Trader Vic's Warehouse sale returns!

Hey PTD, sorry I missed meeting you, but you got me in a couple of your shots. You're right-on about the sale... considerably lighter than last time but still a pleasure.
I'm glad the Carved Suffering Bastard found a good home, he's a nice piece.
If I remember correctly, they were missing the glass tops which actually hold the candles last time. I'm happy they were up for sale this time... A nice addition to The Aloha Room.
Aloha,
:tiki:

I also went to the sale today.....wow what eye candy......
I picked up a 2 figure pole with full bodys carved front and back,,,,,
the girls said that these poles came from Düsseldorf before ending up in Berlin
this one has holes in the sides for horizontial poles spaced about 18in apart
the girls said that they were part of a wall or partition with the poles connecting to the next carved pole
if anyone has photos of this in place ,,,please post them or contact me....i also got a great bunch of bar supplies....

I missed the last sale when my jerk boss called me into work at the last second. I can tell you that the warehouse girls are as nice as everyone says. If any of the gals are reading this I felt really bad as I went to pay. I had asked one of the guys the price on something and he held up five fingers which I mistook to mean five bucks for the small item. I guess he was telling me to wait or something and I hope you didn't think I was trying to weasel a lower price on something.

I decided to keep it simple. I bought two candle holders. I wanted these last time and was glad I had a second opportunity to purchase them. I also wanted something different, so I bought the wood carving of the "Suffering Bastard". The girls were not sure of the origin. but mentioned often items were brought in by companies or artists to have consideration for mass production?

PTD - I've seen those carved suffering bastards for sale at OA. This one may not be one of theirs, but TV buys (and bought) A TON of their tikis and decor through OA.

Thanks everyone for posting pictures of the sale! AND all the goodies you got! I know everyone drools over those tikis (me too!!!), but if I were there I think I would have headed straight for the vintage nautical stuff. Was that stuff resonably priced as well? (just curious).

This is my small haul. I spent a total of $500.00 exactly on these items. The weird stir stick poking out the bag is of Mama Gruber from the aborted "concept" restaurant in 1979 that was never built. Special thanks to Eve especially for patiently pricing everything for everyone.

The tiki is from Berlin. Does anyone possibly have a photo of it? Someone said that some of the items may have come originally from Dusseldorf and were moved to Berlin when it opened.

Special thanks to Eve especially for patiently pricing everything for everyone.

[ Edited by: SuperEight 2009-09-24 19:25 ]

Here's a website with a bunch of pictures from the Berlin Trader Vic's. I think I recognize some things from the sale. I'll try to find more pictures and put them here.

http://www.tikieurope.com/locations/presentation.asp?LOCID=20

It's a bad business model. But the "anything tiki" group will likely buy up all this stuff in days. People are foaming at the mouth to take a road trip to a dreadful section of the Bay Area (with the highest murder rate in the area) to buy their TV's swag. Been there done that.

It's quite weird, eventually at this rate all the Vics will close and a handful of people who are willing to spend the real big bucks for primo tikis & artifacts will have this stuff stashed away in their garage, (after the fad wears off) They (Traders) really needs some direction or they are history.

blah, blah, blah.

So, finally found the place, met the totally nice folks, and got some killer stuff.
I woulda loved to have gotten some of the bigger pieces, but my pockets are pretty shallow.
Still, though, got a nice pole like the ones that make up the fence outside of Emeryville... only mine has no holes drilled in it. Finally snagged a coconut, got some other glassware including the Moai Tiki Bowl.
All my goodies for $135.
WOO!

After, the wife and I went over to Emeryville and had Chow Mein and booze.
The end.

Vintage nautical, yes!

Does anybody have any info or could ask about the tall middle tiki standing upside down> Where did it come from?

[ Edited by: Tiki Diablo 2009-09-25 11:07 ]

Anybody have any photos of Dusseldorf trader vics ???

On 2009-09-25 11:05, Tiki Diablo wrote:
Vintage nautical, yes!

