Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
West Elm LOCAL to Accept “Design Influencer” Award
November 9,
2016 by Jane Chero in Designer Weekly, Industry, Las Vegas, Market, Special Events 
Mo Mullen, Director of Business Development for West Elm LOCAL, will be accepting the award at the 2017 Housewares Design Awards, on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, at Las Vegas Market.
“Las Vegas Market is pleased and proud to host the 12th Housewares Design Awards and to recognize West Elm LOCAL as the first-ever Design Influencer of the Year,” said Dorothy Belshaw, president of Gift & Home Décor, International Market Centers.
Mo Mullen, is the architect of the LOCAL strategy, which is an initiative to partner with local makers and designers from across the country to bring regionally sourced products into West Elm stores. She was instrumental in building the merchandising team for the LOCAL launch in late 2013 and also helped launch West Elm’s first LOCAL Small Business Grant in 2014, a $25,000 grant that helps makers grow their small businesses from the ground up.
“We are tremendously gratified to be recognized with this exciting new award, which recognizes and celebrates our store managers for taking on new roles as shopkeepers and entrepreneurs,” Mullen states. “Through LOCAL, West Elm empowers store managers to find and build relationships with local artisans and makers, establishing a local assortment in West Elm stores and on WestElm.com.”
The Housewares Design Awards were founded in 2003 by HomeWorld Business to honor supplier efforts within the industry to create new ways to improve everyday living, and recognize excellence in 12 core housewares categories. Las Vegas Market will host the Awards for the first time in 2017, as an extension of its overall growth strategy for gift-oriented housewares, tabletop and specialty food.
The winners of the 2017 Housewares Design Awards will be announced and finalists will be recognized at a gala awards presentation ceremony on Tuesday, January 24, 2017, in the Las Vegas Market’s WorldView Ballroom. Tickets, which cost $50 each, can be purchased online at www.housewaresdesignawards.com.