When he first started out, Andrew Coslow’s friends commissioned him to make original furniture in their homes.
His studio was his Bloomfield Street apartment, where his tools were meager compared to today: a chop box, drill gun, and palm sander.
But Coslow, 28, says not much has really changed. He just has more friends.
“We started to have parties, and friends would come over, and all of a sudden our place turned into a showroom,” he says. The “place” is his apartment, which he shared with a friend. But he now works out of a 3,000-square-foot studio at the iconic Yardley Building on the border of Hoboken and Union City.
In August 2012 he launched BAC (By Andrew Coslow).
The Yardley studio, where he moved in January 2013, is an extension of the company’s vision. A handmade wooden sign opposite the entrance announces “A design company that builds things.”
Surfboards hang overhead, skateboards line the wall, and furniture in various states of completion populates the space, including a bed frame and tables. Visit ByAndrewCoslow.com, and you’ll also find beds, chairs, coffee tables, credenzas, desks, shelves, side tables, and pet furniture.
Sawdust and steel ash coat my black loafers and dark-blue jeans. It makes me look scruffy, but it does wonders for Coslow.
He has rugged good looks, part Paul Bunyan, part Bradley Cooper. He sports a beard, red-and-blue plaid flannel shirt, ripped fitted gray pants, and work boots.
Dogs Winston (Liver Pointer and Doberman mix) and Atticus (Great Dane) roam the floor and occasionally take a rest on a mustard-colored couch.
Simple is Better
Coslow was born in Park Ridge, grew up in Bayville, and has lived in Hoboken for six years.
A product of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s competitive School of Architecture Program, he graduated in 2010, specializing in fabrication. “The painter,” as Coslow calls co-founder Joe Ventura, studied at the prestigious New York Academy of Arts.
Ventura, 28, is laid back, in jeans and a rumpled light-purple, button-down. The synergy between the two is palpable, Ventura the introvert to Coslow’s extrovert.
Ventura credits Coslow with the success of the company. It’s “this guy’s hard work,” he says.
Coslow counters, “As much as this is ‘By Andrew Coslow,’ this is really ‘By Us.’ I’m Bob Marley, and he’s the Wailers.”
BAC has had as many as 15 employees at a time. Like any up-and-coming entrepreneur, Coslow had trouble just saying no to prospective clients.
Today, the company has scaled back its workforce and its mission.
“We thought, ‘what’s the most simplistic way to run this business that generates the most money, and could that be coupled with the things we’re the best at?’”
Now Coslow and Ventura tag-team major projects, cherry-pick clients, and streamline their catalog.
“The best work we’re doing right now is our affordable production furniture,” says Coslow. He pauses when Atticus paws the door, seeking attention.
“Relax, life’s good!” he shouts at the dog before turning back to me.
“It’s so easy to design something that’s high end, and if you have a client that has an unlimited amount of funds, but it is insanely difficult to design a piece that is beautiful, that is strong, and that is affordable. That is the biggest challenge.”
Model Marketer
Before officially launching BAC, Coslow was a model. Big industry names, like Versace and Prada, recognized him, not only for his looks, but for his entrepreneurial spirit.
“I started getting these connections in the world of fashion,” Coslow says. “When I told them what I could do, they were impressed. I was using modeling as a way to jumpstart my business. All these people loved the idea that there was a model that wasn’t a model.”
Advertising his skills through word of mouth, and staying true to his craft, are key to his work ethic.
In college, he realized many professors and peers were focused on “conceptual processes” as opposed to building designs from start to finish.
“I thought ‘yes, this could set me apart,’” Coslow says. “Then later I looked for my niche market.”
Urban Aesthetic
The BAC brand is geared toward an urban demographic. The company makes furniture that’s easily transportable, and small desks made for tablets or laptops because “no one really uses desktops these days.”
“Our furniture is now adapting to the way our generation is using technology and how that is changing our lives,” Coslow says.
BAC clients include Make Up For Ever, Stella Artois, Ketel One Vodka, Rebecca Taylor, MOMA, Harvard University, Tess Giberson, Fashion Tech Forum, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. It has had 60 to 80 clients in New York, roughly 25 in Hoboken, and some as far as Maryland and Massachusetts.
Starting in the winter of 2013, the company produced murals for some 30 Starbucks in the tri-state area.
In Hoboken, you can find BAC’s work at boutique shops, luxury condos, and restaurants, including Viola Vita, Luna Rose Home, Galatea Lingerie, Cooper’s Union, and Cork Wine & Spirits.
What’s next for BAC?
“Tapping into the children’s toys market would be fun,” says Coslow, who’s already like a kid in his own toyshop.—07030