, McKenzie said.
“We are at a point where we just don’t have the space,” he said. “We have more storage containers out back that can hold raw materials. We keep things in pretty good order, but it looks like a flea market out there. We’ve just gotta get things inside, and we’ve gotta breathe.”
“The economy’s good right now,” he said. “People need furniture.”