Does anybody have any info or could ask about the tall middle tiki standing upside down> Where did it come from?

---

[ Edited by: Tiki Diablo 2009-09-25 11:07 ]

Not sure where it was from, but we were told it is a Brimfield Tiki. They had a smaller 3' Ku version Brimfield copy that was around $520.00.

PTD

I only got 'practical' stuff I could use.

The show plates were pretty expensive, but these were my main objective so I got a full setting of 6. It is almost a shame to use them, since they are so nice!

There were also some cute oval plates, but a couple of women came in and swept all but one. I grabbed the remaining one for use as a serving platter.

But no tiki poles on this trip, as they would have been difficult to handle on the long drive back to San Diego.

All of the folks working there were great. Thanks all for making it happen!!!

Aloha,
Here are a few Tiki posts in Berlin- Closetiki here is your post in Berlin.
Here is what we know:
The tiki posts were used as part of a fence in Dusseldorf not in Berlin.
The Suffering Bastard statue in question was from OA. We love doing business with them and had some of those little guys left over from a gift set we gave outlast year. They actually had OA price tags on them!
The Tiki that is upside down is a "Britewell" not Brimfield.
We will post more Berlin Pics next week.
Hope this helps answer some of your questions.
Great to see you all!!
Kier and Michelie

Wow. Thanks girls. It's a great photo.
Thanks for all the info also.
you guys are great!!!!

Now I've got to find a photo of the Dusseldorf fence !

I snagged two of the small carved posts on Thursday - forgot to ask where they were from. Wonder if anybody has claimed the large pole with the monkey carving? Will post a pic of it as soon as my camera and my computer stop fighting each other!

Does the sale end on Sunday, the 27th? Or will it continue? I can get there next week, if it's still going on.
Also, does anyone know if there are any Papua New Guinea masks still for sale (some are in the photos from this thread)?

On 2009-09-25 13:35, TVWarehousegirls wrote:
Aloha,
Here are a few Tiki posts in Berlin- Closetiki here is your post in Berlin.
Here is what we know:
The tiki posts were used as part of a fence in Dusseldorf not in Berlin.
The Suffering Bastard statue in question was from OA. We love doing business with them and had some of those little guys left over from a gift set we gave outlast year. They actually had OA price tags on them!
The Tiki that is upside down is a "Britewell" not Brimfield.
We will post more Berlin Pics next week.
Hope this helps answer some of your questions.
Great to see you all!!
Kier and Michelie

Thanks for the tip.

Finally got my camera to cooperate with my computer.
Here are a few more pics from Thursday's sale.
First up - the tiki posts. I asked the Warehouse Girls about them and here's the info...
"The Tiki posts you bought were for the Emeryville railing and we had extras after the install."

Here's the big post with the monkey carving - definitely a favorite among the folks there, but as of Friday, nobody's snagged it.



Here are a couple of other random items..

[ Edited by: Fres-tiki 2009-09-26 12:01 ]

On 2009-09-26 01:52, Fres-tiki wrote:

What was the asking price on the Monkey Pole (NICE!)??? Thortiki

How long is the sale going to go on? Does anyone know?
Thanks :)

Hey Thortiki - forgot I had a pic with the price on the monkey pole - updated my previous post with it.

Matt went to the sale yesterday and picked up a couple of things. The largest is a piece carved by Barney West. We don't know anything else about the piece, but put it over the fireplace, shown in photo below. It was difficult to figure out the best way to hang the mask, but it turned out well. Matt told me when he was done, it would have been much easier if he came home with a carved tiki statue (clear out a place and set it down)!

We picked up a rum barrel and the new fog cutter mug, and 2 tiki candle holders as well.

As everyone said, the staff was outstanding, thanks for doing this again!

If anyone can provide more info on Barney West, please post it, thanks! I can't find much online.

On 2009-09-26 15:56, TikiMookie wrote:

If anyone can provide more info on Barney West, please post it, thanks! I can't find much online.

