A Maryland-based clay supplier is moving into the local market. Photo by Michael Thompson.
Kilns and pottery wheels in tow, a Maryland-based clay company has expanded into Richmond with its eye on the local arts scene.
Clayworks Supplies opened a new 4,200-square-foot retail store and warehouse at 2277 Dabney Road last month. The company has a six-year lease on what is the clay company’s first entry into the Richmond market, owner Sam Austell said.
Clayworks Supplies sells and distributes pottery clay, the materials for making clay and glazes, kilns, pottery wheels and small hand tools.
“We had customers in Richmond, and it was underserved,” Austell said. “Our primary market is artists, potters, amateurs and professionals, as well as schools.”
Sam Austell
Austell said VCU’s art program, the Visual Arts Center in the Fan, as well as other schools and community arts programs, played a factor in the company coming to Richmond.
Clayworks is headquartered at a 5,000-square-foot facility in Baltimore and opened a 1,700-square-foot retail store in Alexandria last year.
“About half the business is in clay,” Austell said, adding that a 25-pound bag of Clayworks clay can sell for as little as $16. “This is a material people use and consume, and people need more of it.”
Austell has a master’s degree in finance from Loyola University in Baltimore and has made handmade pottery for 20 years. In 1995, he got a job with Clayworks and bought the business in 1997. The company was founded in 1983.
“I bring a business presence and a background in what our customers do,” Austell said. “I can walk the walk and talk the talk, so to speak.”
Austell wouldn’t discuss the financials of his 10-person company’s expansion to Richmond. Clayworks has one part-time and one full-time employee in Richmond.
A Maryland-based clay supplier is moving into the local market. Photo by Michael Thompson.
Kilns and pottery wheels in tow, a Maryland-based clay company has expanded into Richmond with its eye on the local arts scene.
Clayworks Supplies opened a new 4,200-square-foot retail store and warehouse at 2277 Dabney Road last month. The company has a six-year lease on what is the clay company’s first entry into the Richmond market, owner Sam Austell said.
Clayworks Supplies sells and distributes pottery clay, the materials for making clay and glazes, kilns, pottery wheels and small hand tools.
“We had customers in Richmond, and it was underserved,” Austell said. “Our primary market is artists, potters, amateurs and professionals, as well as schools.”
Sam Austell
Austell said VCU’s art program, the Visual Arts Center in the Fan, as well as other schools and community arts programs, played a factor in the company coming to Richmond.
Clayworks is headquartered at a 5,000-square-foot facility in Baltimore and opened a 1,700-square-foot retail store in Alexandria last year.
“About half the business is in clay,” Austell said, adding that a 25-pound bag of Clayworks clay can sell for as little as $16. “This is a material people use and consume, and people need more of it.”
Austell has a master’s degree in finance from Loyola University in Baltimore and has made handmade pottery for 20 years. In 1995, he got a job with Clayworks and bought the business in 1997. The company was founded in 1983.
“I bring a business presence and a background in what our customers do,” Austell said. “I can walk the walk and talk the talk, so to speak.”
Austell wouldn’t discuss the financials of his 10-person company’s expansion to Richmond. Clayworks has one part-time and one full-time employee in Richmond.