News & Events
Arts & Science alumni finds fortune with antiques
By Gina Teel
Canwest News Service; with files from The StarPhoenix
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Part of the inspiration for Scott Lappa's architectural antiques business came from his time growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan.
Surrounded by old cars, Canadiana furniture and bric-a-brac on the farm in the Rosetown-Biggar area, Lappa began his lifelong passion of collecting things.
Now, it's translated into a growing Alberta-based business.
In the Calgary location of Traders of the Lost Art, there's a classical French motif marble garden bench with gryphon armrest supports and carved scrolls and reliefs that's so achingly beautiful it could easily be in a museum, alongside other great masterpieces.
Instead, the creamy coloured circa 1950 marble bench rests just a few feet inside the front door of the business, tucked in among other evocative European architectural and home decor pieces so grand they leave one awash in awe and passion and feeling very much like a relic hunter who's just stumbled upon the motherlode.
Lappa, who owns Traders of the Lost Art along with his wife, Sylvie Lappa, said he buys only those pieces that speak to him.
"I have a really simple rule of thumb, if it speaks to my heart and it's priced right, then that's what I work with," he said.
Judging from the number of sold tags affixed to pieces big and small throughout the rambling store, Lappa isn't the only one turned on by unique European architectural antiques.
Indeed, the expensive marble bench, alas, has been sold and will be going to an oceanview estate on the West Coast.
"It's been in the last five or six years where I've really seen people indulging themselves, and they're not doing it necessarily for status or prestige, but because the pieces bring them joy and it makes them happy," Lappa said.
Beyond the eye-candy, stepping inside Traders is sure to trigger a history lesson rehash, be it a jog to the memory about Greek mythology that the cast composite statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom from Calais, France, twigs, or envisioning the era of the grand European estates where some of the large-scale fences, ornate gates, doors, urns, markers, and stained-glass windows in the store originated.
The sheer range of items in the store -- from various eras, design periods, and even some high quality replicas -- are guaranteed to appeal to any number of tastes and budgets.
For those with cash to burn, if the stone lions don't quite fit the bill for the front entry, there's a pair of smaller Egyptian revival-style sphinxes with female profile heads from France, made from poured composite stone.
There's a magnificent pair of winged lion markers with pedestals from Italy, circa 1900, in the back warehouse, alongside giant urns, huge fountains and near life-sized garden statuary and a life-sized hand-carved Buddha from India.
A lot of the large-scale pieces end up on estates or properties, but smaller pieces would suit any number of homes.
There's a table top stag head from England made out of cast iron and a carved female bust from Italy.
There's a Tiffany-style floor lamp from France, a lovely solid bronze female justice statue from France and stunning venetian mirrors from Italy.
There are hand-carved columns, handmade tiles, terra-cotta chimney pots, French riddling racks and even a red, cast-iron telephone booth from London (circa 1900) that Lappa said would make a mean shower or aquarium.
There are oodles of elegant crystal and cut glass chandeliers, vintage wall sconces and other lighting fixtures.
New for 2008 is Sylvie's baby, the X Series of velvet-flocked French furniture. The concept takes new furniture built in France in Louis XIV, XV, XVI profiles and covers them in velvet flocking using a patented process.
The delicate pieces have a Euro-chic vibe to them and are not intended for everyday wear-and-tear, but as accent pieces.
"It's a bit of a break from what we do; however, we put it in here to give people an indication of how diverse we've become to some degree with home decor," he said.
Lappa started Traders nearly 16 years ago, fulfilling the passion that began when he was a kid, when he collected anything from comic books to oil lamps, car parts and old telephones.
"If it appealed to me esthetically, I'd collect it, so I became a pack rat, to the chagrin of my family," he said.
After graduated from Walter Murray in 1982 and then receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1986, Lappa went on to work for the government. He spent 16 years working in corrections, doing probation, parole and case work in Saskatchewan and Alberta. He dabbled in sales, too, "selling anything and everything," including photocopiers.
Lappa became an avid traveller. During his many trips across North America and vacations overseas, he developed a taste for great architecture.
Lappa took this passion and decided to spin it into a business.
"I'm a collector and I always look for oddities and unusual pieces, and that's where I think I got channelled into architectural antiques and home decor that was unusual, because there was nothing in Western Canada that really catered to that," he said.
He put together a business plan and, in 1993, using $10,000 in savings, started his business in Edmonton. At the time, he was purchasing product in Eastern Canada, with complementary lighting, stained glass and statuary brought in from the United States.
However, the costs to do that were getting prohibitive, so Lappa started looking at other avenues for wholesale pricing. That's when he made the shift from North American relics to European.
"European also provided more flair. It had more, as they say, je ne sais quoi. It was just more fluid.
"It enticed people, intrigued them more than the typical North American elements," he said.
The move to European also shifted the store into high gear and that's when the evolution of Traders began.
"I think people needed to feel they were getting something really special; something that was distinct, one of a kind, that had a lot of character and charm, and I think they felt that with the pieces coming in from Europe," Lappa said.
By 2000, the Edmonton store was closed and operations were consolidated in Calgary -- a location there was opened in the late 1990s -- to better serve the vast majority of Traders' customer base.
Since 2000, business has increased by about 20 per cent each year and annual sales are approaching $1 million.
