Gerber started Presidential Billiards in 1999 in a 1,200-square-foot warehouse in The Woodlands. We started seeing an improvement in 2010 and then 2013 was our best year ever,” she said. Fortunately, she made inroads in the accessories business and things began to take off again. Presidential Billiards did in fact distribute wood and metal coffins for about 18 months, but it accounted for only a small portion of the overall business. ![]() She also had a hunch about diversifying into billiard accessories, like cues, balls, etc., and decided to source this equipment also while in China. So, she traveled to China to identify sources for wood and metal caskets that her company could distribute in the U.S. Gerber examined various industries and concluded that the death industry is one that’s fairly recession proof. So, we realized we needed to diversify in order to stay in business.” “The majority of our sales are to billiard retailers outside the Houston market where the downturn had greater impact. Many in our industry simply went out of business. “People were just not buying billiard tables-they aren’t a necessity so the phones started drying up. ![]() “As the downturn took hold, things got tough,” Gerber said. In fact, she believes that diversifying into accessories helped save the overall company during the economic downturn that began in late 2008. It has helped us to understand what each room was used for, and how they were decorated.”įeaturing new acquisitions, paintings and artifacts relating to the time, the boudoir of one of the most famous French women in history is back – and as gilded as ever.One of the major drivers for company expansion is its foray into billiard accessories. “This has been a huge research project, undertaken using building plans and archives from the time. “For a long time, the second floor of Marie Antoinette’s chambers was little known, and little documented,” says Delalex. (She and her husband would be executed in 1793.)Ĭonstantly tinkering, she kept up with every trend – likely setting many of them – including the penchant for all things ancient Egyptian that swept through France toward the end of the 18th century. She began an extensive redecoration project worthy of an episode of Queer Eye, which would continue until she left Versailles for Paris in 1789 at the start of the Revolution. Young Marie Antoinette was eager to put her own stamp on the rooms, not least due to an ardent dislike of her predecessor. Among the newly accessible rooms are the Meridian Room (cabinet de la Méridienne), the Library and the Gold Room, as well as a series of richly decorated chambers on the upper floor. Now, following a painstaking seven-year restoration project, her private chambers at Versailles will reopen to the public on June 20. And although her infamous comment regarding bread-starved peasants (“let them eat cake”) is probably apocryphal, she wasn’t shy about enjoying life’s luxuries. ![]() Often painted wearing elaborate wigs and dresses of rich blue silk, Marie Antoinette, who lived at Versailles between 17, was known in her day as well as ours for a style that was the opposite of understated. Among its last residents was Austrian archduchess and French queen Marie Antoinette – wife of Louis XVI, the Sun King’s great-great-great-grandson – whose image has conquered the hearts, imaginations and cinema screens of generations. Welcoming almost 10 million visitors each year, Versailles today is one of the most visited monuments in the world. Discover the world’s most intriguing experiences with our weekly newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
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