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$35,000.00 chair

Frank Fusco said:
To me, the big question is 'where do you find people who are able and willing to spend that kind of money on a chair'?
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Frank, in 1973/'74 I lived in Sarasota, selling airplanes, so I know something about markets there. There are a trememduous number of condos, homes and estates all over that area that are owned by a lot of wealthy people from up north and they spend a "Lot" of time there in the winters, and also short stays there at other times throughout the year. After a certain amount of time there, the TOGETHERNESS thing with Wifey/Hubby and or other family gets a little strenuous for most of them so they go out looking for something neat to see, do or BUY. We got a lot of the fellows, (and some of the ladies) at the airport looking at our airplanes, and a certain percentage of them bought from us. Sometimes in the summer they would call to see if we had something of interest to them so they would have an excuse to come down for a weekend or a few days and be able to write the trip off also. That location can certainly be a Customer Rich environment for top quality and or unique merchandise, and plenty of them can afford ANYTHING you might have to offer if it strikes their fancy, and one of a kind with a GOOD STORY would go high on their list.:D
 
Carol Reed said:
Wages and costs have little to do with this kind of furniture and this kind of wood, Tony.

It is a custom one of a kind chair with very special wood, so it comes under the "whatever the market will bear" method of pricing.

In other words, he can ask whatever he likes, and he may well have the market that knows his work and is willing to pay what he asks.

As for it looking much like Sam Maloof's work, you are right. Sam is a personal friend of mine and I used to get exercised about people copying him. Then he told me there is only one Sam Maloof and everyone else is whoever they are. Only he can build the chairs he does. The design is not that easily copied and his workmanship is suburb. And he has been getting those kind of prices for years. Don't know about this other guy. :)
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Carol... I'm curious as to whether Mister Sam has ever sat in a Hal Taylor rocker. Hal is probably the biggest name of the 'copiers', but his back splats are noticeable different... and in my opinion, much more comfortable than the 'true' Maloof copies I've sat in (with the thicker splats).

KC
 
Edward - One word:

Wowsa!
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That's some impressive burl. I wouldn't even know where to start pricing that type of work.
 
I sell wine for a living, I've tasted it all, from $5 a bottle plonk to $12,000 dollar a bottle Domaine Romanée-Conti.

The vast majority of my customers buy in the $15 to $30 price range, but I do have the customers who come in and buy wine by the case, and they seldom look at a bottle that is less than $100, these people are rich, they are rich like most of us do not understand. They spend on a different level, for them, spending $100 on a bottle of wine is like you or I spending $1 on a can of Coke. One buddy I had here was a big time lawyer in a big time law firm here, he was a partner, his rent on his flat (about 2500 square feet, roof top garden with an outdoor hot tub, three car parking NICE place) was $12000 a month, downtown Tokyo, he wanted a new racing bike, went to the Ducati dealer, picked the new 996, and told them to make it super bike ready, the bike cost over $24000, for him it was a whim, he bought a Mercedes van as a transport for the bike to take it to the race track. He once went down to Kyshu for a race, he had his bike air shipped down, he flew, first class of course, down for the race. He retired at 55, and now lives in Thailand with his wife, on an estate. Trust me, $35,000 for a one of a kind chair, something that would be considered art and an heirloom, would be no big thing to him. Rich East Coast American family, Father is a lawyer, mother a doctor.

Trust me, people who can afford a $35,000 chair are out there, if they like it, they buy it. Like the old saying goes, if you have to ask how much it costs, you cannot afford it.

By the way, my buddy, the guy that retired to Thailand, on a personal level, you could not possibly meet a nicer, open kind guy, not some rich jerk, just a friend.

Cheers!
 
There are plenty of people with lots of money around. Some of them have an appreciation of craftsmanship and beautiful objects. Some of them have no taste at all and buy things with the primary objective of trying to impress other people with lots of money. For the second group they would buy this just so that they can tell people that they paid $35,000 for a chair. The first group might buy it because they buy the guys presentation of the process of creating it.

I have had dealings with a couple of people that I know to be worth billions and a bunch more who need 8 figures on their personal wealth calculator. While most of the time people like this are working through decorators and designers sometimes they take a personal interest and my experience is that at least some of them get a buzz from talking to people who create stuff themselves and can talk a bit about what they do. If you live in a world full of people attracted to your money it must be occasionally refreshing to meet somebody who is motivated by something else.
 
Nancy

My first house was a new house in a nice neighborhood with good schools, etc. It cost a whole $12,400.oo.

Would be I could have today's income with 1950's prices. Heck, a new Chevy was less than $2,000. My dress shoes for graduation were less than $7.00. 1941 my folks built a new house...a really nice house. The floors were 1 inch thick solid oak, all of the latest appliances, the new fangled electric things called circuit breakesr, and (for that time) a very unusual 3 car garage. I don't remember the exact price but it was five-thousand and something.

Enjoy,

Jim
 
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