BATHURST, N.B. — ThermalWood Canada is looking to expand after reaching its first North American distribution deal earlier this month. The agreement gives ThermalWood access to the Weston Forest network in Ontario. “They have access to 300 hardware stores and 14 people on the road,” ThermalWood co-owner Bob Lennon told Halifax’s Chronicle Herald. ThermalWood’s heat treatment process uses a giant oven to, in effect, petrify wood, which the company says makes the finished product more durable without chemical preservatives.
With business booming since ThermalWood was permitted reopen after a three-month closure, the company is now planning to buy a second oven in order to double its output within three years. ThermalWood, which counts seven employees, is currently expanding its relationship with Fender Musical Instruments. The California firm already buys necks for its electric guitars from ThermalWood and is now eyeing the latter’s GemWood brand, a strip of maple treated with resins to give it the appearance of ebony at about half the cost.
