Of all the accomplishments luxury metalworks and furnishings company La Bastille could boast about in 2013 — 90-plus installations, doubling of staff, the opening of a Manhattan showroom — one job in particular gets CEO Chris Plummer to light up.
Earlier in the year, a woman called him looking to buy a custom 54-foot pewter bar for her new restaurant in Monterey, Calif. As it turns out, the woman’s husband and son were both racecar drivers and the restaurant would pay homage to the nearby Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
With a bar of that size, Plummer decided it needed something different. Even though he had never tried it before, he decided to embed tire tracks down the entire length of the bar.
“When I walked into the shop and I said, ‘We’re going to put tire tread onto this bar,’ they looked at me, my own employees, like I’m crazy. Do I know how we’re going to do it? No, don’t have clue. But I knew that I wanted to do it,” said Chris, pointing to photos of the finished product.
‘That lightbulb moment’
Anecdotes such as this help explain La Bastille’s rising star in the world of high-end interior design.
Husband and wife Chris and Katiana Plummer started the business in 2010 after Chris relocated from Pennsylvania to his hometown of Savannah.
Chris already had made a splash in the world of high-end kitchens, creating and installing painted tin ceilings and custom range hoods.
“I was really stupid and didn’t copyright it, and it basically became an industry standard. And suddenly I owned a company that was once the premier, and now we’re just part of a bunch of companies,” said Chris. “I’ve always said, ‘If I’m not the best at something, I don’t want to do it.’”
Meanwhile, Chris had been working with a friend who imported zinc and pewter countertops directly from France. He said French companies had slow lead times and would often ship them incorrectly sized.
After helping his friend fix a few, he became determined to learn how to cast them himself. After much trial and error and online research, he came up with a new way to revive the centuries-old craft.
“It was that lightbulb moment when I decided to kind of simplify my life and kind of just do what I love doing,” said Chris.
With Katiana doing all of the invoicing and customer service, Chris would make sales calls in the evening and, during the day, make the custom-cast countertops with the help of one other employee in what he described as a dark, dilapidated warehouse.
“It’s just been a lot of blood, sweat and tears,” said Katiana. “We’ve made mistakes, but every time we’ve made mistakes, you know we correct it.”
It wasn’t long before the company started to make waves with their custom zinc and pewter countertops. With more capital, La Bastille upgraded to a 37,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Garden City and has its administrative office on Bay Street.
They count themselves fortunate to be close to the Savannah College of Art and Design, from which they attracted former professor Jason Wech to lead their newly launched furniture division, as well as several top graduates from the program. The company also participates in the Chatham Apprentice Program, allowing unemployed individuals and those in need of a second chance the opportunity to work.
In the last year, the company has grown from 11 employees to 18 and is looking to double that over the next year.
Chris and Katiana also consolidated the company’s five divisions — Metal Works, Furniture, Cabinetry, Prototyping and Motorworks — under one umbrella trade name: La Bastille. La Bastille Metal Works accounts for the majority of their business, with their zinc and pewter countertops in high-end restaurants and home kitchens worldwide.
Katiana estimates about 80 percent of their business is U.S. and the other 20 percent international.
Katiana says about half of their clients go for zinc and half for pewter. Chris said pewter is more elegant and classic, while zinc is rustic.
“Not Colorado or Arizona rustic,” he adds, “but French castle rustic.”
The next chapter
“We’re on the verge of being a bigger company, but it’s still very family feeling,” said Chris. “I don’t, personally, want to be a widget shop.”
“Every new person, every new position, we are so careful about because we have such an amazing team,” said Katiana.
One of the biggest milestones they count is the opening of a showroom in New York City, which will raise their profile and open more doors for other design projects. The 1,700-square-foot space is located in the New York Design Center in Manhattan.
“We’re tasked with how to create 50 pieces to go into a space. And I don’t just want them to be pretty, I want people to look at them and go, ‘How the … did they make that?’” said Chris.
“The showroom is huge. The way we manufacture things is not inexpensive, so they have to be high-end pieces,” said Katiana. “I think New York is going to open opportunities and give us new ideas.”
Chris said he also sees the opportunity to bring a little bit of Savannah to New York.
Other future endeavors include the launching of two separate companies outside the La Bastille umbrella, one of which will supply unusual metals — zinc, pewter, bronze and copper — in large quantities.
“We want to be the supplier of zinc and pewter, whether we’re building it or we’re selling it to other people who want to build it,” said Katiana.
Chris said the real challenge for him is to continue to run La Bastille with a painter’s vision, constantly looking forward to what’s next.
“The goal,” said Chris, “is to completely demolish the line between art and function.”
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Winner: La Bastille
Leaders: Chris Plummer, CEO, and Katiana Plummer, COO
Number of employees: 18
2013 Milestones: Increasing staff, launching of furniture division, opening of Manhattan showroom.
Looking forward: Expanding furniture offerings, doubling staff, launching new companies.
ABOUT THE HONOREES
As 2013 comes to a close, the Savannah Morning News and Savannahnow continue the tradition of profiling companies and organizations that made major contributions to the local business environment in the past year. The Business in Savannah staff chose the honorees from a list of nominees submitted by local business and community leaders, utilizing broad criteria – from growth and success to philanthropy and community involvement.
Wednesday: SBAC– Business Advocate of the Year
Thursday: River Street Sweets– Retail Business of Year
Friday: MLET– Business Education Partner of the Year
Saturday: Parker's - Entrepreneurial Business of the Year
Sunday: Daniel Defense - Manufacturer of the Year
Tuesday: Carriage Trade PR - Small Business of the Year
Today: La Bastille – Newcomer of the Year