William Ashley Flagship // Grandeur at its finest
The recent grand re-openinng of the new and re-imagined Bloor Street Flagship store of William Ashley, left us SHOOKETH. Of course we luxuriated in the new space with a champagne toast, sommelier guided wine and tea tastings, signature craft cocktails, and decadent hors d'oeuvres. But the highlight of the experience?—interviewing Jackie Chiesa, President of William Ashley. Her thoughts? Read below:
As a woman at the helm of a legacy brand, how important is it to you to marry elements of tradition with more modern concepts?
It’s really nice to hear that. Mrs. Ashley was our founder, and a brilliant, strong woman, and I definitely feel like I’ve followed in her footsteps. When I started off in the company, I was attending Ryerson University and getting a degree in nutrition – I was going to be a dietitian. I started working here part time and I really fell in love with the product. I fell in love with Mrs. Ashley’s vision of quality table ware, quality merchandise and customer service because that is truly the epitome of what our brand is all about—our exceptional service and expert consultants on staff to assist in delivering that customer experience. So, I guess I wanted to continue that legacy for her. This is actually our fourth location on Bloor Street, but I really wanted to encapsulate the next chapter, breathe life into the brand, and continue this kind of female legacy as I said for Mrs. Ashley, with this wonderful team of women.
The interesting thing is, a lot of people will say "I don’t need tableware, I’ve got part of what he has, and she has, and bits and pieces, and odds and ends"—but there’s something here for everyone. Tableware has evolved tremendously. The assortments that are available today are from very beautiful classic light patterns, to very decorative heavy patterns, so you can go from ultra-modern to eclectic, to very age-old designs, and I think there’s something for everyone. When we talk about tradition and holding those elements of tradition, I think that people come to William Ashley and often say ‘I've got this beautiful sentimental piece from my grandmother, but it’s really not my style or my taste, but it has so much value and meaning to it—how can you help me make this set my own?’ We’re here to help compliment that with white patterns and take it to a whole new dimension. I think there are all kinds of elements of tradition and new traditions that you create in your own family that are key to what William Ashley is all about.
When we sit down at a table right now, and I’m going to use a 'table' very loosely, because everyone has limited space—they have loft apartments, or very tiny spaces like breakfast bars, but everyone wants that time to entertain with friends and family to make those memories, and that’s what William Ashley is all about. Using components of tradition with your family is so important to bring to the table, but also adding new traditions with modern elements that are unique to your own family. So, I think that’s what William Ashley is all about—we are evolving entertaining and dining at home. It’s beautiful to go to a restaurant—restaurants are all the rage and that’s wonderful, but there’s nothing that replaces being in the comfort of your own home with your puffy socks and your slippers, and having friends over with a nice bottle of wine in a beautiful glass, or spoiling yourself with a beautiful cup of tea with a best friend, and a morning newspaper. I think that’s what we are so privileged to be part of in the Toronto area—its that we want to continue to be part of homes in Toronto and be part of making those beautiful memories in the kitchen, in the dining room, at the table.
How does our visual experience enhance our overall dining experience?
In my household, my husband cooks and I set the table—so, as you can probably imagine, I always have a tremendous passion for tableware and home décor, and I go out of my way to set a beautiful table whenever we have friends or family over. There is definitely that element when you see a beautiful table, you just know whatever is going to be served on it is going to be just as good! It just can’t not complement or add to the experience because everything is experiential. When your eyes see the beautiful composition put together on the table, it really sets off, and you just know whatever is going to be put on the table is going to be worth it. You can order-in and they will never know, as long as the table looks good!
I definitely feel that translates, even when it comes to home décor. If you have a beautiful kitchen counter and you want one element on that table, and you put out that spectacular Alessi bowl—it just sets up the whole room and makes the whole room pop as it becomes the focal point. Even in small spaces, that one home décor piece—you really have to come in and find that one piece that sets that room off. I think visually it really helps and feels so good in your home environment.
How much does ritual play into your personal dinnerware experiences and how does William Ashley incorporate ritual into the brand?
I think that there are so many ethnicities in Toronto now and we are such a multicultural city, it’s really a diverse, wonderful city to be in. We have people form every culture on our sales team, so we can speak every language and that we can understand what elements are going to be important to that household and their dining or entertaining.
Bowls have become the new plates and people have moved away from flat plates and are using multipurpose bowls for everything—and with so much of an influx of immigrants to our growing, we have more people looking for rice bowls and chopsticks, and they have their own rituals that they like to practice. So, it’s really important that William Ashley takes strides to stay in tune with our customer base and what their needs and wants are at the table to ensure that we are sourcing those products. I am also the head buyer, and I travel the world looking for what’s on trend and what is important to the cultures that are coming into William Ashley, and what they’re going need to have in their homes. We have to make sure we have something that fits the bill for everyone.
When we think of high society and tradition, the Royal Family come quickly to mind. With the new generation of Royals changing things up, do you think it’s important to maintain some of the more formal elements of tradition when it comes to dining? Where do you think the balance lies with applying modern social values with centuries-old customs?
I think that it’s so interesting that the Royal Family with Will and Kate, and now Meghan and Harry—people love this new modern feel that they’ve brought to royalty away from stuffiness, rules, and barriers. I guess to parallel that to dining and entertaining, I feel the exact same way. In the last 37 years, tableware has evolved so much. People don’t sit at tables anymore, they want to feel comfortable, they want to be in casual clothing. They don’t need rules, and then you see them breaking the rules putting the red wine in the white wine glass or the white wine in the red wine glass, or the scotch in the tumbler— it really doesn’t matter at the end of the day. We are here to educate and help you deliver the best possible experience for you and for your guests, but at the end of the day there are no rules.
It is still nice though. We are definitely seeing a pendulum swing that people are going back to formality and back to tradition. They want to be able to entertain casually but at the same time there is an aspiration, as much as, “I have this little tiny 400 square foot apartment, one day I want a big grand dining room and I want my family seated at it,” so I think there is still tradition, but it is blended in a new and modern way. It is less about rules, but there's still tradition and heritage because it adds sentiment and value. I think often with that element you remember your family, your grandmother, or the people who passed down those traditions to you. Usually I get asked, "is there anything that happened in your life that made you like china"—my mother was British, and every Sunday served roast beef and Yorkshire puddings religiously. She pulled out her tray and when she rolled out her china, we all sat at the table.
Today, we have such busy lifestyles, we have so little time to really engage with our loved ones, our family and friends, and the table is a place to reunite and get people back to the tradition of sitting with your family making time for your family. That’s where I feel that we have to hold on to tradition because I feel that tradition is about family, and being with family, and holding on to those little ties—but still doing it in a fun way without rules and regulations. It’s the memories you’re going to remember.
For this big year of royal events, can we expect anything from William Ashley that pays homage to this year of celebration and milestones?
The royal family’s timing is perfect, and an interesting thing about memorabilia specifically. There is so much memorabilia that is made, but it is very important for a collector who wants a piece of this memory of royalty getting married—the Royal family gives warrants to factories that are allowed to produce memorabilia on their behalf, or commemorative pieces. So right now, in Royal Crown Derby, which is one of the oldest bone china factories on the planet—they’ve been in production for over 250 years, they’ve made three pieces to commemorate the Royal Wedding for Harry and Meghan, and we actually have them here, so that’s really special.
Interview by Andreia McLean / Edited by Dauphine