W4K’s original product line included a wide variety of hand-carved wooden toys, utensils and crafts.  At that time, the company was named Allender’s Woodcuts and was a small-scale, family-owned and operated business.  When Kelley Allender Ryan took over the company in 1962, she established a new vision for the company, which involved growing the business from a home-based workshop to a nationally-recognized, multi-million dollar company.  Mrs. Ryan successfully implemented this vision using the following key strategies:

-	A shift from completely hand-made products to custom-crafted processes that combine technologically advanced manufacturing techniques with finishing touches done by hand  (economies of scale, high volume, high quality output, etc.) 
	
-	A dramatic change in company’s product offering, which entailed converting from a broad and varied product line to a limited product offering of a select line of high-quality children’s toys.  This strategy enabled the company to implement and perfect highly specialized production techniques.  These techniques give W4K the capability to produce large quantities of high quality custom-crafted toys in a cost-effective and efficient manner.  The change in product offering also greatly simplified materials management, supplier channels and training issues.  In addition, the company was able to singularly focus marketing and distribution strategies towards the toy industry.
	
-	A commitment to continue to offer unique, European-style toys of high quality in order to differentiate W4K from the domestic mass-production market.
	
-	Retention of the service component of the business in the form of woodworking classes.  These traditional workshops are an important means of passing on the Allender-Ryan family’s love of woodworking and emphasizing the company’s reputation as a quality provider of custom-made toys.
	
In light of the new vision, Mrs. Ryan renamed the company Woodworking-4-Kids, commonly shortened to W4K, in order to reflect the company’s singular focus on the children’s market.

The current product lines manufactured by W4K include:

-	Wooden Animals
-	3D Wood Puzzles
-	Geometric Block Sets

W4K also offers traditional woodworking workshops to its customers and the general public.  Even though this service component is a minimal part of W4K’s overall business, the company believes this component of the business is vitally important.  It helps to retain and further W4K’s image as a traditional woodworking company, and also provides a cost-effective mechanism for advertising and marketing.

Wooden Animals

Small, painted wooden animals are W4K’s flagship product line.  The beautiful toy wooden animals have been made by the company since its inception, and have come to represent the handmade character and exceptional quality of W4K wooden toys.  These characteristics make it a favorite among more traditional toy buyers.  Although automated methods and processes have been adopted at W4K, the wooden animals still provide a strong link to the history of W4K.  The wooden animal product line currently represents 30% of sales and has an average wholesale price of $7.50 each.  This product line will always be a key one for W4K due to its history and popularity, but at an average contribution margin per unit of only $3.50 per unit it is not W4K’s biggest money-maker.

3D Wood Puzzles

Three-dimensional puzzles are the most recently introduced product line from W4K.  The company has been manufacturing the intricate, colorful puzzles for just over ten years and has seen steady growth in the product line.  One key advantage of this product line is that these toys are attractive to grade-school age children as well as toddlers so the potential end-customer base is quite large.  The puzzle product line currently represents 30% of sales and has an average wholesale price of $12.00 each.  W4K would like to continue to grow this product line, since it yields the highest average contribution margin per unit at $6.50.

Geometric Block Set

Geometric block sets are the highest-selling product line for W4K.  This is mostly due to the fact that blocks are one of the most popular toys available in the industry.  Because of this fact, the block product line also faces more direct competition than any of the others; virtually every well-known toymaker in the industry sells some type of wooden block set.  Despite the heavy competition, W4K block sets have always sold extremely well due to their excellent quality and strong visual appeal.  The geometric block set product line currently represents 40% of current sales and has an average wholesale price of $11.00 each.  The block sets also have an impressive $6.00 per unit average contribution margin.

Woodworking Workshops

W4K offers traditional woodworking classes to its customers and the general public.  Usually the workshops are taught by a member of the Allender family, with other company employees providing assistance.  The service concept of the woodworking classes involves teaching and training individuals about wood, woodworking, toys, and traditions.  As part of this service concept, the classes use the W4K  woodworking philosophy which involves an overall focus on:

-	natural materials,
-	minimal scrap and waste generation,
-	traditional methods,
-	matching wood types and designs with aesthetic desires, and
-	safety in all woodworking phases.

W4K offers a total of 30 workshops per year, with an average attendance of 10 students per workshop.  Each workshop consists of one  4-hour session, at a cost of $40 per person.  The cost of the class includes all materials.  A mix of beginning, intermediate and advanced workshops are offered throughout the year.