MARBLEHEAD — Alex Orloff started his now fledgling business when he was just 13-years-old. At the time, he loved spending time outside cutting wood and making bonfires with his father, and thought it would be a great idea to give his father a wood splitter as a gift for Father’s Day. Now 17, and a senior at Marblehead High School, Orloff is supplying kindling to local retailers like Shubies and Marblehead (Ace) Hardware.
“At first, I was going door to door selling to my neighbors. Once that started to work out, I expanded my reach by creating a social media presence,” said Orloff, who hopes to go to business school next fall.
In 2017, Orloff gave a cast iron wood splitter to cut kindling as a gift to his father for Father’s Day. But, although he liked and appreciated the gift, his father made Alex “cut all the wood,” said Orloff. He continued to cut wood for his father until one day he came up with an idea.
At that time he was spending his winter holidays with his family in the Vermont mountains. As he was cutting wood with the splitter, Orloff thought he might be able to sell some of the kindling.
“I made about ten bundles, and I started going door to door selling it to some of my neighbors,” said Orloff.
Orloff sold one bundle for $10, three for $25, and five for $40. The kindling he made was selling very well, and when Orloff came back to Marblehead that spring, he decided to check if his friends, neighbors, and family down there would also like to buy the kindling he made.
“So, once again I made a bunch of bundles and started to try to sell to some of my friends and family down in Marblehead and that exploded and I did very well,” said Orloff.
Shortly after he started selling the wood, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, propelling his business as more and more residents tried to spend as much time as they could outside.
“The pandemic was a busy time for me, and I started selling a lot more kindling during that time,” said Orloff.
He then decided to promote his small business on Instagram and Facebook. His social media presence increased his sales and two local businesses, Shibies and Marblehead Hardware, agreed to sell his kindling.
Orloff also started getting requests from Marblehead residents to sell merchandise with his brand. He took the orders and went to a local designer for help, where she managed to come up with a print idea for his sweatshirts, and he sold around 30 of them in one week.
“A lot of people around the town are wearing my sweatshirts now, and that is so very cool,” said Orloff. “I guess people just wanted to help this very small business.”
Alex’s father, Marc Orloff, loves to compare what his son is doing to how the kids in his childhood used to shovel snow from the driveways in the winter and cut lawns or wash cars in summer.
“I love it. I think he is a hard-working kid. He is always hustling, he is always trying to expand his brand and build his business and I couldn’t be happier,” said Marc Orloff.
Alex Orloff wants to expand his business further, and he is currently researching to see if the local farmers market and campsites would be willing to put his kindlings out for sale.
“I just did it, and then it grew up and it started working out, and that’s where I am now,” said Alex Orloff.
Oksana Kotkina can be reached at [email protected].
