DURBAN: The blue San Pablo leather corner sofa has been restored and is enjoying newfound fame on the Leather Gallery’s showroom floor.
The San Pablo, which retails for almost R70 000, was looted from the Springfield store during the unrest in July.
Photos of the expensive couch went viral on social media, with the couch perched on the curbside and two people relaxing on it.
Then, the search for the couch began. It ended in Quarry Road West Informal Settlement towards the end of the July.
This week, Leather Gallery co-owner Greg Parry said they tried their best to restore the extensive damage on the San Pablo and had patched up most of the tears in the leather and mended the broken legs and framework.
He said: “The San Pablo is not on the market as it has been through such extensive damage.
“We pride ourselves on the excellent quality of our products and so, we cannot sell something that is not at its full quality and up to our standards.
“The San Pablo has found its home at our newest Durban showroom at our new flagship warehouse in Riverhorse Valley.”
Parry said that when the Leather Gallery received the San Pablo back at its warehouse, a full assessment of all the damage was done in order to determine the next course of action.
“Over the next few days, we did as much as we could to repair the damage that had been caused to the San Pablo during the looting.
“There was more damage to the San Pablo that we thought as we had only seen pictures of the top of the sofa. However, there was quite a bit of damage to the legs and framework underneath.”
He said the store had received an enormous amount of interest since the San Pablo has been displayed on its new showrooms floor.
“Our customers have loved seeing the famous blue sofa in person, and have enjoyed sitting on it to get the perfect Instagram photo.”
IOL
