Newel is a company with a rich and authentic history that traces back to its origin in 1939. In 1981, Newel began a twenty year series of once a month full page advertisements in Architectural Digest. The ads were consistent in their design, and each ad pictured a piece of furniture on a black background, a witty tagline referencing the object, and the slogan “The largest and most extraordinary antiques resource in the world”. The minimal design was intended to get people wondering about Newel and our inventory selection. The ad campaign was a major success, and in 1984 The Art Director’s Club in New York honored Newel with a Merit Award for advertising and design. Below are some of our favorite ads that ultimately helped shape Newel into one of the world’s most well known antique galleries.
The Newel Archives: Jacqueline Kennedy
September 9, 2019 /On a sunny March morning in 1963 the First Lady of the United States of America, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, walked into the Newel Gallery on second avenue. Jackie explained that she and her husband were building a vacation home near Middleburg, Virginia and she was on the hunt for English Regency lacquered furniture. At the time, most celebrities only shopped with their interior designer, but Jackie Kennedy was different in that she liked to scout antiques by herself. Back in 1963, Newel had a small shop on second avenue filled with vases, lamps, and accessories, and two lofts a few blocks away filled with furniture. Jackie spent that entire day going back and forth between the different locations selecting a handful of beautiful pieces. She purchased 13 items that day including a pair of Victorian English papier-mache chairs, a three-piece nineteenth-century red lacquered chinoiserie salon set, a black lacquered English Regency chest and stand, a pair of French Empire-style porcelain urns, and two English Bristol-style lamps.
During Jackie’s visit to Newel, she explained how she was in the process of redecorating the White House and was looking for a nineteenth-century American Empire chest of drawers for a guest bedroom. Although Newel did not have what she was looking for, this did not stop Newel’s Bruce Newman from going out and finding it. He searched high and low at every antique shop in New York City and would mail Jackie photograph after photograph of different pieces he hoped she would like. This led to a series of letters back and forth between the First Lady and Mr. Newman. Eventually, Mr. Newman was able to find the perfect piece at a local thrift shop and purchased it for Jackie Kennedy for $90.
Mr. Newman’s friendship with the First Lady continued to blossom throughout the 1970’s. The relationship between Jackie Kennedy and Newel is significant in that it ultimately helped shape Newel into the antique powerhouse it is today.
(A photograph of a room in the White House featuring the Empire chest of drawers purchased from Newel. Photo courtesy of White House Historical Association)
(Handwritten letter by Jackie Kennedy to Newel’s Bruce Newman confirming her first order for her vacation home)
(A letter by Jackie Kennedy to Newel’s Bruce Newman in regards to a photograph of an Empire chest of drawers he had mailed her)
(A letter from James R. Ketchum, the White House Curator, stating Mrs. Kennedy would like to purchase the Empire chest of drawers Bruce Newman had found at a thrift store)
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August 12, 2019 /This year marks Lewis Baer’s 50th year working at Newel!
In honor of this huge milestone, we interviewed the Managing Principal himself to discuss his experiences and what it’s like to run a 4th generation family owned business.
Q
Tell me a little bit about your history growing up
with the family business.
A.
I grew up in Ardmore, PA, a suburb of Philadelphia and we lived in a house that was decorated with antiques that my grandparents gave to my parents. My father was a dentist who collected art of all periods and all the walls were filled with his purchases. At least once a month my sister and I would take the train to NYC and visit my grandparents. On Saturday mornings we would go to the store because they had to fill rental orders, and in the evening, we would always go to a Broadway show where Newel had supplied the furniture and furnishing.
Q
After you graduated from college you started your career at an accounting firm. Why did you decide to pursue something other than the family business?
A.
I graduated from Lehigh University with an accounting degree because I thought it was a foundational skill that would lend itself to any business that I might eventually want to pursue. As electives, I took advanced accounting and business courses, and never contemplated taking courses in the arts.
Q
How did you get started at Newel?
A.
I got my first taste of Newel when my grandparents gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse, work at Newel for the summer (of 1969) while they went to Europe on their annual buying trip and have use of their apartment for that time, as well as pay me. I definitely needed the money for college expenses, and they extended that offer to work on all my vacations and semester breaks. It was also the summer of Woodstock and I regrettably decided that I was not going to go to it out of my commitment and appreciation for having the job.
Q
Have you ever considered a major change from working at Newel and if so, what kept you here?
A.
