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By Leigh Kelley, Hendersonville Times-News
May 15, 2007
Couple Leave Rat Race Behind to Open
Downtown Gallery
How did the business begin?
Mrs. Rash: "My husband and I were tired of the rat race and we moved
to North Carolina from San Francisco, Calif., eight years ago. I was
working as a consultant for Agilent Technologies, which is a spinoff
from Hewlett Packard. My husband is a product manager with
Advanced Food Co., which is headquartered in the Midwest. They are a
food service supplier to restaurants, hospitals -- U.S. Food Service and
Cisco are their customers. We wanted to do something more visually
creative so we opened the gallery."
What products or services do you offer?
Furniture, lighting, artwork and home decor accessories. Silver Fox
Gallery specializes in contemporary American design with furniture
lines from Michael Thomas and Miles Talbot and lighting by Bruck and
Hubbardton Forge.
"Our gallery's design concept is 'mountain contemporary,'" Mrs. Rash
said. "Our collection replicates the colors and shapes found in
Western North Carolina's landscape. Selections are based on the
principles that less is more and quality is more important than
quantity. We encourage people to make an investment in their quality
of life by surrounding themselves with authentic, inspiring work."
What's new?
"We've turned a downstairs closet into another floor of retail space for
furniture, lighting and fine art," Mrs. Rash said. "We tested the market
last year for handcrafted, contemporary furniture by filling our loft/living
room on the third floor with furniture for sale. People really seemed to
be excited about it so we went ahead with the expansion and we
completed it three weeks ago."
The expansion adds 2,000-square-feet of retail space in addition to
another 800-square-feet of stockroom space in an area at the very
back of the building on the bottom floor. The stockroom also serves as
a shipping and receiving area.
"You can pull out catalogs all day long, but it's not the same as seeing
first-hand how all the lighting, furniture and art work together in a room.
It seems to really help the customers see the items in a real situation
that they're supposed to be in," Mrs. Rash said.
In addition to shopping at the gallery, purchases can be made online
through the business Web site www.silverfoxonline.com.
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