In my Guitars and Stars Part 1 post I told you the backstory about how we came to visit the winter NAMM Show – the National Association of Music Merchandisers – held in Los Angeles, CA.
While we were there to do research into the music industry, Greg also greatly enjoyed roaming the aisles and aisles and aisles of guitars, drums, basses, and every peripheral musical instrument imaginable.
He was amazed to walk past some of the biggest names in 1980s Heavy Metal - Rudy Sarzo of Quiet Riot/Whitesnake/Ozzy Osbourne, George Lynch of Dokken, Duff McKagan of Guns 'n Roses, Carlos Cavazo of Quiet Riot/Ratt, Frank Hannon of Tesla, Rick Neilsen of Cheap Trick, David Ellefson of Megadeath, and prolific studio musician Kenny Aronoff - all walking the aisles, mostly unnoticed among the throngs of people. I even saw Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead strolling through the lobby of our hotel. No one even glanced twice at him!
As neither of us had ever been to Los Angeles, we made time to do a few touristy things like visiting Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame...
browsing in Prada while strolling along Rodeo Drive,..
and walking along the boardwalk in Venice Beach.,,
Of course we had to capture the iconic Hollywood sign as seen from the Griffith Observatory...
We also went to the infamous music club Whisky a Go Go...
We combined this trip with a jaunt over to the Las Vegas furniture market to sleuth out new manufacturers that would be a good match for EuroLuxHome.com to sell online.
Of course, as antiques dealers we couldn't resist a stop at the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, home of the History Channel's Pawn Stars. I even posed for a photo with Rick Harrison - or his cardboard cutout, at any rate.
Back at NAMM, there were lots of free concerts too - Elle King, Sarah McLaughlin, J.T. Taylor from Kool & the Gang.
We learned a lot, and Greg even got to meet his guitar idol, George Lynch, telling him he was the reason Greg started playing guitar all those years ago. "Sorry about that," was George's humble response. Greg and I always enjoy a good road trip, and this one was both productive and fun.[related_products is_auto_added="1"]
In my Guitars and Stars Part 1 post I told you the backstory about how we came to visit the winter NAMM Show – the National Association of Music Merchandisers – held in Los Angeles, CA. While we were there to do research into the music industry, Greg also greatly enjoyed roaming the aisles and aisles and […]
It's all rock 'n' roll! Here's the story behind our recent trip to the NAMM Show by the National Association of Music Merchandisers, held in Los Angeles, CA.
My husband, Greg, has been a computer geek since 1984 when his parents bought an IBM PCjr home computer. Little did they know that purchase would change the trajectory of Greg's life, as he took to it as the proverbial duck in water. He remembers at thirteen having to get special permission from the SysOp of the Bulletin Board to have access long enough to download a 60 k game - waiting patiently while each block of data downloaded with a kachunk through the noisy modem for hours on end.
Here's Greg today, working at his computer in the EuroLuxHome.com office, with the "help" of the cats! Greg's computer habit led to an interest in programming and his belief that any repetitive task can, and should, be automated with technology. From programming his computer to write the 500 sentences of "I will behave appropriately in Mrs. Fowler's algebra class," that were assigned due to poor behavior choices, to creating a whizbang spreadsheet that could calculate packaging and distribution costs of drugs throughout Europe as an internship project for Eli Lilly in Germany during graduate school at the University of South Carolina's International Business School, Greg has always been adept with computers.
However, during his first job out of graduate school as a cost accountant at Fabrique Nationale, he took a two-week intensive Microsoft Access database course, and had his first “Aha!” moment in business - complete with angels singing and trumpeting fanfare. Databases are just his thing - he loves how he can see how to organize all of the data to make it do exactly what he wants it to do - sometimes speaking of it in reverent tones as a thing of beauty for those who can see it.
Fast forward nearly twenty years, and EuroLuxHome.com runs on Greg's custom, in-house-designed software that manages the data and images of more than a million products, and controls the flow of that information among nearly 20 marketplaces. It has been our special sauce and how we compete as a mom-and-pop antiques, furniture, lighting and home decor business in the vast sea of eCommerce.
