Into the Spotlight, sponsored by Huddersfield-based Scriba PR, is a regular feature which highlights some great businesses. Here we profile the awesome O’Briens Furniture Warehouse in Paddock.
There’s the weird and the wonderful but the most wacky item – George the 8ft tall talking gorilla – has just left the building.
O’Briens Furniture has been part of the, erm, furniture in Paddock for the best part of 30 years.
But since a move to a new warehouse at the former Premier Picture Palace in Clough Lane two years ago, the business has found a whole new level of quirkiness.
The term ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ doesn’t do justice to the wonders inside and the biggest wonder of the them all – George – has just gone to a new home.
“We’ll miss him,” said Will O’Brien, who runs the emporium with wife Kim. “George was the reason we got this place. He just wouldn’t fit into our previous shop in Church Street!”
Will and Kim bought George from a dealer in Coventry and it was love at first sight. “We’re just mad about gorillas and monkeys,” said Kim. “We just had to have him.”
It’s thought George originally started out life at a theme park cafe where he probably frightened the life out of as many kids as he enthralled.
He’s animated, beats his chest, turns his head and blinks. He’s got sharp teeth and a mighty growl and he can even speak too with help from a special sound system.
As much as Will and Kim loved George they are true dealers and “everything is for sale.”
He’s been a fixture for two years but last week George was loaded into a van and has headed off to a new life. Rumour has it he may even pop back into Huddersfield at an event this summer…
George hasn’t been the only big and bold buy snapped up by the couple down the years.
They were in Blackpool when they spotted a family of giant leather elephants – mum, dad and baby – in a Thai restaurant.
Will said: “We went in and said if they ever wanted to sell them to let us know. Years later they gave us a call and we went over. The elephants were so big we had to take the window out! They were out of this world, though.”
Then there was a 9ft Bhudda, a huge Marvel figure made of fibreglass and cast iron and in the warehouse now they’ve got an original hook-a-duck stall from a fairground. Oh, and they’ve also had a rickshaw.
The Aladdin’s cave specialises in the quirky, modern-retro and the upcycled. There’s stuff for a man (or woman) cave or an outdoor bar, driftwood furniture, signs of all descriptions, a life-sized model of a chef, antique Chesterfield sofas, a chimp in a tyre swing, a helicopter made out of old bits of metal, a Vespa lamp…the list is endless.
“Whenever people come in for the first time it’s just ‘wow’. You can go round three times and see something different every time,” said Will.
Scroll through a gallery of images below
The warehouse is open seven days a week 10am-4pm but Will and Kim spend two days on the road sourcing their unique products.
“We buy what we think people will like,” said Will. “We don’t get it right every time but everything will sell eventually.”
If George the gorilla was a big draw for customers, there’s another member of the O’Brien family who also gets people through the doors.
Alfie, a big furry bear of a dog, a Belgian Shepherd crossed with an Akita, is the couple’s pride and joy.
He’s a big softie loved by young and old alike. “People just come to see Alfie,” said Kim.
So with an 8ft George-sized hole in the warehouse what’s next?
“We want something really daft and mad,” said Kim. “We’re on the look out for a dinosaur…”
O’Briens can be found at Clough Lane, Paddock, HD1 4UW, or search for O’Briens Furniture on Facebook.
