Walking through the Mission district of San Francisco last fall, I noticed store after store filled with mid-century modern furniture. I was jealous. Did I have to fly all the way across the country every time I needed an injection of cool?
Not anymore. A few weeks ago, I noticed a big white bowl chair in the window of the former Cisco Station on Bloomfield Ave. in downtown Montclair. Yesterday, I went in to take a look.
Edge, which is the name of the new store, is filled with bright furniture in the colorful and wacky designs of the atomic era. Molded plastic abounds.
My eye was immediately drawn to the bright orange wall on the right, which is filled with the examples of the 60′s most recognizable accessory: the spiky clock. The price tags are reassuring, starting at $48, and just $58 for a do-it-yourself clock that allows you to place the clocking markings on the wall yourself.
If you’re looking for authentic relics of the “Mad Men” era, Edge is not your store. Except for a few small table clocks, just about everything in the store is a reproduction. But if you’re looking for mid-century design at affordable prices, and not an Eisenhower-era pedigree, you won’t be disappointed.
“I knew that nice iconic furniture was hard to find and real expensive,” says co-owner Rich Fostek. “I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to bring this high level of design to street level?”
Make sure you go all the way to the back of the store to look at the absolutely cunning Reac miniatures, which run from $15 to $30. Modernist doll house, anyone?
All the big chairs in the store run about $1,200, give or take a few dollars. The glass coffee table is $535. Arc lamps are $365 and $385. Middle Kingdom vases run $36 to $108. Toy robots, also reproductions, run $15 to $30.
Edge co-owner David Salvatore says that the store has also signed a deal to be the exclusive Marimekko retailer in New Jersey.
Edge Mid-Century Designs is at 461 Bloomfield Ave. in Montclair. 973. 509.2400. Closed Mondays.