Greg has also been a musician for nearly as long as he has been a computer geek - starting with his first electric guitar in 1985. He bought it for $50 in rolls of quarters that he had saved up from washing cars, as part of a deal with his parents that they would pay for lessons for a year if he bought his own instrument - and yet another passion was born. Eventually Greg even taught guitar lessons at Sims Music in Columbia, SC, during college for party money.
Nearly two years ago, we stopped at Sims Music and I bought Greg a very beautiful Ibanez bass guitar as a gift - just because he works so hard and he really loved it. Justin Sims said to Greg, "Hey, you know about selling online, right? Can you help me figure out how to sell more music equipment online?"
On that day, two passions collided - guitars and computers - and Sync2Sell.com was born. At first Greg just wanted to see if he could take our method of eCommerce and make it work for someone else in a different industry - more as a personal challenge and a mental puzzle. Justin was already selling on Reverb.com, but was manually listing musical equipment one item at a time. When Greg connected Justin's point-of-sale system, Lightspeed, to Reverb with his software solution, Justin's sales immediately jumped 800% and kept rising month after month. It was such a significant and sustained increase that within a few months, both Lightspeed and Reverb took notice and began asking questions. And that is how a business is born - when market demand meets opportunity, experience, and hustle.
Sync2Sell.com officially launched in September 2018 and continues to help Sims Music and many other music stores increase their online sales exponentially. And to make a long story long, that is how we ended up at winter NAMM - the National Association of Music Merchandisers - held in Los Angeles, CA.
In my next post Guitars and Stars Part 2 I'll tell you what - and who - we saw on our trip![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
It’s all rock ‘n’ roll! Here’s the story behind our recent trip to the NAMM Show by the National Association of Music Merchandisers, held in Los Angeles, CA. My husband, Greg, has been a computer geek since 1984 when his parents bought an IBM PCjr home computer. Little did they know that purchase would change […]
If you are antiques shopping in South Carolina, there are so many great places for you to visit along the way, including the Ashtabula Historic House. It’s about 90 minutes away from our Eurolux antiques gallery on Main Street in Historic Newberry, so once you’ve enjoyed looking around Newberry, you can drive over to Ashtabula.
Check their website for current opening hours. At time of writing, the house is open on Sunday afternoons for public tours, with private tours for six or more by appointment at any time. There are also special events. The photo above shows Ashtabula at the annual Christmas celebration and historical reenactment event. The house is dressed for the holidays and guides dressed in period costume tell you about life in the 1800s, accompanied by holiday music.
The two-story clapboard mansion stands in ten acres of grounds, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as well as being on the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor. It was built by Lewis Ladsen Gibbes somewhere between 1825 and 1828. He was a widely-traveled man who had studied at the Sorbonne in France and Eton in England. He and his wife wanted a home where they could benefit from the healthy climate of the foothills. The house became a self-sufficient farm and the mansion and plantation were owned by many other people before being given for restoration to The Pendleton Historic Foundation in 1961.
The house is now restored and decorated with antebellum antiques, including pieces that were owned by the families who lived here. The site also includes an original well house and a 1790 brick building that was once a tavern! As another interesting fact, this land was where the first Jersey and Hereford cattle were introduced into South Carolina.
If you plan a visit, Ashtabula Historic House is three miles east of Pendleton on SC Highway 88.[related_products is_auto_added="1"]
If you are antiques shopping in South Carolina, there are so many great places for you to visit along the way, including the Ashtabula Historic House. It’s about 90 minutes away from our Eurolux antiques gallery on Main Street in Historic Newberry, so once you’ve enjoyed looking around Newberry, you can drive over to Ashtabula. […]
In my last blog post I explained how we found ourselves on a California Antiques Road Trip in a 26-foot U-Haul truck to deliver a very large order of antique furniture to a customer.
As we left Amarillo, TX, we set our goal to reach Williams, AZ, by the end of the day. As I started researching hotels on the laptop, I realized that we would be one hour due south of the Grand Canyon! How could we be that close and not stop!
