Casual Furnishings Assn. Honors Ken Burrows

May 16, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on May 17, 2013

The International Casual Furnishings Association has named Ken Burrows its 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Burrows is the general manager of Pasadena Patio in Pasadena, Calif. In the furniture industry since his high school days, his career has taken him from the factory floor to the executive suite and now to a retail store. 

Burrows began his career lacing outdoor furniture and grinding frames at Brown Jordan in Pasadena, Calif., as a high school student in the mid 1950s. He worked his way up to national sales manager in 1962 and became general sales manager for all five Brown Jordan furniture divisions in 1969.

In 1972, he and Gary Stafford purchased Terra Furniture in City of Industry, Calif. Burrows served as president in charge of sales and marketing, and together he and Stafford guided design of the company€™s quality aluminum and synthetic woven casual furniture for the residential and commercial markets.

In his later years at Terra, Burrows also served as a sales representative in Southern California for Triconfort and Allibert. In 2010 he turned over his interest in Terra to Stafford, and has been with Pasadena Patio for the last two years.

Burrows was a member of the ICFA Board of Directors from 2008 to 2009; and prior to that served on the board of the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association, including serving as second vice president in 2005 and 2006 and first vice president in 2006 and 2007.

For the past 40 years, Burrows has been a member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association and was named a life director in 2000. He was elected to the Tournament€™s Executive Committee in 1992 and served as the 111th Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game president in 2000.

In addition to his volunteer service with the Tournament of Roses Association, Burrows has served on the Green Valley Mutual Water Company Board since 1980. He also has served as a board member for the LA Mart Design Center and as a member of the National Home Fashions League. He also served many years on the Resources Council, a home furnishings trade organization, and was elected president in 1980.

Burrows will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ICFA Awards Gala on Sept. 19, during the International Casual Furnishings & Accessories Market in Chicago.