Everett Bumbalough is getting lots of love on Thursday night.
The Sales and Marketing Manager at CORT Beverly Hills has just hosted a well-attended grand reopening party for the firm's Los Angeles flagship showroom at Wilshire and La Cienega boulevards.
Now, the party is over and his co-workers are lingering, gathering around tables in the airy showroom.
8,400-square-foot space is located in the legendary 8484 Wilshire, which until this week was the Flynt Building.
Douglas Emmet, a real estate investor, has acquired it, but the folks at CORT, including Bumbalough, don't think it will change things much, kind of like the recent, subtle renovation at CORT, a national firm that is part of investor Warren Buffet's empire.
In Beverly Hills, the signature gold columns remain, along with the 28-foot ceilings and the glass windows that curve around the face of the space.
For the renovation, CORT made the columns a central focus, adding some gold carpeting and wood floors to set them off, says Bumbalough.
"First they were hip, then they're weren't and now they are again," he says.
The so-called vignettes--different furniture layouts around varying color schemes and funiture styles--are nestled among them now, designed to play off the gold and height.
Click through to see more video about the columns.
According to Bumbalough, CORT's biggest focus is on temporary furniture rentals for folks moving into short-term living situtations and staging in advance of real estate sales. Office and event rentals are also part of the company's strategy, he says. As an example, Bumbalough points out that CORT provided all the furniture for the AKA Beverly Hills in the initial stage of its transition to a long-term stay facility.
He also encourages local residents to stop buy for ideas and inspiration. CORT also has four clearance centers where it is possible to buy furniture that has been retired from the rental fleet.
The CORT Beverly Hills showroom is located at 8484 Wilshire Boulevard.
CORT's Glendale Clearance Center is located at 339 N. Central Street.
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