In 1990, two friends fresh out of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley had an idea and some very strong feelings.
At the university, Vasilios Kiniris and Wendy Nishimura developed an understanding - and a passion - for the modern classics of furniture design. In travels to Europe and Japan, they came face-to-face with new styles hatched from traditional forms. They also formed strong relationships with young artisans and designers in the San Francisco Bay Area who were creating excitement with simply styled, highly functional, and innovative pieces. For the three, the next Mies van der Rohe or Charles and Ray Eames could be working in the loft next door.
In November of 1990, they founded Zinc Details and opened their first store at 906 Post Street in San Francisco. At the time, Zinc's retail space consisted of roughly 200 square feet, which they stocked with a small collection of one-of-a-kind furnishings by Bay Area artisans, architects, and industrial designers.
From the beginning, Zinc Details' offerings showed the influences of Japanese, African, and Scandinavian simplicity. The Zinc idea was to offer home and office furnishings that had integrity and lasting value. They selected pieces not because they seemed trendy, but because they had the potential to be contemporary classics - things that carried the values of treasured modern design. The best of Scandinavian, Italian, Japanese, and American ideas fill Zinc Detail's inventory, then as now.
In 1991, Zinc Details was invited to create a retail concept "shop-within-a-store" in San Francisco at the flagship store of Macy's California. Soon afterward, Zinc extended its wholesale business to reach a wider public and developed its own product line that included furniture, lighting, and accessories.
In 1994, the store moved from Post Street to its present 1905 Fillmore Street location. The move to Fillmore Street brought Zinc into one of the most popular shopping streets in San Francisco, with vastly increased foot traffic and an additional 1,000 square feet of showroom space. The enlarged Zinc Details was able to increase its product range to include work from both national and international talent and to expand its in-house product line. Zinc now features such brands as Knoll, Kartell, Atlantico, Alessi, Blue Dot, Bee House, and many more.
In 2001, Zinc Details opened a second store in another popular destination shopping area, at 1842 Fourth Street in Berkeley. The location enabled Zinc to reach its growing clientele on both sides of San Francisco Bay.
In 2003, the Fillmore Street store took over the retail space next door, more than doubling its retail space and allowing it to add further lines of internationally known furniture. In 2004, Zinc Details became the major Northern California distributor of KnollSpace home furnishings.
In 2006, Zinc opened its second store in the Fillmore neighborhood, at 2410 California Street. The expansion provided Zinc with a fresh new showroom for furniture, rugs, and lighting pieces, while the Fillmore Street store could double its space for tableware, bar and bath items, and fabric pieces by designers like Angela Adams and Marimekko. All three stores feature original art by regionally and nationally known graphic artists, sculptors, and photographers.
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