Eye of the Tiger...

It was a friday afternoon. I was running some errands for the boy (buying bike food) while he was at work and decided to swing by the nearby thrifts. I only happen to go to these thrifts when he needs bike food because they are located on the far side of town. I also hadn't been having much luck at them recently.

It just so happened that it was 50% day. Alright time to find some goodies! I made my way around the furniture section out front and saw a really fabulous rustic coffee table... already SOLD. Oh well. I was walking around the housewares section, always keeping an eye out for some Ulthima Thule. No luck. I went through the plastics section and found one thing which I'll reveal in the week's roundup. *This post is dedicated to a solitary find. *

I continued making my way around the store and ended up at the back, where the books are along with the large exercise equipment. There, next to the exercise machines, I saw a chair. It was low lying, made of teak and very much in a Danish style. I went to take a closer look but it didn't have a price tag. Oh no, someone in this store has beat me to it! I waited around (like a tiger stalking his prey) and saw an employee walking towards the chair along with a couple. He was going to help them with the purchase... did they buy it? Turns out they bought the exercise machine next to it. Phew. I continued waiting around to see if someone would take the chair but alas nobody did. I asked an employee if he knew about the chair and why it didn't have a price tag. What a helpful fellow, he asked his manager and then he got on the loud speaker and asked if anyone had the price tag for the chair. Nobody did! Yay! The manager then came by and told me the price tag was taken off since the time they brought the chair out the night before. That's odd. In any case, since nobody bought it he told me the price of the chair was $50, since it was 50% off Friday it would end up being $25. "Was I interested? ", he asked. Heck yeah!

I always wanted a Danish style lounge chair and for $25 it couldn't be beat. I failed to mention that the chair was wrapped in plastic so I couldn't thoroughly inspect it. I looked underneath and everywhere you could think of to find a mark but didn't find one. I figured it was a chair reproduction from Plummer's because the wood seemed to be in pretty good shape. The upholstery didn't look original and needed to be replaced too. It was also really light which I found odd. However, it was $25... what more could I ask for. I paid for the chair, had someone put it in my car and off I went.

The boy called me to see where I was and what I was up to. I told him I found a chair. A chair, that in my mind made up for an amazing mid-century sale that I was going to miss the following day. You see, we had already committed to a father's day bike ride. Even though the boy isn't a father yet we wanted to go. 

When I got home I started unwrapping the chair. I took off the bottom cushion and found a mark. No Way! That's always a good sign. However, I didn't recognize the mark. Blasphemous, I know! So off I went searching on the interwebs for France + Teak + Mark. What do I find? It is the manufacturer France & Sons of Denmark. Sweet, an authentic Danish chair! So I continued searching with my new bit of information and what did I find... the chair that I thought was a reproduction is actually a chair designed by one of the most notable Danish designers, Finn Juhl! Holy smokes!!

This certainly makes up for missing the sale the following day (the boy actually wanted me to go but due to the high publicity of the sale I didn't want to fight off any hardcore dealers). 

Lo and behold my find: (sorry for the bad pics but I'll re-photograph when I have the new upholstered cushions)

These folks found two of them 3 years ago, at $10 each!!

Just look at the thoughtful detail at the end of the armrest.

... and look at the soft curves and the beautiful color of the teak.

 

You see where the mark is? It was hidden underneath the cushions! Since I love anything teak, MCM or Scandinavian this is like finding the Holy Grail. Unfortunately the boy wants me to sell it as does la familia. The only way I would even *think* about selling it is if it was to have money for my papa bear chair. Wouldn't you agree?

As far as the cushions are concerned, I'd like to get some distressed leather upholstery like so...

 

What do you think?

Lessons Learned: 
1. Don't assume that a large item is sold because it doesn't have a price tag.
2. It doesn't matter at what time of day you go to a thrift store, you may just be lucky that day!
3. Maybe there is such a thing as Good Karma.
4. There are still GREAT deals to be had.