McKinley Design Announces New Stainless Steel Furniture Line and Showroom

Furniture World Magazine

McKinley Design, a premiere steel furniture design studio in Chicago, announced its exciting new stainless steel furniture line, and its plans to celebrate the initiation of its new showroom on June 18, 1999 with a gala opening. Recently, McKinley Wells, owner of the three year old design company, established a new partnership with Eric Schlosser, whom he met five years ago while briefly working for Michael Heltzer, another Chicago designer. Their partnership brings together the arts of design and fabrication, a marriage that produces a stunning furniture line with many future possibilities. Wells has been designing and manufacturing steel furniture in Chicago for more than five years. Focusing on the beauty and durability of steel, he has created individualized pieces for over two hundred clients, including beds, tables, chairs, staircases, railings and other arts installations. For the retail industry, he has outfitted the interiors of such clothing showrooms as Noir and Le Garage in Wicker Park. In walking down Damen and Milwaukee Avenues in Wicker Park, Wells' sign designs are difficult to miss, adorning the shop fronts of establishments such as Ezuli, The Silver Room, Le Garage, These Eyes, and Eye Want. Full interior fittings are showcased at several area bars, clubs and restaurants, such as Ezuli, Spy Bar and De Joie's at Franklin and Halsted . Office installations include Thirst, Witt's, and The Lakeshore Academy of Artistic Gymnastics. The City of Chicago is also a recently acquired client, contracting with McKinley Design to recreate an early 20th Century fence surrounding the historic Couch Tomb, north of the Historical Society between Clark and North Avenues. With such an extensive background in custom steel design, McKinley Design found itself ready to move forward into the design and fabrication of an entire line of stainless steel furniture. "I'm eager to step forward to the next level and the permanence and richness of stainless steel attracts and excites me," says Wells. "I've been teaching myself everything I can about the design process, how to integrate a variety of materials with the steel, how to give my customers exactly what they're looking for and often much more. Everything I have produced thus far has been from referrals, and I liked it that way. Now I am ready to establish my company as the place to come for new designs in stainless steel." The new partnership with Schlosser, whose design and fabrication interests reside in the innovative combinations of the seemingly disparate materials of glass, wood, and stainless steel, means that McKinley Design will produce furniture that is innovative, esthetically stunning and of heirloom quality. "I love knowing that the pieces I make will far outlast me," says Schlosser. In order to effectively showcase this new array of stainless steel pieces, McKinley Design is currently renovating its home at 1513 North Western Avenue in Chicago's Wicker Park, creating an inviting showroom for individuals and families, interior design firms, architects and other design professionals to spend time learning about the designs, construction, finish availability and other services available. The new furniture line and the new McKinley Design Showroom will both be unveiled with a gala reception and evening on June 18th, 1999 at 7:00 p.m. at 1513 North Western Avenue. "Anyone looking for designs that are original, contemporary and timeless should visit our new showroom. At McKinley Design, we have a way of looking at stainless steel that reveals it as so much more than a minimalist or merely durable material. We see it as limitless possibility."