This vintage furniture store is giving its profits to LA food bank

With homebuyers pausing their searches and interior designers postponing projects, business at North Hollywood-based vintage furniture store MidcenturyLA has dropped off dramatically during the coronavirus outbreak. But the pieces that owner David Pierce has discounted as part of a benefit sale are flying off the proverbial shelves.

He’s trying to raise $25,000 for meal delivery programs for seniors run by the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, and he’s already halfway there.

“Almost all of what I’m seeing in terms of sales is through this promotion, and I’m extremely grateful that people have responded,” Pierce said, speaking by phone from his showroom on Cahuenga Boulevard.

Dozens of pieces have been marked down as part of the sale. There’s a Danish rosewood book shelf dating to the 1960s for $900, a teak sideboard with sleigh legs and beech handles for $500, a 6- by 3-foot red-and-black rug from Sweden for $250, and a set of four Gothic dining chairs with green upholstery for $400.

“There are Danish coffee tables for $300—it’s all a steal,” he says.

Profits are going to the food bank while the portion of the sales covering the costs of the pieces are paying the salaries of MidcenturyLA’s eight full-time employees. The showroom has been closed to the public, along with thousands of other storefronts across LA that have been ordered to shutter to prevent the spread of COVID-19. A public health order mandating those closures is not set to expire until April 19 at the earliest.

Pierce says his goal is to be able to pay his employees through May, if needed.

“The big question for me is what is coming after this after things open back up,” he says.