|
TheBuzz Erika Engle |
Vulture shopping
for furnishings,
fabrics and flooringWHEN folks are lined up outside your door before you're ready to open, you're not exactly a well-kept secret.
It happens every two years when the Hawaii Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers conducts its sample sale.
Showroom models, showroom samples, over-ordered items or unsold items that were ordered for designers' clients comprise the selection of merchandise. Items will run the gamut from laminate flooring to artwork to accessories for the home. "Accessories are like the jewelry for your home," said publicist Glenna Wong.
Hawaii's interior design community will sell off "fabrics and chairs and lamps and pillows and whatever you want," she said.
Some office chairs that retail for $1,000 will be offered for less than $100.
"It just creates this frenzy," she said.
The sale will be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday March 27 at the Gentry Pacific Design Center in the first- and second-floor corridors.
A fund-raising event for the organization's educational and other programs, shoppers pay $5 to gain entry to the sample sale. For an additional $25, shoppers can buy 30 minutes' time with a design expert.
"You bring your photographs, blueprints, whatever you want and just hit 'em hard. Ask them 'What are the new colors?' 'What should I do for this window treatment?'" and other questions.
"Take advantage of it because they're pricey. One hundred bucks an hour at least," she said.
Reservations are required for the consultations and may be made with Michelle Weeks at 585-8811.
In addition to the ASID members selling off stuff, Gentry Pacific tenants will throw their doors open.
"They're all going to have these major markdown sales ... they've got to compete," Wong said.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
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
