TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Interior design options
are crystal clearThe terms "kamaaina home" and "Baccarat crystal chandelier" are no longer oxymoronic in nature, despite the economy we keep hearing about.
At least one Hawaii interior designer has placed the prestigious sparkly chandeliers in the home of a Hawaii client with considerable means. She wished not to be quoted, and she said designer-client confidentiality prevents her from disclosing names.
An architect and interior designer considering one for her own home has clients actively reviewing her plans which include the fixtures. "I think anybody should go into that store just to appreciate the chandeliers," said AIA Inc. President Nancy Peacock. "I was just in there last night."
"I think chandeliers are definitely coming back more into fashion," she said. "I'm placing more of them into my designs. They're like jewelry, that final piece."
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Since the Baccarat boutique at Ala Moana opened in late November some Hawaii architects, interior designers and contractors have learned of a program the company has for them and their clients. "We work with them on our lighting and other objects," said Store Manager Kimi Fukuda, Baccarat's top executive in Hawaii.Baccarat also has a corporate program which suggests items for businesses to give to VIP clients, or as incentive rewards or retirement gifts, she said.
While Neiman Marcus carries some of the Baccarat line, such as barware, "the corporate or designer program is done through the boutiques only," Fukuda said. She has just returned from company meetings in New York City at which the two business-to-business programs were discussed.
Brochures are available for companies interested in the programs, she said, but new information packets should be available soon. "We're going to actively go out and make calls to companies if they'd like to receive information," Fukuda said.
Chandeliers start at $5,000, and are priced according to the number of lights in the fixture. There is a perception of chandeliers dripping with dangling crystals such as might be found "hanging in old southern mansions or in New York's Westchester County," Fukuda said, "but we do have chandeliers that look very contemporary."
One client wanted two chandeliers for a new home, Fukuda said, and when one did not arrive in time "we said, 'take ours.'"
"Being a European high-end company that's big on customer service we'll do whatever we have to do to please the customer," she said.
Headquartered in France, Baccarat is more than 260 years old, Fukuda said, "and to this day all of our crystal is hand- and mouth-blown." The 1,000 employees who make the crystal are housed on corporate premises. Fukuda hasn't toured the factory. "Hopefully since I'm the newest manager and I haven't been to Paris yet they'll send me this year."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com