NHFA Honors Brashears Furniture, Stoney Creek Furniture

March 15, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 16, 2010

Brashears Furniture, Berryville, Ark., led by Doug and Susan Brashears; and Stoney Creek Furniture, Stoney Creek, Ontario, led by Dennis Novosel, are National Home Furnishings Association's Retailers of the Year for 2010.

Brashears is the honoree in the category of annual sales of $10 million or less. Stoney Creek is the honoree with annual sales over $10 million. 

NHFA's Retailer of the Year Awards are presented annually at the Spring High Point Market Furniture Industry Awards Gala. This year's Gala will be held on Monday, April 19, at 6:15 p.m. in the IHFC Ballroom, 11th Floor, Green Wing. 

The recipients are selected for their outstanding contributions to the home furnishings industry, exemplary service to the community and personal business achievements. The award, signified by a crystal obelisk, is the highest honor the 90-year-old trade association can bestow upon a member.

Brashears Furniture is a third-generation, family-owned business that has been serving customers in the Ozarks since 1935. The main showroom is in Berryville with additional showrooms in Branson, Missouri and Springdale, Arkansas. Their motto is "Things are a little different here." Every effort is made to help customers feel at home and to enjoy their shopping experience.

In addition to membership in NHFA, Brashears' contributions to the home furnishings retail trade include membership in the Arkansas Homefurnishings Association and Home Furnishings Independents Association.  Doug and his father, Vol, are both past presidents of the Arkansas Homefurnishings Association.  Other memberships include Springfield Design Association and American Society of Interior Designers. Achievements and awards include Arkansas Dealer of the Year and Southwest Arkansas Dealer of the Year presented by the Arkansas Homefurnishings Association. Other honors include Business Leader of the Year and Business Beautification Award by Berryville Chamber of Commerce.

Doug and Susan Brashears and the entire Brashears family believe strongly in the communities in which they live and do business. Some of their support and participation include membership in chambers of commerce in their business areas, furnishings for home tours to benefit Susan G. Komen Foundation, monies from customers' used furniture auction to local charities for people in need, and donating several truck loads of furniture for ABC's Extreme Home Makeover at Camp Barnabas in Purdy, Mo.

Brashears has excelled in personal business achievements and company leadership. These innovations resulted in increased sales and profit performance.

Forty years ago Stoney Creek Furniture, led by Founder and President Dennis Novosel, was a small-town store. In 1927 Dennis' father, Ivan, had immigrated to Canada from Croatia and operated a moving business and a used furniture business. When Dennis graduated from high school, he already had his own delivery business and after a short time as a draughtsman at Otis Elevator he turned to his own business full-time. However, his father who had retired when Dennis finished high school, encouraged Dennis to open a store on property the father had kept in the Golden Horseshoe between Niagara Falls and Toronto, today Canada€™s wealthiest market.

Dennis borrowed $1,000 from his sister and brother in-law and opened a 5,000-square-foot store. Today, Stoney Creek Furniture is the largest furniture showroom in all of Canada. Stoney Creek Furniture's four key strategies which have resulted in its ever-expanding market share are service, selection, style and strategic marketing. Customer service is the number one priority. 

Stoney Creek features more than 15,000 furnishings and accessories displayed in 350 decorated room settings, selections which include ultra urban, casual chic, graciously formal and big city "cool," free in-store design services, brand name designer collections, latest industry trends, and non-commissioned sales associates who are well-trained and experienced. In recognition of its value and importance to consumers, Stoney Creek received the Readers Choice Award in 2008, the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce Award for Outstanding Business Achievement winner in 2006 and the Retailer of the Year by the Ontario Furniture Manufacturers Association in 2006.

In service to the home furnishings industry, Dennis helped found the Canadian Home Furnishings Association, now part of NHFA. He was president of NHFA in 2004, the first Canadian to serve as president, served as chairman of NHFA's executive committee in 2005, is on the board of the Retail Home Furnishings Foundation, the board of the Interior Design Society in the United States and the board of the American Furniture Hall of Fame.

Stoney Creek Furniture has supported charities and events for its 40-year history. Numerous corporate donations have gone to groups such as the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, sports teams, Bob€™s Hospice, Ronald McDonald House, Hamilton Food Share, Heart & Stroke Big Bike Fundraiser and Cure. At Christmas, 2007, Stoney Creek selected three schools and let the children there decorate Stoney Creek's Christmas trees. In return the company gave a donation to each of the school's library and playground funds.  Novosel who is a world traveler for pleasure and business has also used his trips to help those overseas, especially with Men's Missions International: working on an orphanage and seminary in Haiti, a church in Mozambique, schools in Kenya, and programs in South Africa to help with unwanted babies.

"The reason I'm so involved with the furniture industry is because I just love it," Novosel said. "And I don't think it's too altruistic an idea that if we all get together and learn, change, and evolve, we'll make it."