Showroom flood nearly spoils Currey & Company’s Atlanta Market

ATLANTA — Currey & Company’s participation in Atlanta Market here this week was nearly a wash-out after a burst pipe flooded the company’s showroom following a heavy rainstorm two weeks ago.

The showroom had been market-ready on May 20, with spots on the floor left open for the delivery of summer introductions, when a drainpipe on the roof of AmericasMart Building 1 gave way at around 5 p.m., releasing about three inches of dirty water throughout the roughly 1,200 square-foot ground-floor showroom.

“Water went everywhere,” said Bob Ulrich, senior vice president of sales & marketing, and the damage was “significant,” said Marketing Director Jenny Heinzen York. Many of the company’s decorative pieces rest on pedestals, but any furniture standing directly on the floor was soaked, along with all of the rugs. Parts of the ceiling were damaged, and at least 18 inches of drywall had to be cut away and replaced, according to Ulrich.

“We couldn’t bring anything new in,” said Ulrich, referring to the company’s product introductions. “We couldn’t even deal with what was on the floor.”

As an open-daily showroom, it notified about 200 of its customers that it would be temporarily closed, said Heinzen York. Meanwhile, its prospects for opening in time for market, which began this Tuesday, seemed slim.

AmericasMart, which handled the repairs, returned the showroom to Currey on June 1.

To a casual observer, one would never know the showroom was ankle-deep in water a few weeks ago.

It was a really difficult moment for us, especially so close to the show,” said Heinzen York. “Fortunately, we are local to Atlanta, and we had a team willing to work on the weekend and around the clock to make this happen.”

The company lost business over the last few weeks, she said, “but I’m happy we were able to be open for market and look as we always do.”