12/28/2006

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Brothers Austin, 14, and Grayson Lowe, 10, refinished a dresser someone had thrown out three years ago. Since then, the two have turned discarded items into crafts that they sell to family and friends.

Little Rascals

Brothers take recycling to entrepreneurial level

By BECKY KALAJIAN
Special to the Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
Austin and Grayson Lowe used keys from old typewriters to make bracelets like this one.

TRAVERSE CITY — Three years ago, 7-year-old Grayson and 11-year-old Austin Lowe hit the jackpot.

Figuring they could create items for sale as nice as some of the things they saw at the antique shows their parents took them to, they got a small loan, bought a small vintage vanity and mirror set at a garage sale for $35 and cleaned it up.

Three weeks later, it sold for $175.

"They were instantly hooked,” said Sheila Lowe, the boys' mother and unofficial employee of the Rascally Recyclers, the business her sons have since created.

Today, the brothers have a small but steady following of fans who snap up the myriad found-art pieces they put together. Bedsprings morph into charming hummingbird feeders or wine racks, vintage typewriter keys are retooled into bracelets and earrings, and old jeans find new life as funky purses.

Like many entrepreneurial start-ups, Rascally Recyclers was borne of necessity.

Fed up with complaints about being bored at the antique shows and garage sales they dragged their sons to — not to mention the requests for more spending money — Sheila and her antique hobbyist husband C.B. issued the boys a challenge.

Record-Eagle/Jan-Michael Stump
This pants purse is becoming one of the more popular items made by brothers Austin and Grayson Lowe.

"We said, 'Look around you — come up with your own ideas because you guys can make money, too,'” she said. "And it was off to the races.”

Though both boys are naturally artistic and are drawn to all things creative, they also have a serious mercenary streak. Early on, they set lofty financial goals to feed their various interests. Grayson craved an XBox; Austin hoped to secure snowboarding gear.

Having met those goals early on with church craft shows and repeat orders, they now are saving their pennies for a Wii and an XBox 360 — video game systems that cost about $250 and $400 each.

As thrilled as they are about their sons' initiative, the Lowes are also teaching the boys about giving. They require a portion of their income to be tithed to Trinity Lutheran, their church. In addition, expenses for materials and marketing must be paid back as well.

As business partnerships go, so far things have gone smoothly, the brothers say.

Austin, the youngest, is a natural salesman and unafraid of wielding his charm. Grayson is more serious and drives the creative process, his mother said.

Once inspired strictly by garage sales and flea markets, both Grayson and Austin now haunt closer locales for their wares.

They jokingly call it dumpster diving, but in fact, they keep a sharp eye out during the downtown spring cleanup and their neighborhood's garbage pick-up day, looking for objects that could have new life.

Over the years, many junked pieces of furniture have found new homes after the boys took care of them. A butcher block received new legs and now sits in the Lowes' kitchen. An antique rocking chair was sold after their beloved Grandpa George helped them fix it.

Though they work hard together to think of new ways of making the old and unloved shine, they are not without a lot of help and community support.

Grandpa George, Sheila's father, is a driving force behind the boys' woodworking and tooling skills. Two local artists have set up a barter system whereby the boys take care of small chores in exchange for painting time. And the owners of Bayside West Antiques and Top Drawer Resale Shop have given the boys "a ton of stuff” through the years, Sheila said.

And as the business has grown, their eyes have opened to the untapped possibilities that lay on the street, in an alley, or in a dumpster.

"It's constantly going through our minds, what we can do with it,” said Austin, who hopes one day to be either an entrepreneur or physician.

But getting to the final product isn't always easy, said his little brother.

"We want to do it so the customer will buy it, but that takes time,” the budding electrician/engineer said. "You can't whip through it or it won't be a very good product — you have to work on it.”