Showroom Profile

BY RAEANNE MARSH

PHOTOGRAPHY BY SCOTT SANDLER

>>> Fannin Interiors, Phoenix, Arizona

The Fannin Interiors showroom displays a wealth of carefully chosen accessories and furnishings.

For Sharon Alber Fannin, ASID, opening a showroom was an extension of her interior design business. "I'd been collecting accessories and [other items], and I thought it would be great to have a store so I could put the things out for other people to see," she says.

That was in 1999. She found a space on 44th Street in Phoenix, just south of Indian School Road, that suits her needs now as much as it did then. "I plan to stay," she says.

Simple and unassuming on the outside, the store sports signage that says, simply, "Fannin Interiors." Its dark windows, which block damaging rays of sunlight from the items on display, give no hint of the wealth of wares inside.

The eclectic collection represents a multicultural variety that includes Asian, African and Indonesian along with traditional American, transitional and retro. A zebra-print cushioned footstool may share an aisle with a Dutch-influenced Italian secretary, or a sculptural array of sections cut from an Indonesian coconut tree may stand next to an original painting by local artist Jeff Bertoncino.

As a complement to Fannin's design business, which she runs with the help of a long-time colleague, interior designer Jody Ramsay, the showroom reflects the clean, soft contemporary look she favors in her design. Items are timeless and enduring rather than trendy. "And we span all price points," Fannin notes. While stock changes regularly, vases in tremendous diversity are a staple: large ones that could stand outdoors, small ones to add interest on a book shelf, and all scales in between. There are ceramic vases with a sleek gunmetal look and others made of bamboo that, despite their three-foot (or larger) size, are light enough to be easily lifted and placed on a high pot shelf.

The 2,500-square-foot showroom is stocked with furniture, artwork, lamps and other home accessories. Draped around the slender neck of some vases are multistrand necklaces, as Fannin Interiors offers an assortment of gift items that includes tabletop picture frames, candles, purses and even some jewelry pieces, not to mention shelves of books and a whole section devoted to dining with cookbooks, placemats and dinnerware.

Interior designer Jody Ramsay, left, and Fannin Interiors owner Sharon Alber Fannin.

"The showroom is a vehicle to show consumers design concepts through the use of displays and vignettes," Fannin explains. "Because our store is small, we get to know our customers and develop a relationship with them."

While the store is open to the public, only the trade is offered an approval process whereby a designer can take items without first purchasing them, to try with a client. "And with designers we know well, we'll call when we have something we know they'd like," says Ramsay, an Allied Member of ASID.

Fannin Interiors is on the receiving end of that courtesy as well. "We have sources throughout the United States who will call us," Fannin relates. Other items come from the markets, many of which Fannin and Ramsay attend regularly, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, High Point, Las Vegas and sometimes Paris. Says Fannin, "We pick and choose the markets from year to year."

Items on the showroom floor change frequently. "People can see how things can be put together in their own home," says Fannin. Along with the showroom on the first floor, the design studio occupies the second floor of the building. Also called "Fannin Interiors," it fills the upstairs' 2,500-plus square feet with samples and resources—and a "stress cat" who curls up in any available space. One of Fannin's five associates will descend the stairs to attend to customers who enter the showroom.

Augmenting the showroom is a 1,000-square-foot warehouse, and its shelves and floor space help handle the regular influx of merchandise. The showroom is only slightly less stocked than the warehouse. "It's a treasure hunt, says Fannin, referring to the sampling of items displayed. Furnishings give way to a conference room at the rear of the first floor showroom. With a 14-seat conference table and an adjacent kitchen, the room is used not only by Fannin Interiors but is also available, at no charge, to nonprofit organizations.

Although the showroom has been open for more than seven years, Fannin says it seems like only two. "Every day is a new challenge—and a lot of fun," she says. Her belief that good design cuts across all cultures and styles directs her choices as to selection, and, she says, "Our research results in unique pieces with great line and style."

Fannin Interiors, 4025 N. 44th St., Phoenix, AZ; (602) 840-8088.

Art, lighting and accessory pillows combine to make a striking showrrom vignette. Sculptural vases are among the offerings.