With his name on the sign, Ross Taylor is perhaps best known for owning Gabriel Ross, Victoria’s go-to purveyor of modern and luxurious furniture, lighting, decor and accessories. He’s spent more than three decades as an influential player in Victoria’s design community.
Born in Ottawa, Ross moved out to Victoria with his family when he was 13 and quickly became a heartfelt islander.
He was a year out of high school – “At that age, I was just straight up floundering,” he laughs – when a new local trade school offered him a spot in their fine upholstery program.
Although he hadn’t had any particular passion for the craft up to that point, Ross quickly took to the program.
“I got on really well with the instructor and I did really take to the technical aspect of pattern-making and sewing,” he says.
Ross did so well that the school ended up hiring him on as a teacher’s assistant, where he worked for several years until Camosun College took over the program.
“They chose to start fresh and so all the equipment came up for sale,” he says. “At that point I was 21 years old, and I went to the bank and my mother co-signed a $10,000 loan for me.”
He came away with all manner of sewing machines, compressors, racks and other equipment.
“Then I opened a shop and I was thrown into business.”
Ross spent about 10 years developing his skills, crafting furniture and experimenting with design. Then, in the mid-’90s, he joined forces with another Victoria-based furniture maker and designer, whose middle name was Gabriel. The pair found a space on Bay Street with a great showroom and officially opened Gabriel Ross.
Within about six months, the partnership ended, explains Ross, but the name stuck, and the company began to innovate in the design and furniture industry.
Gabriel Ross went on to partner with Herman Miller, which opened the doors to a stream of other iconic brands, and soon grew large enough that the manufacturing side split off into an independent company. Ross developed Fawcett Mattress with Duane Franklin around 2010, offering natural, highly sustainable, Victoria-crafted mattresses. In 2014 he partnered with former Gabriel Ross employee Chris Rothery to form Chester Fields, a destination for those who wanted to invest in elegant, design-forward pieces at a more accessible price.
With Fawcett Mattress and Chester Fields both expanding into Nanaimo over the past year, one could be forgiven for thinking Ross might have enough on his plate, but he recently came across an opportunity he couldn’t refuse.
“I’ve been a car guy most of my life. I’ve built a few and I really love the upholstery side,” he says. “A few years ago I was thinking I’d semi-retire, maybe buy a few acres and set up a big upholstery shop.”
And then the Glanford Auto Service Station came available to buy, and Ross went the next day with a group to purchase it. Now renamed G.A.S. Classics, the classic car and hot rod shop employs five full-time journeyman mechanics and has been welcomed into the car community in Victoria.
“Just the other day I was in there sewing, and I just feel so good about this. It’s been a few years in the making. We’re having fun and we have a great group of people,” Ross says, and adds with a laugh, “but I’m failing horribly at semi-retirement.”
The 7 Sins
Envy: Whose shoes would you like to walk in?
Gabor Maté for his ability to see the beauty in broken people and for his desire to explore healing. My partner Lisa calls him her “other boyfriend” so it would be a win-win.
Gluttony: What is the food you could eat over and over again?
Brasserie L’Ecole’s French onion soup! So many years were lost not realizing it was on their menu.
Greed: You’re given $1 million that you have to spend selfishly. What would you spend it on?
A huge workshop, shop equipment and tools to do all the things, and the time to learn to use them all. Even better if they arrive with talented people to teach me how to use them all.
Wrath: Pet peeves?
It’s always been people who don’t live up to their potential. Although I’m learning that I need to replace “don’t” with “can’t.”
Sloth: Where would you spend a long time doing nothing?
Quadra Island.
Pride: What is the one thing you’re secretly proud of?
The relationships that I’ve made through my work and play – the people I work with and all of the people I’ve met in business, doing what they love and doing really cool things.
Lust: What makes your heart beat faster?
A perfectly executed classic car interior. And a Louis Poulsen PH 5 suspension lamp.
This feature appeared in the fall edition of Boulevard Victoria.