Hardwood Xpress is located in Edina, Missouri. A population with a whopping 4,067 people in the WHOLE County – Knox County that is! Home to the Knox County High School Eagles. Edina is the county seed, and its population is 1,153. Can you imagine what life is like living in a town where the closest Walmart is nearly thirty miles away? It is small town living – to say the least!
Life definitely ‘beats to a slower drum.’ Two lane roads and a four way stop is the only traffic you will encounter if you are passing through. Yet Edina has all the essentials. A small grocery store, a couple gas stations, a handful of beauty shops, a nurse practitioner, and a traveling dentist who comes to town once a week. (Check out our chamber of commerce website)
So what’s so cool about Knox County other than it sounds like a step back into Mayberry – you know the town from the Andy Griffith show? Well, when you grow-up thirty miles from the closest McDonald’s, you learn to do things differently. Not only do you cook the hamburger, you raise it. You learn to plant your food, and raise timber! Not only do you log the timber, you raise the timber, and you make something out of the timber you log!
That’s where Hardwood Xpress comes in! Timber, timber, and more timber! Our lead craftsman was born into the forestry industry. He watched his grandfather and father run a sawmill. Later, Les, along with his brother started a logging company. The business and brothers saw many twists and turns in life and in the forest.
Along with forestry, came a love for woodworking. (Click here to see Gallery) Les can and has made so many beautiful hardwood pieces, but the story does not stop there. He runs the small shop with his long-life companion, Kim. Also, born and raised in Edina, Missouri. Kim, ‘adds the love’ to the beautiful pieces with her laser engraving. She also motivates Les when he is struggling to find what it takes to complete a work of art. The two of them make a team unparalleled by any other.
When you live in a small town like Edina, you have to contribute. You have to step-up and work. It’s not to often these days that you find something quite so unique. A unique town, a unique couple, a unique store.
Read about us in Rural Missouri!