Viva, from JF Fabrics, is by far the most durable fabric I carry at Cape Cod Upholstery Shop. Viva is classified as a high performance velour, is naturally flame retardant and Eco Friendly. Fabrics go through an abrasion test. An average upholstery fabric may pass 30,000 double rubs on the Wyzenbeek method of testing. Viva passes 201,000 double rubs. That makes it almost indestructible. It’s also highly fade resistant, washable, suitable for slipcovers, upholstery and Viva comes in 53 beautiful solid colors.
From an upholsterers standpoint, I really like working with Viva. It sews well, the seams are tight and you can pull it around just about any curve. Viva has a short nap and is very hard to leave any kind of mark on it.
Click the image for more information on JF’s Viva.
I’m excited to announce Novus foam is now available to my customers at Cape Cod Upholstery Shop. Novus is a hybrid foam that combines the use of natural seed oils like soy, sunflower and castor. The natural oils replace some of the petrochemicals used in making traditional polyurethane foam. According to the manufacturer, Novus foam requires less energy to produce, which in turn reduces it’s carbon footprint. Novus performs to the same high standards as tradition high density foam, is hypoallergenic, meets the California B117 fire code and is available in soft and medium compressions.
Joe Gramm has registered the domain name Cape Cod Upholstery. There are many businesses on Cape Cod with Cape Cod in their name. So I was quite surprised to find that a name as basic as Cape Cod Upholstery was still available. So I couldn’t resist registering the domain. I think the domain was still available because a lot of upholstery businesses are named after the proprietor. For example, Joe Gramm Custom Upholstery.
I think it’s fair to say that after thirty-eight years in the business, I’ve thought a few times about retiring from upholstery. Most of the worth in my business is some equipment and a goodwill factor with a large established client base. If someone were to take over my business, I thought they may want to operate under a name like Cape Cod Upholstery.
So slowly over time, I’ll be changing the name over to Cape Cod Upholstery. You, who are reading this on Upholstery Blog, are the first to hear the official story of how Cape Cod Upholstery came to be.
The one man upholstery shop survives another year. That makes thirty one of them in a row! And I’m only fifty four years old. 2009 might have been the toughest and most interesting year of them all. The tough part was not having much of a backlog of work throughout most of the year. A few times I ran out of work and once I had a two month backlog. That’s a tough business environment. The interesting part was how the Internet became my business lifeline. With the help of all the search engines, Google and Yahoo Local, Merchants Circle, and Upholsteryblog, Joe Gramm Custom Upholstery has become an easy place to find on the Internet for upholstery on Cape Cod. Another interesting change in the business in 2009 is the younger customer base I’m developing. In 1990, my customer base was fifty to eighty years old. In 2009, my customer base has widened to thirty to eighty years old. An expanding customer base is a welcome surprise. Thank you to all my customers who trusted me with their furniture and all who visited my sites and asked questions.
I even managed to have some fun in between. Ultimate Frisbee and the beach were my favorite outdoor activities. I even mixed Ultimate with business by coordinating estimates with Ultimate Frisbee pickup games from Wellfleet to Falmouth. I had a lot of quality time with my family and expanded my knowledge of photography for both business and pleasure.
I hope 2010 will bring new and exciting possibilities for the upholstery shop. My business New Years Resolution is to bring the use of video into my work as well as a shopping cart at joegramm.com for specialty, upholstery related items. If the economy can achieve a sustainable recovery, 2010 could be the greatest year ever for this one man upholstery shop on Cape Cod.
The Ultimate Frisbee upholsterer that is! Sometimes I combine Ultimate with an upholstery estimate or delivery especially if they’re near Falmouth or Wellfleet, both of which have great Ultimate. Falmouth and Wellfleet are about forty minutes away from Dennis, so it works out well when I can complete the Ultimate estimate.
In comes a call for an estimate in North Falmouth. So I set up the Ultimate estimate before our night game under the lights in Falmouth. I arrive at my customer Scott’s house. I do the estimate and everything goes well. As I make my way out, Scott accompanies me to my van and we chat a while. The topic comes up that I’m on my way to play Ultimate. He suddenly scoots back into the house and returns seconds later with a frisbee. Not just any frisbee, a Lady Godiva frisbee. Lady Godiva is one of Boston’s premier women’s Ultimate Frisbee teams, winning more championships than any other womens team in Ultimate history. It turns out that Scott’s wife Liz played for Lady Godiva in the late eighties. Liz played for another dominating championship team, Lady Condors, while living on the West Coast.
When I returned to pick up their furniture several weeks later, I got to meet Liz. It was fun talking for a few minutes about Ultimate and some of the local people we mutually knew. I think it’s safe to say that this was the ultimate Ultimate estimate of my upholstery career, as of yet.
Notes of interest
The frisbee is made by WHAM-O and is not generally used in Ultimate, although the term frisbee is often used in association with Ultimate. The disc of choice is the 175 gram “Ultra-Star” made by Discraft, usually custom designed with team logos and art.
Woods Hole Ultimate Frisbee (WHUF) offers year round pickup and tournaments in the Falmouth and Mashpee area. Check my “Links” section for more info.
Wellfleet pickup runs early June to Labor Day
I usually make arm covers for all the upholstered furniture I do. Sometimes people ask me to make them, but most don’t ask me and I make them anyways. Seems like making arm covers is something upholsterers just do. How many of you reading this want your upholsterer to make arm covers for your upholstered furniture and actually use them? How many of you want them, but don’t use them? How many don’t want them?
