CERAMICS FIRM MOLDS QUALITY NICHESCULPTURE, POTTERY WORKS BUILT FROM GROUND UP INTO $1 MILLION BUSINESS

When the Loma Prieta earthquake bashed the Bay Area in 1989, damage to

Petaluma homes and businesses was minimal. TV sets and table lamps crashed to

living room floors, and cans and bottles tumbled from shelves in local

supermarkets.

The owners of Earth Needs Ltd. weren't so fortunate. Clay sculptures and

pottery were smashed to smithereens in the company's Copeland Avenue

manufacturing plant. Hector Sedano Jr., who owns the business with his father,

Hector Sr., figured the firm lost at least $15,000 worth of merchandise.

''We had to work a lot to make up for it, but people understood,'' he said,

pointing to the enormous commercial kiln where shelves of pottery were

destroyed.

Nothing fragile about growth

Despite the setback, Earth Needs still had a profitable year. During its 15

years of manufacturing sculptural pieces and dishes it has steadily increased

sales volume and attracted wholesale customers.

Earth Needs grosses more than $1 million annually, with products ranging

from elegant dinnerware to animal statues. The Sedanos have their own line,

sold directly to upscale gift shops, and they also contract with companies to

make items such as soup bowls, coffee mugs, vases and plates for light

switches.

''We're a high-end manufacturing company. Everything we make is expensive.

It's more labor-intensive,'' said Sedano Jr. Ceramic pieces are formed in

molds, but each one is hand-trimmed and glazed.

Among the company's clients is Bleierware, which sells an elegant line of

dishes. Earth Needs manufactures the plates, cups and saucers, then paints on

a black and white geometric pattern and a 14-karat gold accent trim. Place

settings retail for about $600.

Animal designs have their day

Among the Sedanos' own designs are tabletop pigs, geese, chickens and

squirrels, as well as large animal sculptures made to be placed near front

entryways or in gardens. Beverly Gifford, a Lake County artist, sculpts the

prototypes for Earth Needs, which makes molds of her creations for mass

production.

Another of Sedano Sr.'s sons, Mike, also works for the business, designing

prototypes for new sculptures and making molds.

Earth Needs' sales peaked in the late 1980s, at the height of the

decorative farm animals craze, Sedano Sr. said while trimming clay pieces with

simple hand tools.

''The animals were a trend in the mid- to late 1980s. We had 15 employees.

This stuff was just gold,'' Sedano Jr. said. The business now has a full-time

staff of 10.

Sedano Sr. started the company in a Magnolia Avenue chicken house, and when

the business outgrew that site 14 years ago, moved to the spacious warehouse

where Earth Needs is housed today.

The operation encompasses the entire process of making clay, pouring it

into molds, trimming, firing, glazing, and shipping to clients. Earth Needs

uses white and terra cotta clay, which is processed through a pugmill, a

machine that prepares it for shaping, at a rate of one ton an hour. Five kilns

are used for different kinds of firings, including a massive one that can hold

about 50 large pots or 4,000 light switch plates.

Essentially, what starts out as a giant bag of powdered clay may be sent

out a few weeks later as a shipment of elegant terra cotta pitchers, Santa

Claus mantle decorations, or a family of quail candle holders.

One of Earth Needs' most loyal customers is the Trader Vic's restaurant

chain, which has been ordering decorative pieces since Sedano started the

business. Earth Needs also has manufactured millions of coconut shell mugs for

Trader Vic's. Diners are served tropical drinks in the vessels, and are

welcome to buy them as souvenirs -- thus requiring regular shipments of new

mugs from Earth Needs.

Faithful catalog clients

Nearly 70 percent of the firm's business comes from Smith and Hawken, a

Marin County mail order company specializing in backyard and garden equipment.

The Sedanos are presented with designs created for Smith and Hawken, then make

hundreds of pieces to fill orders for items like enormous terra cotta garden

pots and bird baths.

''With Smith and Hawken, we're reliable. That's the big thing. If they

place an order from overseas and it doesn't come in, they're in trouble,''

Sedano Jr. said.

If a discount merchandiser is looking solely for the best price on an order

of vases or bowls, its more likely to contract with an overseas supplier, he

said.

''Our price is more expensive, but our quality is really, really good and

we're on time,'' he said.

Barely Haretage, a Kentucky Street gift store, is the only local merchant

selling Earth Needs products.

A couple of times a year, the firm holds a factory outlet sale, selling

seconds, samples and overruns to the public at reduced prices.

In the past, the sales have been held at Earth Needs' plant, and have

attracted as many as 600 customers. But because of the increasing volume of

shoppers, the Sedanos are planning to rent a building for the weeklong holiday

season sale, which begins Dec. 1. They still are looking for a place to hold

the sale.