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Now you can see the latest power tools in action before you buy! The DreamShop, located adjacent to our store, is outfitted with over $100,000 worth of professional-grade power tools, plus there are experienced woodworkers available to demo the tools and answer your questions. More.

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The DreamShop to feature top tools, easy access to supplies

By Don Dodson

Sunday, July 12, 2009
Reproduced by permission of The News-Gazette, Inc. Permission does not imply endorsement.

CHAMPAIGN – Dennis Coleman loves woodworking projects. He's built a drop-leaf cutting table for his wife's sewing projects, a mirrored medicine chest for their bedroom and a triangular end table for their living room.

Now he and other woodworkers in the Champaign-Urbana area are planning to create a "dream workshop" where they – and others like them – can have access to an array of professional-grade power tools.

The DreamShop, being built at 1401 Parkland Court in northwest Champaign, will be a members-only workshop, though some facilities may be available for public demonstrations and classes.

A retail woodworking-supply store, CU Woodshop Supply, will be adjacent to it and sell to the general public.

"We hope to be open by the first of October," said Coleman, who is president of Champaign-based Isotech Laboratories, also located on Parkland Court.

The DreamShop originated from woodworkers lamenting that their home workshops weren't big enough to accommodate the equipment they wanted.

"We're all frustrated we don't have room for the tools we'd like to use," said Vicky Smith, who used her woodworking skills to help restore her 100-year-old house in Champaign.

Smith got involved in woodworking when she was taking art classes in college and making frames for paintings and armatures for sculptures.

"I don't do the art anymore, but I still do the woodworking," Smith said, adding she has turned 140 spindles for her front-porch railing.

Smith said she's looking forward to The DreamShop's opening.

"I think it's a very exciting project in terms of the social aspects and learning possibilities for myself and anyone else who gets involved," she said. "The interaction with other people in the shop is what I'm looking forward to."

How it started

Describing the origins of the project, Coleman said he wanted to invest money locally and "get some benefit and fun from it." He thought the answer might be a "membership-type" workshop, where investors would buy shares in CU Woodshop Supply.

Owners would have access to The DreamShop – or as Coleman phrased it, "the workshop of your dreams, outfitted with the latest and greatest power tools."

Coleman and his wife, Eileen, own 51 percent of the shares, and three other couples – Mark and Gayle Jannusch, Joe and Sheryl DeBarr and Jon and Ann Morrison – each own 10 percent. That left 19 percent that could be sold to up to 95 fractional owners. Eight other investors have since signed on.

The DreamShop will be equipped with sanders, band saws, routers, planers, joiners, table saws, drill presses, panel saws and computer numerically controlled routers.

Coleman figures $150,000 to $200,000 worth of tools will be available, and they'll be kept up to date and used in demonstrations for the retail store.

In addition to making a $10,000 initial investment, members pay an annual maintenance fee, expected to be on the order of $1,000 a year.

They'll also need to contribute time to the enterprise – probably 30 to 40 hours a year – providing cleanup, acting as shop supervisor or working on projects to furnish the shop.

Committees are being set up to work on various tasks, such as safety training and certification for members. They're also hammering out policies and procedures for scheduling the use of equipment, determining how many projects members can store in the workshop and deciding what tools members can bring in from outside.

Capital raised from the sale of shares will be used to provide inventory for the retail store.

What the store will be like

The retail shop will carry professional-grade power tools, with brands such as Delta, Jet, Powermatic and Porter-Cable. It will also sell portable power tools from Festool and Fein and clamping devices by Kreg.

The store will also be an authorized dealership for Rockler, a woodworking and hardware supply company. Plus, the shop will carry imported and domestic hardwoods.

Coleman figures the store's clients will probably live within 25 to 30 miles of Champaign. Research indicates people generally travel as much as 15 to 20 miles to go to woodworking stores. But Coleman said since so many people commute to the University of Illinois, CU Woodshop Supply could draw customers from farther away.

Altogether, the workshop and retail store will occupy 15,200 square feet, with the workshop in the western half of the building and the retail store in the eastern half. The workshop will also have an owners' lounge, classroom space and a library with computer facilities.

Coleman said there's long been a dearth of local sources for professional-grade power tools, although consumer-grade tools are available.

He said he ends up buying half of his tools from James Machinery in Springfield and the other half on the Internet.

Hours for CU Woodshop Supply haven't been determined yet. Coleman said there's some consideration of initially operating 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

But a judgment on hours won't be made until after the grand opening, when the store will have "somewhat extended" hours.

'Can't wait to get in there'

Already signed up as a fractional owner is Champaign attorney Mike Antoline, who has worked with wood since junior high school.

"You name it, if it can be made out of wood, I will build it – everything from furniture to art pieces to birdhouses," he said. "If it can be built of wood, I'll give it a swing."

Antoline said he's known Coleman for nearly a decade and credits him as "pretty creative."

"The concept of The DreamShop came to Dennis' mind, and it struck me as a great idea whose time has come, for people who live in an urban environment and want to be involved in woodworking," Antoline said.

"Dennis' intention is to have the finest woodworking tools available, with no compromises here – a woodworker's dream come true," Antoline said. "I can't wait to get in there and get my hands on the tools."

Mark Jannusch will be manager of The DreamShop. For Jannusch, who has been self-employed in home construction and remodeling, "the chance to do straight woodworking was appealing."

Among the items he's built are a corner TV hutch for his parents and some cherry blanket chests.

Jannusch said he plans to offer more than two dozen domestic woods, including birch, cherry, cypress, hickory, maple, poplar, red oak, walnut and sassafras.

He also expects to handle 30 exotic hardwoods including bloodwood, ebony, koa, mahogany, rosewood and teak. Most will be in stock or available within days, he said.

Managing CU Woodshop Supply will be Jon Morrison, who spent 30 years in home construction and design and 12 years teaching construction technology at Parkland College.

Morrison has degrees in industrial design from Iowa and Illinois, and he hopes his interest in and knowledge of tools will help meet customers' needs.

He's also excited about getting into the new workshop.

"Having my hands on the newest things is always appealing," he said. "I've had a number of furniture design projects put on the shelf because I'm always doing work for someone else."

High on the list: making furniture he has promised to his wife, Ann, who will be helping out on the retail side. Sheryl DeBarr will be a buyer for the store.

Coleman notes times are tough, and even tool manufacturers are having problems. But he hopes if The DreamShop gets its start in lean times, it can prosper when times get better.

"Maybe it's foolish, but we hope not," he said. "The bottom line is, this is filling a need in the area."

Plus, "the more woodworkers there are, the better it is for all of us," he said.

How the wood shop would work

Dual venture: The DreamShop, a deluxe "membership" workshop for people who enjoy woodworking; and CU Woodshop Supply, a retail store open to the general public.

Location: 1401 Parkland Court, C, just northwest of the intersection of Bradley and Mattis avenues.

Opening: Store is expected to open around Oct. 1.

How it will operate:

-- Becoming a fractional owner in the company requires a $10,000 investment. That gives the stockholder a 1/500th share in the company and the right to use The DreamShop.

-- Those using The DreamShop will be asked to contribute time (probably 30 to 40 hours a year) to help maintain the workshop.

-- They'll also pay an annual maintenance fee (on the order of $1,000 a year) though they can contribute additional time to cover up to half the fee.

What owners get:

-- Access to the DreamShop and owners' lounge whenever a manager or supervisor is on duty.

-- Use of more than $150,000 worth of tools and accessories, as well as a library and computer facilities.

-- Discounts on purchases from CU Woodshop Supply and priority sign-up for classes and special events.

-- The opportunity to interact and receive help from other woodworkers.