To all who patronize this website, as one of the last original Los Angelinos, but being a mere 33 years of age, I can reflect back to just 15 years ago when mom and pop operations were the corner stone of my youth's patronage. These shops are now replaced by the all too familiar corporate logos where being able to get the same thing, the same way, in the same generic environment, consumers have been led to believe the soulless pitches of these clever neighborhood vibe busters.

Beds: As an engagement present to my new bride-to-be, I was quite blessed to have the opportunity of purchasing a 500 year-old Chinese Wedding Bed from a dear friend in the Far East import business. It was between a standard full/queen size-so I went on a mission to find a custom bed worthy of my beloved antique. Tempurpedic was the first conglomerate to pop in my feeble corporate programmed consumer mind. First, I called the 1.800 number to find out what Tempurpedic was all about. "Indeed" (the gentleman on the other end of the phone said, as he explained to me the ability to customize),"for an extra fee of $300, we can certainly accomplish your needs". With this in mind, we drove down to their PREMIERE seller in our area...the beloved "Relax Your Back" store. For an establishment ready to sell you a mattress in the upwards of $6,000 or more, we were guided through a quick showroom tour by two store employees who knew about as much of their products as they would about Quantum Mechanics.

Eric Swerdloff aka Mr. e (Part One)
Beverly Hills, CA