When I started working full time at Newel, I thought that I should get more exposure to the art and antiques industry and not just from my part time experiences with Newel. I interviewed for a position at Sotheby’s, but they offered me a position in their LA offices, which they were trying to develop. I passed on that and decided that the learning curve in this industry was about getting out and going to auctions, dealers, and museums, as well as listening and learning from the many talented interior decorators and set designers who were Newel clients. The resources of Newel were also very compelling, a massive, diverse inventory with unlimited potential.
Q
Since taking over Newel from your uncle in 2001, what are some of the biggest changes you made to the business?
A.
The biggest changes were the challenges of a changing industry. From the time I bought the business, my accounting skills were never more important in financing the purchase and in dealing with the dramatic downturn trend in taste for antiques. It required a keen sense of buying the right type of inventory for a changing market, with 20th Century items slowly overtaking traditional antique style. With Newel’s diversity, we were able to make the transition while many dealers who were specialists in certain periods could not. Perhaps the biggest decision was to sell our iconic 53rd Street building and make the move to a showroom on 61st Street for selling and take a massive warehouse space in Long island City to accommodate the bulk of the inventory and the rental side of the business.
Q
What do you consider to be your career highlight?
A.
Certainly, the move out of 53rd Street, but from an operational point of view, I think developing a proprietary database and computer system to manage the inventory and subsequent website in the mid 1990’s were foundational for the future of the business. However, taking a family business into the 3rd generation was a challenge that has now been successfully fulfilled with 2 family members, Jake and Gabriella now representing the 4th generation. That is quite an achievement when statistically over 98% of family business never make it past the 3rd generation.
Q
What was your biggest career obstacle and how did you overcome it?
A.
Coming into the antiques industry from the accounting world was a big concern, as I had a limited understanding of the knowledge required to buy and sell inventory. Oddly, I took some beginner courses at New York School of Interior Design and realized that during the summers and vacations that I worked at Newel I had absorbed more information and knowledge of periods and styles than I realized. Perhaps the desire to learn more about the infinite possibilities of the design, periods, and history of these items that I had to deal with on a daily will always be, for me a work in progress. I’ve always been a voracious reader of history and non-fiction; antiques are three dimensional versions of my passion to understand the past.
Q
What is your most memorable sale so far in your career?
A.
That’s a tough question because every sale just like ever purchase has a unique story of where a piece is purchased and to whom it is sold. I enjoy telling our staff where and when we acquired an item. From selling a pair of astral lamps to the White House, while in college, and seeing them every time President Richard Nixon spoke from the Oval Office, to finding the Normandie Grand Salon lacquered panels in a warehouse in Paris that were sold to a museum, there are fantastic stories for every sale.
Q
What career advice would you give your 20-year old self?
A.
As a 20-year old back in 1970, I’d say learn and experience as much as you can about the world around you and the diversity of people you encounter. My career path of starting in one direction and ending in another tells me that goals can evolve; never feel that you can’t try to take a chance.
Q
What is your favorite Newel piece?
A.
I can’t say that there could ever be a “favorite” piece. The list would be endless; I’ve learned to love all periods and appreciate everything from an Art Deco Lalique perfume bottle to an English Regency Chinoiserie lacquered armoire. That’s what makes working here so special; the scope and exposure to the past and present of designed furniture and furnishing is unlimited and I can’t wait to see my newest “favorite” find.
A few of Lewis' favorite pieces
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July 18, 2019 /In 2015, Newel celebrated a significant expansion with two new locations: A 10,000 square foot gallery on East 61st street and a 65,000 square foot warehouse in Long Island City.
The Newel Gallery is a high-polished curated selection of our expansive inventory and is constantly changing every few months. The gallery seamlessly mixes antiques with contemporary furniture and décor. We hope that the various styles found in our gallery will inspire our clients to discover the beauty of mixing different furniture periods to create the ultimate ‘WOW factor’.
At the Newel warehouse you’ll find our current collection which boasts well over 10,000 extraordinary works from around the globe, with classic pieces to contemporary designs and reproductions. The Newel warehouse resembles our previous home on East 53rd street, but instead of 6 stories of wonders we have one expansive single floor collection.
Newel has continued expanding our brick and mortar business and earlier this year we joined the new 1stDibs Gallery on the west side of Manhattan. Newel’s presence at the 1stDibs gallery is truly remarkable and unlike any other dealer in the gallery. What makes the Newel space so unique is that our inventory is not limited to a particular period or genre, but rather mixes various styles that range from the 18th century to today.
The Newel inventory is unparalleled in the design industry and we encourage you to stop by our three unique spaces to experience all that is Newel.
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