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October 09, 2008 09:17 AM UTC

Jake Jabs, the New Face of Amendment 47

  • 110 Comments
  • by: Precinct854

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

I was very surprised on Tuesday when I saw the first ad by local furniture mogul Jake Jabs. My first thought was, “Well jeeze, I’m glad I never bought anything there.”  My second was to wonder if this was an independent effort or some idiosyncratic choice by the backers of the anti-union amendment.

Wonder no more.  The Rocky Mountain News reports that besides the two official proponents of the measure, business labor Julian Jay Cole and Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, meetings about it included State Sen. Ted Harvey (R-Highlands Ranch) and American Furniture Warehouse executive Andrew Zuppa.  The money is indeed coming from Jonathan Coors/Coorstek, but Jake Jabs is the other major player.

I’m not sure if this helps or hurts Jake Jabs’ business. I know I was unlikely to shop there before so turning off people like me who don’t like particle board furniture is no loss for him. According to the the Denver Business Journal reporting on the press confrence held on Tuesday Jabs said he’s not afraid of a boycott. Though he called it because of the huge number of calls he got.

But does it help the amendment? How positive a view do people have of Jake Jabs? And how could he not know that putting his well known mug on the ads would result in calls to the business that he’s intimately associated with?

And is it just him, or will Dealing Doug be out with ads next?

Edited: ColoraodPols user Aristotle said in comments he remembered Jake Jabs trying for the Republican nomination for Senate in 1990 or 1988. This Chuck Green column from 2001 doesn’t give specifics, but it agrees that Jake Jabs was putting out his name until it was discovered he was not registered to vote. And then temporarily pulled advertising from the Post in retaliation for reporting on the fact. One of many times he’s tried to strong arm the local media over unfavorable stories about him.

Does Jabs Help 47?

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110 thoughts on “Jake Jabs, the New Face of Amendment 47”

  1. Jabs once threw his hat in the ring for the GOP’s Senate primary way back in 1988 or 1990, but his hopes were quickly dashed because he wasn’t even registered to vote and had not been since coming to Colorado…

    1. Jabs is a Colorado success story having started with an SBA loan.  Jabs is good on TV as he has kind of an every guy persona.  

      It will be both ironic and funny if after the big deal between business and labor 47 passes anyway.

      Jabs has had his ups and downs. After the merger the Denver Newspaper Agency raised his ad rates dramatically. Jabs sued for antitrust violations and lost I believe.

      1. Jake is a man of the people.

        I always review his products when thinking of a purchase. Its a great place to shop or browse as you size up that next home furnishing need.

        Unlike those Colorado Concern goons who payed off labor unions and the governor, Jake is a real American who owns and operates his business.

         

        1. With all the employment lawsuits against him, he’s not a man of his employees.  

          Disclosure:  unlike Libertab, I can admit I work for one of the organizations related to this amendment.

          1. Every time I am at AFW the workers all seem very happy. Likely that is because the hard working ones stay and are compensated appropriately.

            I do blog on this subject a lot because I believe in it.

            Perchance did you see the Post Editorial today …

            Amendment 47 bad for business-labor relations

            Workers shouldn’t be forced to pay union dues – but right now, healing Colorado’s business-labor rift is the larger issue.

            I say, forget these corrupt inside dealing bosses.

            The toxic brinksmanship surrounding Amendment 47, the so-called right to work measure, is distasteful and regrettable.

            Philosophically, we agree with Amendment 47 and empathize with workers who are forced to pay union dues against their wishes.

            Post agrees with Right-to-Work (hear that Bob!)

            They reached a deal that, while not perfect, eliminated four disastrous labor-backed initiatives from this fall’s ballot. We respect the compromise, and thus oppose right to work at this time.

            We support negotiating with the new economic terrorists, Union Bosses.

            The solution was for key Colorado business interests to agree to a deal with union representatives to pay $3 million to fight Amendments 47, 49 and 54 in exchange for the union’s dropping from the ballot the anti- business Amendments 53, 55, 56 and 57.

            Pay-off asked for by Union Bosses, afforded by Corporate Bosses

            Note: Using the initiative system in a way that reminds reasonable observers of extortion is shameful, and voters and workers across the state ought to remember such behavior going forward.