Here's a great thread about Barney West:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22078&forum=1&hilite=Barney%20West

And a search where he's mentioned in postings:
http://www.tikicentral.com/search.php?term=Barney+West&srch=text&srt=newest&usr=&frm=all&start=0

Nice score!
Thanks for sharing the pictures everyone!

On 2009-09-26 15:56, TikiMookie wrote:
Matt went to the sale yesterday and picked up a couple of things. The largest is a piece carved by Barney West. We don't know anything else about the piece, but put it over the fireplace, shown in photo below.

That is the perfect place for it!

But: Though I cannot fully tell unless I see it in person, that mask looks a little new to me to be an original Barney West:

..it looks more like a recent Asian reproduction. 90% of the Berlin Trader Vic's decor was Asian carved in the 2000s.

Hi Sven,

The paper on the mask was marked BW TV Mask. When Matt asked one of the girls, she said it was Barney West Trader Vic.

I hope this is true, otherwise we spent a lot more on the piece than we would have.

I'm concerned that it would have been marked and sold as a Barney West if this isn't the case.

Is there a way to tell by looking at the piece?

We do like it and it does look good on the fireplace, but I don't like the idea of it being a modern reproduction if it was sold as the real thing. That disturbs me and I would like to know.

Thanks, I hope you are wrong!!

Aloha

I hope so too! Well now that it is so expertly hung, it'll be difficult, but if you look at the quality of the wood on the back side, you should be able to tell if it has the surface patina of around 40- 50 years, or if it is more like 5 years old.

The paint job looks not like Barney West would have done it, but then again they might have varnished it since. Hope the sticker did not mean "Barney West-style" mask.

Thanks. We will check it out. It's not varnished, although it may look that way in the photo.

..it looks more like a recent Asian reproduction. 90% of the Berlin Trader Vic's decor was Asian carved in the 2000s."

We have paperwork to prove that isn't true. Dusseldorf opened in 1987 and 95% of the decor from Berlin was from Dusseldorf.

Matt was clearly told that it was a Barney West STYLE mask. That mask has been moved to 3 different Trader Vic's Warehouses and we don't know the origin (it is not from Berlin. It actually was a different color (mint green and burgundy) and we stained it. If you are not happy with your purchase, please feel free to bring it back today and we will happily exchange it for another piece of merchandise that you choose.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us!
Kier and Michelie

Well in that case... I was at the Duesseldorf TV's only once, and so long ago, in the mid 90s, I cannot recall the details of the decor...didn't take any pictures that one time I saw it, either. And then it was closed and just sitting in that Hotel basement for some time, right?

But I visited the Berlin Trader Vic's several times over the few years of its existence, (I even got them a location deal, shooting a scene from the German TV series "Edel & Stark" there for a day), and all the carvings there felt very new to me. I remember Sven Koch went back there to improve and ad some to the decor, later, because it was so un-cozy, maybe that's when more stuff from Duesseldorf was added? And '87 is not really vintage Poly pop....

...which is not to say that all the Duesseldorf decor was from '87. For example, the Hamburg Trader Vic's was opened in, I believe (correct me if I am wrong), in '89, and it has a Barney West Tiki and a mask that look very much like his older-than-80s handiwork.

On 2009-09-27 11:01, TVWarehousegirls wrote:

We have paperwork to prove that isn't true. Dusseldorf opened in 1987 and 95% of the decor from Berlin was from Dusseldorf.

Matt was clearly told that it was a Barney West STYLE mask. That mask has been moved to 3 different Trader Vic's Warehouses and we don't know the origin (it is not from Berlin. It actually was a different color (mint green and burgundy) and we stained it. If you are not happy with your purchase, please feel free to bring it back today and we will happily exchange it for another piece of merchandise that you choose.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us!
Kier and Michelie

Kier & Michelie,

Thanks so much for the confirmation. That's really all I was concerned with. We love the piece. I just wanted to be sure it was authentic, considering the price.