So even though it would add a few hours to the drive, we decided it was worth it.
We got up at 5 am on the fourth day and headed out to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.
I couldn’t resist doing a few yoga poses on the rim with such a beautiful background behind me – I crossed off that bucket list item!
And then we turned the truck toward Monterey, CA, passing through the Mojave Desert on the way.
It was interesting how you could feel the dryness in your eyes, on your skin, and at the back of your throat while in the desert.
We were exhausted by the time we stopped – 2800 miles in 86.5 hours from Newberry, SC to Monterey, CA. All of the pieces were delivered into a storage unit, as the customer’s home is currently under renovation, but she was pleased with her purchases.
After the delivery was completed, we decided to visit the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. Greg remembers seeing this house on “In Search Of” in the 1970s! Built in 1884 by Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Rifle fortune, this quirky 24,000 square foot house has stairs and doors that lead to nowhere and windows in the floor. Rumor has it that Sarah kept builders employed 24 hours a day for 38 years as a way to appease the spirits of those who lost their lives to the “gun that won the West.” It was definitely entertaining!
We also took a six-hour bus tour of San Francisco, which included views of the Golden Gate.
And we took a jaunt over to Muir Woods to hug a redwood.
We spent our last day at Alcatraz and wandering around Fisherman’s Wharf hunting for more cheesy magnets to add to our growing collection.
Finally, we headed to the airport and caught the red eye flight home.
It was a busy nine days, but we really had a lot of fun too. And we were delighted to get our customer's big order of fabulous antique furniture to her on time.
We'd already shipped those incredible antiques across the Atlantic ocean from Europe to the USA, and now we'd driven them right across the American continent to deliver each piece ourselves. Did I mention that we pride ourselves on our customer service? 🙂
As Greg joked afterward... "You need a truckload of antiques moved across the country on short notice? I’m your man."[related_products is_auto_added="1"]
In my last blog post I explained how we found ourselves on a California Antiques Road Trip in a 26-foot U-Haul truck to deliver a very large order of antique furniture to a customer. As we left Amarillo, TX, we set our goal to reach Williams, AZ, by the end of the day. As I […]
Greg and I hadn’t planned to drive a huge truck of antiques 2,800 miles from our gallery in Newberry, South Carolina, to California by way of the Grand Canyon... but that is exactly what we did! It’s just as well that we both love to get out of town and take a road trip when the opportunity presents itself!
When we sold a very large order to a customer in California, earlier this year, we planned to ship the order in a 40-foot container across the country and fly out to make the delivery ourselves to ensure that everything went smoothly. But our perfect plan kept going off the rails. After the sixth trucker canceled our load, we realized it was time to take matters into our own hands. Most retailers across the country are stocking up inventory in preparation for the upcoming holidays now, so there are currently more trucking jobs than truckers out on the roads and truckers can pick and choose which loads they want to carry.
Then we tried to get a container dropped at our gallery for a day so that we could carefully load all of the antiques into the container, but no one wanted to leave their trailer overnight. Next we tried to do a “live load” but we needed at least 8 hours to be able to carefully pack the trailer. Again, no one wanted to wait while we loaded, so we decided to rent a 26-foot U-Haul truck and just drive the load ourselves! Turns out this will be the mother of all road trips - 2800 miles!
On the first day we went through quite a few cities: Newberry, SC, Atlanta, GA, Birmingham, AL, Tupelo, MS, Memphis, TN, crossed the Mississippi River, finally reaching Forrest City, AR.
The cities became fewer with more distance in between on the second day: Little Rock, AR, Oklahoma City, OK, finally reaching Amarillo, TX. Here's a good ole Texan waffle!
We happened to be passing Albuquerque, NM, around lunch time. Greg and I are big fans of the TV show, Breaking Bad, so we decided to find Los Pollos Hermanos, the Mexican restaurant that is featured prominently in the show. The food was just okay, but it was fun to sit in Walter White’s booth.
