Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 37 J U N E 1 , 2 0 1 5 they're getting a nice piece of furnish- ing in their bars and restaurants," says Mikuzis, who trained as an electrical engineer. "People really value the fact that there is a history behind the mate- rials, that they might have something in their home or store that's from a 120-year-old barn in Cape Elizabeth." e business — which is about 10% residential and 90% commercial—has grown mostly by word-of-mouth ever since. ey now have a staff of eight, have tripled the size of their space and recently bought their own building. ough they won't disclose revenues, they say they have been steadily grow- ing at about 15% per year. eir work caught the eye of John Soule, retail store visual mer- chandising designer for L.L.Bean. Soule tapped Artas to build shelves, counters and display cases for some of the most highly-traffi cked areas of the company's fl agship store in Freeport as well as in some stores outside of Maine. At the Freeport store, Artas' work includes chairs, various shoe and cloth- ing racks, directional signs, displays that showcase L.L.Bean's original pair of hunting shoes and furniture made from reclaimed barn board in the 1912 Cafe and Coff ee by Design. "Artas delivers a high quality product using honest and simple materials," says Soule. " eir work demonstrates integrity, great design sense, resourceful- ness and a clear focus on being a good business partner. We love to work with Maine companies when we are able. And we love even more when they share our environmentally friendly ideals. Using a local company aff ords the ben- efi t of collaborating face to face, and our store design is better for it." e more exposure Artas got, the more referrals fl owed in. anks to word of mouth, they haven't had to invest in time- consuming marketing that would have taken them away from making furniture. eBill is a simple solution to your business needs. You can store all of your electricity billing and payment information in one place for easy access. • View your electricity bills as soon as they're available • File your bills online so you can easily find them • Download and print copies of your CMP statements • Set up secure automatic payments for convenience Enroll today at cmpco.com! Stay organized with CMP's eBill "We use eBill because it's more convenient. We can store and organize our bills online, which makes finding past bills quick and easy. And now, we can put the trees we're saving to better use: making some of the finest guitars in the world." — John Karp, Owner Bourgeois Guitars, Lewiston P H O T O / PAT R I C K M C N A M A R A C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » Artas has built furniture for a range of restaurants and retailers, from L.L.Bean to Coffee By Design to Luke's Lobster. Pictured here are barstools from Cornerstone Pizza in Ogunquit.

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