            Union Bosses, Farber, Hamill, Ritchie, Imhoff, Blake, Kortz,  Clark, EchoStar, Xcel Energy, HealthONE, GE Johnson Construction, Wells Fargo and Qwest Communications, Ritter, Salazar, Hickenlooper, Perlmutter, Udall, and that diaper wearing piss smelling Bill Coors.

            Gov. Bill Ritter started this fight when he signed an executive order on a Friday afternoon last fall granting collective bargaining rights to state workers.

            But this year he also promised to veto any changes to the existing Labor Peace Act, which had been responsible for the generally positive working relationship between business and labor that existed for decades prior to the current debacle.

            You are fools, he and labor unions will kick your butts on many other issues. You are too stupid to be in business in the 1st place.

            Because we have decided to take the governor at his word on this pledge, we feel it is unnecessary to support Amendment 47 this year.

            Not to worry Frazier, Coors, Jabs, etc.. will be remembered as the people who addressed this because it sure looks like the Post will come out swinging next time.

              1. Not everyone can afford thousands of dollars for top end elitist products.

                And contrary to robotic democrat thought many people choose not to spend thousands of dollars in premiums for Volvo’s, Starbucks, and tuition at Brown.

                No waddle off to Cherry Creek North with your credit card.

              2. “seeming happy” is part of the job description.

                I used to work a cash register, and the worst part was the constant psychological prodding. “Always smile at the customer.” Yeah, for minimum wage, once in a while I get to not smile.

                1. The idea that you can compel someone to join a union is un-American

                  So your minimum wage job motivated you to go get a public education and hire on as a liberal blogger, right sxp151?

                  1. paid some bills while I went to college.

                    As for being paid to be a liberal blogger…

                    1) I’m just a commenter.

                    2) If I could get paid to blog liberally, I’d do it in a second. All this teaching math is kind of “work,” while posting comments is “fun.”

                    Unfortunately, there’s no money in being a liberal blogger. It turns out (who’d ever guess?) that the only money comes from doing what rich people want you to do. That’s the problem with poor people: they don’t have no money to pay you.

                    By the way, Libertad, do they pay you only for unique posts, or can you get paid for repeating the same exact post over and over in different threads? Just wondering.

                    1. That does bring up a good question.  Should the trolls organize for better pay and working conditions, healthcare including preexisting conditions such as repetative stress syndrom?

                    1. So in your words if “nobody is forced to join a union” why do you care when all this amendment does is put that in Colorado law?

                      ps … How are the workers at Sage Hospitality, Oakwood Homes, Ritchie’s maids, Farber’s lawn mowing service treated? Just how do your new partners treat their workers?

                      Hey Udall mentor Tom Clark, do your peers in other states know you were key to making this pay-off happen and opposing A-47?

                  3. Federal law already prohibits mandatory union membership. Union shops are no different than any other form of representative democracy. Non-members are sometimes required to pay “fair share” or agency fees for services provided based the principle of majority rule. Consider these questions, Why do people still have to pay taxes with we disagree with our elected officials?  Why do those officials get to make decisions for all of us? Why are so many people required to pay homeowner association fees?  Why do people who claim to believe in due process of law, checks and balances and equal justice abandon those beliefs with it comes to democracy in the workplace?  Why it so difficult to form and a join a union in this state?  And finally, why do most newspapers in this country and you for that matter support the golden rule of American politics – He who has the most gold makes the rules?  Vote no on 47, 49 and 54.

              1. Say Bob, did ya hear that the Northern Colorado Legislative Alliance (NCLA) reaffirmed their support for YES on 47?

                p.s 47 will be tight, but ya gotta trust the sensibility of the Colorado voter and well 54 is about Clean Government. How can you oppose clean government … well if you negotiate with, pay-off and become the mouthpiece for terrorists its not a big leap to that concept.

                1. He quotes almost our entire editorial opposing 47. Glad to see your coming around to denouncing the Right to Mooch, lad!

                    No wonder the business community has closed ranks against anti-business 47-54  

                  1. Ewegen is a putz because the Posts most tell statement is….

                    The toxic brinksmanship surrounding Amendment 47, the so-called right to work measure, is distasteful and regrettable.

                    Philosophically, we agree with Amendment 47 and empathize with workers who are forced to pay union dues against their wishes.

