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HW Home Named 2010 Western Retailer of the Year by WHFA
March 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 8, 2010
Boulder, Colo.-based HW Home has been named the 2010 Western Retailer of the Year by the Western Home Furnishings Association.
The award is bestowed upon a home furnishings retailer that exemplifies exceptional store design, innovative advertising and brand marketing, unwavering commitment to community and the environment, outstanding operations and a continuing dedication to the home furnishings industry. The award is nominated and judged by a panel of industry peers.
We are very proud to honor HW Home as our 2010 Western Retailer of the Year, said Sharron Bradley, WHFAs executive director. With their dedication to detail and customer satisfaction, HW Home exemplifies everything an exceptional retailer strives to be.
In 1998, co-founders Jim Hering and Ron Werner visited Rons sister in Boulder, Colo., to design the interior of her new home and immediately saw an opportunity to bring fashion-forward designs and styles to the area. An idea for a high-end, urban eclectic home furnishings boutique store was born and in 1999, the duo introduced HW Home to Colorado. HW Home saw instant success and outgrew its first location within a year. Today, the company has grown into four showroom locations and a thriving e-commerce business with about 40 employees.
HW Home measures its success by customer satisfaction. Its focus is on quality, style and value while delivering exceptional customer service.
We strive to set ourselves apart from our competitors daily, Hering said. We need to look better, be better and deliver more than others.
Hering and Werner have made their business open to their customers four-legged friends by welcoming them into showrooms. Hering and Werners strong love for animals has also made them active with Humane Society of Boulder Valley. During the annual HW Home Warehouse Sale and other events, the Humane Society brings out its mobile pet adoption vehicle and finds new homes for the animals. HW Home also sponsors other organizations in the area including The Matthew Shepard Foundation, where Werner serves on the board. The store often hosts events for different organizations such as Colorado Youth Tennis Foundation, the Colorado Childrens Campaign and the Providers Resource Center. HW Home is also a large supporter of the Denver Furniture Bank and has created a program to pick up customers old furniture when a new piece is delivered. HW Home will arrange for the old furniture to be delivered to the furniture bank and the customer then receives a tax letter for the donation.
Were incredibly humbled, elated and kind of blown away to be named Retailer of the Year, Hering and Werner said. To be honest we thought our business was a little small since we knew we were up against larger companies that are really great, successful, beautiful furniture retailers with great industry experience. We werent counting on anything and we were just so excited to find out that we were nominated back in the fall. We are very honored and thrilled to be the recipient of this prestigious award.
HW Home will be honored May 4 at 5:30 p.m. at Disneys California Adventure Park, Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Anaheim, Calif., with an exclusive dinner celebration and awards presentation. The event will take place as the grand finale to WHFAs Conference & Expo set for May 2-4. To register for the event, click here.
The WHFA is the largest affiliate of the National Home Furnishings Association, representing more than 1,000 independent home furnishings retailers in more than 2,800 stores in 12 western states.