Photograph by Skye Dunlap
With Knobs On: Paul Perniciaro demonstrates his wares.
New Willow Glen landmark gets a handle on business
Knob shop offers quirky drawer pulls
By Michele Leung
Lou Anne Bauer lives in a glass menagerie. And a wooden, nickel, aluminum, stainless steel and copper one, as well.
Lincoln Avenue makes room for Bauerware, the newest kid on the block. Bauer's new business is strictly about knobs and handles, but her inventory has grown to 3,500 traditional and whimsical pieces.
Ten years ago, Bauer, who has a background in art, was working for a client, and was looking for a knob that was interesting as a piece of art. Her collection turned up nothing. Realizing that the general public must have a harder time finding specific pulls, she decided to devote a whole store to a wide collection of knobs. "I've always wanted to own a hardware store. Of course, it couldn't be ordinary," she says.
Bauerware's selection of handle designs covers everything and then some. The store walls are lined with tin boxes, each displaying a specific type of pull that can range in cost from $3 to $1,500. Bauer buys from 170 vendors around the world.
Architect Nancy Yost gives the grand tour. African patterns on wood, laser-cut steel dogs and bones, Curious George and Winnie the Pooh are among the eclectic collection. Other designs were created by Bauer herself.
Despite the range of possibilities, Yost says, the hardest customers to please are those who have an idea in their head but can't articulate it. However, if customers have seen the design somewhere, the staff can usually get it for the clients.
The knob shop, which opened its doors in March, also carries unique handles fashioned out of everyday objects. Bauer suggests rolling pins, mahjong tiles and troll dolls as potential cabinet fixtures.
However, the traditional designs usually prevail. "Customers can spend three hours in the store and end up with this," says Yost, pointing to a cone knob, a popular but plain pull in stainless steel.
Bauerware's clientele is made up of the young and the old, the professional and the inexperienced. "Everybody's doing their kitchen now. Or they have a dresser from Aunt Mabel that needed a pull replaced for twenty years," said Yost. "We get young expectant mothers and professionals like contractors and designers."
The Willow Glen shop is Bauer's second; she opened her first in San Francisco two years ago. "I took a trip to Los Gatos, Los Altos, Saratoga and Campbell. I didn't know any of those areas, but Willow Glen seemed the most honest," says Bauer. "It's filled with working-class bungalows."
Bauer still spends five days a week at her studio in San Francisco, where she continues to work as an interior designer. She doesn't get much of a weekend these days. "That's what you do when you get a second business," she says.
The woman with a passion for cabinet fashion doesn't mind that her location on the north side of Willow Street isn't in the busiest area of downtown Willow Glen. "We're a destination," she says. "People don't walk in to pick a knob. They have a project in mind."
Customers are encouraged to bring drawers to mix and match their pulls, though the store does provide sample cabinet fronts of different woods. "This is not Home Depot," says Yost.
"We didn't want to be horribly serious, like a furniture store," adds Bauer.
The Willow Glen store, like the San Francisco branch, features a mango-colored exterior, sure to lend itself soon as a directional landmark on Lincoln. Staff members wear green bowling shirts, but--lest anyone be alarmed--red shirts are coming soon. "Not everyone looks good in chartreuse," says Yost.
Bauerware is at 1018 Lincoln Ave. Call 408.288.5184 for information on decorative knobs, pulls and handles.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
