Shelf Expressions® is a veteran owned secondary wood products manufacturing company
located in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.
In 1989, while building a desktop shelf unit for his daughter in college, Bob Sutherland developed the Shelf Expressions concept. The idea was to utilize scrap wood from another manufacturing process and design a product that required no tools for set-up. The concept proved to be very unique and was recognized as having considerable marketplace potential.
A domestic design concept patent was issued. Several international patents were issued as well.
Shelf Expressions products first sold into the futon market. It was a natural fit. More and more unique products were added and Shelf Expressions was soon sold throughout the United States in futon stores, unfinished furniture stores, hardware stores, and various catalogs.
Several products have been featured on QVC (the largest TV shopping network).
Shelf Expressions opened a retail store in downtown Portland selling only Shelf Expressions products.
Containers of Shelf Expressions products have been shipped to three foreign countries.
Unfortunately the primary product line of Western Line Manufacturing, Inc. (the parent company of Shelf Expressions) was lost to manufacturers in Chile and China in the early 2000s. This prompted a large cutback in manufacturing space and personnel.
Shelf Expressions lives on, only today the products are sold online through our Shelf Expressions website store. Our customers now buy directly from the manufacturer and enjoy prices without the markup of any retailers, distributors or wholesalers.
We are very proud of the great customer reaction to our products. We have many repeat customers and get many referrals. Thank you! "We have included many customer comments throughout the site using this format."
Oh, and by the way, the main commodity product line of Western Line Manufacturing, Inc. was ruler and yardstick blanks selling by the millions to the companies that provided rulers to office supply stores and major office supply chains throughout the country.
Can you see where the scrap wood came from?
Today, we no longer utilize scrap wood, however our product line requires so many small pieces of wood that we use almost all of the raw materials we source. Also, our shelf inserts (the material that gives each shelf a flat smooth surface) are made from recycled wood fiber. The slats we cut for our panels are much thicker (and therefore much stronger) than rulers or yardsticks. To see the strength of our shelving products, please go to "Our Products."
Bob's daughter never did get her shelf while in college. However now, many years later, she has several different Shelf Expressions products throughout her home.
Our greatest achievement, however, came about in 1997 when we asked our son to represent Shelf Expressions in our booth at an International Futon tradeshow in Phoenix, Arizona. A retailer from Knoxville, Tennessee, attended the show. She stopped by the Shelf Expressions booth, found something she liked, and married him. It was our most successful tradeshow!
Please find out more about our products and the Shelf Expressions concept by going to "Our Products".