Furniture store is set to open in the old drugstore location
High-end shop to sell 'art pieces'
By Leigh Ann Maze
Silk and chenille, pine and stained alder wood, feather, down and foam, leather and iron are just a few of the raw materials used to create the "art pieces" at a new high-end furniture store opening in Saratoga called California Living.
It will fill the old Saratoga Drug Store building in Saratoga Village, which has stood vacant for nearly a year. The Saratoga Drug Store, which was in the space for nearly 22 years, had to close last summer after a three-year legal battle over the lease with the property's owner.
California Living's owner, Eric Olea of San Francisco, signed the lease in June and has been busy turning the 2,600-plus square-foot space into a furniture showroom.
The original Douglas Fir hardwood floors have been uncovered and stained with a natural finish and the original tin ceilings will be kept as well, he said.
"We wanted to keep it very natural, since our look is natural," Olea said. "We believe your artwork and flowers and pillows are where all the colors should be in your home, not in the furniture."
The new showroom, which Olea hopes to have open in early August, will feature oversize custom couches and sofas, decorative lamps, coffee tables, entertainment centers, linens, rugs, carpet, draperies and many other home furnishings and accessories.
"Basically anything you might need for you home except for appliances," Olea said.
All the furniture is made in America, and the accessories are imported from all over the world including South America, according to showroom manager David Duran. Duran added that California Living specializes in building custom entertainment centers in alcoves of newly built homes.
Many of the pieces in the California Living showroom were designed by Olea himself or are modified replicas of antique pieces.
"We get a lot of our ideas from both the past and the future," Olea said, adding that his furniture is built to be elegant, timeless--and childproof, with durable, washable slipcovers. The store also carries a line of more modern-style furnishings.
Olea named his place California Living because he said "it has an L.A.-style flair, but at the same time it's relaxed and comfortable." He describes "his look" as Elegant Californian.
The new Saratoga location will be the first California Living store; however, Olea said he hopes to open more stores throughout the area in the future.
While the furniture is high-end, Olea said his store would not have employees who won't talk to customers when they walk in off the street.
"I like to be more casual," he said.
Olea's family has always been in the furniture business. His parents were in the furniture manufacturing business, but Olea began his career in the medical field because he wanted to help people. Now that he is in the family furniture business, Olea said he finds he can still help people, but in a different way.
California Living offers an in-home service where employees will bring swatches of fabric, books, catalogs and sometimes even furniture in order to come up with design for the homes.
"The nice thing about this area is the homes are so big," Olea said. "We like to let the homeowners be the designers."
Olea said each home they decorate is different. He said he recently helped to decorate "a really funky" house in the Los Altos Hills that looked as if it came straight out of Los Angles, as well as more traditional ranch-style homes in the Saratoga area.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
