1.   About the name of your store, Karma. Does it have any other meaning aside from the fact that it means: Hinduism & Buddhism. The total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny; Fate; destiny; A distinctive aura, atmosphere, or feeling?

K.a.r.m.a. is simply short for Kaufman Auctions Retro Moderns Antiques. If you have good Karma you will find something great items. If you have bad Karma our good stuff it will be sold out. Just kidding we update our inventory weekly so do check back regularly.



2.   What was the philosophy that your store was founded on?

We do not want be the same as other shops, we are tired of mass produced products from makers who have no respect for intellectual property. We appreciate objects that are original and objects with history. Fake Barcelona chairs and Castiliogne Arch lamp are a dime a dozen. We abhor counterfeit designs.



3.   What was it that you wanted to achieve with opening your kind of store? What made you enter the "antiques"/second-hand stuff business?

This journey I have been on collecting mid-century modern has been a learning experience, it was challenging at first, but now it's paying off. We now have hundreds of original pieces in our inventory. We have made numerous discoveries of never seen before examples of Philippines Modern. Today aficionados of mid century modern design do not have to go through what I went through, they can now just log on our website.



4.   Your store gives out a feeling of hip, from its interiors to its merchandise. Was that what you wanted to achieve/ say through your interiors? Your choice of materials and merchandise placement? What gave you the idea of sticking fabric onto the walls? And it used to be a bank, right?

The idea was to mix studio 54 lounge meets Austin Powers fab pad. Deep colors and glitters was our vocabulary. We wanted a Vernon Panton -disco era feel. The idea of using fabrics was inspired by English graphic design wall paper which is so in now. But as we wanted to go local, we execute the space all with local materials, we sourced vintage fabrics with the same feel. Some fabrics were so old I had to buy 20 yards to net 10 yards because of water damage during storage in their bodegas.



5.  What is the range of merchandise do you offer in your store? How do you chose which items goes into your store? Where do you source for your items?

We carry fiber glass Saarinen chars, Mart Stan chairs, Marcel Breuer cantilever chairs, Mies Barcelona chairs, Eames lounge chairs, Scandinavian style bent wood, biomorphic chaise lounge, Knoll style seating etc. In terms of lighting, we have lucite table lamps, arch floor lamps, industrial reading lamp, Lightolier sputnik lamps, Gio Ponti style chandeliers and Austrian crystal starburst pendant lamps. We do not limit our pieces to the tried and tested mid-century pieces, we also collect the very wacky pieces by Paul Evans, and the glamour disco era items by Milo Bauman and Carl Springer like lacquer pieces from the late seventies. We source the pieces through local and foreign dealers who know our preferences. We are alerted when they have something for us.



6.   What is the price range of your merchandise?

Unlike in Europe and the United States where the supply is almost gone, pieces are fetching six digits at auction. So its totally unaffordable to most collectors. White at Karma our reading lamps cost around P5,000, chairs around P15,000, chandelier around P30,000 and case goods around P90,000. This is dirt cheap for what its worth at Christies or Sotherby's. In California many people are collecting Argentinean and Brazilian Modern and are paying $2000 - $3000 for obscure examples.



7.   What is the most popular item in your store? What is it that most shoppers go to you for?

As our products are one-offs from half a century ago, when you buy a piece from our store, it is certain that you will never find another one. They are certainly not for the mass market as each item is unique.



8.   Please enlighten us on some of your more interesting objects, ones that have unique stories behind them.

We have a pair of very interesting cane and tubular metal swivel chair from the 1960s which we acquired through auction at Cultural Center of the Philippines. We find this piece very interesting because it uses indigenous material in conjunction with tubular metal in the modern style. It is the quintessential Philippine Modern chair.



9.   Who exactly would you say your market is?

Our customers are in creative fields, well traveled, individuals who do not conform and have the guts to be unique.



10.   Anything about your store that the public should know about? Like when does new merchandise come in? If you actually do hold seasonal sale or if you have a special payment plan?

We are so pleased with the reception that the market has had with our collection, in fact we have a website www.karma.com.ph which is updated weekly with our new acquisitions. We hope that through our efforts, collectors of modern design can easily have access to original vintage furnishings with just a click of key.