While students studying at Parsons, Mercedes Desio and Alberto Villalobos let their a pie-in-the-sky idea about having their own New York store turn into a running joke. But one day it became a reality. They became business partners and set up their East 11th Street store, Etós, just days after 9/11. As Mercedes, says, “When you jump in the lake, you have to keep swimming.” They’re still considered “the new kids on the block” but their vibrant mix of objects and furniture, reflecting their respective Italian and Colombian backgrounds, brings younger customers and designers to what has remained a New York destination.
Someone online was writing about how they had gone in and out of all the antique stores on 11th Street and then said that at last they found a store where they could actually afford to buy something, and it was your store, Etós. How do you get that right combination of quality and affordability?
Alberto: For us it’s about the look; it’s about style. If we fall in love with something, we incorporate it into the gallery. It becomes more of a challenge to have those items that are at a good price point – we really do want people to wander in and enjoy the space.
It is always a bit disheartening to go into a store and find that there’s absolutely nothing in it that you could afford.
Alberto: The antique stores on 10th and 11th Streets are some of the most beautiful antique stores in the city but we’re like the new kids on the block. We’re much younger than some of the other store owners, so we’re learning from them.
What kinds of things are you learning?
Alberto: You name it! They have been extremely generous with their knowledge, like how to work with online sales. Like they encouraged us to join “Between the Squares” [an evening of antiques shopping around Union/Washington/Cooper Squares] … it’s become kind of like a family.
That’s great—I thought perhaps they might have given you the cold shoulder.
Alberto: Well, we’re quite friendly too! They do like our look and what we bring to the area. It’s a destination point and I would say, like maybe 90 percent of the clients are designers.
Mercedes: You see a lot of foreigners too, foreign designers.
So isn’t it really difficult to find things to sell that aren’t antiques and aren’t West Elm-type things?
Alberto: It is! Extremely hard …
Mercedes: Well, you know like Restoration Hardware now has copies of French antiques and objects made from natural stone and it’s hard to make a client understand that it’s worth paying a bit more for something that’s special.
Alberto: We are experiencing something new. With something like Restoration Hardware, we’re getting something like the [interiors] version of Zara. Fashion deals with that, we never had to deal with that until two years ago. We bought this light fixture from Paris that we sold and used in our projects but then Restoration Hardware did a knock-off of that. They do lose their finish after two months but still … and everybody Googles everything.
So now you have this different pressure, wondering how long it will be until something you have gets knocked off by a big name.
Alberto: It is, but I guess at the same time it’s what makes you keep things fresh and interesting. The world is changing so either you adapt or you disappear.
We’re interested in your backgrounds. What opened up for you here that might not have opened up for you either in Italy or Colombia?
Mercedes: In Italy the economic situation is horrible and interior design is also more of an architectural field. If you see Italian designs in magazines, it’s “Oh I have a piece from my grandmother and I mix it with a Minotti sofa.” It’s not really what I think of as interior design. Here it is more sophisticated and you have access to more resources.
Alberto: Part of it is like the culture around design here. I don’t think you find it anywhere else and everyone gravitates to it, including clients, say from Latin America. They come looking for it.
What do you like about each other’s countries and what do you dislike about each other’s countries?
Alberto: Hmm … they’re quite similar at the end of the day. Our grandmothers both lived in small towns and I love those small towns, going to mass or small restaurants
Mercedes: The people in Colombia are naturally friendly …I just had the best hot dog in my life in the smallest town there.
What do you do language-wise? Who speaks what?
Mercedes: We speak Spanglish.
Alberto: Her Spanish, English, French and Italian are all perfect. My Spanish and English are fading everyday.
Do you also consider yourselves New Yorkers?
Mercedes: Well I’ve lived here for ten years, so I’m definitely a New Yorker.
Alberto: You become hooked on this city. I don’t see myself working anywhere else. I could see myself living somewhere else, but like working? Only here. You meet people here that you wouldn’t meet anywhere else.
You launched your business just after 9/11, which must have been tough.
Mercedes: You know, when you jump in the lake, you have to keep swimming.
Alberto: And Colombia, where I come from, things have never been easy. The country has been in a crisis since I can remember. I was hoping in the States it was going to be much easier, but I guess no—so I feel right at home!
People are so romantic about Italy—do you sometimes want to disabuse them?
Mercedes: I say, “Don’t be fooled.”
What should people not be fooled about?
Mercedes: People. They can be very sweet and nice but they can also be really tough. For example my mother and I were in a taxi in Rome and there were two fares: one for the Italians and one for the foreigners. We were speaking in Spanish and the cab driver thought he could take advantage of us. He wanted to charge us extra for the air conditioning! And when we started speaking in Italian he fought us because he felt we had tricked him. So, cautionary tale.
What about the clichés about Colombia, drug lords and so on?
Alberto: It’s so funny to me because it’s a much, much more conservative country regarding drugs than the United States. It’s a country where, if you are not blessed to be born into the right family with the right looks, you don’t really have a fighting chance. So when something like drugs comes along and gives you a ticket out of there, you take it. But it has the most incredible climate and unbelievable biodiversity. The music … people want to have fun. And the architecture is beautiful.
So who are the designers you admire?
Mercedes: Somebody that I worked for briefly, I was only an intern so no glory, but it is Alex Papachristidis. He is so gracious and just from being in his office, you can learn about how to treat people.
Alberto: … I’m thinking …
How would you describe your style then?
Alberto: Eclectic … but the word has become taboo. It’s a good word but it got burned!
Mercedes: [Our style] is more about the way we put different things together.
How about the division of labor? Who does what?
Mercedes: We truly work as a team. Neither of us is a diva or needs recognition.
Alberto: I would say that technology is not my forté at all … Mercedes is much better.
Mercedes: Um … I wish I was that perfect.
Alberto: You don’t change the light bulbs … especially if it’s high ceilings.
