The Weekly Newspaper of Manhattan Beach Herald Publications - El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 Vol. 8, No. 12 December 4, 2014 Inside This Issue Certified and Licensed Professionals...................6 Classifieds............................3 Community Briefs...............2 Finance..................................6 Food.......................................5 Looking Up...........................4 Pets........................................7 Politically Speaking............4 Weekend Forecast Waterleaf Interiors Reopens at Metlox Patrons mingle at Waterleaf Interiors’ grand re-opening, held November 6th at the Metlox complex in Manhattan Beach. For more photos, see page 2. Photo by Christina Murphy. At Studio Antiques, You Find what You’re Looking for By Laura Sorensen In all of our lives there is an undercurrent of things. Things you want; things you don’t want; things you can’t get rid of; the one thing you can’t find that would make your life complete. This current flows from upscale showrooms to garage sales, and through all of our own homes. Do we want more, or do we want less? And who can tell us what to do with the things that we have? Enter Sally and Laurence Martin, owners of Studio Antiques, stage left, with a flourish. This dynamic duo has the knowledge, the research, and the interest to appraise, in the words of that internet meme, “All the Things.” I sat outside the store with the Martins, and they seemed to know everyone that passed by Studio Antiques, which has been located at 337 Richmond Street in El Segundo since 1987. That’s the benefit of being in business for 26 years, and the Martins are a gregarious couple who obviously enjoy saying hello. Laurence is British, originally from Bournemouth and still a fan of AFC Bournemouth, known locally as the Cherries: kind of punk rock, artistically ripped shirt, tendency to break into his own language. Like if Keith Richards was in the appraising business. Sally seems more of a down-home girl, knowing the issues affecting the city, taking care of the details with a kind smile and a bucket of chitchat at the ready. They have been married 21 years; they work together, they travel together, and they are on TV together. Just a bit of that kind of togetherness is enough for some people, but the Martins have been making it work for decades. Their first very successful TV job together was on the A&E reality show Storage Wars, about bidding on abandoned storage lockers and hoping to find something saleable. The Martins were part of the expert appraisal team, and then were offered roles in a show with a similar premise called Baggage Battles. At first, Baggage Battles went to airports and the Martins got to buy suitcases and bags sight unseen, plastic bags full of jewelry, or whatever unclaimed items the airports had lying around. The show expanded to other venues and it became extremely popular, mostly outside the US. “It was an adventure everywhere we went,” said Laurence. The Martins have traveled across the U.S., to London and other European venues, to Toronto, and lately even to Johannesburg. “Like Beatlemania,” added Laurence, reminiscing on the welcome he got in South Africa. Then when the Martins come back home, the fans return the favor with a visit of their own. “The thing is, people come to El Segundo from all over the world,” said Sally. Laurence added that people come almost every day to meet the two of them and see Studio Antiques. A reader might be tempted not to believe this, but let me verify. During our interview, a nice couple drove up with a big camera: they were Anna and Tom, and they were on a sightseeing trip from Norway. They had visited San Francisco, then swung out to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. Next stop? Studio Antiques. Anna and Tom were very excited to see the Martins and many photos were taken on everyone’s phones. The Martins were as friendly as could be. Tom and Laurence discussed lutefisk, their common knowledge of German, and whether Baggage Battles was dubbed or subtitled in Norway (turns out it’s subtitled). Sally and Anna hugged one another. “It’s so nice,” said Sally, to see these friendly faces and hear their stories. Some fans bring the Martins gifts or mementos, and the Martins treat them with kindness and show them around the shop. “They go to Disneyland,” said Laurence, “and then they come here.” It’s quite an accomplishment, to be recognizably famous but also accessible enough that the fans feel comfortable showing up at Studio Antiques just to say hello. The store has something for everyone: it’s crammed from floor to ceiling with items of all kinds and shapes, from records to light fixtures to casseroles to jewelry. Next door is the “World Gallery,” where Laurence showcases larger items he’s found overseas. The Martins have many avenues for sale, thanks to the internet: besides the brick-and-mortar store, they have a website with a catalog and an enormous eBay store. They do free appraisals and will sell merchandise for clients on eBay as well. They pride themselves on their honesty, and disdain stores that try to cheat the customer by offering a false price or not doing their homework. “The thing that we bring to the table that no one else does is the research,” said Sally. The Martins can call on a vast network of experts to appraise any item, and they love to ferret out origins, maker’s marks, and whatever else can fetch the best price possible. Not everything is worth a mint, of course, but the Martins will go the extra mile to make sure. Their eBay sales make up 80% of the store’s business, so the Martins are constantly on the lookout for clients who may have a treasure on hand and need an expert eye. They also will appraise estate items and run estate sales. Each revenue stream contributes to the overall business model, which is to take in items, but also to get them out the door in a fair manner. Small business owners have to worry about everything, from travel to eBay re-listings to the parking outside, and just last week, the city created new diagonal parking that goes up the west side of Richmond Street. The spaces are narrow and a little hard to park in, especially coming from Grand (says this reporter from experience). Sally, though she is reserving judgment until the spaces have been here a few more weeks, was worried that people might drive on by if they can’t figure out how to get into one of the spaces. Each person who parks might come away with something from Studio Antiques, and each person who drives on by is a loss. As we spoke about parking, a woman came out of the depths of the store with a flat, iron-grate looking thing. She wanted to buy it to put a plant on; Sally told her it was a boot-scraper. The lady bought it anyway, and now it has a second life. Studio Antiques enjoys making old things See Studio Antiques, page 2 Friday Partly Cloudy 67˚/56˚ Saturday Sunny 68˚55˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 68˚/55˚
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