Spiros Michael Zakas

Spiros Zakas, 70, a famous and legendary talent in the design industry, passed away on Monday November 7, 2011 after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease. A native Atlantan, Mr. Zakas was a graduate of Grady High School and began his career in 1969 as one of the first people to conceptualize designs with Lucite and to sell Plexiglass furniture. A Parsons School graduate, Spiros taught furniture design at Parson’s for over ten years and wrote several books about furniture design and residential interior design. All of his books made the best sellers list, and Spiros’ talent was also recognized with designs appearing in the Whitney Museum in New York City. Other accomplishments included an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show and a major feature in US Magazine and every major newspaper, nationwide. He was also a part owner of several restaurant concepts, designed custom wallpaper, carpet, furniture and lighting that was sold to other designers for their projects. Spiros set trends and was ahead of his time in design in general. In 1975 Mr. Zakas was commissioned to design a ladies junior apparel store in Chicago. In the store called, Dream One, Spiros created a never seen before fantasy environment with many of the items bigger than life. A ten-foot tall lipstick with a moving applicator and a pair of gigantic sunglasses stopped traffic in the store, and the buzz grew all over town. The management team of the famous Pump Room in downtown Chicago was attracted to his ingenuity and quickly brought Spiros on to design the restaurant which became one of the 150 restaurants he eventually designed in the Chicagoland area. While Spiros was living in New York City, his brother, Peter moved to Chicago to oversee the project. This new endeavor led the team of brother’s to form Zakaspace – one of the first design firms to specialize in restaurant design in the country. He also brought up to the New York office, his mother, Stella Zakas who worked with her sons in the business and gave her the responsibility to run their very successful custom wallpaper company. He believed in family loyalty. Spiros and his talented team provided designs for every notable major restaurant and hotel chain, from McDonald’s to Hard Rock Café in Myrtle Beach to the very successful and unique Atlanta Fish Market. Spiros designed over 600 restaurant concepts during his 31 year career and set the standards for many new design ideas that still exist today. People within the restaurant and hospitality business will always remember Spiros as a true leader and innovator. His brilliance and ingenuity will live on as his work continues to inspire generations of creative people to come. Spiros is survived by his brother, Peter, his wife Jody, nephews; Peter and Michael as well as his niece, Chelsea of Atlanta, GA. The funeral service will be in the Chapel of A. S. Turner and Sons on Sunday, November 13th at 2:30PM with Father Paul Kaplanis officiating. Donations are greatly appreciated to the National Parkinson Foundation www.parkinson.org, the Michael J. Fox Foundation www.michaeljfox.org or the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Building Fund. The family will receive friends 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Saturday evening and 1:30 to 2:30 PM on Sunday at A.S. Turner & Sons.

Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033