Hi, it's David Walker of Talisman. I just signed on.
Yes, my wife and I moved to Santa Fe a year ago. We have a textile conservation business in Santa Fe that we operate ourselves. The textiles are generally rare and collectible items. We are not looking for new textile clients.
Talisman, in Santa Cruz, has been in business for 29 years and has a unique mix of clientele throughout the state and the country. Most of our business is made up of established customers. We have never advertised and so rely entirely on referrals. Reliability, not cost, is the first concern of our customers - so people have usually spoken to a museum or antique rug dealer, Oriental rug society or someone else they trust before they call us.
There is far more work in the rug washing business than there are resources to do the work.
Talisman can be conveniently located within 1.5 hours drive of the Bay Area (North, East or South - I wouldn't recommend West). Since my wife and I would ultimately like to focus entirely on our life and work in Santa Fe, we would consider a variety of offers and arrangements for a sale. At the moment, we still enjoy the income - and we have a great crew to manage things. The employees know that the business is being offered for sale.
We grew through the past recessions and are doing fine so far in this one - but no one knows where this economy is going. Many of our clients are wealthy - and the wealthy always seem to get by.
I admire Rufus Cohen's work and integrity very much and continue to refer work to him for customers in the Southwest.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly. Use my "david@textileconservation.net" rather than the talismanrestoration.com address in order to reach me in Santa Fe.
David Walker
(505) 474-4905
david@textileconservation.net
