Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 2 6 M A D E I N M A I N E F O C U S Premium manufacturers say their values also hold people-focused, customer-facing attitudes within their values. "We care about our end consumer and we want them to be successful," says Drake. "We like to say garden- ing is a very emotional experience, and unfortunately for a lot of peo- ple, it [evokes] a negative emotion. "But by giving them better soil that puts them in a better position for their products, for their plants and produce and so forth to grow, they're successful," he adds, "and that's what makes us successful." Instrumental change While premium manufacturers can boast big-name customers and repu- tations for exceptional quality, achiev- ing and maintaining this success isn't without effort. At Bourgeois Guitars in Lewis- ton, the most sustainable path for- ward was to work with a large dis- tributor to expand into the interme- diate-quality realm. Co-founder and master luthier Dana Bourgeois started the company in the mid-1990s and has attracted big-name clients such as Vince Gill, Doc Watson and Luke Bryan. But with the high-end guitar mar- ket slumping in the U.S. while grow- ing internationally, the company, now headed by CEO Christopher Flem- ing, sold its majority share to multina- tional corporation Eastman Music Co. The high-end guitars start at around $5,000 and go up to $30,000 on the luthier's regular price list, but "the sky's the limit" on custom orders, Bourgeois says, noting that the com- pany has built $90,000 guitars. e luthier will continue to man- ufacture hundreds of high-end gui- tars in Lewiston each year, but now also produces thousands of interme- diate-quality instruments to be dis- tributed across the globe. e premium, Maine-produced instruments continue to drive the majority of Bourgeois' business. But within a year of its launch, the inter- mediate quality line accounts for one- third of overall sales. And for the foreseeable future, Bourgeois sees the co-produced line as "the real growth opportunity" for the business. Buyers in the U.S. high-end gui- tar market are largely an aging demo- graphic no longer shopping for new guitars, he says. "Not to say that the [high-end] market is dead," Bourgeois says, "but the growth potential won't be there until the intermediate players sort of mature. We're in a generational gap at the moment." at shift also means extra legwork to introduce the Bourgeois name to a new clientele. "We've been in the boutique mar- ket for 35 years, and higher-end deal- ers, they know us," Bourgeois says. "Our customers know us. And you sort of get lulled to sleep [thinking] that your customers know everything there is to know and you don't have to do much educating. Made in Maine Proud to be Premium folding carton manufacturing. Augusta, Maine. jsmccarthy.com MAINE BUSINESSES USE A LOT OF MAPLE SYRUP. From the restaurant kitchen to the retail shelf, Hilltop Boilers supplies Pure Maine Maple Syrup and maple products to businesses throughout Maine. Whether you're pouring it over pancakes, baking it into something delicious, creating a signature sauce or adding it to your own product, start with quality Maine Maple Syrup. • Wholesale pricing • Restaurant delivery • Custom bottles Hilltop Boilers | Newfield, Maine 207-793-8850 • HilltopBoilers.com WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED. Pure Maine Maple Syrup. Made for Maine Business. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PAG E » P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Beth Greenlaw, president and CEO, and Sokunthy Yean, vice president of operations, in the sewing room at Sea Bags.

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