No Fear of Big Box Stores
April 26th, 2010
How Retrospect Water and Light has managed to maintain their market share without fear of the big boxes
It is a sad fact that the hardware store is by and large a thing of the past. There are still a few around town, but like the lumber store, plumbing store, and tool shop, many have had to diversify their product offerings and several have closed their doors. But Retrospect owner Buzz Talbot has never feared Lowe's or Home Depot. Talbot's optimism and confidence are due to the very unique niche Retrospect has carved out in custom lighting and bath fixtures.
"In terms of lighting we can offer more customization than anyone else," said Talbot.
Talbot's store is full of products that are a throwback to an era before assembly lines and factories. Nearly every metal and glass lighting fixture is hand-made by artisans around the United States. Most items in his store require custom ordering. He says that his clientele are mostly home owners who want to decorate their lighting to match the style of their architecture. The unique selection also attracts new home builders. Retrospect has both bathroom and lighting fixtures for Tudor, Mission, Deco, mid-century, modern and colonial homes. The big difference in buying from Retrospect as opposed to an antiques store is that all the bathroom fixtures combine the best of modern technology with the classic designs. "The actual working of the faucet uses ceramic disc quarter turn cartridges," said Talbot. Leaky faucets and rubber washers are a thing of the past. A 90-degree turn of the faucet produces full force, using the ceramic technology. "You could never buy quality like this at any big box store."
Quality and customization does come at a price. Fixtures range from $150 on the low end, up to $650 for a single custom-made wall sconce.
While we were talking, Lorie from Paris Bistro came in to purchase 20 custom light bulbs for her restaurant. Talbot tells me that Paris had many of their light fixtures custom-designed and crafted, others were vintage that they had in stock. Talbot points to the showroom model that they designed with former owner Tracy Twarowski.
Twarowski's vision for Restrospect originated in Berkeley, California when he worked at a similar lighting shop there.
Twarowski had built relationships with all of the glass blowers and metal workers around the United States and decided that Salt Lake City would be an excellent market to start his own store. Twarowski managed the shop while Talbot owned the building and leased to him. Operating the store for 10 years as a one-man shop, Twarowski was content doing business in this manner. He eventually sold the business to Talbot, who has been operating the store for the past two years. "I loved what Tracy had set up and I believed in his concept...[the only difference was that] Tracy was only interested in classical designs, where I didn't mind going a little more contemporary."
Retrospect is located in a transitional area of State Street. The area has transformed from pawn shop central to attracting business owners who want to use the old structures to create cool, new businesses. The Bayou was the first, followed by The State Room Venue. Recently Sapa opened kitty-corner to Retrospect. Talbot likes the changes, "Sapa are great neighbors and what they have done with their restaurant is a great addition."
Talbot sees that more buildings on State Street offer more opportunities for great retail and restaurant spaces and believes there are good things to come in the area.
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