Steve Varsano installed a full Airbus A319 fuselage in his Park Lane showroom window 14 years ago. The two-year design phase and six-month build cost a fortune, but he calls it the best investment of his life for the foot traffic it drew.
Chapters
14 years ago, I had to come up with the idea of how to build the best showroom in the world. But the biggest issue was, what the hell do I put inside the window of this showroom? So I came up with the idea, first of all, how do I get an eye-catching, giant airplane fuselage in the front window on Park Lane for the showroom? And I decided to build this Airbus 319 corporate jet to get everybody's eyes as they're driving by to see what the hell is in that window. Probably wondering how long it took me to design this thing. It took me about 2 years to actually get the idea formulated on paper and get the design, the sketches, the layout, the colors, get all the vendors who were going to help me build and design it, the construction people, the lighting, the colors. Once we decided we knew exactly what we were doing, we got the space rented, we signed all the contracts, we had the space built in 6 months. Very, very fast. Turned out to be the best investment I ever made in my life.
So Steve, I must ask, how much did this all cost?
A lot of money. Thanks so much for showing us around, Steve. No problem. I got some meetings I got to go take care of right now. I'll see you a little later on.
