Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
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.
March 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 8, 2010
Case goods provider Simply Amish recently opened a licensed store in Davenport, Iowa.
The company has partnered with John Reisenbigler, Linda Reisenbigler, Arlyn Tegeler and Shirley Tegeler in opening the 14,000-square-foot store. The Reisenbiglers own the Simply Amish store in Rockford, Ill. Both families have been selling the Simply Amish line for more than 20 years.
This economy has hit the furniture business hard, said Kevin Kauffman, co-founder of Simply Amish. But that's when companies like us have an advantage. We continue to do the things that have given us a sought after product for several generationssupplying the best quality of furniture available and providing the best possible service to our customers.
Simply Amish has sold its line to retailers for more than 30 years, the licensed store is the eighth of its kind. Other locations include: Rockford, Ill.; Champaign, Ill.; Indianapolis; Overland Park, Kan.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Courtenay, British Columbia; and Parksville, British Columbia.
At Simply Amish, we make many styles of furniture, but with one standard, Kauffman said. When people hear 'Amish,' they often think of bow-back chairs and round tables made of only oak. They don't think of the contemporary, well-designed, custom products that we makeall by hand in the Amish tradition.
The line is made by Amish craftsmen through a network of more than 50 family farms. Most are small family shops with only four or five artisans, while other shops employ as many as 30 skilled workers.
March 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on March 8, 2010
Upholstery producer Berkline has realigned its sales management team and created two regional vice president positions.
Doug Henderson has been named vice president of sales for the Eastern region, and David Cribbs has been named Western regional vice president of sales.
Prior to the promotions, Henderson was director of business development for the company, and Cribbs was a senior sales representative for the Illinois and Indiana territory.
Henderson and Cribbs are responsible for managing sales in the Eastern and Western halves of the United States and Canada respectively, and report to Grey Hunsucker, vice president of sales at Berkline.
Prior to joining Berkline in 2008, Henderson had 25 years of senior sales and management experience with Joan and MasterCraft Fabrics. Cribbs, who began his career at Berkline in 1991 as a sales representative in the Chicago territory, previously worked as a sales representative for Schnadig Corp. in Michigan.
Doug and Davids years of experience will help us continue to strengthen our customer relationships and meet the needs of all of our retailers, Hunsucker said. Theyll also play an important role in supporting our sales reps in the field and helping Berkline continue to grow market share.
In addition to the regional management structure, Berkline has named Bob Bruns director of sales education position, a new position for the company. Continuing to serve as sales manager in the Michigan territory, in this new role Bruns will also work closely with the regional vice presidents, as well as the merchandising and operations departments.
Our sales education support program will launch immediately, Hunsucker said. The sales management team is excited about the support this new initiative will provide the field reps, and were confident it will have both short- and long-term benefits for our customers. To that end, the initiative will provide reps with tools they can use to help retailers in a variety of ways including getting beyond what remains a challenging economic environment.
March 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on March 8, 2010
Muebles Detagglio, a high-end furniture retailer based in Mexico City, has opened a satellite office in San Antonio, Texas, to begin expansion into the U.S. market, the San Antonio Business Journal reported Friday.
The Free Trade Alliance provided the company with technical assistance in the move through FTA's International Business Development Center.
Muebles Detagglio will co-host a cocktail mixer at the Drew/Walker Agency on Tuesday, where it will introduce part of its line to the public.
March 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on March 8, 2010
Ashley Cos., Arcadia, Wis., has rented 50,000 square feet of warehouse space in Bakersfield, Calif., to support delivery to customers of a troubled Ashley Furniture HomeStore there, KERO-TV reported Friday.
In the report Ashley, which could lose several hundred thousand dollars in fulfilling orders from the store, said it wants to maintain customer confidence in the Ashley name. Ashley is looking for a new owner of the store, which filed for bankruptcy last year.
Customers already are receiving orders, and Ashley expects all customers to receive their merchandise by April 24.