We love TV and will always support them. I appreciate your chiming in and authenticating it. Thanks again :)

On 2009-09-27 11:18, bigbrotiki wrote:
... the Duesseldorf TV's ... it was closed
and just sitting in that Hotel basement for some time, right? ...

the hotel was closed 8 years ago.
then i think it was vacant some years ... 2 or 3 years ago EVERYTHING (= the whole hotel)
was torn down and new built from "ground zero".

last year was the reopening under the same name: breidenbacher hof
( http://www.breidenbacherhofcapella.com/ )

what was trader vics once is now something called "capella" ...

On 2009-09-27 11:01, TVWarehousegirls wrote:

Matt was clearly told that it was a Barney West STYLE mask.
Thanks to all of you who have supported us!
Kier and Michelie

On 2009-09-27 14:12, TikiMookie wrote:

Thanks so much for the confirmation. That's really all I was concerned with. We love the piece. I just wanted to be sure it was authentic, considering the price.

Barney West Style means NO barney West then. Still looks cool but actually being a real Mr. West would make it twenty times cooler.

Today was the last day of the sale right? Or is it going to be extended.

Thanks again TVWarehouseGirls!!!

ATTENTION TV Warehouse Girls..........

You are the coolest. We had such a great time and it was so cool to see such beautiful tiki art.

Thanks again for everything.

For those of you who didn't get a chance to see here are a few pix.

I got a few treasures while we were there and Milly made out like a bandit with the fabric she bought.

Thanks again Warehouse ladies.

"I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly".

Winston Churchill

Tikiman1705

[ Edited by: metikiman1705 2009-09-27 23:40 ]

The TV warehouse sale was worth the drive down from Portland! AceyTiki (Drew) and I (Kimmy) are very happy with our purchases. Our only regret, is we wish we had purchased a few more items. heh heh

Kier and Michelie were both very helpful. They answered all of our questions, gave us all kinds of TV history and gave us a tour of the whole warehouse. The whole experience was really great.

After we made our purchases we headed over to Trader Vic's for another great lunch. The service was outstanding. I loved when the manager John came out of the front office because he recognized my voice. But even better, he had two of the new fog cutter mugs waiting for us since Kier and Michelie had called him to let him know that we were on our way over.

I can't wait until our next visit down. Hopefully, it's soon. I will post some pictures as soon as I upload them.

WHAT A GREAT TIME!!!!!

It was so much fun to see you, Kier, Michelie & Eve - you all are such fabulous hostesses - you must be in the hospitality business or something :wink:

Here are a few views from the sale.....

The crowd awaits:

The tikis inside are calling to us through the fence....

Cannibals:

& Ray picked out a FULL one....I guess he didn't want it to eat the fabulous big-headed Marq he got at the last sale :wink:

A little FUN with the Barney West Moai :wink:

MORE Tikis:

The loading of the tikis:

And a HUGE, GIANT MAHALO to Trader Vic's for opening their doors to us!!!!!!!!

Oh, and..... don't let the turkeys get you down :wink:

First of all...THANK YOU TO Kier and Michelie! You two are awesome! Thank you to Trader Vic's as well for the opportunity.

I would like to commend you on your patience and restraint in reference to some of the posts which frankly were very rude and I'm sure offensive. Your integrity and passion for Tiki is impressive!

For those of you who may yet realize the value of the opportunity...they were doing something good here. And many of us are excited and appreciative of it. Thank you!

Also some of you may not know this, but Kier's experience in tiki and carvings specifically goes back generations. She and Michellie know their stuff!

Here's the skivvy, the stuff is beautiful, it is authentic, it is mostly OLD, and they absolutely have origination and artist receipts to verify it. Michellie personally went over to Berlin to HAND pick all items. Anyone who says differently regarding authenticity or location derivation, I suggest you call them directly to inquire and confirm before posting assumptions on a public forum. They are honest straight shooters and will gladly answer any questions.

