One in 8700 2/25/10

Mike Rainville, founder and owner of Maple Landmark Woodcraft, cannot remember a time when woodworking was not a part of his life.
“When I was very young, both my grandfathers did carpentry work,” said Rainville. “There were wood scraps and sawdust and saws and tools and things around and I just kind of slowly picked up on that kind of stuff.”

By the time Rainville was in middle school, he was selling his own handiwork at flea markets near his home in Lincoln, Vt., and at his parents’ general store. When he was  just 15, Rainville caught the attention of a travelling salesman in the area, who sold the crafts elsewhere along his route. Finally, after college, Rainville built a bigger shop and was able to get into the woodworking business full-time.

Presiding over Maple Landmark Woodcraft’s factory is very much what Rainville always wished for.

“I’m a manufacturer,” said Rainville. “I want to make volumes of things; I want to make batches of things. I remember I used to make a dozen cribbage boards and dream of the opportunity to make a gross of them.”

Maple Landmark Woodcraft specializes in wooden toys, including building blocks, game boards and the best-selling NameTrains. When the company got started in the ’70s, the wooden toy market was thriving, but since then it has declined with the rise of the digital age. These days, kids play more with electronics, and most other wooden toy companies have been bought out or overwhelmed by competition with foreign importers, according to Rainville.

How is Maple Landmark Woodcraft staying afloat?

“We just work harder than anyone else.”

Rainville and his crew, which includes several family members and three generations of Rainvilles, are committed to the company and its products.

“Every kid has or should have some building blocks,” said Rainville.
But that commitment comes with a price. Rainville admitted he regularly stays at the factory until 9:30 p.m.

“It’s what we love to do,” he explained. “We’re not looking to retire at 50.”

Even though the market is changing, there is still some interest in wooden toys. In 2007, Rainville remembers, the company enjoyed a significant sales spike when questions arose over the safety of products imported from China and people began to consider the quality of the toys they purchased.

Maple Landmark Woodcraft’s products are exclusively American-made, a feature that makes them more appealing both to customers suspicious of the quality of imported toys and those concerned about the economic liabilities of outsourcing. The company displays its “Made in Vermont” seal with pride, said Rainville.

Maple Landmark Woodcraft’s toys have garnered a host of awards, including Creative Child Magazine’s 2009 Toy of the Year and a spot on Dr. Toy’s 2009 Best Green Products list. These recognitions help draw buyers looking for better quality toys, Rainville noted.
As long as there is even the slightest demand for wooden toys, Rainville and his cohorts at Maple Landmark Woodcraft will continue to churn out ABC blocks and puzzle-piece train tracks.