                    The POST agrees that forced unionism and forced union dues have no place in Colorado.

                    The Unions are acting with anti-worker intent. Yet the Post gives these Union Bosses a free pass to continue worker abuse while calling their efforts toxic?

                    1. too radical for Colorado.

                      Now, go walk Jonathan’s dog, Libertine. If you love the Poist editorial so much you plagiarize almost every paragraph, it means you have to agree with it.

                      No on 47 and 54, anti-business, anti-labor.

                    2. you are against basic human rights.

                      you are a sad old pathetic man.

                      You are anti-worker rights.

          1. Maybe then Colorado’s economy could generate more jobs, payroll and taxes to fund public services and economic viability for all Coloradans.

            But we only have Right to Work for government employees, its working too, Government sector growth in Colorado has outstripped nearly all others.

            Just ask Tom Clark, he is U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall’s mentor, he is in charge of the Denver Chamber/Denver EDC in Denver. But Clark is against Right to Work.  

      2. Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:

        SECTION 1. Article XVIII of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:

        Section 16. Right to work.

        (1) THIS AMENDMENT SHALL BE KNOWN AND MAY BE CITED AS THE “COLORADO RIGHT TO WORK AMENDMENT”.

        (2)(a) NO PERSON SHALL, AS A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT, BE REQUIRED TO:

        (I) BE A MEMBER OF A LABOR UNION; AND

        (II) PAY ANY DUES, FEES, ASSESSMENTS, OR OTHER CHARGES OF ANY KIND TO A LABOR UNION OR TO ANY CHARITY OR OTHER THIRD PARTY, IN LIEU OF SUCH PAYMENTS.

        (2)(b) NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL PREVENT ANY PERSON FROM VOLUNTARILY BELONGING OR VOLUNTARILY PROVIDING FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO A LABOR UNION.



        (3) ANY PERSON WHO DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY VIOLATES ANY PROVISION OF THIS SECTION COMMITS A MISDEMEANOR AND UPON CONVICTION THEREOF SHALL BE PUNISHED BY A FINE IN AN AMOUNT EQUIVALENT TO THE MOST STRINGENT MISDEMEANOR CLASSIFICATION PROVIDED BY LAW.

        (4) THIS SECTION SHALL APPLY TO ALL UNION EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS ENTERED INTO AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS SECTION AND SHALL APPLY TO ANY RENEWAL OR EXTENSION OF ANY EXISTING UNION CONTRACT.

        (5) AS USED IN THIS SECTION, “LABOR UNION” MEANS ANY ORGANIZATION OF ANY KIND, OR AGENCY OR EMPLOYEE REPRESENTATION COMMITTEE OR ORGANIZATION, THAT EXISTS FOR THE PURPOSE, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, OF DEALING WITH EMPLOYERS CONCERNING WAGES, RATES OF PAY, HOURS OF WORK, OTHER CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT, OR OTHER FORMS OF COMPENSATION; ANY ORGANIZATION THAT EXISTS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING OR OF DEALING WITH EMPLOYERS CONCERNING GRIEVANCES; AND ANY ORGANIZATION PROVIDING OTHER MUTUAL AID OR PROTECTION IN CONNECTION WITH EMPLOYMENT.

        SECTION 2. Effective date. This amendment shall take effect upon proclamation of the vote by the governor.

  2. Stories on his appearances have drawn lots of negative comments at D. Post and RMN.  The guy is really sleazy.  I cannot see how this helps the cause of 47.

    Jabs also gave money to the groups promoting 47, I think primarily for the petition gathering.  Was not much though.  Maybe 20k?

    Recent D. Post polls show 47 losing by 20 points.  With all the labor and business money, and a blue turning state, I think 47 is doomed, Jabs or no Jabs.

    2. I am not disagreeing. An earlier post said that he had multiple employee lawsuits. You say he is sleazy.  

      What is the basis of those claims about Jake Jabs?

  3. before seeing those commercials.

    The ads are terrible. His head bobs around all over the place, like Rush Limbaugh making fun of Michael J. Fox.

    And he talks in that Bush style of explaining something to a child (because that’s how it was explained to him).

    I know American Furniture Warehouse from all the ads, and had nothing against it before, but I’ll be sure to never go there once I actually need furniture.

