What Bell Forest Products does

Bell Forest Products, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned specialty wood retailer and processor headquartered in Ishpeming, Michigan. The company sells over 100 species of exotic hardwood and figured domestic maple — including its signature Birdseye Maple and Curly/Tiger Maple sourced from Northern Michigan's log auctions — via the bellforestproducts.com e-commerce storefront to hobbyists (pen turners, bowl turners, cue and game-call makers), professional woodworkers, and B2B buyers (lumberyards, custom carpenters). Core catalog items include wood blanks (pen blanks, bowl blanks, knife-scale blanks), kiln-dried exotic lumber sold by board foot and in project packs, full splice blanks, hand-pick boards, sample packs, bundles, live-edge boards, hardwood flooring, gift cards, and a branded merchandise line, with end-grain cutting boards marketed as the flagship finished good.

The company is vertically integrated through physical assets located within roughly half a mile of its warehouse: a family-owned sawmill, two dehumidification kilns (each drying cycle approximately one month), and a shop floor of industrial planers and multiple dowelling machines. Logs are sourced by attending local log bids and brought back to the sawmill for milling and kiln drying before sale. This integration supports both retail unit sales and a wholesale/custom-milling channel offering freight-quantity board feet and on-site custom milling services to commercial buyers.

Revenue mechanics are predominantly transactional: per-unit pricing on small blanks and lumber, pay-as-you-go project pack pricing ($169–$449), and direct-contact wholesale/milling engagements for B2B. The company ships throughout the US, Canada, and overseas, and supports discovery through organic social (Twitter, Facebook), an email newsletter, and a content-rich website with species specs and customer testimonials. The firm is small (1–10 employees), has been operating since 2001, and is led by founder/owner Eric Poirier with no disclosed external investors, parent company, or subsidiaries.

Name

Bell Forest Products

Legal name

Bell Forest Products, Inc.

Website

https://bellforestproducts.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bell Forest Products is a family-owned, Michigan-based specialty wood retailer selling over 100 species of exotic hardwood and figured Birdseye/Curly Maple online to hobbyists, professional woodworkers, and lumberyards, with vertically integrated sawmill and kiln operations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Lumber / Exotic Wood

NAICS

Sawmills (321113), Cut Stock, Resawing Lumber, and Planing (321912), Sawmills and Wood Preservation (3211), Sawmills and Wood Preservation (32111)

SIC

Sawmills & Planting Mills, General (2421), Lumber & Wood Products (No Furniture) (2400), Wholesale-Lumber, Plywood, Millwork & Wood Panels (5031), Retail-Lumber & Other Building Materials Dealers (5211)

akta.pro primary industry

Hardwood Lumber Sawmills (IMAMABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Planing Mills & Lumber Surfacing (IMAMABAE), Wood Remanufacturing (Mouldings, Millwork Blanks, Cut Stock) (IMAMABAI)

Keywords

• Specialty wood supplier
• Exotic hardwood lumber
• Figured maple lumber
• Kiln-dried lumber
• Custom milling services

Headquarters

HQ city

Ishpeming

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Wood Sales: Direct e-commerce sales of exotic wood blanks, lumber, and specialty figured maple products to hobbyist and professional woodworkers through bellforestproducts.com website.
2. Wholesale Lumber: Bulk lumber sales to lumberyards, custom carpenters, and woodworking businesses. Offers freight quantities from a couple hundred to several thousand board feet of Birdseye Maple, Curly Maple, and exotic species.
3. Custom Milling Services: Custom milling services for businesses with competitive rates using family-owned sawmill and equipment.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bell Forest Products is a family-owned specialty wood supplier based in Northern Michigan that sells over 100 species of exotic and domestic hardwood lumber, kiln-dried figured maple (Birdseye, Curly/Tiger), wood blanks, hand-pick boards, and hardwood flooring through e-commerce. The company operates its own sawmill and two dehumidification kilns for vertical integration, and also provides wholesale exotic lumber and custom milling services to lumberyards and custom carpenters.

Product overview

Bell Forest Products is a specialty exotic wood and figured maple retailer based in Northern Michigan. The company operates a retail e-commerce platform offering over 100 species of exotic hardwood, with core products including Wood Blanks (pen blanks, bowl blanks), Exotic Lumber (sold by board foot and project packs), and Hand-Pick Boards. Their key differentiator is specialty Birdseye Maple and Curly Maple (Tiger Maple) sourced locally from Michigan's Birdseye Maple Country, which they mill and kiln-dry in-house. The product portfolio also includes finished goods like End-Grain Cutting Boards, Gift Cards, and branded Merchandise. For B2B customers, they offer Wholesale Lumber and Custom Milling Services using their sawmill and dehumidification kilns. The company emphasizes direct customer selection through their Hand-Pick program and provides closeout/hidden gem deals for budget-conscious woodworkers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Exotic Wood Boards: Hand-picked exotic wood boards available for individual selection by customers
• Project Packs
• Exotic Wood Blanks
• Gift Cards

Products and services

• Exotic Wood Species

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Rockler Woodworking and Hardware: Major US specialty retailer of woodworking tools, hardware, and lumber with e-commerce and 40+ store locations. Serves the same hobbyist and professional woodworker base as Bell Forest, with overlapping exotic wood and turning blank assortments.
• Woodcraft Supply: One of the largest US specialty woodworking retailers offering lumber, tools, and supplies via e-commerce and 70+ retail stores. Comparable in serving hobbyist and professional woodworkers through a direct-to-consumer channel, though much broader in product scope beyond lumber.

Direct peers

• Hearne Hardwoods: Specialty exotic and domestic hardwood retailer based in Pennsylvania, offering figured and rare wood species direct to woodworkers. Very comparable to Bell Forest in business model: small specialty e-commerce retailer focused on figured and exotic lumber with kiln-dried inventory.
• Gilmer Wood Company: Oregon-based specialty wood dealer offering exotic and figured domestic lumber, bowl blanks, and turning woods via e-commerce. Closely comparable in product mix (figured and exotic species) and direct-to-consumer business model.
• Rare Woods USA: Specialty exotic wood supplier offering rare and figured species via e-commerce to woodworkers. Direct competitor in the online exotic wood niche with overlapping species catalog and customer base.
• West Penn Hardwoods: Pennsylvania-based specialty hardwood lumber supplier offering domestic and exotic species via e-commerce. Directly comparable in size, business model, and customer base (hobbyist and professional woodworkers purchasing figured and exotic lumber).
• Cookwood Productions: Specialty exotic wood retailer focused on figured lumber, pen blanks, and turning woods sold through e-commerce. Directly comparable niche focus on figured and exotic species for the turning and hobbyist markets, competing in the same online channel.

Regional players

• Madinter Trade: Spanish-based global exotic wood supplier serving European and international markets. Comparable in offering extensive exotic species catalogs to woodworkers, though primarily serving the European market rather than North America.

Emerging players

• Exotic Wood Zone: Online exotic wood retailer offering turning blanks, lumber, and pen blanks. Comparable in e-commerce direct-to-consumer model targeting hobbyist woodworkers, though typically smaller in species breadth and scale.
• North Woods Figured Wood: Smaller specialty supplier of figured and burl woods to woodworkers and luthiers. Comparable niche focus on figured and rare species, serving a similar craft and instrument-making customer base with a smaller catalog.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BellForestProd
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/bellforestproducts
• Facebookfacebook.com/bell.forest.products
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bell-forest-products

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bell Forest Products