Jeff Garfield, owner of Bedrooms and More gave me a sneak peek tour of the new building they’re putting up at the corner of NE 45th and 4th Ave NE and, while it is actually pretty incredible, and will serve well, I believe, as the northwest corner of the Gateway to Wallingford, it was something Jeff told me about their existing store, half a block to the west, that amazed me the most.
Bedrooms and More has occupied the same spot since 1972, but they knocked down their original building in February, 1986. In July 1986, they opened the doors of their newly built shop and ushered in their second era. That’s six months from bulldozer to customers filing in the door. I want that contractor’s number!
Their brand new building (324 NE 45th St), while it’s taken a bit longer to complete (the Garfields broke ground in 2015), will be worth the wait. The interior is full of warm architectural thoughtfulness, carefully considered sight lines and a grand sense of space. (It’s also full of some home-spun technology gadgetry, with screens placed around the shop to guide you through the rolling terrain.)
The vision that Jeff has pursued sits close to my beekeeping heart: he has his whole family working together (and living close by), and there’s a genuine dedication to stewardship that I think reflects the values of our neighborhood, not just in the sustainable materials they use, but the trips they make to their overseas manufacturers to verify working conditions. It’s about as far from what I think of when I think “mattress store” as one can get.
I’d go on, but I promised I wouldn’t, for now. Instead, I’ll just whisper that they’re having their “ultra soft” opening tomorrow, Wednesday October 10th. Nothing special, they won’t be giving out free food (which, by the way, I hear the new Little Big Burger in the Smith & Burns Building was over over the weekend), there won’t be a band, but you can poke your head in, say hi and see what they’ve built.
The real grand opening will be coming in November. More on that when it happens.