THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408040205
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
GREENBRIER LIGHTING had been open only three months when it participated in its first Homearama last year. Owners Annette and Keith Tuttle are looking forward to displaying some of their lighting fixtures again during the weeklong exhibition this fall.
``I loved working in Homearama,'' said Annette Tuttle, who runs the showroom. ``We had a good response there last year. We also got a lot of business by word of mouth.''
Tuttle provides information and suggestions to their customers about lighting their homes for effect and efficiency.
``That's part of it,'' Tuttle said. ``That's what we're here for, to help customers see what goes together. We tell people what we prefer so that the fixtures will all flow together and so that it will all look good. That is why people come to a specialty shop.''
The Tuttles invested about $100,000 in their business, which is located at 1021 Executive Blvd. They own the building jointly with Frank Mani Plumbing. Their combined showroom and storage area is about 5,900 square feet.
Although Greenbrier Lighting is their first business venture, Annette Tuttle is not a newcomer to the lighting industry.
``I've been working with other lighting showrooms for years in Virginia Beach,'' she said. ``I just got tired of working for someone else. My husband is a building contractor. We figured we could set up a business together.''
Although Greenbrier Lighting is primarily a wholesale business, it welcomes retail customers as well.
``Mainly we work with builders and the folks they are building for,'' Tuttle said. ``But everyone who comes in the door gets a wholesale price. If you buy lighting for a whole house with us, then you get a discount on that, too.''
Their aim, she said, is to carry lighting in a wide range of prices from $50 to $2,000 or whatever the customer wants to invest.
``If they are not going to be in a house for a long time, some people don't want to put a lot of money into fixtures,'' she said.
They carry all types of lighting, including contemporary, traditional and Colonial styles. In the showroom there are fixtures and track lighting for the whole house as well as lamps, shades and decorative outside lighting. Ceiling fans as well as vacuum and intercom systems are also available.
``Now homeowners are interested in putting vacuum systems and intercoms in their houses,'' she said. Buyers can have a demonstration of the built-in vacuum system. The one on display is a barrel-shaped model approximately 4 feet long and 14 to 16 inches in diameter.
The lighting lines in the showroom include Designer's Fountain, Thomas Industries, Fasco, Classic Lighting and Murray Feiss.
For customers who like the Tiffany look, there's at least one example of an inverted Tiffany hanging lamp in deep shades of blue and rose and gold stained glass. This low light fixture is strictly for beauty. It provides a change from the usual stained-glass fixture where much of the beauty of the globe is lost around the bare bulb.
Chandeliers in crystal never seem to lose their popularity, Tuttle said.
``Crystal is selling more now because it looks good with any type of furniture, whether it's traditional or Colonial,'' she said.
Less expensive, tiered, crystal-look chandeliers made of acrylic provide another choice for customers.
``You can use the larger acrylic pieces,'' she said. ``Then if it should fall and break, there is not such a loss.''
Tuttle said fixtures are available in a variety of materials and colors.
``Rust is a new color in lighting,'' she said. And the fixture's cast brass structure really has the look of rusted metal. Another new color is verdi - a dull green. Fixtures in white and black are popular, too.
Children like the store's largest selling ceiling fan. The fan, which has circular blades, is displayed in the showroom in primary colors. The Tuttles will order the fan in the customer's choice of colors for blades and the fan's housing. There are also fans with blades in brass, see-through acrylics and a variety of colors. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Annette Tuttle and her husband, Keith, own Greenbrier Lighting.
by CNB