It took Eric Kole nearly 15 years to realize that the cubicle lifestyle wasn’t for him.
“I think what probably really did it was when [my company] moved into a new office building and nobody had offices, regardless of your title,” Kole said. “I realized I had no control over my own destiny and someone was always going to be demanding some ridiculous report to be done Monday morning.”
Shortly after that light bulb moment, Kole quit his job as a divisional vice president of sales at a local software firm. Within the year he opened Vastu, a high-end home design store in Logan Circle that stocks exclusive lines of furniture and local art.
Vastu, which is part of a cluster of trendy, independently owned boutique stores centered around 14th and U Streets, has seen annual revenue growth of 20 percent to 30 over the last four years — largely through word of mouth. Later this year, Vastu will double in size when it finalizes the purchase of the retailer next door.
Despite his detour into software, interior design has always been Kole’s first love. He earned a dual degree in economics and consumer design from Cornell University. The design degree satisfied his artistic side. He got the economics degree to pay the rent.
“I knew that if I was going to be successful I had to have the business and economics background,” Kole said. “But if I was going to be happy I needed to study something creative and design-related.”
Vastu, which means “art of placement” in Sanskrit, has built much of its success on its interior design services. Kole, who owns the store with his business partner Jason Claire, employs four full-time designers in addition to himself. Since opening, Kole and his team have designed more than 30 homes from top to bottom and have about 200 additional residential clients. They also do a lot of commercial work for local developers and are close to announcing an exclusive deal with a major developer in the area.
Kole has no plans to expand the store beyond its Logan Circle location, but he does plan to continue growing his client base beyond the D.C. region.
He’s already designed for local clients with second homes in New York City and Miami, an accomplishment that demonstrates Vastu’s growing popularity, he said. “When you’re designing for people in New York and Miami, where they have pretty significant design districts, and they’re sticking with you, you know you’re doing something right.”
Eric Kole
BUSINESS
Current job: Co-owner of Vastu, home furnishings store
Last job: VP of Sales, software firm
Number of e-mails a day: 20 to 30 (additional 100 of spam)
Number of voice mails a day: 1 to 2 (I always answer the phone)
Essential Web site: wonkette.com
Best perk: Walking three blocks to work
Gadgets: Gaggia espresso maker
Education/credentials: B.S. Cornell
Last conference: An awful trade show
First job: Packing fruit in a warehouse
Original aspiration: Architect
Career objective: Retire at 50, get really bored, start up again at 55
PERSONAL
Date of Birth: April 1964
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Mich.
Sports/hobbies: Theater, travel, walking my dogs
Transportation: ’65 Jaguar E-type (or Zipcar when it’s not running)
Favorite restaurant: Mark & Orlando’s
Computer: Dell laptop
Favorite clothier: Hugo Boss
Vacation spot: NYC for three days, then back to work
Role model: Business partner
Quote: “Choose your paint color last.”
Reading: Biography of Andrew Carnegie
Worst fear: Going back to working in a cubicle
