Single Best Find/Mistake
I've got a lot of really good customers who are really devoted to the store. Who really support the store. The guy who bought the lamp comes up from Calgary to shop here all the time.
It was a very large arcing lamp. Huge. I bought it from a guy just outside the city here, in Spruce Grove. The Edmonton area is a great place for picking antiques because there’s not a lot of competition relative to other cities. Anyway, turns out it was Italian-made. But there was no label. That's what threw me off. Most good furniture has labels all over it because the designers are very proud of it.
The guy who bought the lamp is an educated guy, a millionaire - he knows his stuff. He's got a good eye and good taste. And it was kind of weird how it came about, because I'd already sold the lamp to another guy for $300, though he hadn't paid for it yet. So this guy, the rich guy, comes in and says he'll buy a dining room table if I sell him the lamp too. And he offers me $400 for the lamp. So I called up the guy I'd sold it to and he said, "Oh no, don't worry about it. If you can get more for it I won't buy it, I'll step aside." So I made the deal and sold it for $400. And I thought, "Great, another $100."
Later that same lamp sold at Sotheby's in New York City for $12,000.
So that was my biggest find-slash-mistake. You get over it though. You have to get over it. I love what I do, and I'm happy for him that he got a good deal from me.
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Tony Vesseur
Tony Vesseur is the owner of Populuxe, a store that specializes in high-quality mid-century modern furniture. It's open Fridays and Saturdays from noon til 5:00 p.m.
