JUST IN CASE YOU DIDN’T NOTICE the sign when you walked in the door, the walls above the showroom floor gently remind you of where you are. Against a black background, white and gold painted feathers seem to float and tumble around the perimeter of the showroom’s interior, their plumage promising comfort and a sense of luxury.
Welcome to Feathers Fine Custom Furnishings & Fabrics, a 10,000-square-foot showroom specializing in down-filled custom upholstery, pillows, draperies, bedding and in-stock fabrics. On display are dozens of deep, cushy sofas and chairs upholstered in richly colored and textured fabrics, and racks of warmly hued fabric bolts, interspersed with examples of lavish draperies, bedding and accessories.
The showroom had its origins more than 10 years ago, when owners Claudia and Dan Levinson owned separate but compatible businesses in metro Phoenix. Not married to each other at the time, Dan ran a custom upholstery shop while Claudia had a small workroom specializing in custom bedding and other fancy work. “We used to refer business to one another,” explains Dan, who learned his craft from his father. When a mutual friend wanted out of an established drapery business, Claudia and Dan merged their businesses, acquired the drapery clientele, and Feathers began in 1995.
“At first, we were working exclusively with designers,” Dan says, “but about six years ago we wanted to have a higher profile. So we went retail, with courtesy to the trade.”
Business grew steadily. The decision to add in-stock fabrics came shortly after September 11, 2001, Dan explains. “We used to just offer books and fabric samples, but after September 11, we found we had trouble ordering fabrics.” Manufacturers, Dan says, depleted their inventory, thinking that the economy would be bad, but the opposite happened when it came to home furnishings. Though people spent less money on traveling, they started putting money into their homes. “When we ordered the fabrics, we’d have a 50-50 chance of actually getting the customers’ orders,” Dan says.
To solve the problem, Claudia and Dan decided to hit the world markets and mills, buying fabrics and trims from the same sources that the major fabric lines use. Their in-stock fabrics became their own proprietary line of fabrics. The present showroom initially had a manufacturing facility on site, but the Levinsons moved the location several blocks away so they could have more space to display the bolts of fabrics and trims. Dan estimates that they carry some 1,000 bolts of fabric at any given time, plus 500 trims. If a customer can’t find what he’s looking for, Feathers also offers the traditional option of ordering from a book.
Custom upholstery is also at the core of the business, and the showroom displays several of their popular styles, which can be scaled up or down to fit any setting plus trimmed in any style to complement an interior. Styles range from heavily carved, richly detailed Old World seating to sectionals that would blend into a contemporary family room. Windows and archways also showcase the firm’s talents with valances, swags, draperies and more; bedding is set out in inviting displays.
Recently, the Levinsons also added accessories and occasional furniture to the mix. “We wanted to be known as the one-stop shop for interiors,” Dan says. “We found our customers spent an hour or more in the showroom with their fabric and upholstery selections, so we thought we could offer them even more for their interiors.” As such, customers can now find candles and candleholders, lighting, bowls, boxes, mirrors, side tables and more.
Feathers’ business has continued to grow, and, recently, the Levinsons decided to move into their own space within a small design center, which just broke ground. By the end of this year, Feathers should be in its new location, with 15,000 square feet of showroom space.
