East Meets West

The shopping bag and textural wrapping paper you get with small purchases at East Indies Trading Company are enough to bring you back to this exotic emporium of furniture and home accessories. But there are no appropriate bags for the massive teak, carved king-size bed (about $2,400) or the tropical-glam tables, cabinets, bookcases, benches, sideboards and desks. Most of the large items are imported from Indonesia and are the personal finds of interior designer/importer Edgar West. He and his wife, Tiffany, now own three East Indies Trading Company stores: two in Naples, and the newest, in Bonita. One just opened in Sarasota, too, and more are on the way.

The stores have an open-air Asian market ambience, with concrete painted floors done by the Wests themselves. Merchandise is arranged in vignettes so that you can evaluate the scale and height of a coffee table in relation to the sofa and chairs that it might accompany. And the tall cabinets are pleasingly organized to display plateware, wood sculpture, hand-thrown pottery vases from Thailand and accent pieces from India, Malaysia and China.

West worked for the Ritz-Carlton, starting in Atlanta's Buckhead after his graduation from Florida State University 14 years ago. He often traveled on business in Asia. So when he and Tiffany were decorating their Naples home and looking for a life-career change, they reasoned they could use all that travel and business expertise as well as personal contacts with artisans all over the Orient to put together a retail enterprise. Today they have 8,000 home accessory items and 450 pieces of furniture in their exclusive East Indies Trading Company collection. They deal at the village level with artists, importing pieces designed by the artists themselves or commissioned by the Wests.

The assortment of Thai silk pillows is especially chic. The fabric has that prized iridescent sheen, and all the pillows are square with zippered, removable cases for easy dry cleaning. The color range is mostly tropical, with hues mimicking the shades, flowers and, fruits of this region. There are two sizes: 18-inch for $56 and 20-inch for $63. You'll want a lot of them because they are positively luscious.

Whether you want to do a whole house or a single room in a tropical-Asian motif, you're bound to find something in East Indies Trading Company to suit the size and orientation of your space. And East Indies is definitely a place to scout if you're looking for modern furniture in a rich, deep-brown stain. West has several collections that are sleek and plain, geometric and Manhattan loft-like but not austere because the wood is incorporated with woven and lacquered wicker or rattan. The modernist Nevis loveseat is $1,125 and the cocktail table is $485. If you want a real conversation piece, take home a club chair of woven banana leaves or one of woven water hyacinth.

East Indies Trading Company wants you to understand that the Wests are giving you a bargain. Every tag displays two prices, retail and wholesale. You get the wholesale price. Consequently, a seashell drapery tie-back is $22 retail but yours is marked down to $15. Everyone loves a deal. That's why East Indies is called a trading company.

A writer friend of mine who owns a house in Easton, Md., and shops at the two bountiful boutiques up there told me to grab my credit card and get right over to Third Street Plaza in Naples because James Merida now has a shop there. I did. And now you should, too, because this highly talented interior designer has filled a tiny space with incredibly glamorous items from a six-panel folding Asian screen done in Florida colors ($4,800) to crystal chandeliers and table lamps, paintings, selected plateware, coffee-table picture books, needlepoint rugs, candlesticks and candles. You can acquire sophisticated cocktail paper napkins for $4.50 and also investigate elegant French armoires at $15,000.

Some of my favorite candles are the Confitures D'Auvergne, packaged in a cream, gold and faded-blue French jam tin. Remove the cover, light a candle and replace the cover when you've scented the room with gingered peach. At $30, they make a wonderful gift item, but be sure to get some for yourself, too. The vintage mirrors in the store (about $2,000) are also well worth consideration. They're made with choice old picture frames, and the looking glass is gently faded.

Merida travels the world for home items (France and Argentina are his favorite haunts) and he tends to acquire eclectic objects that cannot be reordered. Once they're gone, they're gone. Consequently, every time you play at Bountiful, the inventory will be fresh and exciting. But your shopping strategy has to include decisiveness: If you see it and you love it, buy it, because the next time you come in with your mind made up to take it home, it probably won't be there.

An interior designer currently working on homes in Naples and Marco Island for seasonal clients, Merida discovered Naples in the late '90s when he came to the Ritz-Carlton to attend the splashy wedding of clients. "I fell in love with the town and the lifestyle," he reports, "and on a whim scouted property for both a shop and a personal home. Found both and have been happy professionally and personally ever since." He's not a man to dally. Quick, intuitive decisions have always worked for him. In time for the coming season, Merida is opening a second Bountiful at the Third Street Plaza. Larger and on a corner location, this Bountiful will display bigger antique pieces that cannot squeeze into the existing store. "But no matter how much space we acquire, Bountiful stores will always look abundant and filled to bursting with all kinds of home accessories and little luxuries," says the owner. "It's just the way I am. No one ever accused me of naming the stores Spare."

If you know a little girl who could love a pink tutu equipped with a concealed battery mechanism that plays dance music when the ballerina is in costume and ready to perform, then I know where you can buy it. Children's Couture has the musical tutu ($33). Deborah Frederici has owned her business for a year and a half. Before organizing her shop she traveled the country investigating and analyzing other children's stores to help her decide what the personality and inventory of her own unique place should be. Her rigorous comparative studies paid off.

"I eventually realized that I needed to carry very special things, clothes and toy items that shoppers would never find at a mall," she says. "I don't look for routine books or toys, clothes or gift items. I seek out the unusual. I'm not driven by price as much as my decision to carry the exceptional. Happily, a lot of special things don't have to be pricey."

One of her fabulous bargains is a petite pink feather boa threaded with minuscule multicolored lights that flash when the battery is activated. This thing is really a lark at only $15. Frederici tells me that lots of adult-girls want the boa as a trendy neckpiece. I would, too. Frederici's inspiration in buying comes from her 12 nieces and nephews, but the store itself is her only baby.

Some things are costly eye candy. Frederici carries Joan Calabrese $800 party dresses in luscious sherbet colors with fluffy petticoats and flower detail trim. Just perfect if your little darling has a supporting role in a wedding. The all-white ones are suitable for First Holy Communion, and Frederici sells a lot of them. The simple design and inviting colors of these sleeveless dresses are so lovely that many grown-up party girls have asked Frederici if the dress comes in adult sizes.

Other things to handle and admire are christening outfits, silver picture frames, crocheted hand puppets, shower gifts to welcome baby, and original birthday presents galore. One I especially love is the Angel Bear ($30). It's a snowy seated bear with silver puffy wings and a halo. Press a button and the bear sings Jesus Loves Me and recites two prayers while its head moves and its wings gently flutter. Frederici says that seasonal customers who have bought one generally end up phoning her from places like Kentucky to have her mail them more.

Children's Couture isn't huge, but Frederici has displayed everything artfully, using every nook and cranny. Her collection of little-girl hair bows is locally famous. You really need to spend a lot of time in her compact space to see and appreciate everything. One thing you'll spot right away is the highly prized Silver Cross pram imported from England. It's $1,700 in navy or black. It's for real babies. The Silver Cross pram for dollies is $700.

East Indies Trading Company

24851 S. Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs. 949-7273.

Bountiful

1170 Third St. S., Naples. 643-1919.

Children's Couture

13550 Reflection Lakes Parkway, Fort Myers. 274-5437.