Company History

Junk Store Becomes Nation's Premier Manufacturer of Period Lighting

Rejuvenation House Parts was founded in 1977, but the story really begins in 1975 - when Jim Kelly purchased a condemned storefront in a roughhewn Portland, Ore., neighborhood for $1,000.

During two years of extensive renovations, Jim and his live-in girlfriend had a difficult time finding appropriate and affordable materials to preserve the historic character and details of their small building.

Recognizing a classic capitalistic opportunity, they decided to use their small storefront to create a business serving the needs of likeminded old-house renovators. After borrowing $2,500, they opened what was essentially a specialized junk store selling architectural salvage - doors, windows, light fixtures, claw foot tubs, and so on.

Despite their network of house wreckers and junkyard scrap dealers, Kelly learned early on that demand often far exceeded supply - especially for period light fixtures. At the time, new fixtures from lighting manufacturers tended to be poorly styled and cheaply built - and the few high-quality reproductions available were extremely expensive and overly ornate for the Portland market.

Not knowing better, Kelly decided he could do better himself. Using antique fixtures as models, he hired his first "manufacturing" employee to start making basic reproduction Victorian and early-20th-century ceiling fixtures and wall brackets.

By 1982, strong demand encouraged Kelly to create a mail-order catalogue. The first version, in black and white, was literally assembled on his dining room table. By 1985, the mail-order business represented 75 percent of sales and was given its own identity, as Rejuvenation Lamp & Fixture Company.

Kelly's accountant encouraged him to sell the retail part of the business and focus on the more promising manufacturing and mail-order side, but Kelly held on to the company's roots.

"I think it's been a good decision," he says. "Most companies that manufacture consumer products get way out of touch with what people want, since they have such little direct contact with customers. Nothing compares to working all day across the counter from your customers."

Kelly also attributes the company's growth, in part, to what he sees as a fundamental shift in American attitudes about old buildings and homes.

"In this country we haven't had much of a tradition about preserving the past," he says. "We always wanted to immediately modernize a home or building that was no longer in vogue. But that's changing and we're becoming more like many other parts of the world. In Europe, for example, architectural preservation has been part of the fabric of society for centuries."

Rejuvenation has remained in Portland's central city, but growth has dictated four moves and expansions since the original 900-square-foot store.

Our Factory

The factory is now in its fifth location - known, somewhat facetiously, as "Plant No. 5." The 1939 streamline building, originally a bag factory, was purchased and renovated in 1998. Rejuvenation is the second owner and tenant of this 87,000-square-foot facility, and many of the company's 150 employees occupy the building, which includes company offices and lighting manufacturing.

Portland Retail

The Southeast Portland retail store occupies 38,000 sq. feet on the first and second floors of the historic Neustadter Building, which the company renovated in 1992. Located at SE Grand and Taylor near downtown, the store is unlike any other in the nation, combining our period-authentic reproduction lighting with period furniture, hardware, plumbing, decorative accessories, millwork, and architectural salvage. The Portland store also houses 15 renovation-related tenants and a café.

Seattle Store

We opened our Seattle store in the spring of 2004. Located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near Safeco Field, the 6,000-square foot store (formerly the Gibson Manufacturing Company, which made railcars in the early 20th century) features our full selection of lighting, as well as hardware, select furniture and housewares.