Ms. Laurie Fox and Mr. Blair Pessemier, a couple from Seattle, Wash., who owned an architectural and interior design business there, have found that when it comes to their particular sector of the design industry, the French can actually be very open-minded about the styles and services popular in other parts of the world.

In 1993, after 13 years in business in Seattle, the couple moved to France.

"In the US," explained Fox, "Every city has a center, or a single area, for manufacturers to show and sell their goods to the trade. Increasingly, those centers are opening to the public." 

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With that in mind, the two decided to open the American Design Center in Paris, to fill the gap.

In mid-May, the shop opened its doors, after the couple struck a deal with two French businessmen who owned a carpet shop, for space to set up a showroom on rue du Faubourg Ste. Honor6. A guest book was placed in the showroom, a Fourth of July fete planned, and displays were set up so customers could settle into a colonial rocking chair, or sit at a replica desk of the one Charles Dickens used when he penned "A Tale of Two Cities."  Their inventory of furniture and lighting products is not limited to traditional materials such as solid wood, or to traditional styles. 

"In France it is much more common to have either a 'traditional' style store or a 'contemporary' style store. We will feature a contemporary glass and polished stainless steel table next to a traditional wood writing desk. A rustic rocking chair sits beside a designer sofa," explained Fox. After their "initial shock" customers invariably become enthusiastic.

If there is a department that dominates it is the fabrics, of which more than 2,000 samples are available. The first sales came from the fabric lines - and that was the one area in which the couple had been particularly lacking confidence. In fact, they were so worried that they considered not stocking fabrics at all.

"It would be singing to the choir," said Pessernier, "France is the home of fabrics. The French were among the first to commercially produce fabrics for the world.

Despite their loyalty to fabric lines that can be ancient, the French are not insensitive to new versions of the same product, Fox and Pessemier have discovered.

For example, cashmere is a popular, traditional fabric in France for re-upholstering, and the ADC recently sold an American cashmere in "all the wrong" colors to a customer who was repairing an antique chair.

French styles have been perfected and set in a particular epoch; in the US things are constantly changing. Fox and Pessemier respect the beauty of traditional French design, but they also believe that it offers those with a little courage a good foundation from which to try out new materials and furniture.