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WA was created in 1996 when Tom Rogers moved to Provincetown, Massachusetts after a ten-year career as the owner of Tommy Custom Floral Design Inc. in Boston. As a floral designer, Tom's acute awareness of how the elements of art, and design, and nature blend together gave his business an artful approach. Tom refined his senses further when he was charged with creating "environments" for special events, for such distinguished clients as The Four Seasons Hotels, Tiffany & Co., Hotel Meridian, Gucci, and Saks Fifth Ave.
Turning his sights to creating a retail environment, Tom felt it essential to design a space that would stimulate all of one's senses.WA means harmony in Japanese and harmony was the primary motivation Tom used to blend various types of products, from different cultures, in different styles, of different traditions, methodically into one. The interior of WA is a shell that is neutral or secondary to the merchandise within.
Form follows function is the rule for the orderly displays of world-wide merchandise. Tom retains a high degree of control over product placement (akin to a flower arrangement) to present a natural, harmonious display.
"Though the store brings objects of disparate cultures [together], the overall effect is seamless and reiterates the Asian influence. Rogers' unerring eye ties everything together" according to Cheryl and Jeffery Katz for Home Accents Today.
Tom Rogers hopes visitors will relax, recharge, and revitalize their senses while within the cool, peaceful confines of WA. Follow the way . . .
Summer is upon us and as my work day expands into the double digits I find it most difficult to find the time to post up to date information. Please enjoy my previous post and travel back with me on our Asian trips and reflect on my first year of blogging. You can become a fan on Facebook @ waprovincetown and catch up on the newest happenings at WA! Have a great summer, please stop in to visit with us and I will post again in the fall. My very best Tom Rogers
We wrap up our trip with a glimpse of the past when British rule was the norm. The Governor’s Residence celebrates the architecture and customs of a bygone era. It was wonderful to sit under this massive veranda with its scores of ceiling fans and imagine what the world was like when it took months to arrive from Europe to this mystical land. Rapid political changes occurred as then Burma emerged from colonialism to independence to socialism and now a repressive military Junta. Trade embargoes from many countries including the U.S. have made the chance of earning a decent wage almost impossible and economic pressure has had a huge negative impact on the population. Time as always will tell and sometimes…thankfully…time stands still.
Landing midday in Yangon, with the temperature hovering around 100 degrees, we had no choice but to shed our clothes and immediately jump into the hotel pool. Due to the dry seasons unforgiving climate, this regions sightseeing and tours occur in the very early hours of the morning or in the early evening after the blazing sun has set. This day as we learned was the coolest of our 3 day stay. We opted for a guided tour of the Shwedagon Pagoda, a 2,500 year old shrine encasing eight hairs of the then living Buddha. Originally only 66 feet in height, it was continually enhanced and regilded to the impressive 362 feet it now soars . Over 1000 iconic images of the Buddha beam with brilliance. Utilizing stone, clay, ceramic tiles, jade, marble, glass, silver and most notably gold. If not solid gold, gold gilding, gold leaf or gold pigmented paint was used with wild abandon. Hundreds of the pagoda’s towers hurl their glistening metallic shafts towards the heavens. Surrounded by this gleaming medley of shapes at sunset, set the sky aglow and filled our hearts with its golden warmth.
Once finished with the street vendors, night markets, and daily bazaars, we had the afternoon to ascend Doi Suthep the highest point of Northern Thailand to visit Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, a centuries old Buddhist Temple over looking the city of Chiang Mai. Built high on the mountain top,was once only accessible with great difficulty , now hosts thousands of pilgrims, monks, and tourists to pray, pay homage and simply to view the breathtaking gold clad temple. We were truly and literally blessed to be in this place of worship perched in its heavenly domain.
While on the streets of Chiang Mai, the numerous stalls literally cover every square inch of real estate to be found. Any corner, alley way, or even a parking space can become an ideal spot for some entrepreneurial expression. Julia, Paul and I had the great fortune to partake in and old Asian tradition of releasing tiny sparrows to the sky’s which insure continued good luck in our lives.
Arriving back in Asia, Thailand this go around, feels as if we never really left. Two longhaul trips within a months time, has truly brought home the notion of a global marketplace. Attending B.I.G., Bangkok International Gift Fair, we avail ourselves to hundreds of vendors displaying emerging trends, colors, and materials for home furnishing and decorative accessories… We Shop On !
Tomorrow we head out on our final leg of our buying trips for 2010. We will be attending the BIG Fair in Bangkok for two days and then fly to Chang Mai for the famous night bazaar and visit with the wonderful antique collectors in the region. Shopping by day in the country side for ceramics, woven baskets, hand made fabrics, carved wood and stone. Our jammed packed days and nights of shopping will end when we travel on to Myanmar. After landing in Rangoon we will be able to tour some of the most wonderful iconic temples from century’s past and experience the local foods and traditions. No shopping here as the U.S has a trade embargo with the now repressive, military government. So we can be just tourist! I will be blogging throughout our trip and invite you to join us and follow us to what will be a new adventure for all.
Recently returning from one of my overseas buying trips, I now have to juggle the import process of getting all of the goods I purchased from there to here. With much help from our freight forwarders we first need to confirm all of the items purchased, check the prices, the actual cost, the quantities and currency conversions. Now with even the most remote vendors having access to the internet these tasks are much easier although time consuming. Once all paper work is complete and the final monies transfered they are ready to load the containers.
So many of our customers ask how do you get these beautiful items from China to Provincetown? The answer is by boat and truck. The containers (the removable back section of a trailer truck) are meticulously ”packed full” meaning every possible space is packed to the maximum capacity. Small items are packed inside larger ones and so on until the container, this year a 40′, is packed so tight that nothing can move inside thus preventing any damage from what can be a rough voyage across the Pacific. Once landed in Long Beach, California the container is loaded onto a trailer truck and delivered to our warehouse in Provincetown. Usually in 6-7 weeks! We hope to receive our latest truck of wonderful merchandise around the third week of May, which always feels a bit like Christmas for me, as I get to open the multitudes of treasures!
As we opened the doors for our 2010 season this past weekend, it was like opening them again for each of the fifteen years Wa has been in business. So many similar rituals; watering the garden, sweeping the walkways, arranging the fresh flowers, lighting the incense, each an essential component of welcoming our customers into the ambience of Wa. The familiar tasks are comforting but adding the newness of this spring season and our newly redecorated interiors makes for a joyous beginning. I embrace the beginning, the start of a new season, with renewed enthusiasm. The arrival of my recent purchases from China and Indonesia in May will result in a more cultural, ethnic feel to the shop this year. With one more shopping trip to Thailand and Myanmar next week I will round out our product selection. So the doors are wide open, step inside!
We, after many trips to Asia in the past, finally circumnavigated the globe on this last trip. A last minute cancellation of our first flight from Boston resulted in us heading east to Amsterdam, Singapore, Jakarta, and Bali. Next stops… Malaysia and Beijing. The route home was Beijing, Tokyo, New York, Boston and then Provincetown! The end result of our round the world shopping trip was having the ability to hand pick many beautiful antiques. Unique handmade, handcrafted, furniture and home accessories will be available for our 2010 season. I’m slowly recovering from jet lag and preparing the store for our opening this Saturday, April 3rd. Please join us for a beautiful spring weekend at WA.
Number of Countries 7
Number of Cities 11
Number of Flights 9
Longest Flight 13.5 hrs
Shortest Flight 22 min
Number of Languages 9
Currency Used 4
Highest Temp 101F
Lowest Temp 30F
Time Zones 24 standard
Miles Flown Lost Count
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