Khanh To is working quietly in his shop, the calm interrupted by the occasional chirp of his pet parrot. He stands when I enter and greets me with a warm smile. His shop is full of furniture. Different pieces placed around the room like a puzzle make space for a full-sized sofa, raised, sitting on a work bench in the middle.
Khanh, who’s shop has been here 25 years says he’s seen a lot of change in Williamsburg since he opened his upholstery store on Graham Street, just 3 blocks north of the Graham L train station. And a lot of change in the industry too. Before opening his own store, Khahn worked with local hospitals in New York, upholstering the furniture you see in waiting areas and doctor’s offices. But with the introduction of new materials and mass produced furniture the need for upholstery there slowed and the hospital’s upholstery shop was shuttered.
That’s when Khahn moved to Williamsburg and opened up his own store. Luckily, he says, the need for his craft remained and in the past few years, that need has swelled. He’s busier than he’s ever been, working 10-12 hours a day. And he loves it. “I love working with my hands.” he says, “And when I finish my work, the product is there for everyone to see, not hidden away.” His favorite pieces to work on? “antique furniture, because it has the most beautiful fabric and hand-carved woodwork”
After leaving Vietnam and his job with the air force as an engineer, Khanh brought his family to New York. He started out studying upholstery in Manhattan at a trade school on Broadway which has long since closed. One of his teachers there, took Khanh under his wing when he finished school and brought him to an upholstery shop in Brooklyn. He spent 4 and half years there, learning the trade before leaving to work with the hospitals. “It was difficult” he says when talking about the journey that brought he and his family from Vietnam to boroughs of New York City and his own business, “but God did amazing things.”
There’s no indication of Khanh slowing down, but one day he says, when he’s retired, he dreams of turning his shop into a school. “I have many kids who come in and ask how to learn what I do. It would be good to pass that knowledge on”
