Owners of custom metal shop make a living on their own terms

Avondale is more than just a go-to spot for bars and eateries.

It’s a thriving commercial hub, with breweries, recycling centers, car detailers, contractors, tire stores, hardware dealers and the MAKEbhm makerspace.

That makes Toro-Cordes Iron Arts on Second Avenue South a perfect fit.

Co-owners Justin Cordes and Jay Vance moved their shop to Avondale in 2007, before the area took off, and indulge their artistic side by making unique custom metal pieces, mostly for residences.

And the long-time friends have not only built a successful business and earned a reputation for quality, they’ve done so while setting their own schedules and keeping a healthy work-life balance.

Cordes, a Huntsville native, has worked in metal for 20 years and founded the company with Chris Toro in about 2000.

He earned an art degree in 1995 at The University of Montevallo, where he became roommates with Vance, a Montevallo native who studied English literature.

Vance moved to Birmingham and bought Toro’s share of the shop in 2002.

“Everything we do is custom,” Vance said, adding that most of their work comes from interior designers.

”All of the projects start with a idea and a drawing,” Cordes said.

Their work includes tables, curtain rods, fireplace screens, light fixtures and stands or bases for sculpture.

They have two employees, Janet “Jam” Coshatt and Marcus Dixie.

Everyone in the shop is cross-trained, according to Vance. “We all do forging,” he said. “We all do welding.”

But they all have their special roles, according to Vance, who said that Cordes is the best among them at forging. “The hot stuff,” Cordes called it.

Vance does a lot of the fabrication and assembly of pieces. “Jay is the best welder I’ve ever seen,” Coshatt said.

And Coshatt is important in doing finish work on pieces. “She makes everything look like it’s supposed to before it goes out the door,” Cordes said.

The owners take pride in running the shop their own way and have always kept things “very informal,” Cordes said.

”We don’t pay much attention to business hours,” Vance said.

But designers can rely on the quality of their work, according to Cordes.

“They know when that project winds up at their door, it’s what they want,” he said.

The shop faces more competition that it did when it opened, according to Cordes, who said there are about 8-10 businesses in town that do similar custom work.

“But it’s a pretty friendly competition, “ Cordes said,

We make sure everybody stays busy,” Vance said. “They send jobs to us, and we send jobs to them.”

This friendly relationship also includes two other shops in Avondale, Red Mountain Iron and Iron Horse, according to Cordes and Vance.

“Those are truly our compadres,” Cordes said.

Vance and Cordes are grateful the shop sustains them without robbing them of the opportunity to have a normal life or to pursue other interests.

"It’s allowed me to wake up in the morning whenever I want to," Cordes said.

”We can get our bills paid and have time to do what we want to do,” Vance said.

Both men, according to Vance, are “lifelong musicians” who had a band together in college.

Cordes is a singer and guitarist with the popular Birmingham band Nowhere Squares and also has a side project, Me & My Knife, that is scheduled to appear at Secret Stages in August.

The men have enjoyed seeing Avondale’s recent boom in popularity, according to Vance.

“We like the whole Avondale thing, and we are a part of it,” he said.

They have been friends for years with some of the other Avondale entrepreneurs, including Tom Bagby, owner of Hot Diggity Dog, and Brian Teasley, founder of Saturn, in some cases due to connections made in the local music scene.

”Our peer group did all this stuff, so we have to be excited about it,” Vance said.

“We got here about the same time Bottletree did,” Cordes said, referring to the legendary, now-closed music venue and restaurant. “We were some of the first people to come here who weren't doing a restaurant or bar.”

Coshatt said she’s inspired by Vance and Cordes, who built their shop by hand.

“They put all the sweat, blood and hard work into it, and they’re content with it,” she said. “It’s one of those stories of, ‘Hey, you can do anything. We did it.’”