Who's ready to put money in the banquettes?

Plugge's seeks re-upholstered ownership model

Before I started covering the food-service industry more than 15 years ago, I had no idea the comfy seating backed against the walls of my favorite restaurants were called banquettes.

Until a couple of months ago, I didn’t know that Plugge’s Upholstery in downtown Oklahoma City built a good portion of those banquettes for the past 60 years. Founder and owner Don Plugge passed away last spring, leaving the business which still employees a team of long-time craftsman, to his children. Children who not only grew up working in “the shop,” but now are trying to keep it in operation from long-distance.

Son, Gregg, lives in Atlanta while his sisters, Michelle Scarcelli, Celeste Lee, and Denise Hart all live in California.

Meanwhile, the work continues at Plugge’s, 1209 W Main St.

Walking through the shop last month, I met Marvin who’s been operating an industrial sewing machine the past 57 years. Asked if he’d ever run one of those industrial needles through his finger, he answered “only once! That’s all it took!!”

When founder Don Plugge passed away in May, was still hard at work.

“We tried to get him to slow down, but he would just get frustrated,” his son Gregg recalled with a wistful smile. “He used to always say he was going to die with his boots on – he managed to more or less to that.”

Gregg and his sisters have worked diligently to keep the business operating, but it has been a struggle.

“We all grew up in the business,” daughter Michelle said during the visit. “We have fond memories, but we all live so far away, it makes it really difficult.”

The search for a local buyer continues.

“We really just want to keep the place open because we’ve got some really great people working here,” Gregg said. “And it provides a service local restaurants would really miss.”

It’s a service they’ve had at their disposal since the mid-1960s.

That’s when Hartman, Arkansas’s own Don Plugge turned his car seat business into a full-scale upholstery manufactory out of his garage.

Born in 1935 to Frank and Francis Plugge, who owned the local mercantile and a 400-acre farm where Don got his start in the workforce. He graduated from an all-boys Catholic boarding high school, at the age of 16 and immediately went into business with his brother and cousin. Together, they ran the farm Don’s father left behind after his untimely passing.

While running the farm, Don met Loretta Soerries. Three years younger, Loretta graduated as valedictorian at Sacred Heart Catholic High School on a Friday and left for Tulsa, Oklahoma, the following Monday. Loretta was never going to be happy as a farmer’s wife.

With that in mind, Don followed her to big city life in 1958. After selling his interests in the farm to his cousin, Don moved to Oklahoma City. His first job was as a Fuller Brush salesman, which prepared him to start his own business in 1961.

With a $3,000 loan from his mother, Don bought his first upholstery business – specializing in auto seat covers. Three years later, Don began buying old sleeper-sofas and recovering them. That first sofa cost him $1.50. He reupholstered it in his garage and sold it for $100. Loretta sold three out of the garage the first weekend they held a sale and came away with orders for 100 more.

Plugge’s Custom Upholstery was born, but not before the city cited them for operating an unlicensed business out of their home. He eventually opened at 1022 NW 2^nd Street before evolving into a full custom manufacturing warehouse at 1406 NW 30^th Street.

Design challenges excited Don, which led to his affiliation with the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, casinos and movie sets were all in his purview. Today, you’ll find his handiwork all over the city, including La Baguette Bistro, Sauced on Paseo and every other Humankind Hospitality concept.

Among his best friends was Verej Jazirvar, whom Plugge met upholstering furniture for The Petroleum Club. Don’s counted many customers as friends along with many vendors and interior designers, following his lifelong mantra to “show up for people.”

Known by many as Daddy Red, Don served in the Army National Guard – six months at Fort Chafee and six years as a reserve. Don lost Loretta in 2020, but both of them lived to see eight grandchildren born.

Anyone interested in the future of Plugge’s Custom Upholstery can contact Gregg Plugge by email. pluggeman@gmail.com.