'A Ferrari showroom, only with furniture inside instead of cars'

Cult shop A third-generation family business which includes its own custom-made furniture workshop.

Patrick Ratelle, one of the owners of Meubles Re-No. The shop is filled with pieces by top designers.

A third-generation family business with its own custom-made furniture workshop You're driving in the shadow of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal and thinking, "I must have written these instructions wrong or taken a wrong turn - there's no designer showroom anywhere around here." As you stare at the nondescript building with the correct address and then dare to open the door to Meubles Re-No, you will be wowed by the "Ferrari showroom, only with furniture inside instead of cars", as Patrick Ratelle, one of the owners and the general manager, describes it.

For 49 years those in the know have made their way here, where a custom-made furniture workshop sits alongside a 4,000-square-metre showroom filled with contemporary furniture from prestigious European (mostly Italian) designers. With the help of Meuble Re-No's staff of designers (or on your own if you prefer), you can choose from among such treats as upholstered beds by Flou, Molinari and Kappa couches and chairs, Fasem leather chairs and desks, Fer House lamps, wall units and upholstered pieces by Rivolta, Fiam and Reflex curved cyrstal consoles, mirrors and tables, Porado wooden tables, chairs and mirrors, and Kartell acrylic sofas and chairs - including the iconic Louis Ghost collection designed by Philippe Starck.

Next, you can have them design your upholstered pieces - there are 5,000 fabrics to choose from or you can use your own. Bring in your plans and your room layout, and they will select the right size, colour and arrangements for your space and tastes.

The plans are then walked next door to the family workshop. They'll encourage you to go there too and have a look inside your couch while it's being made, to see exactly what you are buying.

For their custom-made leather pieces, they use only skins from the Elmo tannery in Sweden. The Swedish firm drum-dries its leather for two weeks, using no paints or artificial finishes. As a result, the leather can breathe and won't become hot or cold as a result of paint-blocked painted pores, as less expensive leather would. In our universe of mass production, it's heartwarming to walk into a third-generation family business whose members still have golden hands, a welcoming way with their customers and a sharp eye for design.

[phone] or [phone], www.mreno.com