    1. but there’s not much to work with to begin with. The amendment is toxic and their backers are extremists; Coors, Caldara, Harvey, Frazier and Jabs… speaking of which was does Sweatshop Schaffer stand on this issue?

      VOTE NO ON 47, 49, & 54!

      1. Union Bosses – Political Bosses – Corporate Bosses support:

        Forced Dues – Corruption – Denver Chamber – Insider Deals – Harassment – Politics – Sole Source Contracts – Discrimination – Card Check

        On top of this Colorado’s government workers have the Right-to-Work thanks to Bill Ritter, yet he opposes these same rights for the rest of Colorado?

        These things are un-American, YES on 47 and 54 for competition and freedom.

              1. the Democrats failure to regulate Wall Street will be the downfall of Democrat political control?

                My point is … in Colorado labor union bosses and their acerbic actions will be the downfall of Democrats.

                1. Wall St. has been under the executive control of the Repubs since 1981, except between 1993 to 2001. Please try to improve your fact checking, you will lose credibility around here if you continue to use mistruths.

                  In other words, regulatory control has not been exercised for 20 of the 28 years. That is especially important due to the last 7+ years have been without any control.

                    1. You need to do fact checking rather then make stuff up. And, add to your list of issues you need to work on, is pretending and wishing an alternate reality exists now or will in the future.

                      Of your strange subject line(s), no.

                    2. I don’t agree with you that unions will be the downfall of Democrats.  If you want to continue your fact free assertions how about if we counter with David Brooks saying that Sarah clueless Failin is a fatal cancer on the Republican Party.  He used the word FATAL.  Anti-intellectualism is going down this election.

                      The country is going to be in a deep hole for a long time because of the stupidity and greed of the Republican Party and blaming unions for wanting to protect workers is as tinny an argument as your whinny posts.  Get used to getting trounced because Joe Six Pack is finding out that rich Libertines aren’t their friends.  My guess is this time Joe going to vote for his self-interest and not because of some dumb wedge issue like 47.

                    3. controlled Senate/Congress has zero responsibility?

                      Nice try. Blaming Republicans for this mess we are in is simply pointing fingers. They are BOTH equally responsible.

                      It is time our elected officials work together doncha think? But as long as they forever blame the other party, and deny ANY responsibility themselves, we will forever be cursed with these problems.

                    4. Hi Gecko.  A neutralized Senate was worthless during the last 2 years.  The House although Democratic in majority, was bereft of courage to do much either during the last 2 years.  

                      Regulatory agencies are under the Executive.  And, as I stated above, except for 1993-2001, the Executive was always a Repub, which is not damning of itself, but presidents who regarded regulation and government an athema.  Therefore, they rewarded lack of regulation with more non-regulation.

                    5. Bush vetoed everything possible that Congress tried to do and his buddies in the Senate set a record of more filibusters than all the other Congresses combined.  A record number of vetoes and a record number of filibusters and now people like you are saying we should all get along.

                      There is a story about a woman who found an almost frozen snake and it pleaded with her to save it but when she did it bit her.  When she asked why it poisoned her, he said “You knew who I was when you picked me up.”  I think we all know that Republicans can’t be trusted to keep their word or play fair.  It is in their ideological DNA to screw people so I’m thinking about what is good for the country when I say throw the bums under the bus.  Their deregulation borrow borrow borrow policies have failed period.

                      Amendment 47 is another con job by rich Republicans to screw the worker and needs to be voted down.

                    6. As noted on CNBC a few minutes ago.  The Dow Jones Industrial ave. is back to where it was under President Clinton.  

                      Non-regulation has worked so well for the private sector and “free enterprise”.

                    7. 10 vetoes in the last 2 years is a “record.”  Care to provide a link to that?

                      And “more filibusters than all the other Congresses combined.”  Are you kidding?!  You can’t “prove” how many filibuster threats there have been…you can only count cloture votes, and there haven’t been more cloture votes during the 110th Congress than than “all the other Congresses combined.”

                      We agree on the issue but at least argue within the bounds of reality…

                    8. It wasn’t combined.  It was the record for a single Congress.

                      http://www.libertylounge.net/f…

                      My apologies for such inaccurate hyperbole.

                      What I should have stated was that the Republican game plan for the 110th Congress was to obstruct meaningful legislation and then blame Democrats for not getting anything done.  Happy now?

