Donna Saslove And Simon Lugassy - JO LEE Magazine

JL
Donna and Simon at Original.
the store Original?
DS: We did a total
renovation. Simon did
the whole thing. The
original floors were kept
– the glass front is brand
new. The name of the
store is Original because
in the ’40s it was known
as Original Furniture. You
can see it in the marble
floor at the entrance.
Our son preserved their
logo – he developed ours
from theirs, copying the
exact writing that was on
the floor and on the old
dark sign in the basement
with the original glass
embroidery. It’s etched and
it’s wonderful. We worked
with history.
SL: We had to decide if
we were going to open
for prom season – March
Break. It was December
29. By January 1st we
had to know because the
buying and renovations
to open were going to be
huge. We opened on time.
JL: How old is the
building?
SL: Probably as old as
Toronto. The original
owner’s son is 95 years
old. He was so happy with
what we’d done. I can
remember him standing,
watching, saying, “It looks
even better than before.”
JL: You don’t advertise
ever – not in Miami nor
here?
DS: Never have. We’re
involved with a lot of
people. Production houses,
film houses. Our stores
have been an icon stopover
for a lot of people and
events over the years – it’s
known as word-of-mouth.
Last summer we won first
prize for our store window
during the Toronto Grand
Prix – it was a contest
bringing some unexpected
attention and a lot of fun.
JL: I’ll bet you could name
names that have come
through.
Jo Lee Power 2011 29