A beloved Philly salvage and restoration company allegedly bilked clients of thousands. The owner says he’s out of business.

Philadelphia Salvage Co. was once beloved.

Its door restorations, custom tables made of salvaged lumber, and retail space that featured everything from antique light fixtures and stained glass to claw-foot bathtubs were the subject of admiration in fixer-upper and home-restoration circles. The business touted popular Philly bars and restaurants like Charlie was a sinner and Attic Brewing in its client portfolio. And its social media pages racked up tens of thousands of followers who were often awed by the intricate century-old doorknobs and craftsmanship of made-to-order front doors the business would post with the hashtag “saving history.”

That’s changed in the last year. Customers have filed complaints with the state, claiming the business bilked them of deposits, sometimes in the thousands, and failed to return property, including historic doors and custom hardware, and was unresponsive to their inquiries.

Port Richmond resident Natalie Shaak, 39, is out almost $7,000 and the front door project she started with the company in September 2021 remains incomplete, with the actual door and custom brass still in the business’ possession.

Jennifer Merrigan, 46, was a first-time homeowner in South Philly who wanted a front door with “historical significance.” She says she is now out more than $2,000 and doesn’t have the door she paid to have rehabbed in December 2021.

“The disappointing part is just not knowing if anything is ever going to happen and then being out that money,” said Shaak.

Finally, they have some answers.

After The Inquirer made several attempts for comment, Philadelphia Salvage Co. owner Chris Stock responded Sunday that the business has “gone bankrupt.”

“We have every intention of returning projects, albeit in their as-is condition and stage of development, as many are historic and heirloom pieces,” Stock wrote in an email.

In an email, Stock outlined how the pandemic and subsequent staffing shortages disrupted the business he’d built. He said he would reach out to clients throughout the rest of the month to coordinate the pickup of items. He did not make mention of what would happen to deposits made.

At least nine customers have filed complaints against the business, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Customers, however, are unsure whether those complaints will yield any results. What’s more, customers like Shaak say they’re long past the time frame allowed to file charge disputes with their credit card companies.

Philadelphia Salvage Co. was founded in 2011. Its website says the business “celebrates the City’s rich architectural heritage by fabricating custom furniture from old-growth lumber milled in Philadelphia’s only operating urban sawmill.”

Stock’s reputation and eye for restoration grew among contractors and people looking to bring back historic charm to their homes. The business was listed as a place to go for vintage and antiquing fans by outlets such as Philadelphia Magazine and Curbed Philly.

Shaak, who is a bit of a history and restoration buff, found the company to be just what she was looking for in 2019, when she wanted to salvage and restore a cornice at the top of her home, which had been covered with shingles and tiles, hiding the original pattern of the woodwork. Shaak has put much care into her home, even visiting city archives to learn more about her two-story construction that was first sold in 1865 — the earliest record she could find — and was built with no indoor plumbing. Whether it’s the mural of a raccoon eating a pretzel on her exterior wall or the bathroom, every detail and restoration of Shaak’s home has been a labor of love and intense planning.

Philadelphia Salvage Co. seemed to care about the details as much as she did.

The cornice project was slow-moving but “absolutely gorgeous,” said Shaak, who hired the business for a second project — a customized interior door with Florentine glass — that was equally as successful. That’s why she went to the business again in September 2021 for a third project where Philadelphia Salvage would remove her front door, restore and fix her door frame, repair and paint a purchased door, and install a custom-built storm door, among other things.

“There are not a lot of people in Philadelphia who do this kind of work,” said Shaak.

She said she was understanding when Philadelphia Salvage Co. informed her of delays in February 2022 citing “COVID and staffing.” She went on to order custom hardware for the door in the spring. Other customers who’d placed work orders in late 2021 also started to hear about delays that spring.

Then another setback came.

In June 2022, Stock announced on social media that Philadelphia Salvage Co. would be moving locations, to the Frankford spot. He said the Department of Licenses and Inspections required the business to install a sprinkler system at its previous Tioga location that would exceed $100,000. A spokesperson for L&I confirmed the Tioga space was given a cease-operations order for not being properly zoned as a salvage yard, a space retailing antiques, or a space for wood restoration and cutting.

During the late summer months, Shaak and other customers said their messages weren’t being answered.

Finally, the company posted on its social media pages in September. The company apologized for “the lack of communication,” saying it had lost access to its building along with all its contents and custom order book. The company said it had gotten all of its belongings back and would begin reaching out to clients.

Stock told The Inquirer the new location came with a different set of issues with rent being double for a quarter of the space. What’s more, the team became a third of its previous size because staff found the commute far and quit.

Even so, the company got back to Shaak in November and by December her project seemed to be moving forward. Stock came to Shaak’s house to take measurements and grab the custom hardware she ordered.

Shaak claims she never heard from the company or Stock again despite numerous tries to get in touch via phone, email, and social media.

The last time Philadelphia Salvage Co. posted on its socials was late November 2022.

“We are slowly catching up,” reads the end of the post. “One day at a time. Thank you.”

But the tenor of the comments has become less complimentary. One user claimed to have their century-old door and 50% deposit “stolen,” another person wrote they were “ripped off,” and someone else asked, “What does slowly catching up mean?”

Through social media comments, Shaak and several other jilted customers got together via email to share what they knew and possible action they could take to get their deposits and belongings back.

One of the challenges for people like Shaak is that by giving the business the benefit of the doubt, she exceeded the six-month window for which she could dispute the charge.

Several in the group wrote a formal letter demanding their deposits be returned or else legal action might be taken. They never got a response.

“He defrauded us, took our money … and now won’t even respond to our requests,” said Merrigan, an attorney, who has given up on working with the business and simply wants her money back.

Nine customers then filed complaints with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office but the mediation process is voluntary, according to the office’s FAQs.

“We cannot force a business to respond to a consumer complaint, but we will make every effort to try to engage with the business to provide a response,” reads the FAQ answer.

Despite the delays and gaps in communication, some Philadelphia Salvage Co. customers were still willing to give the business the benefit of the doubt should it resume. Shaak, one of the customers who has lost the most financially, was one of them.

In his email, Stock said the company had tried to “recuperate from the chaos” for the last six months but hadn’t been able to, adding he wanted to do right by customers and return what are in many cases historic and heirloom pieces. Stock didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions regarding the decision to cut off communication with customers.

“While this may not satisfy or make up for our client’s inconvenience, I deeply apologize and promise this outcome was never my intention,” he said.