In my next blog post about our California Antiques Road Trip Part 2, I'll be doing yoga in the Grand Canyon and we'll visit the spooky Winchester Mystery House. And.. oh yes! You'll find out if we managed to deliver our mega-truck of antiques to our California client on time![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
Greg and I hadn’t planned to drive a huge truck of antiques 2,800 miles from our gallery in Newberry, South Carolina, to California by way of the Grand Canyon… but that is exactly what we did! It’s just as well that we both love to get out of town and take a road trip when […]
We found some lovely grandfather clocks in Belgium. If you’ve been following the story of our antiques buying trip in France and Belgium, you’ll remember that on our last stop we arrived in England where our hotel overlooked the fantastically beautiful Lincoln Cathedral.
Now it was time to hit the road and go antiques hunting! Greg managed to drive us around all day on the wrong side of the road from the wrong side of the rental car and not hit anything!
We were in Lincoln to meet up with antique clock dealers, and we were especially on the hunt for handsome antique grandfather clocks. We found them!
We also visited Hardwick Hall, built in the 1590s by Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, or Bess of Hardwick as she is often known. Bess of Hardwick is one of my favorite historical figures as she was the second wealthiest woman in England after Elizabeth I, which was unheard of during Elizabethan times.
"Hardwick Hall, more glass than wall" is a local saying, because it was so rare for houses to have glass windows back in Elizabethan England. Glass was very expensive and of course it is fragile, so you had to have lots of money to afford it.
Bess of Hardwick was a shrewd businesswoman and she had both the cash and the vision for this innovative house. You can just about see her initials ES on top of the turrets of the house. This is a portrait of her.
Inside the house there are many fine Elizabethan tapestries and embroidered textiles, Ming dynasty ceramics, 17th and 18th century tester beds and other antiques.
The Sea-Dog Table is one famous piece, made in Paris in about 1570. It is ornately carved in walnut with mythical beasts -- winged dogs with fishes' tails
Fast forward from the 16th century to the 20th century... During our trip to England we also enjoyed a day off with a visit to Bletchley Park where Alan Turing and the code breakers worked during World War II. It used to be a top-secret location but now it's open to the public. It's a very different house to Hardwick Hall and a very different piece of history, but just as fascinating.
I can't wait to share photos with you of the antique clocks and furniture and vintage chandeliers we bought in Europe on our buying trip, but that will have to wait until the container arrives and we can unpack everything![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
We found some lovely grandfather clocks in Belgium. If you’ve been following the story of our antiques buying trip in France and Belgium, you’ll remember that on our last stop we arrived in England where our hotel overlooked the fantastically beautiful Lincoln Cathedral. Now it was time to hit the road and go antiques hunting! […]
If you've been following the story of our antiques buying trip in France and Belgium, you'll know that our next stop is England!
At this stage in our adventure we had finished our tour around France and Belgium and returned our big rental van in Paris. It had been packed with antiques that we bought, but now we had time to hike up to Sacre Coeur for a final view of the city.
It was beautiful but hot at 100 degrees temperature!
I was definitely ready for cooler temps in England.
Meanwhile, we enjoyed the view over Paris:
Then we flew to Manchester, England. When we checked in to our hotel in Lincoln, we discovered another great view. This was the view from our hotel window - Lincoln Cathedral!
We were in Lincoln to meet up with antique clock dealers, but the sight of this cathedral was just too tempting. Here's another view of the cathedral:
We had a few minutes free so we decided to go in. I have seen quite a few European cathedrals in my travels, but I have to say that Lincoln Cathedral may be the most fantastically beautiful one I have ever seen.
The first cathedral was built here 1088 but after an earthquake (a very unusual event in England) they had to start rebuilding in 1192. The nave was built in the Early English Gothic style, as you can see in the photo above.
The cathedral was the tallest building in the world until 1549! It is still the third largest cathedral in Britain in terms of floor area.
This beautiful stained glass window is so detailed, it's amazing to think how old it is.
The carvings are wonderful and they are everywhere. Find the imp! He looks like foliage at first glance but he sits in the corner above the carved head. It's a medieval joke!