Some of you may wonder why these items are being sold...or as someone said, "making way for metal and chrome?". These items are NOT being sold because they need money, or "it's a tired concept", or to make way for metal and chrome, or for any other reason EXCEPT that they cannot reuse the items as they were customized uniquely for the previous locations. Old stuff (NOT chrome) is going in the newer locations now, but it's stuff that hasn't been modified for a previous location.

SO instead of just getting rid of these items, they provided the opportunity for ownership to those who they thought would appreciate it, which MANY of us do, at their item cost or lower. And some items were nearly given away to those they knew would appreciate and value it it.

Trader Vic's tried to do something nice for it's supporters. Sadly, a few newbies decided to bash it for their own personal reasons. The least a decent person could do is either be appreciative or simply move on and ignore it if it's not your thing.

As a result, this will most likely be the last time they open their warehouse doors to us. Which sucks for us as a few ruin it for everyone. And if anyone is wondering...THIS is the ONLY Trader Vic's warehouse.

Once again, Keir and Michelie, thank for a unique and wonderful experience and opportunity! We love our items and the history behind it. Mahalo.

Coco Loco,

That was probably one of the most eloquent replies to a thread I have read since I have been here.

I wish I could have met you while I was there. It seems I missed a few TC'ers?

I felt honored just to be able to attend the sale and view what is no doubt one of the greatest assemblage of TV tiki history not only from this sale, but the first one as well. I cannot express my appreciation enough to Kier and Michelle and to Trader Vic's for opening this to the members of Tiki Central. There were so many other avenues they could have taken to sell their items and could have probably made more money in doing so. I really hope they don't allow the bad judgment of others to cloud their future relations with those here who really support them and their efforts.

Due to economics I was not able to make any large dollar purchases this time but was extremely satisfied with what I bought. I was definitely hoping there would be another opportunity in the future and I will keep my fingers crossed for more down the road. It was truly iconic to be there for the first two and I will be there again if Kier and Michelle are willing to give it another go.

Kier and Michelle, mucho props and thank you again for your efforts and your willingness to share information. Even I blew it with the Brimfield-Britewell tiki identification and was glad to have the correct information given; even learned where my little wood carved Suffering Bastard came from. You both went above and beyond even after the sales were complete.

TVWarehousegirls, please remember the 80/20 rule. I think it applies here.

Hope to see you again in the future,

Psycho Tiki D (I know I am and I am in the 80%)!

Along with the last two posts, I'm not sure how many TC'ers are aware what an incredibly great thing Trader Vic's is doing for us.

This is not a money making venture for them. This isn't an advertised event.

Trader Vic's is one of the top creators of this neat world we all love here on TC. They have been for over 60 years. The gals at TV's and the management opened up their otherwise VERY closed archives/warehouse to US specifically.

The prices are unbelievably fair. 7 foot, hand carved poles were selling for less than some Tiki Farm mugs. Even the poly-Asian stuff is nice and absolutely worth the money. Rather than chainsaw the extra decor material that they cannot re-use, TV's offered it to us.

I'm sure it's not an easy job to set up this sale, not to mention 4 straight/full days of doing retail sales which the girls volunteered. That's not what they normally do.

I just think some praise, no matter what we may think of one tiki or another, is in order for some terrific people at TV's.

On another subject, over the last week, I received an e-mail from Chris Nichols at the LA Conservancy's Modern Committee. Apparently, the demolition of the A-Frame and facade of the Beverly Hills Trader Vic's started on Friday. The Modern Committee folks were wondering if anyone knew about what the fate of the huge parking lot tiki would be.

Apparently, over the weekend, it was to be chain-sawed!

I asked Kier if they knew about it.

Well, we all have another reason to love the Trader Vics people....after being alerted (btw, they have little contact with the Hilton management), they rushed to save not only the big tiki, but also the original neon sign!

Another world famous tiki saved from the Volcano gods!

Anyhow, thanks to the gals at the warehouse and all the folks at Trader Vic's in Oakland!

