Grants couple builds, markets extraordinary birdcages
Business relocated here in 2001

By Tom Purdom
Staff Writer

GRANTS — Charlie, Edie, Moe, Obie and Alberto all have something in common and they do not even know it.

Nor do they know each other.

All of them are from different states, but they live in up-scale birdhouses sold via the internet by Designer Aviaries of Grants. Each birdhouse is built by hand, by master craftpersons, in a shop in Milan.

The cages more resemble exquisite pieces of furniture rather than a bird cage.

Carole Mumm, 63, and her husband, Hugo, are the parents of Designer Aviaries. The company originated in northern California, but transplanted to Grants when the Mumms moved here in late 2001.

Designer Aviaries have clientele in Sweden, England, Germany and South America, but the vast majority of the people buying these high-end birdcages live in the U.S., primarily in the larger cities. Three owners in New Mexico are on the customer list so far.

Carole Mumm originally is from Ontario, Canada. At 16, she became a U.S. citizen. For years she worked as an investigator for the Nevada County District Attorney's Office in Nevada City, Calif.

Hugo Mumm, meanwhile, was a contractor building high-end homes for the very rich in California.

Carole likes to think that Designer Aviaries was a company which came along quite by accident. While in California the couple was given a couple of finches. "I had only one place to put a cage, but it had to be something special, made out of wood; so, since my husband was a contractor, I went to him to build us a wooden cage," Carole said.

What Hugo came up with amazed even Carol. Friends dropped by their home, saw the cage and told them the cage had a lot of potential for being marketed.

The couple had three acres of land along with their home in Nevada City. Carole was tired of being an investigator, and Hugo was tired of the contracting business; so, in the winter of 1988, a new business was born.

"It was too cold out to do any building anyway, and we had a shop on our place where Hugo did custom cabinetry for his homes; so, on a snowy day, Hugo told me he was going to make up some models of birdcages to see if I could market them," Carole said.

Made out of solid oak or cherry wood, with powder-coated wire for the cage portion, the entire cage sits on a fine-crafted solid oak or cherry wood table.

Successful from the start, the Mumms built cages and marketed them to pet shops from Washington to San Diego, and as far east as Denver. From 1988 to 1997, the Mumms were wholesalers of their products. In the late 1990s, Carole took a serious look at the internet and the potential it provided. When the Mumm's bought their first computer, Carole knew how to type and that was about it, she said. By trial and error, Carole learned internet marketing, including the construction of a web page for Designer Aviaries.

"We went from wholesalers to retailers," Carole said. It was not an overnight process, but when the sales of the retail side matched the sales of the wholesale side, it was decision time for the Mumms and the decision was to go headlong into retailing via the internet.

The cages are not for the faint of heart. They sell for anywhere from $438 for the small cage to $798 for the large cage.

When September 11, happened, it made people think differently about purchases, including high-end bird cages. "Anything high-end took a hit," Carole said.

Because of the financial effects of 9/11, Carole and Hugo had to make a decision. "We needed to cut costs," Carole said. Cutting corners in the manufacture of the cages was out of the question. They had established a reputation and it had to be upheld, but they needed to move somewhere where running a business was not quite so expensive.

The Mumms sold their home in Nevada City and began looking for a new place. Grants was the last stop on the Mumm's extensive travel list, Carole said. Two days after arriving in the community, they decided they were moving to Grants and the manufacturing end of Designer Aviaries would be done in Milan.

In short order, they had a home and a place to build bird cages, and the Mumms found coming to New Mexico was heaven-sent.

"Where else can you write a check for a home, a nice home, and not even have a mortgage payment to worry about?" Carole asked.

The cages, which have a cathedral look to them, are built in stages so a customer can order a custom finish or stain. It cuts down on production time, which cuts production costs. Half of the shop in Milan is devoted to the woodworking side of the cages, the other half to the metal work.

"We buy all our supplies in Albuquerque and when it comes to shipping, we have the interstate right here beside us," Carole said.

Like any business, there are problems. Glitches in the internet are troublesome, which means Designer Aviaries has not quite been up to the $11,000 to $12,000 a month it usually does, but Carole said, "We are coming back."

In the meantime, the Mumms are building cages and are happy hiking and discovering new things in New Mexico. "The main thing is, we're having fun," Carole said.