Has your grandmother left you a period piece of furniture you want to keep, but the fabric has seen better days? Is the favorite recliner you have had for 20 years become so threadbare the springs are beginning to show? Are you redecorating and don’t want to replace the style of furniture? The answer probably is to have that furniture reupholstered. The man for the job is Ficklin Bryant at his shop in Tappahannock – Ficklin Bryant Upholstery.

     Mr. Bryant has his thriving business in a grand old house on the corner of Rt. 360 and Queen Street where he has been located since 1996. He is a hands-on owner. He considers what he does as an art and he is the artist. He has five employees, three of whom are full time. His primary worker is his cousin, Martha Davis, who, at the time of this interview, was busy sewing in zippers that would complete cushion covers for a couch. The machinery is heavy duty, mostly Japanese-made, with obviously hundreds of hours of usage. Mrs. Davis is a skilled operator/seamstress.

     Mr. Bryant’s business is literally the fulfillment of his life’s dream. From his early years in school he had known that he wanted to have his own business. It just wasn’t clear what kind of business that would be. 
After attending Ferrum College in Southwestern Virginia, he found employment delivering fabric for Cavalier Fabrics in Richmond to upholstery shops from Richmond to Norfolk. He was intrigued with the skill of the upholsterers he saw and he inquired about work. Much to his dismay, none of the expert upholsters were willing to accept him into an apprentice position.

     He found out that J C Penny store in Richmond had an upholstery shop (no longer in existence). He was able to obtain employment and there, under the expert tutelage of those older workers, he learned his art. This training gave Ficklin his start and in 1978, he opened his business in a small shed at the foot of Red Hill near the West End of Warsaw just off Rt. 360.

     He readily admits that the building left much to be desired. Mostly it was alternately too cold in winter and too hot in summer, but almost before he could catch his breath the business poured in and it has never lessened. Seeing that he lacked the skill of being able to sew the material besides fitting it to the furniture frames, he sat down and taught himself the sewing side as well. Today he also designs and builds furniture. 
He admits he doesn’t really need to advertise because word of mouth has provided him more business than he can get done in a speedy fashion. The result is that he has a backlog of work that keeps him six to eight weeks behind. Of course, Ficklin sees this as a most delightful “problem”.

     Ficklin is the descendent of English immigrants and bears the name of a great grandmother. He is not a one-dimensional man. The shop is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday by appointment. He loves golf and plays as often as possible with a 10 handicap though it has been as low as eight. He also enjoys power yoga. He attends classes at the local health center or Family Gym three or four times a week. The result is that he is very trim. He and his wife, a math teacher at Richmond County Middle School, are parents of two beautiful daughters.

     As if that were not enough, in his “spare time” he enjoys writing poetry. His work has graced the pages of this magazine and will be included in the future. A reading of his work by this old English teacher indicates a depth of spiritual life as well as an ability to see human emotional needs.

     When asked for a business mission statement, Ficklin says he strives to do “quality work and to provide the best value for such businesses in the area.” He believes in “being honest and treating people right.” Certainly this has advanced his business and two years ago when he did three old pieces of furniture from the Bethany United Methodist parsonage in Reedville, we were stunned by the beauty of the fabric and the skill obvious in the finished product.

     Ficklin carries a large supply of fine fabrics, which allows people to do things in a “one-stop” process rather than having to carry swatch collections home and then come back for a final decision. He says he has the uncanny ability to envision the final product in the new fabric. Thus he can say,” I don’t believe you would like that once it is made up,” thus avoiding a disappointed customer. No doubt this has led to his great reputation.
One of the things in which he takes great pride is his holiday displays. Who has not seen his sense of humor and beauty displayed both at his home and at the shop during the Christmas season as he designs and builds “wrecks” of Santa and his sleigh or displays some fabulously stunning heavenly being? We’ve seen Santa’s derriere protruding from the side of Ficklin’s second story at home, the sleigh sadly wrecked into the lawn or the Grinch adorning his shop porch roof. I’m sure we will be treated to more chuckles this holiday season. 

© 2001 Ron Jones, All Rights Reserved