Authentic Bistro chairs
So how is that I go on a great vacation and end up taking images of bistro chairs like I’d never seen one before? It’s what we geeks in the design world do when we get away: focus on furniture, it’s our world.
Date: Wednesday
Time: 3:35 pm
Where: Ft Lauderdale in the land of Florida
What: Walking out of Coconuts after a three hour lunch I knew two things: we had completely overdone it and that walking off the meal was not going to be enough. However, it was a start. What a great place, thanks for the recommend, Taylor.
I blithely began my walk down the boardwalk and to my surprise and amazement; I found myself in a sea of bistro chairs. Outside each and every café that I passed for the next four city blocks, there they were, so many of them. Ok, sans the Ritz Carlton where dark woven side chairs were the norm, each of the eating establishments had gorgeous brand new sets of colorful bistro chairs. Leave it to the Ritz to have a different look!
My first thought was of the great commission check some salesman /woman had pocketed and all in one street visit. How easy was that? One parking lot, one fee. Lunch at one of the many fine establishments along the way. Like being in downtown NYC and calling on 12 clients in one day, a salesperson’s dream.
Said salesperson must have promised each and every owner a great deal on any order of over 200 bistro chairs! Must have been feeling lucky, and along with that< I bet generous too. Enough to promise the one thing that he knew each owner wanted to hear. That their chairs would be a special color combination for only their café seating.
I give the sales guy credit for not selling the same chair up and down the street. Some sense of design and decorum prevailed. Then upon further reflection I thought, yes, this was his genius in that his pitch gave every one of the café owners a custom product…. Please pick your color to coordinate with your dining experience now so I can place the order in time. ….like you were choosing priceless jewels.
I imagine the talk went something like this….you are aware these are authentic French Bistro chairs, and DEFINITELY not Pottery Barn or BB&B knock offs from China. But of course! They are authentic French Bistro Chairs hand crafted in France by ebanistes/craftsmen. They are hand framed in natural rattan and assembled with hand woven Rilsan fibers. Why, yes. These are the same French café chair designs in which the musicians, artists, philosophers, and various expatriates of the 1920s and 30s sat in to exchange ideas, talking into the wee small hours of the Parisian dawn. They had to be comfortable. You too can have these authentic French café chairs made in the colors of your choosing. What a grand story to tell!
There were so many of them, though. It was a veritable sea of chairs. I chuckled, thinking about the six I have back in the showroom that are green and ivory with dark green seats. Mine would have found a new home easily here! They would have been happy here watching the tourists and the big boats go out to sea. Seeing the sun go down each day and la Luna shimmering on the ocean late at night. Ah, what a sight. Who wouldn’t love being at the beach every day?
Back in my showroom and I find myself still wondering how many chairs were sold and at what price. To have seen the smile on the salesperson’s face as they got in the car at the end of that day that would have been the icing on the cake!
End of the story we did sell our bistro chairs here at the Loft. May they enjoy a new life in the sun!
Winter Sale at the Loft
Winter Home Sale
02-20 thru 03-31
Yellow tags = great values
Designer Home Furniture Sale
One of a kind, floor samples
50 – 70% off!
chests, tables, chairs, desks,
coffee tables, sideboards, side tables,
bookcases, consoles, armoires & cabinets.
125 N East Street
Shab Row
Frederick Maryland 21701
301.662.6205
info@theLoftatAI.com.