In Business of Home’s series Shop Talk, we chat with owners of home furnishings stores across the country to hear about their hard-won lessons and challenges, big and small. This week, we spoke with Candice Quinn of the Scottsdale, Arizona–based firm London Pierce Design and showroom London Pierce Home.
One of the first things that might strike a customer walking into Quinn’s showroom (or a potential client clicking through her portfolio) is the unmistakable color palette: Save for accents in metallic, stone and wood, everything is black and white. It’s a style signature and gamble that has clearly worked out for Quinn, who got her start in real estate before launching a design firm in 2015. The showroom came about in 2023, in partnership with Catherine Crandall of Abode Fine Living. Ahead, Quinn chats about starting her retail arm out of real need for in-stock products, the consistency of changing up the showroom floor and why the color scheme is such a hit with customers.
Why did you want to go into retail when you did?
I have always wanted to open a showroom. As a designer, it’s difficult to find a place that’s curated and designer-friendly but also open to the public. And then during Covid, you just couldn’t buy anything, and nobody worked off the floor. So it was me figuring out a solution for finding furniture, through years of back orders and craziness. In the meantime, I shopped at a store called Abode Fine Living and talked to the owner, Catherine Crandall. We decided to go into business together and branded it London Pierce. All the buying and designing is done by my firm, and then she helps with the showroom because she has the experience. It was kismet—right time, right place. The way we found the showroom was incredible: I was going to my fabricator and saw a “For Lease” sign. The realtor just so happened to know London Pierce Design, talked to the owner, and said, “You should take this tenant.” It all just fell into place.
Can you tell me about the aesthetic of the showroom and how similar or dissimilar it is from your design aesthetic?
This showroom is very similar to my design aesthetic: very clean and timeless. We do a lot of black and white, just because I feel that is such a sophisticated look, but we also have a lot of texture, which warms up the space so it’s not too cold. We love pieces that are hard to find and that tell a story. When we travel, we find all kinds of fun pieces and bring those in. There’s something for everybody. It’s a broad-based appeal.
What’s so fun is we do sell off the floor. I did that on purpose, because it’s so hard to get that. We constantly recreate the showroom—about once a week, I’m there changing the rooms and styling. People are constantly coming in for inspiration and to see what else we have. Most showrooms are stale, and you know what they’re going to look like. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also really fun.
How do you have the inventory to rearrange it so often?
We have a back area and a warehouse, and we are receiving new pieces consistently. I just figure out with my team how we’re going to do it, but it’s always on the fly. We’re constantly moving things around, and it always works out. It takes skill, but [it works because] we buy the right pieces.
Can you tell me about your sourcing process?
We are constantly shopping, constantly traveling. We go to every market, and we have made relationships with many different vendors and artisans. It’s a mix of knowing what we like from certain vendors, creating with other craftsmen and just coming up with concepts and ideas. It’s 24/7, absolutely, but I love it.
To go back to the color scheme, how did you figure out your look?
I always loved it. I like to create different looks and push the boundaries, but I also do love black and white. And I notice that people who come into our showroom are always like, “Oh, I love black and white.” I think it just appeals to people! Certain people just love it.
Will you tell me about a particular vendor whose work you adore?
Oh, we love working with Vanguard [Furniture] for our sofas. They’re a great company. It’s a family business, and they build their sofas in North Carolina. They’re beautiful and comfortable, and we do really well with them. We also work with some local artists who we absolutely love, including local painter Natalie Sichko. She’s fabulous, and we’ve worked with her on special projects. Gosh, there’s just so many that we love.
What’s your own favorite category in the shop?
That’s so hard. I love all of the furniture. I love our outdoor line, Harbour. Great company. But what makes the showroom is our styling. We’re always coming up with new concepts, and then the whole scene will have the accessories and art to give you [a specific] emotion. For example, we [have a] Hollywood wall right now—black-and-white photographs of Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, and some really fun pieces to create that vibe. People come in and say, “I just want this whole room.”
What about an object or category that seems to be your customers’ favorite, that you can barely keep in stock?
Certain vases, boxes and accessories are constant bestsellers. We do really well with candles and books, grab-and-go items that are hard to find, especially for designers. Designers love that they can come in and pull everything they want for their installs, take it on approval and test everything out.
What’s your approach to e-commerce?
We have not dabbled in e-commerce yet. That is something that everybody wants from us, but I love retail. I know it’s dying, and I think that’s why I want to do it. I like to do what nobody else wants to do. As a designer, there’s a huge need to actually go into a physical place and see the items and show your clients the items. When I do it, which I will, everything has to be well-thought-out and perfect. It’s going to be a lot of work, but when we launch it, it’s going to be very good.
What is your customer base, and how much of it is to-the-trade?
We have been marketing ourselves to designers more. We just had a fabulous party with Modern Luxury Interiors, and a lot of designers came in who have not seen our showroom before. We are getting more popular among the designers, and we have a lot of walk-ins in Scottsdale. There’s so much growth right now. People are furnishing their whole house. So many people are moving here, and they want to see furniture. They don’t want to buy online.
What is the Scottsdale design scene like, and where do you fit in?
In Scottsdale, we do have some other wonderful showrooms—big-box ones that everybody knows, and there are also a few other nice, collected showrooms. But as a whole, we don’t have enough. With how many people are migrating to Scottsdale, the design is so much better than it was when I started. There are a lot of people coming in from California, from Chicago, and they’re bringing that [design eye] with them. Our design scene is a lot stronger now, the demand is a lot higher, and home prices are going up big time.
I was actually born in Scottsdale, but my parents moved to Salt Lake City when I was young, and I grew up in Utah. But I always loved Scottsdale. I remember visiting and I just loved the sun and the heat. I have two boys, and when my oldest was four [and my family was still living in Utah], I was like, “If we don’t move [now], we’re never moving.” It was during the recession, which was kind of a crazy time to move, but I was able to establish myself during a downturn and build my design business. I’ve been here for almost 18 years and I just love it.
During the pandemic, there were a lot of people buying homes here in the Sunbelt, to work from home and get out of the cold. A lot of my clients want me to design their place as a second home, but they end up moving here full-time. They keep coming from Chicago, and think they’ll go back and forth, and they just don’t. [But] people are afraid of the summers. They’re hot, but you do get used to it. That’s my take. It’s brutal, but I’ll take that over the snow any day. I do not do snow.
What are some of your hopes for the future of the business?
My own line. I want London Pierce to become a brand that is well known. I have been working on product development and moving in that direction.
What is it about opening the showroom that feels so rewarding?
It’s just really nice to take what’s in your head and put it out into the universe physically. Sometimes I’m looking at it like, “How did this even happen?” Because it’s such a huge undertaking, a 10,000-square-foot showroom. It’s completely curated. It’s gorgeous. To look at it from the build-out to everything we did during a time when you really couldn’t get furniture—just shopping, shopping, shopping, and then just figuring out what works—it’s exhilarating to see that it all worked out.
What’s your favorite day as a store owner?
I love when it’s busy because I enjoy talking to customers, hearing their stories, what they’re drawn to, what brought ’em in. Having a full store of customers to chat with is definitely my favorite day.
