by Name change reflects a broad mix of styles and wood species in its solid wood line
SUGARCREEK, Ohio — As part of an effort to showcase its evolving styles and use of additional wood species, U.S. case goods manufacturer Urban Barnwood Furniture is rebranding itself as Arista Wood.
While the company has been talking about the rebrand since 2024 and has hinted at the new name with signage in its showroom this past fall, the relaunch officially takes place next month. At that point, the product will have new labeling, and there will be a new website and new catalog reflecting the new name, which is taken from the Greek word Arista, used to describe something of the highest quality and that has lasting value.
Company President Wayne Yoder said that with the rebrand, nothing changes in terms of how the company does business or the categories it offers such as bedroom, dining and occasional.
What’s different is that its use of red and white oak salvaged from the rafters of old barns has been expanded to other species such as brown maple, wormy maple, hickory and walnut, not to mention red and white oak not procured from barns.
The update also aims to change customer perceptions that the company only sells what might be perceived in the marketplace as rustic forms. Instead, its looks have shifted toward more clean and modern lines targeting a wider mix of consumers young and older alike.
The company dates back to 2000 when it was known as Walnut Creek Log Furniture. As the name implies, it built bedroom and dining furniture made with logs for log homes as well as log railings for those same homes.
It changed its name to Urban Barnwood Furniture about 10 years ago, a move that reflected the popularity of reclaimed or repurposed wood in furniture.
“When we started with that barn wood trend, it was absolutely on fire,” Yoder said. “We kind of immaturely named ourselves Urban Barnwood because in our minds back then, urban barn wood was our theme and what we were going to do.”
As Yoder explained, many of the barns where it has sourced much of its wood are located in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Pennsylvania, to name several key states, and date back well over 100 years.
“Most of these old barns were built anywhere from the early to the late 1800s,” he said. “And back then, when they harvested trees, they didn’t harvest them like they do now. They harvested only the big mature trees that were 100 to 200 years old. … So that gives you an idea of how old this wood really is.”
But as it began selling to larger retailers, the company found that they wanted to buy furniture with a more diverse mix of wood species.
So before the pandemic, it began to expand its mix, finding success beyond the barn wood theme as retailers began asking it to build furniture with maple or regular white oak, for example.
“When you go into a big modern store and say you are Urban Barnwood, it immediately sends up a red flag,” he said. “They say ‘We don’t sell barn wood.’ So then you have to explain the whole process and how we are offering really modern styles.”
Today, Yoder said, barn wood still represents a healthy 60%-70% of sales. However, he added that it has been declining each year.
“The barn wood trend overall is still strong, but it’s not growing like it used to be,” Yoder said.
So the new name not only reflects its use of more diverse species in its line, but also its increasing use of designers to develop collections.
“We are basically rebranding to a name where we can do anything wood related that we want under it,” he added, noting that customers will be able to receive an even more diverse style offering moving forward. “We are still going to have the barn wood as usual, but it’s just going to be under our new name — Arista Wood. Nothing is going to change in the way we do business or what we are offering. It’s just not specific to a certain species anymore.”
He added that the company is having success with its licensed Field & Stream wood furniture line launched in October.
“We had a lot of interest in it,” Yoder said. “It has just started to hit floors from the October market, and we are excited about it, especially with the rebrand.”
The only difference now is that it will be marketed under the Arista Wood name versus Urban Barnwood.
“We are just waiting for the rebrand to really begin pushing it,” Yoder said, noting that the licensing partners wanted to wait until the rebrand officially takes effect to begin marketing it themselves. “We are just in limbo with the marketing push with that until we get this rebrand settled.”
