He said the business recently received some new shipments, and Saturday will be the first time the store has been open for a full day since March. For the time being, he said, the store’s new hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
Ady said he always wanted to have his own business that offered something different. And he believes the handcrafted furniture, decor and statuary on display in Storied Roots' showroom fulfills that goal for his customers.
“I have a family friend who kind of turned me on to this type of furniture,” Ady said. “Once I saw it in person and felt it and saw the material and the craftsmanship that goes into it, I was sold.”
Storied Roots originally opened in April 2019 and then moved into its current home on Main Street in Frisco the month before the coronavirus pandemic arrived in March. Since then, Ady said he has been able to continue selling to customers through Storied Roots’ online store and wholesale service.
The store offers wood, rattan and stone pieces, all of which currently come from manufacturers on the volcanic island of Java, Indonesia.
Storied Roots' stone pieces are hand-carved by an Indonesian team led by a friend Ady made by striking up an email conversation after most people had gone to bed.
“I literally called him one day, and it was the middle of the night here,” Ady said. “We can relate to the fact that we both are business owners, and we're both young and motivated.”
Ady explained many of Storied Roots’ statues are hand-carved—referring to his friend as a “modern-day Michelangelo”—in a matter of days from green lava stone. Other pieces are made from river stone from the island or cast in concrete made from the excess shavings left over from carvings.
“There’s no wasted materials, and the same thing [is true] with the root pieces," Ady said. "If they were to take down a tree and make a table out of it, they'll go back and dig out the root and make [something else]. They really waste nothing.”
The store’s wood pieces are primarily made from teak and suar, while the rattan that grows in the nation’s teak forests is used for the indoor-outdoor furniture offered at Storied Roots. Ady said he believes those sustainable practices appeal to his customers.
“Indonesia as a country has been cracking down on illegal forestry for the past couple decades,” Ady said. “You basically have to have a permit as a furniture maker to go in and take some of the trees out. So I make sure that before I buy any piece from a certain individual—that I see that they have all the permits [necessary].”
