Furniture Business News

Diana’s brother to promote line of furniture here

August 31st, 2007

By Jeff Keeling,Press Business Writer

The late Princess Diana’s younger brother Charles will visit a local furniture shop Sept. 8 to promote a line of furniture based on his ancestral home.

Owner Carl Young of Youngdale Interiors, 214 E. Mountcastle Drive, said the private two-hour reception should allow around 300 people to meet Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, who introduced the “Althorp Living History Collection” last year.


“We’re excited about his visit, that’s for sure,” said Young, who added that the 300-odd pieces available through the collection have sold well since the store started carrying them late last year.

“We’re going to have as many of those pieces on the floor as we can, and certainly the premier pieces we think are going to be good sellers,” Young said.

The visit comes as interest in Princess Diana surges, with today marking the 10th anniversary of her death.

The 43-year-old Spencer decided to introduce the line of “reproduction furnishings” to help offset the costs associated with preserving and maintaining Althorp, which has been home to the Spencer family for 500 years. All proceeds from sales of the collection — which is being produced in partnership with furniture maker Theodore Alexander — go to helping maintain Althorp.

The home outside Northampton is open to the public at certain dates and times each year. Charles Edward Maurice Spencer became the 9th Earl Spencer on the death of his father in 1992.

Young said Spencer will be coming to Johnson City from an event in Jacksonville, Fla.

He said he was unsure of how the Althorp line would go over in the Johnson City area when it debuted a couple years ago.

“As time went on, I saw these beautiful pieces coming out, and they were very cost-effective,” Young said. “Not cheap, but not anywhere close to what people would think to look at it.”

Young, who opened the store in 1990 and runs it with his wife, Kathryn, said the response to the line has been one of the most exciting things he’s experienced in operating the store. He said the furniture and accessories have sold without advertising.

“People were buying, and not necessarily because they were out of the Althorp mansion but because of the beauty of the handmade pieces and that they’re priced right.”

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