Tim Harty, The Business Times 

What Hazen Hackett thought would be a temporary rental of space to accommodate one project turned into a permanent move to accommodate his growing business.

That’s why Legacy Furniture now resides at 579 1/2 Commercial Drive after about a year-and-a-half at 1048 Independent Ave., Unit A-106, in Independence Plaza.

The move started with the need this spring for more space after receiving an order to make what he called a “huge” conference table for a business. In fact, the table had to be made in five pieces.

“It was too big to build in the other shop, so we had to rent this space at least to build it out,” said Hackett, who co-owns Legacy Furniture with his fiancee, Sheela Moore. “And we stayed.”

A move was going to come eventually, as Legacy Furniture went from being just Hackett and Moore to adding three employees. And it’s a family affair, as Hackett added his dad, Howard Hackett, and uncle Stanley Hackett as full-time help, while brother-in-law Mike Haley is part-time, working for Legacy Furniture when he’s not operating his Bonfire Oyster Co. food truck.

Hazen Hackett said after signing three contracts on June 12 he might need another hand.

He definitely has the room now, as 579 1/2 Commercial Drive is about 3,800 square feet total, with a 3,000-square-foot shop area, more than double what he had at Independence Avenue.

“This shop’s just able to be more organized. The other shop was, you know, everybody’s tripping over everybody’s feet. It wasn’t very efficient,” Hackett said.

The new space has a smaller showroom, but the tradeoff is worth it for “getting the work out the door,” he said.

Commercial projects are driving the growth, and it began with the five-piece conference table. Now, Legacy Furniture, which specializes in flat, wood surfaces such as custom table tops, is working on a 14-foot-long table for a new steakhouse in Denver.

“More businesses are coming to us,” Hackett said. “We still do plenty of residential, but we’ve moved totally away from doing cutting boards and coasters. We don’t have time to do any of that small stuff anymore, which is really nice.”

For example, Hackett said making four cutting boards requires the same amount of time as making one table. Those cutting boards sell for about $300 apiece. The table will sell for about $4,000 to $8,000. The math makes for an easy business decision.

Experience also has made him more savvy in sourcing materials and efficient in running the business.

“Just the longer we’re in business, we find better wood suppliers, and other struggles become less hard,” Hackett said. “Because it used to be on every order I’d go into panic mode. You know, who has walnut today? And that’s still relevant, but not as. Certain parts are getting easier.”

The business also can take on more difficult projects now than Hackett could’ve done a year ago.

“Like that conference table,” he said, “I would have told them no, that we weren’t ready. Now, I’m not afraid.”

Legacy also is continuously busy, as Hackett said he’s booked out a couple months.

He said customers will sign a contract that’s 20 weeks out, “and we’ll try to get it to them in eight to 10. We have quite a cushion to work, which feels good.”