                    9. Republicans had no intention of playing nice and working with Democrats in the 110th.  Their goal was to filibuster, veto and produce gridlock so that they could point to the lack of results when campaigning in 2008.  This whole idea that Republicans put country before party is a total crock but now when they are facing political extinction at the hands of an irate public suddenly they want everyone to get along.  It is a phony ploy to survive based on mercy because the cold reality of the political marketplace is that their brand is going to be recalled because it was defective from it’s Reaganomic inception.

                    10. The name’s Dabee…  🙂

                      But to the point, of course that was the repubs intention.  That’s the goal of every minority in congress basically EVER, but most specifically since 1994.  

                      Dems obstructed plenty of legislation in the Senate and then in the 06 elections ran, in part, on outing the “do-nothing repub congress.”  It’s a valid way of playing politics because it tends to help.

                      Yes, the whole “putting country first” talk is a total crock, but the point of politics and elections is WINNING so you get to set the agenda.  Maybe it should be about making America a better, stronger place, but it’s about winning.  Repubs and Dems both are trying to do what it takes to win.

                      There will always be obstructionists and unless we win 60 seats in the Senate in Nov. some bipartisanship will be necessary.  You HAVE to work together to get anything done in our system.  Waiting until you have a filibuster-proof majority to do anything just doesn’t work.

                    11. I will disagree with you about the balance of blame argument.  Democrats didn’t threaten the nuclear option when Republicans filibustered.  Democrats and Republicans are now faced with stark choices and the need to find common ground is of critical importance.  We can only hope that working together becomes the new norm.

                    12. call a real pro business and pro human rights Democrat.

                      You know who you are, you are the radical Dems say they should purge others from the party who fail to believe fully as they do.

                      Sad, pathetic, corrupt, inside dealers

                    13. they call it projecting.

                      You need to take a long look in the mirror when talking about bitter and hateful people.

        2. Apparently, proper sentence structure and coherent thoughts are to be avoided because they lead to union membership.

           Hey, Shill, just for fun, post that Boulder Daily Comrade editorial again. Then we can commemorate the 100th time you’ve cut and pasted it.

    2. Is that Jabs uses exactly the same tone, cadence and delivery he uses in his furniture ads, which are designed to get people of relatively lower levels of income and education to buy his stuff. Which overwhelmingly comes from China and other Asian manufacturing nations.

      He might have been more effective/less sleazy  if anyone with a professional background in advertising, public relations or other messaging told him, “You’re not selling a five-piece living room set here Jake, you’re affecting peoples’ lives. Take a more serious tone and can the jocular ‘I’m one of you’ crap in your voice.”

      They should have hired Shag Man from the Rocky’s Autos ads. He would have come across as sincere (although he’s probably against “right to work.”)

      1. Maybe because I’ve only lived in Colorado a couple of years, but I’ve never seen his face or heard his voice before, despite knowing the AFW jingle.  

        1. I can barely remember an ad for AFW that did not feature Jake Jabs. Though perhaps that has been changing as of late. I doubt anyone will have been keeping track of his appearance or non-appearance.  

  4. The following is from Pam Bennett for Aurora and crossposted on Square State .  It was published in the  Aurora Sentinel Oct. 9, 2008:

    Over the decades I have lived in Colorado there was one example of determination and success that I proudly talked about.  That story was of Jake Jabs and his furniture stores.  What a story, starting from scratch, building up an empire, losing it all, then starting over to once again be successful.

    What was a  great story has now turned into a failure.  A man who worked hard to build his empire by selling to working men and women has now turned around and he is trying to destroy the very livelihood of working men and women.  The man who used his family to sell his products to working families has now shown himself to be incapable of understanding working families need for living wages and benefits.  A man who had nothing now wants to ensure that working men and women will never have anything.

    This formerly successful man is now the face and voice of the attack on working men, women and their families.  How can someone who has gone through what was a great life now turn his back on those wanting to do the same?  He is shameless in taking peoples money and using it to destroy their working lives.  He is now just someone trying to make Colorado into the minimum wage state, a state without benefits for people working for a living.

    It is beyond me why this man in his declining years is trying to drive working men and women away from his stores. This is hard to understand.  His legacy was set, until now.  Now, his legacy is not one of success for a working man, it is a failure to support and help working men, women and their families.  

