Clive Daniel Looks Eastward

April 18, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on April 19, 2012

Blandine Blox has joined high-end furniture retailer Clive Daniel Home to lead the search for a second location on Florida's East Coast.

Blox, whose title is East Coast director of business development and interior design, is a Boca Raton-based design and architecture professional who was a top-level designer at Robb & Stucky, where Clive Lubner, who leads Clive Daniel Home with his son, Daniel Lubner, was the creative force behind the iconic retail name, which was sold to Chinese furniture manufacturer Samuel Kuo and family early last year.

The Lubners opened their first Clive Daniel Home showroom, an 85,000-square-foot location in Naples, in November. The flagship store is the first in a careful, long-term plan of expansion throughout Florida and other markets.

The new region Blox will oversee spans the Atlantic coast from West Palm Beach to Miami's Biscayne Bay.

"Our first six months in business exceeded our expectations," said Clive Daniel president and CEO Daniel Lubner. "Our long-time friends in the community and colleagues in the industry have shown overwhelming support, and new business from both our residential and our commercial customers--some dating back three decades--reinforced our commitment to exceed their expectations as well.

"Meanwhile, we were overwhelmed with calls from past East Coast clients asking when we would open on their coast. We've worked hard to maintain our relationships with our past clients as well as designer and trade partners. Our East Coast clientele completely understand our new approach to total home solutions, and it gives us great pleasure to announce that we will once again be an active part of the community."

In addition to leading the efforts to secure our first location here, which will take several months, Lubner said Blox already is working directly with local residential clients and developers.

Blox's extensive portfolio includes award-winning architectural and interior design accomplishments, from modest homes and condominiums to the most luxurious oceanfront estates, private jets and yachts. Her commercial background covers a broad spectrum of spaces, including retail stores, clubhouses, medical facilities, offices and nightclubs.

"In her years as one of the most talented designers in our top level team, she consistently demonstrated an innate ability to interpret our clients€™ vision and needs," said Clive Daniel Chairman Clive Lubner. "With her background in architecture and hands-on knowledge of the construction process, she brings to the table the skills of an accomplished project manager, taking the design project from budgeting and pre-construction to final installation. She embodies not just extraordinary professional design skills and sophisticated eye for detail, but also the level of service we demand of ourselves on behalf of our clients. We're delighted to have her back on board."

Born in Paris, Blox received her degree in architecture from the prestigious Ecole Supérieure d'Architecture. After moving to Boca Raton, she earned her degree in interior design and gained experience working in an architectural firm and smaller design firms before joining the elite design team at Robb & Stucky.

She is deeply involved in many community and charitable organizations, including AVDA, Habitat for Humanity, St. Jude's Children€™s Hospital, and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, among others.

She has traveled extensively throughout the world, from Indonesia and Australia to the capitals of Europe and North America.

"My exposure to many cultures definitely broadened my aesthetic sensibilities," she said.

Blox's work has been featured in some of North America's leading regional and national magazines, including Architectural Digest, Boca Design, Luxe Design and Boca Raton Magazine.

"Our long-time clients are already delighted with the fresh, dynamic look and feel of the new showroom. It's everything that they€™ve come to expect, with lots of pizzazz and wonderful surprises," she said. "Once again, the Lubners are taking the home furnishings concept to an unprecedented new level, and it is exhilarating to be a part of it."

Daniel Lubner says the company is currently talking with other local designers to joint the new venture.