While
many current business people were still worried about their upcoming
date for the prom, or playing tag with their friends, or wearing
diapers, or not even born yet, Carl Mead was hard at work. He
began working with upholstered furniture at age 16 in 1947. He
has recently completed his 53rd year in the business. Carl and
his wife, Jan Mead moved here in 1963. They had a business in
Grand Rapids, Michigan for 12 years prior to moving...but part
of the impetus to move was, "there were eight feet of snow
out front," said Carl. By 1996 he had achieved his "Certificate
of Mastery" among upholsterers in the US. and Canada and
at that time, there were only 109 such craftsmen with the designation.
While Carl has been trying for some time to retire, he has not
yet been successful at that. He continues to be constantly busy,
in fact his basic "backlog" is about 2 months. He makes
furniture the old fashioned way, with glue and screws or staples,
and double lap joints, but no dowels. You may select from already
finished pieces in his re-opened lower floor showroom on Marine
Drive in Astoria, or simply point to a picture and tell him what
you want. Carl himself spends time leafing through current issues
of Architectural Digest just to find inspiration for new pieces.
They have about 1,500 hanging samples of material to choose from
and at least 50 more sample books. While you MAY bring in your
own material for a piece, they prefer you select from their samples,
since they can be confident of the quality and durability of the
materials. It takes anywhere from 12 to 18 yards of material to
cover a sofa, and materials range in price from $35 per yard for
fabrics up to $252 per yard or $180 per linear yard for leather.
They will do furnishings and reupholstering for commercial or
residential applications and recently completed work with the
Pig 'N Pancake remodel in Astoria.
Backlog not withstanding, it generally takes 30 days to receive
a new sofa, built from scratch. An average custom sofa may cost
$1,700.
Mark Beck has worked with Carl for the last 14 years and Marsha
Ettro helps out three days a week as a seamstress. Sharon Browne
helps as bookkeeper and salesperson in the showroom, and Jan Mead
helps with decorating and furniture ideas.
LCB
Mead Interiors
Owners: Jan and Carl Mead
Address: 106 Third Street,
Astoria, Oregon 97103
Telephone: 503/325-0701
Toll Free: 800/887-0701
Hours: 8:30a - 5:30p M - Saturday
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