We also strolled through the charming medieval town before we got down to business searching for antiques. It was all very colorful.
Greg couldn't resist trying on this traditional English bowler hat. We'll leave it to your imagination to wonder whether he bought it or not! In my next blog post, I'll show you some of the fantastic grandfather clocks that we saw, and more of the English sights we enjoyed.[related_products is_auto_added="1"]
If you’ve been following the story of our antiques buying trip in France and Belgium, you’ll know that our next stop is England! At this stage in our adventure we had finished our tour around France and Belgium and returned our big rental van in Paris. It had been packed with antiques that we bought, […]
The Althorp Living History collection of furniture is based on the antique furniture from Princess Diana’s ancestral home in England. We are delighted that we are now supplying this elegant collection to our customers. Each piece is beautifully hand-crafted by Theodore Alexander furniture makers.
This is Althorp, the childhood home and final resting place of the late Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales. Her brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, still lives there and he has allowed Theodore Alexander access to make the Althorp furniture collection.
The house was built in 1508 by the Spencer family, set in 550 acres of parkland near Northampton, 70 miles north of London. Althorp has 90 rooms that are all beautifully decorated with antiques added to the house by generations of Princess Diana’s ancestors over five centuries. This is the Marlborough Room. The Victorian rosewood dining table pulls extends to seat up to 42 guests!
Every piece in the Theodore Alexander Althorp furniture collection is either an exact reproduction of furniture in the Althorp estate, or is inspired by it. What an amazing and exciting challenge that must have been for the master craftsmen at Theodore Alexander!
These pieces, like all Theodore Alexander furniture, are hand-crafted with superb finishes.
For example, this four-poster Althorp bed in the style of George III is crafted in handsome mahogany with a gorgeous flame mahogany veneer design and brass accents. The acanthus leaf motif, carved columns and spiral pine cone finials create a very luxurious impression.
This Althorp Living History desk is an absolutely darling piece of furniture. Imagine sitting down before the Louis XV Rococo style desk to write your journal or your correspondence!
This fine Althorp desk is crafted in mahogany and rosewood with cast brass accents on the cabriole legs. The serpentine top adds to the seductive appeal!
You will have a great conversational starter when you welcome your guests to take a seat in this Theodore Alexander Althorp settee! Your friends will love to hear the story of its origins. The mahogany settee with leather upholstery is crafted in the Georgian style with shapely cabriole legs and a waisted back. It's a charming settee and a real steal on the price for a settee with such a fine heritage. At time of writing it is $1759 with our always free shipping.
It's an honor to supply this regal line of Theodore Alexander Althorp Living History furniture and home accessories to our customers. We hope you will browse our Althorp furniture here and let your imagination take flight![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
The Althorp Living History collection of furniture is based on the antique furniture from Princess Diana’s ancestral home in England. We are delighted that we are now supplying this elegant collection to our customers. Each piece is beautifully hand-crafted by Theodore Alexander furniture makers. This is Althorp, the childhood home and final resting place of […]
One of the things I miss the most about living in Germany, especially at this time of year, is browsing around the Christmas markets, or Weihnachtsmarkte, that are found in big cities and small towns across Germany. You may have even heard of the most famous Christmas markets in Nurnberg or Munich, but my favorite Christmas market is in Cologne.
Sitting at the base of the huge Gothic Cathedral, the Christmas market fills the large town square with booth-after-twinkling-booth of things to delight your eye!
A large Christmas tree stands above the concert stage in the middle of the market, which is always filled with carol singers accompanied by musicians. There are booths filled with sparkling glass Christmas ornaments in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
There are booths filled with hand-crafted wooden toys, jolly wooden nutcrackers and smokers, and all sorts of gifts to take home to your family and friends.
There are booths filled with giant cookies that say Ich Liebe Dich! (I love you!) and roasted nuts that smell incredible as you walk by.
Even bundled up in winter coats, scarves and mittens, eventually you begin to feel the cold as you wander through the booths, each more colorful and inviting than the next. It’s time for Gluhwein!