Great news about the saving of the Beverly Hills neon signs and Tiki, that was (is!) one the coolest Trader Vic's neons ever, from 1955. Glad to see the company cares about the old stuff.

Which brings me to this:

On 2009-09-28 17:23, Coco Loco wrote:
I would like to commend you on your patience and restraint in reference to some of the posts which frankly were very rude and I'm sure offensive. Your integrity and passion for Tiki is impressive!

Here's the skivvy, the stuff is beautiful, it is authentic, it is mostly OLD, and they absolutely have origination and artist receipts to verify it. Michellie personally went over to Berlin to HAND pick all items. Anyone who says differently regarding authenticity or location derivation, I suggest you call them directly to inquire and confirm before posting assumptions on a public forum. They are honest straight shooters and will gladly answer any questions.

I looked through the thread and could not find any posts that were rude and offensive, merely questioning. If wondering about the age and origin of certain Tikis (instead of writing a gosh/golly fan boy post) is being marked as offensive, what purpose does this board have? Only to sell Tikis? I must conclude that the fact that I voiced my doubts about that Barney West STYLE mask being a Barney West MADE mask (which were confirmed by Kier and Michellie) was taken as such blasphemy. My aim was to inform.

I would like to point out that A.) I am the biggest supporter of Trader Vic's, and B.) that I in no way doubt Kier and Michellie's dedication and love for what they do. But I am also an impartial observer, and one with 20 years experience in the field of American Tiki style, which was not recognized as an art form (even by Trader Vic's, mind you) until my research and books defined it. If I see a something being called something that I believe is something else, I like to share my expertise. Please let me know if this is not wanted anymore.

I guess it comes down to how one defines "authentic" and "old". It is very easy to argue that "ALL American Tiki is not authentic, so who cares".
Well, some do, some don't. Which is fine. I am not telling anyone how THEY have to decorate their Tiki Room, just sharing what I know and like. The argument of ALL Polynesian pop Tiki being in-authentic does not stick, because;

The term "authentic" is usually applied to the best examples of a style or art form, pieces that were created during a certain period that can be called the art form's or culture's heyday. When an idea is new, it creatively blossoms for a number of years, until it becomes repetitious and self-referential and finally disappears. This is true for Greek, Renaissance or Art Nouveaux as it is for Tiki style, the way I discovered it: The heyday of American Tiki Style was from the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, definitely petering out by the early 70s. Anybody disagrees? So: Examples from this period would rightfully be called "authentic" Tiki style.

When I look at the photos in this thread, my experienced Tiki eye tells me that the majority of them is NOT from that period, but rather from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Not ALL, but a large percentage. WHO is gonna tell me different? So what makes them "authentic" and "old"? I guess everyone's individual interpretation of these terms. I know mine, but what is yours? I simply prefer a vintage boomerang ashtray to an 80s or 90 reproduction, but hey, there is lots of room to philosophize if they are really different things.

Now again, this is not to diminish the joy of the buyers or the appreciation of Trader Vic's and the warehouse girls efforts to bring these items, ANY items from their restaurants, to the Tiki-loving TC public. That is all good. I just thought some folks care to know what is what, and now I know that some don't. C'est la vie. :)

Sven...

No need to qualify your opinions. Well, I'm sorta pissed you wrote the book to begin with, but that's a different story! :wink:

I agree that there's a lot of tiki being pawned off as 'authentic' these days that simply are not. "Authentic" as you rightly state being from the hey-dey. A funny word in that none of these 'authentic replicas' are authentic in regards to their caricatured origins. It's like saying, an 'authentic' bird from Disneyland's Tiki Room.

Trader Vic's is in no way trying to sell items incorrectly. Even with all their knowledge, the gals can only know so much and certainly can only relay the information their inventory states. It's true that both Berlin and Dusseldorf are not that old. I can say from personal experience that there was material recycled from earlier locations.

In my mind, the bottom line is "caveat-emptor". It's the buyer's place to know what they are buying.

