Black Buggy Furniture offers custom-made Amish furniture and home decor

Tucked away in the countryside of Rainier is Black Buggy Furniture. With a billboard on Highway 30 being its main form of advertisement, Black Buggy Furniture is a collection of handmade Amish furniture stretching across a 2,400 square-foot showroom. Having been on the same property for the last 64 years, the store was opened 19 years ago by Reo McBride, father of current owner Andy McBride. A Portland native, Reo spent time as a missionary during Andy’s youth before working for Reynolds Aluminum for many years.

One could say the story of how Black Buggy Furniture started was divinely guided and it all began when his father added power lines to the Rainier property. “He had put another string of power lines in here and Dad took the money from that and built this building,” said Andy. “Then he told the Lord, ‘If there's any way I could make a living working with my wife out of this building, that'd be awesome.’ I had some aunts and uncles that moved back to Ohio, and my uncle would drive a van and take the Amish around. Dad was on vacation and went back to visit and somehow met one of the Amish craftsmen back there that made furniture and he's like, ‘Hey, you should open a store out there,’ and so they started talking and that's how the whole dream came to be.”

Reminiscing on how the business started in February of 2006, Andy said of his father, “He went to Ohio and met different craftsmen, and then he ordered their product to put inventory in the store. They didn't have a whole lot to begin with. I'm not even sure where he came up with all the money to get that. He must have had some savings somewhere and put it all into that basket and brought the furniture in.”

Reo expanded connections with furniture makers to increase inventory selection and Andy pitched in where he could to help. “I worked for him when he first started,” Andy said. “I worked Saturdays as a salesman even though I had a full-time job for the first six or seven years.”

After experiencing unexpected career changes, Andy came to work at the showroom full-time to help as the business grew. “We've met more craftsmen and have been able to get pickier about who we use so we don't buy from everybody,” he said. “The advancement in what the Amish come up with, they are always coming up with new stuff, and some of those craftsmen have really unique designs.”

What started as primarily mission Shaker style has branched into a variety of styles while still keeping that classic look. “You name a style, we can probably find somebody that makes it,” said Andy. “If not, I can get stuff custom done. It’s all American hardwood made by American craftsmen and it's high quality fabrics. Everything’s custom done. You can choose your wood [and] your stain. We’ve got probably 12 different woods with 30 different stains to choose from.”

Visitors often find their way to the business thanks to the Highway 30 billboard. “Most of the time it's people who will drive by our billboard and we hear that story every day,” said Andy. “Somebody comes in [and says], 'I've been driving by that sign for years, and finally today I had time,’ but it's really hard to get people out here. That's probably the difficult thing. Most people don't really know, and if you don't come here, it's hard to figure it out."

The showroom is full of dining and bedroom sets, end tables, pantries, hutches, chairs, couches, bookcases, desks, and home decor. Some items have a modern twist with integrated charging stations for electronic devices or hidden compartments.

In addition to on-hand inventory, shoppers who want something specific can also custom order. “You can come in here and buy a set or we can work with you and we’ll work with the furniture makers,” said Andy. “I had somebody order a storage bed, and he wanted a biometric lock on it. I was like, ‘I'm pretty sure we can do that,’ so the guy picked one out, I ordered it, had it shipped to [the furniture maker], and he put it in for him. It was kind of cool. That's how custom we can do.”

When Andy and his wife took over the business after Reo passed five years ago, they added handmade leather belts and Amish-made, engraved signs and walking sticks. Visitors can also find a section of Amish imported food items such as homemade pasta in flavors like pesto, lemon pepper, garlic and parsley, as well as canned pickled items, jams, Amish popcorn, and cookbooks.

Black Buggy Furniture currently works with over 200 craftsmen to ensure they can provide anything for which someone is looking. The showroom also features a touchscreen digital console to custom order anything one wants for indoor or outdoor from traditional furniture down to medicine cabinets and clothing drying racks.

Black Buggy Furniture is located at 74447 Larson Rd. in Rainier and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more info, call 503-556-2675 or visit blackbuggyfurniture.com.