(Calgary Herald)
Canwest News Service; with files from The StarPhoenix
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Part of the inspiration for Scott Lappa's architectural antiques business came from his time growing up on a farm in Saskatchewan.
Surrounded by old cars, Canadiana furniture and bric-a-brac on the farm in the Rosetown-Biggar area, Lappa began his lifelong passion of collecting things.
Now, it's translated into a growing Alberta-based business.
In the Calgary location of Traders of the Lost Art, there's a classical French motif marble garden bench with gryphon armrest supports and carved scrolls and reliefs that's so achingly beautiful it could easily be in a museum, alongside other great masterpieces.
Instead, the creamy coloured circa 1950 marble bench rests just a few feet inside the front door of the business, tucked in among other evocative European architectural and home decor pieces so grand they leave one awash in awe and passion and feeling very much like a relic hunter who's just stumbled upon the motherlode.
Lappa, who owns Traders of the Lost Art along with his wife, Sylvie Lappa, said he buys only those pieces that speak to him.
"I have a really simple rule of thumb, if it speaks to my heart and it's priced right, then that's what I work with," he said.
Judging from the number of sold tags affixed to pieces big and small throughout the rambling store, Lappa isn't the only one turned on by unique European architectural antiques.
Indeed, the expensive marble bench, alas, has been sold and will be going to an oceanview estate on the West Coast.
"It's been in the last five or six years where I've really seen people indulging themselves, and they're not doing it necessarily for status or prestige, but because the pieces bring them joy and it makes them happy," Lappa said.
Beyond the eye-candy, stepping inside Traders is sure to trigger a history lesson rehash, be it a jog to the memory about Greek mythology that the cast composite statue of Athena, goddess of wisdom from Calais, France, twigs, or envisioning the era of the grand European estates where some of the large-scale fences, ornate gates, doors, urns, markers, and stained-glass windows in the store originated.
The sheer range of items in the store -- from various eras, design periods, and even some high quality replicas -- are guaranteed to appeal to any number of tastes and budgets.
For those with cash to burn, if the stone lions don't quite fit the bill for the front entry, there's a pair of smaller Egyptian revival-style sphinxes with female profile heads from France, made from poured composite stone.
There's a magnificent pair of winged lion markers with pedestals from Italy, circa 1900, in the back warehouse, alongside giant urns, huge fountains and near life-sized garden statuary and a life-sized hand-carved Buddha from India.
A lot of the large-scale pieces end up on estates or properties, but smaller pieces would suit any number of homes.
There's a table top stag head from England made out of cast iron and a carved female bust from Italy.
There's a Tiffany-style floor lamp from France, a lovely solid bronze female justice statue from France and stunning venetian mirrors from Italy.
There are hand-carved columns, handmade tiles, terra-cotta chimney pots, French riddling racks and even a red, cast-iron telephone booth from London (circa 1900) that Lappa said would make a mean shower or aquarium.
There are oodles of elegant crystal and cut glass chandeliers, vintage wall sconces and other lighting fixtures.
New for 2008 is Sylvie's baby, the X Series of velvet-flocked French furniture. The concept takes new furniture built in France in Louis XIV, XV, XVI profiles and covers them in velvet flocking using a patented process.
The delicate pieces have a Euro-chic vibe to them and are not intended for everyday wear-and-tear, but as accent pieces.
"It's a bit of a break from what we do; however, we put it in here to give people an indication of how diverse we've become to some degree with home decor," he said.
Lappa started Traders nearly 16 years ago, fulfilling the passion that began when he was a kid, when he collected anything from comic books to oil lamps, car parts and old telephones.
"If it appealed to me esthetically, I'd collect it, so I became a pack rat, to the chagrin of my family," he said.
After graduated from Walter Murray in 1982 and then receiving a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Saskatchewan in 1986, Lappa went on to work for the government. He spent 16 years working in corrections, doing probation, parole and case work in Saskatchewan and Alberta. He dabbled in sales, too, "selling anything and everything," including photocopiers.
Lappa became an avid traveller. During his many trips across North America and vacations overseas, he developed a taste for great architecture.
Lappa took this passion and decided to spin it into a business.
"I'm a collector and I always look for oddities and unusual pieces, and that's where I think I got channelled into architectural antiques and home decor that was unusual, because there was nothing in Western Canada that really catered to that," he said.
He put together a business plan and, in 1993, using $10,000 in savings, started his business in Edmonton. At the time, he was purchasing product in Eastern Canada, with complementary lighting, stained glass and statuary brought in from the United States.
However, the costs to do that were getting prohibitive, so Lappa started looking at other avenues for wholesale pricing. That's when he made the shift from North American relics to European.
"European also provided more flair. It had more, as they say, je ne sais quoi. It was just more fluid.
"It enticed people, intrigued them more than the typical North American elements," he said.
The move to European also shifted the store into high gear and that's when the evolution of Traders began.
"I think people needed to feel they were getting something really special; something that was distinct, one of a kind, that had a lot of character and charm, and I think they felt that with the pieces coming in from Europe," Lappa said.
By 2000, the Edmonton store was closed and operations were consolidated in Calgary -- a location there was opened in the late 1990s -- to better serve the vast majority of Traders' customer base.
Since 2000, business has increased by about 20 per cent each year and annual sales are approaching $1 million.
(Calgary Herald)