Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180261
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANNE GEARAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RUTHER GLEN LENGTH: Medium
The Boone's Antiques sign is barely visible from the road. The aluminum-sided building looks more like an auto parts store than an upscale shop. But Boone's major customers - antique dealers and interior decorators - aren't interested in ambiance.
"You don't get marble columns and nice carpet when you come here. You give that up, but you get this huge inventory," said Bill French, owner of the 45,000-square-foot store just off Interstate 95 in Caroline County.
French isn't sure just how many things he has inside the store, but it's safe to say he probably has one of just about anything a designer could want. Or more likely, he has several.
Chests of drawers? No problem, there are about 350 lined shoulder to shoulder along the warehouse's cramped aisles. Grandfather clocks? About 50 stand together in a corner.
There are rooms full of English oil paintings, fancy china and carved boxes. Row on row of sideboards bump up against dozens of desks. There are hundreds, probably thousands, of tables.
Then there's the room filled with more than 4,000 chairs. Huge, baronial chairs and slim little bamboo numbers. Sets of eight, 12 or 20. Seats in velvet, leather, silk, satin; a few with no seats at all.
"Inventory day is not a very happy thing when it comes," French said.
About 90 percent of French's stock comes from England, the remainder from France and the United States.
Boone's, a chain of four independently owned stores, employs full-time buyers in England who make regular rounds at country antique stores, estate sales and private homes.
French, 34, took over the business after his father-in-law, the original owner, died three years ago. French has worked at the store full time since graduating from college, never finding time to visit England himself.
Boone's is the East Coast's largest antique dealer, and French has the chain's largest store, he said.
"There isn't anyone else who has this much square footage or so much packed into it," French said. The store is in an out-of-the way spot on purpose - land was cheap and overhead low.
The 40-year-old company, headquartered in Wilson, N.C., supervises buying and coordinates shipments, French said. Its other stores are in Wilson; Frankfort, Ky.; and Atlanta.
"No one else that I know of has that kind of inventory or does what Boone's does," said Frances Simmons, who outfitted much of her Alexandria antiques and interior design store at Boone's 20 years ago and has been buying there since.
Prices appear steep when compared to neighboring antiques stores.
A cherry country-style kitchen table is marked $3,500 - $2,000 or $3,000 above prices at other stores for tables that look similar.
But French said his version is an increasingly rare French table from about 1830 in an unusual size and in excellent condition.
"There aren't that many of these out there, even though other tables might look somewhat similar. This is what they cost."
The most expensive item in the store is a $45,000 English Chippendale secretary. The cheapest is a chipped plate marked "free."
French declined to give his annual sales total. "Just say we do a good business," he said.
Typically, an interior designer will call and ask how many of a certain item French has in stock, then make the trip with the client in tow.
Because the store is off the beaten path, walk-in customers are not common. French does much of the rest of his business with movie set designers and others who want to rent antiques for short periods of time. Most recently, several of Boone's pieces were featured in the Civil War epic "Sommersby," which was filmed in Bath County.
by CNB