New In Town
Touch of the East on Main
While developing her creative propensities in home decorating and in the design of clothing, textiles and furniture items, Susan Broadwell often traveled to exotic locales in Asia, India, Indonesia, Africa and South America on buying trips to acquire wood, dyes, fabrics or other items.
She now makes those same trips as the owner of East on Main, which specializes in imported goods from these places and more. The client base she aims to attract is threefold: local residents who add decor to their homes as the result of casual browsing; "educated shoppers" who target stores as venues for exotic merchandise at good prices; and professional interior designers and decorators seeking to fill client orders.
"We do our own importing here, which gives us much more control over the quality of items, and especially the price," says Broadwell, who runs the store with manager Marita Bolden.
On one buying trip to Indonesia--one of her favorite haunts--Broadwell says she completely filled two 40-foot storage containers with imports for the store. The majority of East on Main's furniture, in fact, comes from various Indonesian countries like Java, Bali, Lombok and Borneo. Indonesia is also the source for various textiles, masks, hand-carved stone statuary, pots, pillows and other items.
Among the other countries represented are Guatemala, Panama, Sumba, India, China, Vietnam, Kalimantan, Italy and Morocco. Merchandise includes silks and batiks, rugs, pots, vases, boxes, tribal masks, incense, jewelry, chests, tables, benches, chairs, lamps, paintings and perfume bottles.
Among the most unusual items are mangowood bowls from Thailand that smell like a mouth-watering barbecue; colorful puppets crafted in Indonesia by the same individual who uses puppets to present historic and religious tales to royalty; and pillow covers sewn from fabrics that were once women's garments, including saris from India and outerwear from Guatemala.
East on Main, 37 E. Main St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, with hours extended to 7 p.m. on Friday. 354-3883.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
