We have always felt that swings are the perfect way to bring the entire family together. This desire to be together with our family is the reason that we’re in business. We want everyone to share this experience of spending quality time relaxing with the family, and this feeling is demonstrated in our motto: “We believe the world would be a kinder, gentler place if more people had a porch swing.” For more than 30 years, we have been building cypress outdoor furniture in our backyard. In 2002, we decided it was time to join the online business world, so we began selling on eBay. Very soon after launching our eBay venture, we realized that we couldn’t keep up with the orders by ourselves, so we hired a couple of people to work for us. Unfortunately, we found that the employees didn’t have the same pride in their work as we did. Due to some health problems, Andrew had to retire from building our furniture. Rather than let the business go under, two of our children, Jason and Marlayna, offered to help run the business. Together we borrowed some money, built our current building, and opened Louisiana Cypress Swings and Things Inc. Andrew continues to design new furniture and lend moral support when and where possible. Our success has been a blessing. We currently serve more than 60 retail stores in the southern region of the United States, we retail out of our shop, on eBay and our website swingsandrockers.com. Our efforts were noticed by a staff writer for “Shelter Magazine,” who wrote about our company in the Nov. /Dec. 2007 issue of Shelter Magazine. We are proud to be a locally owned and operated Louisiana company. We have been very fortunate in our endeavors and we have tried to give back to our community where possible. Our community is important to us, as we would not be here without them. Our future is bright. We’re looking forward to the coming years and the chance to introduce the rest of the country to the joys of swings and other cypress furniture. The Brooks Family