Ken Richardson Knives in nearby Cherryville is preparing to make an appearance on television at 8 p.m. Thursday when the store will be featured on PBS affiliate KMOS’s Missouri Life program.
“They came out with their cameras, they filmed for five hours documenting all the processes we go through,” says Jeff Richardson. “They made us start from scratch and totally go through making a knife from start to finish.”
Ken Richardson Knives has been making custom knives for more than 40 years. Its handmade products are sold at outlets ranging from Bass Pro Shop to Silver Dollar City, and as far away as stores on the east and west coast.
“Last year Silver Dollar City sold more than 1,000 of our knives,” Jeff Richardson says. “We sell to a dozen dealers nationwide, so there’s no telling how many stores they are in. We had one guy visit the store all the way from Boston, Massachusetts, once.”
The store takes its name from founder, Ken Richardson, an Ozarks renaissance man who has hand painted old west scenes, personally forged muzzle loading muskets, taught Sunday school and worked as a blacksmith in Sullivan for years. He eventually found a niche in making high quality custom knives and opened an outlet store in Cherryville. His sons, Jeff and Jake Richardson, today carry on their father’s tradition. The current average of the Richardson operation is 60 to 80 knives per day.
“The main thing dad taught me is to make sure the quality stays, no matter how many knives you make, never compromise quality for quantity,” Jeff Richardson says.
The Ken Richardson Outlet store, located at 68 Eaton Cemetery Road, Cherryville, sells flay knives, hunting knives and Bowie knives. Each knife can be customized with different precious stones or inscriptions. The store also features supplies for hunting, trapping, gigging and fishing, in addition to leather goods and Native American artwork from the Navajo and Zuni nations.
“We still to this day do it the way dad started out,” Jeff Richardson says. “If somebody comes in here with just a pattern they’d like to have a knife made from, we’ll do it and custom make it to their specifications. We get all kinds of requests for messages to be put on the knives, we don’t agree with all of them, but we’ll do them.”
Evidence of the superior quality of Richardson’s knives can be found in the loyalty of the store’s customers.
Dean Crow of Sullivan received one of Ken Richardson’s first handmade knives almost 50 years ago as a Christmas gift and still makes the drive to purchase knives from his sons.
“These are simply the best knives I’ve ever had, I own several,” Crow says. “I knew Ken for years and remember what an amazing man he was. He made incredible knives and his son’s make them exactly the way he did.
Jeff Richardson says the family is excited to be featured on television, but the business still plans to stay a family affair. Jeff is now an expert on making the knives while his brother Jake adds the artistic elements. Jake’s son Ethan has also begun helping out in production by drilling guards, and Jeff’s son Malakai is looking to learn the trade too.
“It doesn’t look like we’ll be slowing down anytime soon, I think we’re doing pretty well for some country folks out here in what many would call the middle of nowhere,” Jeff says.
The Missouri Life episode can be view at this link.
