Vallejo Couple Starts Recycled Table Business After COVID Layoffs

VALLEJO, CA — The tables have turned for a Solano County couple who lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Chris and Shelly Lucido of Vallejo are the duo behind Industrial Chic, which sells custom tables handmade out of recycled industrial wire spools.

They started the business just last year, during the onset of the pandemic. Since then, the couple estimates they’ve sold 150-200 of the recycled tables.

“[Our customers] love the idea that these things [would otherwise] go into the landfill — we're taking something and repurposing it and making something that's kind of mundane and ordinary into something that's extraordinary,” Shelly said. “They're like, ‘Wow, this used to be this industrial wire spool and now it's this beautiful table.’”

The tables are all handmade by the Lucidos; Chris finds the material and sands it smooth, Shelly designs and finishes each table, then Chris loads it into the back of the family pickup truck and delivers it to the customer.

Before the pandemic, the couple visited a brewery with a rustic table made out of pallet wood and topped with glass.

“I looked at it and I thought, ‘I think I could probably make that,’” Shelly said.

She could. She made the pallet table, then found a big spool for industrial wire and decided to make a table out of that, too.

She made two tables out of the spool’s two ends. One of them, she kept in their living room. The other she put up for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

Within a couple of hours, she had a buyer. And when her first customer arrived, she told Shelly, “You should make these. This is really cool and I think people would buy it.”

That was early 2020. Shortly thereafter, the COVID-19 pandemic set in and Chris lost his job after just four days.

The two, like countless others, found themselves stuck at home because of the shutdowns. That is when Shelly started making tables again — as a project, just to have something to work on, she said. And as she put them on Facebook Marketplace, the same thing happened. As fast as she could list them, people bought them.

From there, Shelly said, it snowballed. The pair received more and more orders from individuals and restaurants.

“So then we looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, maybe we could turn this into a business,’” Shelly said.

In November when Shelly was also laid off because of COVID, the duo turned their full attention to the table business. Each time, Shelly works with the customer to create personalized designs, and they say their customers are their biggest fans.

“I've literally had people jump up and down and clap like they're little kids. It was almost like Christmas Day,” Chris said.

One table, they covered with pieces of an old vinyl record. They epoxied microbrew labels onto a table for a pizza restaurant. They made a San Quentin-themed table for a correctional officer there, complete with a matching lazy susan.

Each spool-turned-table tells a story of transformation and the beauty that can come out of difficult situations.

“We had one customer who had just survived breast cancer and she wanted a pink ribbon, and [she] literally cried when I brought it to her,” Chris recalled. “It meant a lot to her too because she felt transformed from her illness. And she's like, 'The table’s been transformed, so it means a lot to me.'"

Industrial Chic’s next move is expansion. Ironically, the same pandemic that cost Chris and Shelly their jobs is also what drives demand for their tables, as more restaurants expand outdoors.

The business has seen interest from tech companies, restaurants and individuals — you'll even find Industrial Chic tables at the wine tasting room of former Disney Channel star and "The Real" host Tamera Mowry-Housley.

Working out of a backyard, two people can only make so many tables so the pair is looking for a new workspace.

Thanks to one of Chris’s connections, Industrial Chic had been working out of a warehouse that was vacant due to the pandemic. However, last month when business picked up for the warehouse owner, they couldn't work there anymore.

Chris is back to a full-time job, but Shelly says she doesn’t see herself getting tired of making tables.

“I find it very relaxing and enjoyable,” she said. “It’s kind of an artistic outlet for me, so I really enjoy doing it.”

Industrial Chic will be at the Benicia Peddler’s Fair on Aug. 14.