HW Home, Coconis Are NHFA Retailers of the Year

February 4, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on February 5, 2013

HW Home in Denver, Col.; and Coconis Furniture, South Zanesville, Ohio, are the National Home Furnishings Association€™s 2013 Retailers of the Year.

HW Home, led by Ron Werner and Jim Hering, is the honoree in the category of annual sales under $10 million. Coconis Furniture, led by Randy Coconis, is the honoree with annual sales over $10 million.

Werner and Hering are co-founders and owners of HW Home, a home furnishings retailer and design source. HW Home likes to say that the company "lives in the Yes," striving to deliver the highest level of customer service and satisfaction to its clients while simultaneously building trustworthy vendor relationships and supporting the company€™s loyal team members with dignity and respect.

Werner graduated from Indiana University with a B.A. in Economics and minor in Jewish Studies. Prior to forming HW Home in 1998, he was a senior vice president of investments with Smith Barney. Werner serves on various boards including The Alexander Muss High School in Israel, The Mathew Shepard Foundation, The Riverfront Park Community foundation, The Riverfront Park Association, and the National Home Furnishings Association.

Hering graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Business and Political Science. Prior to forming HW Home, he was general manager of Holly Hunt€™s Flagship Chicago showroom and was responsible for management of her showrooms and proprietary furniture collections. Before joining Holly Hunt, Hering was production manager for Dennis & Leen, and Formations in Los Angeles. He is a board member of the Accessories Resource Team and an avid tennis player.

HW Home opened its doors  on June 15, 1999, in Boulder, Colo. The duo crafted the lifestyle boutique€™s concept after visiting and assisting Werner€™s sister with a home décor project during January 1998. During that visit they quickly realized that both Boulder and Denver were void of a chic home store. Their concept was relatively simple: Offer design center styled merchandise at retail competitive price points while maintaining stock levels to satisfy today€™s consumers demand for instant gratification. Their assortment blend and high level of service has proven to be a success. Today the company operates three retail locations spanning 50 miles of the Colorado Front Range, a stocked distribution facility and executes design projects coast to coast.

In 1972, Randy Coconis began working for his father in the Zanesville, Ohio-based family furniture business full time just out of high school. He began his career on the delivery truck and then moved into sales and eventually into management. Due to a his father's sudden serious illness, Coconis began managing the store in 1981. Five years later after his father€™s passing; he became owner with his brother, Paul Jr.

Under his leadership Coconis Furniture has grown from six employees to 60 and is one of Ohio€™s largest independent furniture retailers. The store€™s showroom has grown from 5,000 square feet to more than 70,000 square feet today. A new, 30,000-square-foot warehouse was constructed in 2005; and in 2010 a second satellite store was opened featuring a mattress and reclining furniture gallery. Currently plans are being finalized for a new 30,000-square-foot store in Heath, Ohio.

Coconis is a past recipient of Ohio€™s €œFurniture Retailer of the Year,€ past Treasurer of the Ohio Home Furnishings Association, serves on the board of Furniture First buying group, and currently sits on the board of the new North American Home Furnishings Association.

In his hometown of Zanesville, Coconis sponsors and is involved in many community activities and charity organizations such as, The Muskingum Valley Red Cross, Sertoma and Autism charities including the local annual €œTee it up for Autism€ golf outing held each June. He also participates in local recycling center and disaster victim relief donations. Coconis also founded the Coconis Family Endowment Fund established with the Muskingum County Community Foundation. 

In 2011, Randy received the prestigious Dick Johnson Community Service Award presented by the Muskingum County Community Foundation.

Randy is proud to have his two sons, Chad and Kyle (Bo) involved in the family business, making them the fourth generation who are innovating and growing the business. Coconis Furniture attributes its success to the dedicated help and enthusiasm of its many valued employees, some of whom have been with the company for over twenty years.

NHFA€™s Retailer of the Year Awards are presented annually at the Spring High Point Furniture Market Furniture Industry Awards Gala. This year€™s Gala will be held Monday, April 22, at 6:15 p.m. in the IHFC Ballroom, 11th Floor, Green Wing.

Candidates were nominated by active members of the home furnishings industry. The recipients are selected for their outstanding contributions to the home furnishings industry, exemplary service to the community and personal business achievements. The awards, signified by crystal obelisks, are the highest honor the 90-year-old trade association can bestow upon a member.