Last year I introduced you all (here) to one of my favorite “local” sites, and since then their business has been booming. The Local Vault, a site that lets you buy and sell all things home related, has become a regular in my site surfing rotation. When founders Betsy Perry and Patricia Espinosa called, I jumped at the chance to be featured on their blog as a guest curator – and couldn’t think of a duo I’d rather collaborate with about home decor. Below you’ll find some of my favorite items for sale on the site right now. And in the weeks to come I’ll be adding a few things to their inventory so stay tuned!
{Anabelle Bro Chairs, 20th Century French Chandelier, Carvers’ Guild Acanthus Mirror, Antique French Empire Commode with Marble Top, Decorative Horns Rimmed in Sterling Silver, 18th Century Copper Cauldron}
Q&A with Betsy Perry and Patricia Espinosa, Founders of The Local Vault:
Remind us of what The Local Vault is and how you do business?
The Local Vault is a highly curated online marketplace to buy and sell high end, new and pre-owned home decor. Currently, all our pieces are locally sourced from Fairfield and Westchester County, but we have buyers from all over the country. We do not take physical possession of our items, rather we photograph, measure and beautifully present the piece and promote through our site and on all our social media platforms. Once an items is purchased we handle all the arrangements for pick up with the buyer, the seller gets paid upon delivery. We compare the shopper experience on TLV to shopping with your design savvy best friend because all of the pieces have been personally vetted from our team of curators.
How has business been at TLV?
Business has been great! We have a tremendously loyal buyer base because once someone finds out about us, they are hooked. What makes our site so special is the thrill of the unexpected, you never know exactly what is coming next. One week a beautiful pair of Christian Liaigre Cigale side tables, the next a fabulous set of Danish Modern Dining Chairs, the following a set of Baccarat Empire Crystal that would make the Queen herself do a double take. Our diverse inventory appeals to all types of design aesthetics. What differentiates TLV from other online marketplaces is that we personally vet each item on our site. Our secret sauce is the amazing local market we are fortunate to call home. This unique market provides us with access to treasures that come in all shapes and sizes and fit a wide range of budgets.
How have you changed since launching the site?
The biggest change we have made since launching back in 2014 is our website! We launched our new site this past summer, no small feat, and the customer feedback has been fantastic. Visitors can now enjoy better navigation and functionality, and while we are very happy with this iteration, we are constantly making improvements and updates in order to provide a better shopping experience for our buyers and create the best possible platform for our sellers.
What do people have the most success selling on your site?
Pairs, pairs and pairs! Noah knew what he was doing when loading up his arc. 🙂 We do incredibly well with pairs of club chairs, lamps, end tables, bedside tables, sconces, occasional chairs, candlesticks, and pillows. We also have great success with lighting of all kinds. For those buyers who are initially fearful of buying pre-owned goods, lighting is good way for them to test the waters. Art also falls into that category and our art collection is pretty impressive!
What does it make sense to buy from you instead of buying new?
Well, the most obvious reason is the incredible savings you gain by purchasing furnishings on The Local Vault. Some less obvious reasons would be that our items are immediately available. Company coming this weekend? We can get your house in order within days and have it looking like you have been designing for months. An even less obvious reason would be that it is a very green practice. No need to buy new with all these gems waiting for their new home.
Any plans for new business ventures and collaborations in the future?
We are always looking for ways to support our local businesses, artists and artisans. To that end, we are very excited to be launching the TLV Marketplace this spring. The Marketplace will enable our favorite local home stores to have a turn-key ready e-commerce platform on The Local Vault. TLV Marketplace will be a place for them to tell their story and showcase their products in front of a broader market. We believe this will provide them with additional local exposure and drive traffic to their store by allowing customers to source products online from their favorite store and thus improving the in-store shopping experience. Retailers won’t have to go through the hassle, expense, and steep learning curve of building and maintaining their own website as TLV has already done it!
We are also super excited to announce a new partnership with Design Dot, a collaborative online project based resource that offers a high level of interior design at great rates. The Design Dot Founder, Megan Wunderlich, wisely embraced current technology and developed a welcoming and easy to use platform that can quickly transform ideas into a design plan for their clients.
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