E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
J.N. Firewood
This year, even the old yule log is getting a makeover. Ordinary Americans can't get access to a sheik's palace or a movie star's mansion, but they can score the firewood of the rich and famous this holiday season, courtesy of firewood farms in Minnesota that ship display-worthy logs to elite addresses from New York to Saudi Arabia.
The Wall Street Journal flagged the trend with a mention of Minnesota firewood in a high-end gift roundup that also included a cashmere robe and a five-figure watch. Sellers say there's a burgeoning demand for a Minnesota firewood staple: pretty white birch logs.
"That's our largest selling item as far as what we ship out," said Sharon Wilczek, owner of Paul's Fireplace Wood, Inc. "It's gone up 50 percent at least." Paul's used to sell only 16-inch size white birch log, but it's expanded its offerings to include two larger sizes, and Wilczek said the company fields a growing number of custom orders from florists and decorators as well as homeowners.
"I don't have to worry about ugly wood," a customer enthused in a testimonial on the website of J.N. Firewood.
This high-end wood has prices to match its pedigree. At more than a dollar a pound before shipping — which can run into the thousands for big orders — this wood might seem too valuable to burn. Many customers don't burn the firewood they order. Wilczek said customers who plan to burn the logs typically order them split; people who want to display them request that they be left whole.
Even the buyers who purchase pricey logs just to take a match to them have grown increasingly choosy, said Angie Nelson, owner of J.N. Firewood. Birch is popular because "it's a fun wood," she said. "It gives you a really cool blue flame and crackling noises. It could be used for heat, but mostly, it's used for ambiance." Pinon pine and juniper, she added, are other popular varieties around this time of year because of the Christmas-tree smell they give a room when they burn. "This time of year, I do sell a lot of that."
Customers with money to burn also like varieties that give off a cedar-like aroma, according to Nelson, because they inject a note of calm into the hectic holidays. "It's like you're in a spa — that laid-back, relaxed smell," she said.
Leave a Comment:
....some people just flat out deserve whatever money they get cheated out of. Designer FIREWOOD?
The funny thing is, where I live 1000$ will buy you a chainsaw and a 50X150ft. wooded lot. You can cut the hardwood for firewood and sell the pine to a mill to get some of your money back, then sell the cleared lot for a profit on top of a winters worth of firewood to save money on electricity. Designer firewood is for people with more money than brains.
Pfft. MY designer firewood doesn't cost money! It makes money! For me that is. Call now and each log will get a small amount of gold leaf pressed into it somewhere.
Dang If I had a penny for every pound of this wood I burned already....I'm going to start putting it aside to rip people off too..you whoo.. pretty wood people..where are you. he he
I just had some white birch fall in the Halloween snowstorm, and cut them up. Maybe I should sell them on ebay!
OMG!....'nuff said!
It's the ambiance - you can't put a price tag on that.........
Sure you can put a price tag on it. And apparently that price tag is over a dollar a pound before shipping.
AM I MISSING SOMETHING HERE ???????????????
Being a 99 % er I can't afford that stuff. So why do they have to fly it in our faces and rub our noses in it ???And yet they wounder why we don't like them . Must be in the water they drink . It is polluted with " I ME "
bob
Bob it is the news media that do these things not the 1% people you blame lol. MSNBC idea of class warfare.
Maybe you should call 911 and report the person who put a gun to your head and made you read the article.
Whether we like it or not, there is always money being wasted somewhere, somehow. Whether it's a welfare recipient buying an XBOX 360, a middle class person buying a car they can't afford or a rich person buying expensive logs. There's nothing you can do about it, so don't stress yourself out too much over it.
How dare those poor kids of welfare recipients entertain themselves, don't they have schools to clean?
/sarc
Yes the 1% are Harold--why else would you walk around with a 10,000 dollar ring on your finger with a rock the size of a large grape, when for 10,000 less you could just walk around with your middle finger extended and give the same message " Your poor and I'm not screw you!!!"
Hey, Hey, Hey I just got my Calvin Klein firewood for my new fireplace and it looks STUNNING! I did get the "Limited Edition" with the optional artwork on the bark It's just too pretty to burn, so I just stare at it unlit all night, while I freeze my ass off, buy hey, it looks pretty!
WHAT A BUNCH OF FLAMERS!
