Short Video Reviews Boos & Co. History and Tours Company Manufacturing Plants
WCIA Channel 3 serves Central Illinois, including such heartland communities as Springfield, Decatur and Champaign. Not far away is the small town of Effingham, Illinois the longtime home of John Boos & Co. Boos is the nation's leading manufacturer of butcher block products everything from small cutting boards to wood-topped kitchen islands, tables and carts, as well as stainless steel work tables, cabinets and compartment sinks. WCIA's Ryan Burk, host of the Made in Illinois" series, visited Effingham recently to learn more about John Boos the man, the company and the brand. WCIA published the resulting short video at [http://www.illinoishomepage.net/ciliving/made-in-i...](http://www.illinoishomepage.net/ciliving/made-in-illinois-john-boos-co).
In the late 1880s, John's father, Conrad Boos, harvested Sycamore wood (nowadays Boos mainly uses Rock Maple, American Cherry and Black Walnut, plus Red Oak). He converted slabs of Sycamore into 3-legged tables local blacksmiths put to good use. The wood slab and legs proved to be excellent shock absorbers able to withstand repeated, heavy blows of hammer on anvil. Sensing an opportunity to expand their product line and budding business, the younger Boos presented their sturdy wood tables to local butchers who immediately embraced them and effectively gave them the name by which they're known today: butcher's blocks.
According to Boos' VP of Sales and Marketing, Ted Gravenhorst, Boos & Co. grew throughout the first half of the twentieth century, managing to survive the Great Depression and expanding their product line to include work tables and countertops. A little known fact," he continued, is that during WWII 80% of Boos production was earmarked for use by the military."
Gravenhorst explained that today the company is entrenched in both the residential (mostly wood products) and commercial food service (mostly steel products) segments of the market. Boos stainless steel tables can be found in major sports venues, including Metlife Stadium, Lucas Oil Stadium, University of Phoenix Stadium and Cowboys Stadium," he claimed. Strong demand prompted Boos to build a new steel plant in 2012, and a new wood plant is on the drawing boards.
Mark Shook, President of [Butcher Block Co](https://butcherblockco.com.)., an online seller of kitchen furniture and accessories and a John Boos dealer, had this to say: Boos is a brand that consumers genuinely trust. They see Boos products being used by professional chefs on cooking shows and that kind of implicit endorsement means a lot to home gourmets."