    We must stand up and make sure this man and his other supporters do not destroy what has taken years of hard work for men and women to achieve in Colorado. Vote NO on 47 to keep him away from your wages and benefits.  Vote NO on 47 to tell the big national corporations that Colorado working men and women are better than minimum wage servants.  Tell your family, friends and neighbors to VOTE NO on 47 that their livelihood rests on NO on 47.

    Vote NO on Amendment 47, 49 and 54

    1. The whole concept behind 47 and 49 is not to purely kill unions.  It is to make unions unavailable to workers.  Many businesses provide higher wages and better benefits when the possibility of a union exists.  Within companies that are union and non-union the possiblity of the non-union joining the union makes the owners provide better wages and benefits.

      That is the reason Frazier and Jabs want to destroy unions. Not the unions per se, it is the possiblity of workers joining unions.  

      That is why wal-mart is willing to close a store rather then allow a union.  If one store organizes than the other stores can and will too.

      It all comes down to the owners do not want to pay workers and provide benefits.  The old man Mccain health insurance plan is designed to eliminate employer provided healthcare benefits.  Working men and women in all areas, from nursing to teaching, from software engineering to accounting, are disdained by those people.  

      Right now we have to stop them with a No on 47, 49, 54. And, at the same time eliminate them from office by voting in Obama.

        1. … and well there is the focus on new membership growth.

          Sage Hospitality, Hirshfield Press, Dan Ritchie’s house help, Denver Chamber, Brownstien Hyatt Farber, Oakwood Homes, and the hit list just keeps on growing.

    2. If there is an SEIU website I can contribute to to help fund the unionization of Sage Hospitality please advise.

      Regardless of the outcome on 47, Isenberg’s workers especially need to be afforded the opportunity to organize.

      I also want to read in the paper how Sage has hired Julian Cole to assist them with labor matters.

  6. If I were running a campaign and had a choice between messengers for my ad would I choose:

    1. A fire-fighter or

    2. A goofy local CEO

    The Jabs A47 commercials are pretty flacid when compared to the PCF ad’s. There is really no comparison. Coors et al are asking Coloradans to believe a CEO (he is advertised as such in the commercial even!) in times of financial crisis over a firefighter. Good luck with that one guys.  

  8. My fiance and I were planning to sign up for a wedding registry at American – they’re the only place that does one for furniture. No way, no way, no way now.

    1. think he cares? Can you even imagine the amount of money he and his business has?

      I saw his ad last night on tv. He is a man of principles and puts his money where his mouth is.

      Now I am no fan of him, but have purchased two nice recliners from his Colorado Springs store this year myself. And based on just how freakin busy his stores are, most ALL THE TIME, I don’t think he cares if a few union loving liberals boycott him. He will probably get enough business from people who appreciate what he has done to more than offset the minor loss.

      I will go there again anytime I am in the need of furniture. And if his store has what I need, I’ll buy it. If he doesn’t, I’ll go elsewhere.

      1. but only when they’re organized and have a large support base. Individuals deciding not to patronize a particular business for political reasons makes them feel better, but doesn’t do a whole lot.

          1. Grasp this concept … wood glue, some screws and a little thinking

            Can’t work with you hands huh? You’ll have a new awakening as an assistant sausage maker at King Soopers after you lose you current job due to the housing bubblegate.

            3. and mucho other stuff, libertad. A union craftsman can do anything!

               As for futons, I built several from scratch and fixed one I found in my alley.

              Now, you anti-union guys probably just hire illegal aliens to do that kind of work for you.;-)

              Viva los Sindicatos!

              1. Did it for $8k, 24 linear feet of custom builts, floor to ceiling, birch, self designed.

                Kicked ass on price, purpose and quality after checking with those Denver kitchen/bath resellers of cabinets from OH, PA, MI.

                I respect you Ewegen for doing it yourself. I could not do that level of craftsmanship.

                Maybe I’ll email some photos to you.

                1. OVer 30 years ago, a fried of mine paid $8,000 for custom cabinetry work that was less extensive than mine.  I paid about $1,000 for the shopsmith, about $1,000 for material and did the job myself. Everthing since has been gravy. Seriously, I find with a abstract job like mine its very relaxing to work with your hands and do something that lasts.  