We have just made available custom carved 2x4 studs for your latest re-modeling project. Beautiful patternwork on facing sides! You won't see it, but isn't it enough just knowing it is there? 20 years from now, your future re-modeler will marvel at these creative pieces of art as he tears the drywall off on your next re-modeling project! You will be beaming with pride!
At $129.95 ea. these creations are sure to go fast! Limited supply so order now! Call BR-549.
lmfao
You comedic genius.
Is this for real?
These are not ordinary Americans. Ordinary Americans are too smart to fall for that kinda @!$%#, and can't afford to "burn" money that way.
You wanna bet?
Bet the seller even places a holiday card in the orders..Happy Holidays and a gift from us is included...The termites are free!
uuuhhh, what?
I think the people who worry about this kind of thing need to give their psychologist more money. Or would that be less money?
I don't care unless they are creating wood smoke pollution inside the city limits.
A tall stack of firewood, of any kind is beautiful, going into the winter months....never crossed my mind to pay extra for pretty wood. I am going to burn it up.
This article was titled the way it was to get comments like these. There has always been a market for wood logs, birch in particular, for use as a decorative accessory. Of course you pay more because someone is going through the logs to select good looking pieces. I'm sure there may be a couple of people in the world that would demand their cord of wood to look "perfect" and would pay whatever they had to in order to get what they want. That's not the norm. My wife and I picked through 3 firewood mountains (approx 150 cords) to get a dozen pieces of birch for decoration - paying $5 for the lot we chose. We have a gas fireplace and wanted the decoration, so I understand people wanting things like this.
Wow...what recession? I just got done splitting 2 cords of designer firewood off my property. Oak, hickory, maple, poplar, even sweet gum. A different scent for different moods. All it cost me was sore wrists.
Once you light it, it burns and it is all the same. I can't believe MSNBC saying this is news. OMG. I need a new news page to read. This is freakin ridiculous.
No, it's not 'all the same'. Try staying warm burning cottonwood. Then try oak.
You don't need a @!$%#ing DESIGNER to get you firewood. If you want something that looks/smells different, go chop some wood yourself. Even if you have to buy it--what's wrong with having something simple, such as a bag labelled "maple" or "pine"?
You know what, maybe we should all go design something. Designer burgers! Designer toilet paper!
As I sit by my woodstove, I wonder at the dumbing of America. Most fireplaces are as useful as m a mm a r y glands on a tomcat.
Next time, take your cash and burn it.
I have to say, the best looking firewood is the stack that you just split yourself and will soon burn to heat your room or house. My own pet peeve is having a lot of forked logs that both refuse to split cleanly and won't stack properly - in the wood pile or in the fireplace. For years I hand split 4 cords per season and as much work as it is, there is little else that is as satisfying as cutting, splitting and stacking wood - other than enjoying a warming and beautiful wood fire. Living in a city condo keeps me from enjoying this - but it does set my priorities to working towards getting a place with a proper fireplace.
Again, Americans show how stupid and petty they are and why we are in the shape we are in today. Who the heck cares if it is designer firewood or not, it all burns down to ashes. What the He!!!!!!
These are the same kind of people who have an emergency supply kit that is well stocked with microwave popcorn. There's plenty of land out there with plenty of wood on it for the taking. All you need are a few basic tools (ax, saw, splitter, sledge) and a little bit of your own energy and initiative.
Funny thing about firewood: convenience stores that sell the stuff $4 to $6 per bundle sell the stuff like crazy. Urban area stores sell just as much of it as rural and beach area stores; stores near a campground do tend to sell more. All you need are a metal trash can, window screen, oven rack, and some bricks or cinder blocks to keep the metal can off a wooden floor (especially if it's oil-soaked); a damp piece of cardboard above the fire will work like activated charcoal and abosrb the smoke. This is much easier to do on dirt or concrete floors because you don't have the metal can to account for; again, avoid an oil-soaked floor.
Guess some people have money to burn.
My wood may be ugly but it gets the job done. And I didn't have to pay for it. I can still make it myself.
*cough*
Hilarious!
I love my direct vent gas logs fireplace. One button to turn it on, no heat being sucked out the chimney, no wood to split, no ashes and mess to clean up. When we had a plain wood fireplace we rarely used it, we use the gas logs almost every evening in this weather.
National Fuel loves your fireplace also.