FRACKVILLE — Making homemade crafts is something that Rodney Good, Hazleton, has been doing most of his life and continues to enjoy.
Good opened RMG Wood Products at the beginning of February at the Schuylkill Mall, where he has been a seasonal vendor for a number of years. This is the first time an actual store front was opened.
Before opening the shop, he set up stands during craft shows at the Schuylkill Mall and other shopping malls during the holidays.
“We do craft shows in malls all the time,” Good said. “We’ve been coming here to the Schuylkill Mall for Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, for a good 20 years. It’s been a long time.”
Good’s example in woodworking has been his father, Charles Good, also a Hazleton resident.
“We’ve been doing it all our lives,” he said. “My father is semi-retired.”
Good’s skills in working with wood and designing other craft and gift items, such as floral arrangements and wreathes, were learned over time at home.
“It’s all picked up from my dad,” Good said. “Some items only take about an hour. We’re always trying to come up with new ideas. We’ll sometimes make a dozen at a time. We have a pretty good woodworking shop where we do everything from the wood items to the arranging of the florals.”
The woodworking has a taste of the simpler styles that have become very popular in recent years.
“The rustic has really come back. It’s just amazing. And it’s that way all over, not just here in our area,” Good said. “They’re not mass produced, and that is what many people are looking for. There was a time when wooden items didn’t sell, but now it seems to be coming back.”
While most of the work is done in the shop, Good can put some finishing touches at the store, including using a hot glue gun to secure the decorative elements to the wood.
During the summer, Good has another business called RMG Little Time Amusements Inc. that has games and rides.
The store is located near center court next door to Gertrude Hawk Chocolates. It is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and on holidays.