In a furniture and housewares business ruled by economies of scale, selling one-of-a-kind items in competition with mass merchandisers may seem doomed to failure. But Alex Paterson, owner of Tu Gallery in Edmonton, appears to have found a way to do it.
“We have more than 40 artisans who focus on handcrafted furniture which is made locally,” he says. By locally he means in Canada, but Paterson insists on showcasing mainly Alberta-based talent, be it the vanity pieces or glassworks on display in the gallery’s showroom or the works of 14 photographers also available for sale. In addition, Paterson’s wife, Lorna, a professional photographer, creates custom frames. A customer can enter the boutique space on Edmonton’s gallery walk and find what Paterson calls “investment pieces.” “You don’t need to walk into a gallery and say, ‘I’ll takethat, and that, and that.’ Instead, buy one thing a year and you’ll get quite the collection,” Paterson says.
Opened a year ago, the 1,600-square-foot gallery owes its existence partly to Paterson’s more than 28 years in the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) industry. While air conditioning to fine furnishings may seem an odd leap, Paterson’s interest in woodworking stems from years of attention to detail with an entirely different medium. “I started out in the industry as a sheet metal mechanic,” says Paterson, “and after 10 years of installing HVAC systems, not to mention having three kids and a mortgage, I decided to go back to school and obtain my air conditioning engineering technologist’s certificate.
“I’ve wanted to work with wood for 20 years,” the 48-year-old says. “But it wasn’t until I had sold my most recent company” – he’s bought and sold three successful HVAC firms in his career – “I realized I could do something about it.” Paterson decided that, because he had obtained his original certification at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), he would go back there to investigate his possibilities. It was a serendipitous decision, as NAIT was offering for the first time a one-year furniture design and building program. Paterson promptly signed up for the program and the rest, as they say, was history.
“We went on a lot of field trips and at one I saw the most amazing dining room set. It gave me goosebumps, it was so beautiful. It had exotic wood, inlays and was an exceptional piece of art. I asked the artisan how much it was, and he said he had been commissioned to make it for $17,000.
“That’s when my business mind kicked in,” he said. Paterson compared that piece to the one he had almost purchased for his own home 18 months before, which had also been $17,000. The difference? It had been available for sale in a furniture chain store and was one of thousands made, Paterson says. When, after some due diligence, he discovered there were no galleries for prospective customers to view fine furniture made as originals, his decision was made. “I went home and told Lorna, ‘That’s it! I want to open a gallery,’” he says.
That summer Paterson found the site he wanted on 124th Street, Edmonton’s gallery row. The couple gutted the building, which had housed a pawn shop, and within eight months had the space ready for the first pieces of art to come through its doors.
“If, for the same price point as a mass manufactured item, people can have functional art – an heirloom piece – we want to be able to supply them with that opportunity,” says Paterson. “And from that,” he grins, “we’ll see a profit.”
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