                  1. I have a theory that as we shifted from making “stuff” to doing “thing” in our economy, work satisfaction is a lot less.

                    Yes, a back breaking day it was in the mine, but at the end of the day you could see the pile of coal or whatever.  A farmer can see his crop grow and then harvest it.

                    So what have we now?  You landed the XYZ account, all your hard work is on something called a hard drive, you’ve pushed more figurative paper than the other company.

                    Working with hands is often seen as spiritual and good therapy. Selling doohickies never has been.  

      3. If Jake Jabs cares if he has my business or not. I have a long history of not patronizing businesses whose owners advocate things I don’t agree with. I haven’t had a Domino’s pizze in more than 20 years after I found out the founder of the chain has in the past been affiliated with people who advocate the murder of abortion doctors and bombing of the clinics – same reason.

        1. I have not been inside a 7/Eleven store (except when my job forces me to, and then I surely won’t buy anything) since a Japanese firm bought controlling shares of the company.

          Funny though, for some strange reason they seem to be doing just fine without my business.

          Same with Japanese car/truck and motorcycle dealers. I turn the channel when their ads come on but just this year I bought two brand new 2009 Harleys. This did not make Harley’s stock skyrocket, nor did it sink Hirohito’s…….

          1. ….flying the American flag?  Wanna retch at the hypocrisy and yet most Americans are too dumb to go elsewhere.  I’m referring to 100% foreign like Volvo or the Koreans, not the Japanese with American assembly lines, at least.

            And why would I want to vote for a man named SYDNEY, for crissakes?  

        2. Actually, Domino’s isn’t nearly as bad. (I looked this up because I had the same concerns.) Because Domino’s is a corporation, its goal is to get as much business as possible, and it’s long said that getting into abortion as a company would be stupid. The founder owns some of the stock, and he’s anti-abortion, but that’s a bit different.

          AFW on the other hand is a private corporation, owned by Jabs. In that sense, AFW is endorsing 47. That’s plenty of reason not to buy anything from them.

          I can’t think of any other place where the most prominent businesses directly support one side of a political debate (Coors and now AFW). Maybe Delaware is the only other place in the country. Makes the state feel like a banana republic.

            1. called Boulder Pizza Exchange, but ever since they’ve shut down, the only options left are the corporate ones. Wish it weren’t so.

              And I can’t make my own pizza. That just wouldn’t seem right. Half the fun of pizza is in someone else making it for you.

            2. My parents used to order from PH often, now we just never do.  Dominoe’s just isn’t very good.

              Now I either take a good frozen pizza and add more pepperoni and cheese, or I make mini-pizzas:

              1 flour tortilla

              Pizza sauce

              cheese and toppings, including basil from outside.  (How chi-chi!)

              Very trendy thin crust, ya know, from an unsophisticated Mexican staple.  

  9. Jabs said he wasn’t even really interested in being the spokesperson.  He started off the press conference talking about his recent trip to Asia.  From an article in 2005:

    Jabs has been going to Asia for years and is a big proponent of the power of Asian manufacturing. In his autobiography, “An American Tiger,” he writes: “I recognized early in my travels that someday the Asians would make everything…. Once they learn to make any product in Asia, look out.”

    One of the questions from the AP asked Jabs why this amendment now since union membership is an all time low.  He just reverted to his rehearsed talking points instead of answering that one.

    1. maybe some of that furniture we buy at AMF would have a smaller carbon footprint and be made by Americans.

      Jobs and paychecks beget taxes, government services and a strong America. As you all watch Colorado’s government payrolls shrink you’ll be asking yourself why we have no manufacturing in Colorado.

      1. You may have hit on one talking point that possibly might have some basis. Just like sweatshop labor that Mr. Marianas Shafter would like to implement in Colorado.

        Minimum wage, no benefits, no overtime, no restrictions on maximum or minimum hours worked.

        Real good working conditions without any rules for the out of state companies making Colorado the minimum wage state.

        This is why unions and labor associations are needed.

        2. Could a furniture manufacturer provide decent pay and working conditions by American standards, and be profitable? Especially now with the increase in oil prices?

          The elimination of jobs like these have been devastating for workers who don’t have a college education. So finding a way to make it work would be a very good thing.

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