It seemed like such a good idea about a week ago, when I first heard about the Knoll sample sale. Two Barcelona chairs, usual retail price £3,600, going for the bargain basement price of £749.I knew I would have to suffer to get one but hey, I've stood outside a few shops in my time in order to secure a rare item, and what was a few hours wasted waiting in the cold if I could walk away with one of the most iconic pieces of furniture of the 20th century? Even if it didn't fit in my lounge, Ebay would surely reward me with a tidy profit.
So the plan was hatched. Get the first train to London, 4.36am, make my way to the Knoll store in Goswell Road, mark my place at the start of the queue. Wait. Simple. I would secure the advantage by hours.
I looked at Twitter. The Knoll staff had been hyping this sale like it was the second coming. Then came the Tweet of devastation. Steve Lidbury, first in the queue, at 7pm the night before the sale.
Now any sane person would have thrown in the towel there and then, and opted for a few extra hours in bed. Not me. In my mind Steve Lidbury was there alone, cursing his foolish move as he shivered his way through the night. I would still go, and be number two in the queue.
I overslept, ended up on the 8.21am train, but I still arrived at Knoll half an hour before the store was to open, to be confronted by this. Hundreds of furniture huggers, their appetite for cheap Knoll heightened by a year of recession.
I stood there for about ten minutes before reason got the better of me. No way would I find anything close to the bargain I was hoping for. I left, before the doors had even opened.
Waiting in line is a mug's game, but arriving late to wait in line with no hope of achieving one's aim takes mugishness to a new level. Fortune favours the true mug, the one who sleeps in shop doorways. Well done Steve Lidbury.
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