Uniquely Mediterranean (The Gazette)

• Uniquely Mediterranean (The Gazette)

The Gazette; Montreal; Wednesday, march 26, 2003 Swiss-based Artemano’s first Canadian outlet is winning rave reviews Uniquely Mediterranean First there was Swedish furniture giant IKEA and its popular and inexpensive assemble-yourself pieces. Now, Swiss-based Artemano is offering unique furnishings and accessories with a Mediterranean flavor at its first Canadian store, opened in Laval last fall. ‘It’s not where it is made, but how it looks that makes the difference,” store manager Shimon Finkelstein said of the merchandise yesterday as he surveyed his 5200-square-foot showroom. Finkelstein and Artemano’s owners in Zurich, company headquarters and home of the 3-years-old flagship store, scour such exotic locations as India, Thailand and Indonesia for exceptional items. “We never buy over the phone or just from pictures,” he said. “We see it, touch it, smell it, then decide whether to buy it.” Artemano also designs and has custom-made a growing number of its furnishings and objects. “We’re gearing toward an Artemano line exclusive only to our stores,” Finkelstein said. That already represents 40 percent of the stock and he predicted that should reach 90 percent by the store’s first anniversary in October. Finkelstein has been fielding inquiries from people in Florida, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto about opening Artemano shops there. “We want to be there a year before opening elsewhere,” he said. Artemano operates two other stores, one that opened three years ago in Grand Canary in the Canary Islands and a new one in the Swiss city of St.Galen. Finkelstein, a former clothing exporter, was introduce to the Swiss owners through a friend and visited them in Zurich. “As soon as I saw (the store), I fell in love with it,” Finkelstein recalled. He joined the team and was given the responsibility of finding the Canadian site. “I start looking in Montreal, the west island and the south shore,” he said. “I wanted a location where there were other furniture stores around.” After being told about the Galerie Le Corbusier mini-shopping center in central Laval, Finkelstein checked it out and “when I saw it, I knew it was exactly where I want to be.” Aside from one flier what was distributed in November, Artemano hasn’t done any other advertising. Business has been brisk from people shopping at the neigh-bouring stores and through word of mouth. Besides regular customers, Finkelstein said there is a steady stream of interior decorators through the store. One of the team is Denise Palisaitis, who stumbled on to Artemano while in the area scouting furniture for a client last fall. “I walked in and was struck by the very unusual, one-of-a-kind pieces,” Palisaitis said yesterday. Calling it “such interesting merchandise,” she now refers some of her customers to the store. “I stop in one a month because the inventory is ever-changing and I don’t want to miss anything,” Palisaitis added.