Interview with Domenic Mercier - the owner of the oldest French company GRANGE

Passing the gallery

Materials prepared: Dilara Muradova

Magazine: (92) 2005

Domenica Mercier has everything that a person can dream of. The beautiful wife is a friend and designer, a rural house with a huge garden in France, on the outskirts of Lyon, and the Grange company, which turned out to be a hundred years old last year. But, as you know, there is no limit to perfection. What is missing for complete happiness to the owner of the oldest French company, we asked him himself, taking advantage of the invitation to celebrate the centenary of the Grange A hundred years ago, at that time, thirty-year-old Joseph Grange, a native of the quiet village of Saint Symphorien sur Coise (where his descendants still live), opened the first Grange furniture workshop in Lyon. Celebrations on the occasion of the centenary anniversary stretched out for a whole year, either because the exact opening date of that very first workshop of Joseph Grange was forgotten, or because the event was very significant and the day was short. Celebrated in Scandinavia, in the United States, Switzerland and England - only in forty countries of the world. In Russia alone, according to our humble estimates, five times. But the main holiday took place in August in the historic homeland, on the outskirts of Lyon, in the rural house of the head of the company Domenic Mercier.SON: Where does Grange have such popularity? Is it not enough that French companies make classic furniture? - I think there are several reasons. Grange was the first company to produce furniture in the style of Louis-Philippe. And the style of Louis-Philippe, as you know, is currently one of the most sought after and popular. In addition, Grange was one of the first to sell furniture outside of France. It was a very bold move. Now Grange is a brand. Do you understand what I'm talking about?S: Have you become the owner of a company? - The owner - five years ago. However, by that time I had been working here for several decades. When the Grange family decided to sell the company, it seemed best to make the new owner be one of their own. The transfer occurred by agreement with people working in the company.S: What is Grange now? - We have five factories and in fact two companies - Grange and Geka. Grange is a modern interpretation of classic furniture. Geka is furniture inspired by antiques and close to it. In either case, the furniture is made of solid wood using traditional technologies.S: Isn't it boring to make antique furniture? - Modernity is not my philosophy. And then the furniture Grange is made taking into account modern fashion and style. Geka, of course, is very close to antiques, but these are not exact replicas of antiques. We always change something. I would say that Geka is exceptional furniture. And not only because it is made to order. These are items, not collections. I suppose that in the future our customers will combine them with modern furniture. S: After the company fell into your hands, did you change something in Grange? - Yes, I introduced several fundamentally new things. The first is the complete interior. Previously, Grange did only furniture for bedrooms and dining rooms. I added furniture for kitchens, for the street, and also modular furniture. The second is the colors. In the past, furniture Grange was natural colors. But now people want to see colored furniture in their homes. Therefore, in 2004 we made the first color collection, and in 2005 we plan to start mixing colors.S: Who comes up with the design for the Grange, the French? - Fifty fifty. Previously, these were mainly French designers, but now I have started working with specialists from the United States and England.S: How do you find them? - That they find us. Designers send their projects. We consider them. And we begin to cooperate in the event that we are interested in projects.S: Does this mean that any designer has a chance to work with Grange? Do designers from Russia, too? - Yes, if they present something interesting.S: Is your wife a designer too? - Yes. A new Chinese collection of accessories that we are showing now is her handiwork.S: And the last question: what is missing for the owner of Grange for complete happiness? - In recent years, the number of countries in which our furniture is sold has increased. Now there are 40, but I hope it will be 60 soon.