Java, juice and furniture?
Robust-ah has it all
By Joan Gunin -- Furniture Today, July 23, 2006
Greensboro, N.C. — You may never hear "I'd like some leather with that latte," but at a new café here called Robust-ah, you can indeed try a little Mitchell Gold with your mocha or some Bob Williams with that biscotti.
Seizing on the concept of "mixed retailing," co-owners Susan McAllister and Dent Hardin are selling custom upholstery from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams along with java, juice and light fare.
Robust-ah opened in early May at 301A Pisgah Church Road in The Village at North Elm, a two-story, open-air retail and professional center. The eatery — and seatery — occupies a 1,500-square-foot corner space in a building with a warm brick facade, awnings, a promenade and potted plants.
Along with coffee and fixin's, the shop gives its customers comfortable places to sit, like club chairs and a rich velvet sofa from Gold + Williams. The furniture is for sale and can be delivered within 48 hours.
A service desk outfitted with fabric swatches is at the rear of the store. About 12 frames are on the floor, and the complete Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams custom collection is offered online and can be viewed on a computer in the shop.
McAllister's professional experience includes textile design at Malden Mills, Culp Fabrics and Burlington. Her partner, Hardin, has been involved in sales management for the coatings business for 30 years, including stints in China and Taiwan.
When Burlington eliminated her position as vice president of design last year, McAllister's passion for fabrics and furniture attracted her to her current venture.
She and Hardin were onetime Starbucks drinkers who had soured on the big chain's corporate culture, its coffees and its youngish college crowd. Instead, they sought to recreate "a comfortable coffee house experience" for themselves and their peers.
"When people come in, I want them to be transported somewhere else ... like Europe or Old World Cuba," McAllister said, who also dabbles in interior design. She chose washed gold walls for Robust-ah, along with an exposed ceiling of Mediterranean blue, stained concrete flooring with inset medallion, paddle ceiling fans and wooden window shutters.
"Customers like to have conversations about furniture, seating, cleaning, maintenance, kids and pets," she said.
Rather than standard boxy table-and-chair groupings, a series of overstuffed sofas, club chairs and accents from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams are in place and for sale. Complementary pieces from Barbara Cosgrove Lamps will be added this summer.
McAllister reached out to Gold and Williams because they had worked together on a project years ago and because they are based in Taylorsville, N.C.
"I love their product — classic lines with updated features," she said. "The pitch and the comfort are perfect — and it's made here." The manufacturer holds no financial interest in the store.
One Robust-ah regular, Simone Lagnerini, president of Green Hides, a Greensboro-based leather supplier, said the café reminds him of "a European type of bar."
"Unlike the chains, this is not cold. It has a warm atmosphere that encourages you to stay awhile and chat," said Lagnerini, who does just that while stopping in for his double espresso each morning. "The coffee is good and the furniture concept is really nice, too."
Robust-ah, listed as a dealer on the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams' Web site, advertises locally through print media and on an oldies radio station to attract its desired demographics (30s and up.)
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