In Cambridge, Wisconsin, the fruits of the earth are forged in fire. The town is home to a vibrant community of potters and ceramicists who have been drawn to the area since 1975, when Jim Rowe founded his eponymous studio, Rowe Pottery. For more than 50 years, Rowe pieces have been featured in homes around the country, their sturdy build and simple style withstanding the tests of both trend and time.
Rowe pottery is built to last, but the business almost didn’t. Thankfully, Bev Semmann ’91 savedRowe’s kilns from going cold, and today they’re busier than ever.
Semmann is the third owner of Rowe Pottery. When she joined the company in 2007 as head of marketing and sales, she had just lost her husband to cancer and was seeking a job that would allow her to care for her three young children.
“It just seemed like a good fit for our family,” Semmann says. “I could be home more, but I could also be doing something that was meaningful.”
Her work became even more meaningful in 2013, when she saved the business from shuttering and, in turn, became the steward of a beloved Wisconsin institution — along with its steep expenses and significant debts.
Business-savvy Semmann set to work consolidating Rowe, then a storefront with a separate production facility, into its original location on Cambridge’s historic Main Street. She purchased like-new equipment from Jim Rowe himself. She diversified Rowe Pottery’s revenue by contracting work for major brands and designers. She introduced fresh takes on familiar Rowe pieces — such as candles poured in their classic crocks — and helped break into new regional markets with the launch of Rowe’s clean, contemporary “Ridges” line.
Today, Rowe pottery is sold in more than 400 retailers nationwide, and its customers range from young couples filling their first kitchens to longtime collectors gifting nostalgic pieces to their grandchildren.
“The younger people will come in wanting [our modern styles], but then they’ll also add a few classic pieces,” Semmann says. A lifelong collector of Rowe herself, Semmann outfits her own kitchen with designs from across Rowe’s history: her dinnerware is white Ridges, but her trusty baking dish is a rustic classic.
“My kids love cheesy potatoes, and [the baking dish] fits a big double batch,” she says. “We have five kids, and they all just clean it out.”
Perhaps Semmann’s greatest asset in restoring Rowe — apart from her razor-sharp business acumen — is her understanding of what it means to be timeless.
“Once you start listening to people, you realize that when they talk about gathering around the table and important family moments, a lot of them are gathered around things they bought from us,” she says.
Rowe’s pottery, with its sturdy construction and simple designs, is made to be used, it’s made to last, and it’s made to be loved from one generation to the next. This is true of the decades-old pieces that endure as family heirlooms, of the modern styles that pair seamlessly with the traditional ones, and of the business Semmann preserved for potters and patrons to come.
