You can purchase a Jerry Bravat mattress, dining table, and more from Thunderbird Salvage

George Mathis didn’t think he’d be leaving one last furniture removal job with the late, seven-foot-plus Jerry Blavat.

The owner of East Kensington thrift store Thunderbird Salvage went to the Old City home of the late Philadelphia legend, “The Geator with the Heater,” more than a week ago to move a dining table for his friend and auction house owner Barry S. Solsberg.Bravat, the beloved Philadelphia DJ died in January At the age of 82 years.

When Mathis arrived at the Society Hill Towers condominium, he noticed a long, slightly depressed slumber in the dining room near the windows overlooking the old city.

When Mathis heard it was going to be eliminated, he decided to save the African milk thistle and return it to Thunderbird.

“I was like, ‘No, I want to save the cactus – it was Jerry’s cactus and I’m sure it meant something to him,'” he said. “It felt like a piece of nature and it belonged to Jerry, and we needed to save that.” Blavat’s daughter was keen to clean the unit, and gave it to him for free.

On Sunday, the store listed the plant for $500 on Instagram, hoping to find “anyone who loves cactus and appreciates the wonderful human being that Jerry Blavat was” (plant-loving commenters were quick to point out that the item in question was a succulent). , not a cactus.) Within about 15 hours, a buyer entered the store’s DMs and offered him $350.

SOLD OUT — Just another day of extraordinary deals on Thunderbird’s Instagram account.

“People don’t seem to be too surprised by what we get on the flyers, because we’re so weird,” Mathis said. “Everything we do every day and what we get (in the store) is so extraordinary that it has become normal now.”

While the succulent euphorbia has a new home, Mathis is still looking for someone to take over the Plavat dining table with a painted and mirrored wood base, a three-piece painted wood top with three glass panels, and eight Italian dining chairs by Pietro Constantini. (Although Slosberg, the auctioneer, had initially hired Mathis to move the pieces, Slosberg decided not to pursue it, and instead would take a portion of any sales Mathis made of the items.)

A console table with a painted wood base, three drawers and two cabinets is also part of the dining set, which is priced at $5,000 or best offer. Both items were manufactured in France, according to the label, which reads “mobilier fabrique en France” on the items.

All pieces break down for easy movement. The dining table measures 107″ x 87″ x 30″ x 44″ (without the hidden compartment in the middle), and the chairs are 42″ long. The console table measures 103″ x 21″ x 31″.

That’s not all that Mathis and his crew captured. You can buy the Blavat king size mattress and inversion therapy table for $150 each at Thunderbird as well. Delivery is offered for $75 for a single item – the price increases for out of town deliveries, additional items and other logistics.

Touring the apartment was an eye-opening experience for Mathis, who showed off the late singer’s “amazing” bathrooms with mirrored walls and ceilings, cold lights, and hot tubs.

“I was a fan (of Blavat),” he said. “But because he’s not my generation, I didn’t know much about him, so I appreciate him because of who he is.”

But what’s most exciting for Mathis is adding another gem to his vast collection of available finds.

“Very few companies go out and look for these things and are willing to go out of their way to go out there and make things happen that way,” he said. “(Getting a Blavat) happens when you want out and when you put it out into the universe – it will come back to you.”