Hello to all of our followers! First of all, a big thank you for everyone's support during the past few weeks while we launched our new website. We are so thrilled to have such an amazing platform to sell our goods and to write about our experience as owners of atomic.
This blog is about "the truth of the pick." One of our most popular questions asked is "where and how do you find all of your furniture?!" I tell people the truth, "that is the hard part of our job." Ask any furniture dealer and they will most likely say the same thing. I honestly feel like we are playing in an adult scavenger hunt all the time without the guarantee of the prize and you have a lot more to lose (time, gas etc). This past week we had lined up a buy from an individual who told us when and where to be 2 days in advance. We told them we definitely wanted to buy the piece and we would be there as soon as they were ready to sell. Before we departed for our hour and a half trip we called and let them know we were on the way to purchase the item. They confirmed and said they would see us soon. We hopped in our extra large ford econoline van and hit the road. We debated on whether or not to take it because its unbelievably terrible on gas but it was going to be the best vehicle to transport what we were going to purchase. Upon arrival a lady opened the door and before we could fully introduce ourselves she said "I have some unfortunate news, I just sold the piece you came for to a lady downstairs." We were quite confused considering she knew we were on our way. She invited us downstairs in case the lady didn't really want the piece. Once we were down there the other woman who had purchased the piece hastily handed over the money and said "these things happen." At this time we were both kind of awe struck at what just happened. They began to show us that they had some other beautiful danish furniture for sale when Todd said "no thank you, this just felt wrong." He walked upstairs and the room fell to an uncomfortable silence while everyone stood there staring at me. In that moment I realized what my husband did was right. We believe in integrity and doing the "right" thing (no matter how nice their other furniture might be). I then looked at everyone and said while I blushed "we did just drive an hour and a half for an item that was promised to us so we have to pass." The ride home we were left with an uneasy feeling about what they had done and how we were now out money because of the copious amounts of gas our huge van consumes. After not talking for awhile I looked over at Todd and said, "it's ok our money always goes to the people that need it the most, who knows what the day will bring."
Later that day we had scheduled another delivery for a few hours away. On the way there the van started making some not so great noises and was getting harder and harder to start. When we stopped for gas Todd lifted up the hood and realized the alternator belt was missing and that he was going to need to change it before it became dark or started to rain. We were about 10 minutes away from our destination and it didn't just rain it downpoured. We weren't able to use our windshield wipers or our headlights to save power! We were just praying that this person would be kind enough to let us change the belt in his driveway so that we could make it home safely. Luckily for us he ended up being super nice and passionate about mid century furniture. We told him about our shop and he said he had some other pieces we may be interested in. He was a bit bummed because he had a shop that raised the rent on him triple fold with only a few days warning therefor he was selling most of his shop furniture out of his home. Both of us felt like it was no coincidence that we met. We were able to bring back a van full of furniture and he had cleared some room in his home and put a good amount of money in his pocket. When we meet other dealers we often feel as if we already know them because we can relate to all of the struggles and triumphs that come along with being a picker. Long story short instead of bringing back the one item we brought back an entire van full making the trip and the entire day worth while. Oh and he even had a vintage mechanic cart for Todd to use to change the belt!
The point of this blog is to show you all that sometimes we score big and sometimes we are totally let down. But we believe that everything happens for a reason and in the end goodness and truth will find a way!
Until our next adventure...
-Megan & Todd