BTW, it's my opinion that the mask in question is actually a period Barney West. I would've bought it in the last sale but I just bought too much. When I saw it with new coloring in this sale, I wondered what happened. The last color scheme looked more authentic actually.

Sven, my remarks were not focused on you, so please don't take them personally. You know me, but don't recognize my TC name. :) If you'd like to know what I'm referring to, feel free to take it offline via PM and I will fill you in.

Thank you, I understand. I am still grateful that your post gave me the opportunity to differentiate between what I believe is "authentic" vintage Tiki and what is not. As I said, not everybody has to agree, or care. One thing is for sure: ALL of the stuff offered is authentic Trader Vic's :)

On 2009-09-28 17:23, Coco Loco wrote:

I would like to commend you on your patience and restraint in reference to some of the posts which frankly were very rude and I'm sure offensive. Your integrity and passion for Tiki is impressive!

Trader Vic's tried to do something nice for it's supporters. Sadly, a few newbies decided to bash it for their own personal reasons. The least a decent person could do is either be appreciative or simply move on and ignore it if it's not your thing.

I certainly hope you don't mean me! I absolutely meant no offense to anyone. I was not able to go to the warehouse sale and was told by my husband the mask was a Barney West. He paid good money for this and I only became concerned when others started questioning it. I don't think my comments were rude or offensive as you wrote. Since you didn't name me, I don't know if you are talking about me directly or aiming your comments towards someone else. It's unfortunate, since you did not name a specific person, that I feel the need to specifically post my position to be fully understood.

My only goal was to find out if the information my husband told me was true. I sent a personal message to the TV's girls thanking them for their help. I thought it was nice when they posted info on the piece.

If you would like to PM me, I would be happy to discuss this matter further in private.

Nope. Just sent you a PM. :)

On 2009-09-29 15:14, TikiMookie wrote:

On 2009-09-28 17:23, Coco Loco wrote:

I would like to commend you on your patience and restraint in reference to some of the posts which frankly were very rude and I'm sure offensive. Your integrity and passion for Tiki is impressive!

Trader Vic's tried to do something nice for it's supporters. Sadly, a few newbies decided to bash it for their own personal reasons. The least a decent person could do is either be appreciative or simply move on and ignore it if it's not your thing.

I certainly hope you don't mean me! I absolutely meant no offense to anyone. I was not able to go to the warehouse sale and was told by my husband the mask was a Barney West. He paid good money for this and I only became concerned when others started questioning it. I don't think my comments were rude or offensive as you wrote. Since you didn't name me, I don't know if you are talking about me directly or aiming your comments towards someone else. It's unfortunate, since you did not name a specific person, that I feel the need to specifically post my position to be fully understood.

My only goal was to find out if the information my husband told me was true. I sent a personal message to the TV's girls thanking them for their help. I thought it was nice when they posted info on the piece.

If you would like to PM me, I would be happy to discuss this matter further in private.

On 2009-09-28 17:23, Coco Loco wrote:
As a result, this will most likely be the last time they open their warehouse doors to us. Which sucks for us as a few ruin it for everyone. And if anyone is wondering...THIS is the ONLY Trader Vic's warehouse.

I hope this is the last warehouse sale. That would mean no more locations are shut down.

Not sure how a last warehouse sale would equate to no more closures? If you don't want anymore Trader's to close then get your ass out to the locations and support them. Buy drinks and stay for dinner. Repeat and continuous customers are what keeps businesses from closing, not selling of extraneous decor.
I did not get to make this warehouse sale because of my own broke situation, but I did make the first one and am truly grateful for the opportunity. I really hope that these few people bitchin' and moanin' does not deter the friendly warehouse gals from giving us the occasional opportunity to share in this pop culture history that means a lot to us. And if the gals are by chance reading this, you should know that there are more grateful folks than naysayers and we all appreciate your efforts.
Eat. Drink. Support Vic's in every way you can. THIS is what keeps them in business.