Spiced warm wine, or hot chocolate if you prefer, in souvenir mugs is just the thing to warm your hands – and, after a couple of mugs, your toes and nose too!
But my absolute favorite is the booth with the chocolate dipped fruit!
Skewers of chocolate-dipped fresh fruit – pieces of bananas, pineapples, grapes, strawberries – dipped in white chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate – it is divine!
Although not found at the Christmas markets, my favorite meal at this time of year in Germany is Christmas goose.
If you’ve never had goose, you’ve missed out. It is mouth-wateringly delicious! It tastes similar to duck and is traditionally served with Klopse (round steamed potato dumplings), rotkohl (pickled red cabbage) and roasted chestnuts – my all-time favorite German meal.
Although I’ll miss out on the Christmas goose and chocolate-covered fruit this year, I’ll be reminiscing while trying out this Gluhwein recipe I found on Pinterest!
It calls for 1 bottle of dry red wine, 1 cup of brandy, 1 sliced lemon, and 3 sliced oranges. To add the spice, stir in 6 sticks of cinnamon, 8 to 10 cloves, and 3 to 5 whole anis. Mix in 3 tablespoons of sugar then simmer for 45 minutes.
Prost![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
One of the things I miss the most about living in Germany, especially at this time of year, is browsing around the Christmas markets, or Weihnachtsmarkte, that are found in big cities and small towns across Germany. You may have even heard of the most famous Christmas markets in Nurnberg or Munich, but my favorite […]
We had a great time recently when we hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and visited the Mary Todd Lincoln home - it's full of antique furniture!
It all started when our nephew, Matthew, came and stayed with us for about 10 days this summer. He spent a good deal of time hanging out with Greg and learning to fix computers and cell phones. We drove him back to Columbus, Ohio, and then took a few days making our way home as a summer vacation.
Greg is a huge baseball fan. One of his bucket list items is to see a game in every national stadium, so of course, we stopped in Cincinnati at the Great American Ballpark to catch a Reds game.
We drove on to Lexington, Kentucky, to hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail! Greg and I love small batch bourbons and are on a quest to find our favorites. This is our second trip along the Kentucky Bourbon trail, as we visited the Maker’s Mark distillery several years ago.
This time we stopped at Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey, Buffalo Trace and Willet Distillery. It is very interesting to tour the production facilities and see how each business operates.
Even better, we get to experience the tastings at the end of the tour! So far my absolute favorite is Basil Hayden, with Maker’s Mark a close second. Greg really likes Wild Turkey 101 and Maker’s Mark, but he says he still has many yet to try before he can call a winner.
We also toured the Mary Todd Lincoln House. It was the first house museum site restored purely to honor a First Lady and it is filled with beautiful antique furniture. This is the dining room. I actually never knew that Mary Todd came from a very wealthy and politically connected family before she married Abraham Lincoln, so it was fascinating to see her childhood home.
This is the Mary Todd Lincoln House parlor. The house was originally built in 1803 as an inn, before it became a private home in 1832. I always love a good historic home museum, and I can highly recommend this one if you’re in Lexington, Kentucky. I found it on Trip Advisor, my favorite travel mobile app.
Finally, we stopped at the Sanders Cafe in Corbin, Kentucky, home to Colonel Sanders and Kentucky Fried Chicken!
You can actually see the original kitchen where the Colonel worked out his original recipe, and of course you can eat lunch there.
Entrepreneurship is near and dear to my heart, and Colonel Sanders is one of my business heroes, so I greatly enjoyed this stop.
I admire that Colonel Sanders never gave up. He didn’t actually make his fortune until later in life, years after he sold his original cafe, hotel, and gas station in order to break even with his debts.
It was a fascinating end to a short but sweet summer vacation!
Where have you been traveling to this summer? Have you hit any historic sites? Tell us in the comments... we'd love to hear about it![related_products is_auto_added="1"]
We had a great time recently when we hit the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and visited the Mary Todd Lincoln home – it’s full of antique furniture! It all started when our nephew, Matthew, came and stayed with us for about 10 days this summer. He spent a good deal of time hanging out with Greg […]
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