A Vallejo couple out of work during the coronavirus pandemic is now making tables to earn money.
It began as a hobby for Chris and Shelly Lucido, but when they lost their jobs, they decided to go all in on.
"I do all the sanding and she's the designer," Chris said. "We kind of make a good team."
Shelly got into table making at the beginning of the pandemic as people sheltered at home.
"It didn’t feel like work to me cause I love doing it so much," she said. "Then I lost my job. That’s when we both looked at each other and said, 'OK, we’re going to dive into this 100% and see what happens.'"
With Chris already laid off, the couple decided the tables could be much more. They received positive feedback online and listened as people encouraged them.
"I thought, 'OK,' and then we started doing that and then a restaurant in Petaluma asked us if we could make tables for them," Shelly said. "That was nine tables and we looked at each other and went, 'nine tables!' But we did it and pretty soon we started getting more and more attention."
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The tables from Industrial Chic Designs can be used indoors or outdoors and made custom. The material? Industrial wire spools.
"We started out going out to Reno and Tracy and buying them from people," Chris said. "I've basically made some relationships through some of these electrical places here to grab these spools. Finding out that they’re going to landfill, I grab them from them and we save them."
They put on table legs and upcycle when they can.
"We try to keep it as reasonable as possible," Shelly said. "A small coffee table, for instance, is about $150. We have a large table that's 72 inches, seats 10 people, that's $795."
The duo recently moved from their backyard to a warehouse thanks to a Benicia business owner.
"[He] just said, 'I've got a warehouse with a little bit of space I'm not using and someone gave me a leg up and I'd love to help you guys.' We were just so touched by his generosity," Shelly said.