Please read and respect my copyright notice.
Joe Gramm Custom Upholstery, upholsteryblog, Canon Powershot SX20 IS
Overall I like the camera. The more photos I take, the better I like it. I upgraded from a three year old Canon Powershot SD700 IS. That camera could easily fit in your pocket. The SX20 is quite a bit bigger than the SD700, but smaller than a DSLR. So I’m still trying to get use to the bigger size. I suggest getting either an 8GB or 16GB SDHC memory card. HD video eats up space. So get enough. I also suggest getting four AA NiMH rechargeable batteries. Canon sells the batteries and charger in a CBK4-300 kit. I bought the camera and accessories at a local camera store called Orleans Camera and Video. I can go back and ask a thousand questions if I need to. Canon has packed a ton of features into this $399. camera. To see all the specs, visit the Canon website. Feel free to leave a comment and PLEASE remember, this and all my blogs are copyright protected!
Update
I’m finding that in low light, the SX20 can give you photos that are both noisy and soft. This happens most often when using the auto modes where the ISO is set by the camera at 400 ISO and above. And this happens often. It takes very low light for the flash to fire in most cases and that’s where the ISO seems to be in the 400-800 range. Those pictures lack detail and are noisy. Using the the AV, TV, or manual modes, gives you the ability to keep the ISO below 400 and you can get some nice photos. So be aware of the auto mode and low light situation if you plan on purchasing the SX20. A more professional review about the Canon SX20 IS from photographyblog.com has confirmed my findings.
An imperfect man who happened to be one of the great humanitarians on our planet: that’s who Ted Kennedy was to me. Most of what Senator Kennedy has done for us, due to his legislation and humanitarianism, runs seamlessly in our everyday lives. But this isn’t a blog about those achievements or of his failings. I’m from Massachusetts and live on Cape Cod. The Kennedy mystique is rich and deep here. My upholstery business has taken me into Hyannis Port many times. I was not fortunate enough to do any upholstery work for the Kennedy’s. But when driving into Hyannis Port from Ocean Street, the site of the Kennedy compound and his sailboat, Mya, on it’s mooring, is always special to see. With the Senator gone, Mya has lost her Captain, Hyannis Port has lost an anchor in their community, and we the people, have lost a great and distinctive voice for the have-nots. Senator Kennedy, I salute your courage to change Yourself, the State of Massachusetts, the Nation and the World. I will miss you.
Each year, by the middle of July, I have a ritual at my Cape Cod upholstery shop to look for baby toads in the yard. They’ll be so many of them, that I won’t be able to mow the lawn for a few weeks or so. I love the toads, because after they’re born, all the ants disappear. And that’s not a mystery as to where the ants have gone. But this year, my four year old daughter and I were only able to find one baby toad. One! There are usually hundreds. This was quite a mystery, because in the Spring I saw the adult toads, which usually amounts to baby toads in July.
A few days ago, out of the woods where there are wild lowbush blueberries, come a flock of wild turkeys. A mom, known as a hen and six large babies, known as poults. They start walking around the upholstery shop yard foraging for food. Luckily, my wife and four year old daughter were there to see the spectacle. Suddenly my daughter exclaims, “Daddy, maybe that’s where the baby toads went”. I gasped in amazement and said, “Your right, you solved the toad mystery”. High Fives, hugs and praises to the four year old nature sleuth!
This is a story about a number that will not go away. Nineteen years ago I moved my upholstery business to a new location and needed a new telephone number. When the next Verizon white pages came out, my new number was there, published correctly. But much to my surprise, the old number from my other location was also listed. I wasn’t thrilled, but figured it was a publishing, timing thing and I’d make sure that before the new books came out the following year, I’d confirm with the sales rep that the listing had been removed. So that’s what I did, I talked to the rep, no problem, everything was taken care of. Nineteen years and probably a dozen calls later, the number is still there, listed incorrectly as “Gramm Custom Upholstery”, Yarmouth Port, Ma. 508-362-xxxx
But now I have an additional number Issue. I was getting so many telemarking calls on my 800 line, I decided to drop it last year. So I talked to both Verizon and idearc customer service to make sure the 800 number would be removed from the listings. So guess what’s in the newly released Verizon white pages. If you guessed the 800 number, you’re correct. At the time, customer service even said that they could help me out with the other number issue from Yarmouth port. I could here lots of keyboard action in the background while the computer files were being updated and inter-office emails were even being sent to various places for even more assurance. All to no avail. idearc, by the way, is the company that took over the publishing of the white/yellow pages for Verizon several years ago. All their literature has idearc spelled with a small cap “i” to begin their name. Seems strange to have a proper name start with a small cap or begin a sentence with a small cap letter.
So if you’re a Cape Cod local and happen to look me up in the Verizon-idearc white pages, choose my local South Dennis number to call, where I’ve been for the last nineteen years.
UPDATE
It’s hard to believe that one person, sitting at their computer blogging, can get the attention of a company the size of idearc, but it’s TRUE. Somewhere, somehow, someone from idearc noticed my blog. They in turn had a customer care person by the name of Kristen Tripoli, contact me by landline. She was extremely nice and assured me that idearc cares about all their customers and would remedy the number problem. Hail Hail the blogasphere! End of story, unless next years book……………….
