IHFRA Announces 2019 Honorees

October 9, 2018  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

Pillar of Industry Award

The Pillar of the Industry Award is presented to an industry leader who has distinguished himself with creative work and effort to improve, enhance and benefit relationships among industry representatives and other segments of the industry. Through their actions and deeds the recipient has shown his commitment to the home furnishings industry, their community and to mankind.

Bill Wittenberg has been president and CEO of Klaussner Furniture Industries in Asheboro, N.C. since April 2010. Prior to this, he worked 16 years for Berkline Corporation in Morristown, Tenn. in various sales and operations capacities before becoming president and CEO in February 1997. In total, Wittenberg has been in the furniture industry 40 years. He currently serves as chairman of the American Home Furnishings Association (AHFA) and is on the Board of Directors for the American Furniture Hall of Fame. 

Retailer of the Year Award

Jeff Child, president of Top 100 RC Willey Home Furnishings, will be presented the prestigious Retailer of the Year Award, the highest honor given within the retail home furnishings community. This award recognizes individuals who have distinguished themselves through superior industry leadership, business achievement and service to their community.

The furniture business has been a staple in Child’s life. He spent his childhood in Syracuse, Utah, learning the family business. He has held a myriad of positions with the company: starting in the warehouse as a teenager, he spent four years on the sales floor after graduating from Brigham Young University with a degree in history; he worked as a buyer for several years before acting as a merchandise manager and vice president of merchandising.  In February of 2001, he was named president.

Icon Award

In receiving the Icon Award, Bob Maricich, chairman and CEO of International Market Centers, will be recognized as an individual who has made significant and ongoing contributions to the industry throughout the course of his career.

Maricich was instrumental in envisioning and developing the strategy for the creation of International Market Centers, L.P. In 2011 he founded IMC with sponsors Bain Capital and Oaktree Capital Management by raising over $1 billion to fund the purchase of the International Home Furnishings Center, ShowPlace properties, and the Market Square properties in High Point, N.C. and merging them with World Market Center Las Vegas to form the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishing, home décor and gift industries.

Prior to his tenure at IMC, Maricich spent 11 years at Century Furniture Industries. As CEO at Century, he managed 1,200 associates and drove innovations that elevated the $175 million company into one of the industry’s most admired manufacturers of high-end residential furniture.

Distinguished Service Award (DSA)

The Distinguished Service Award (DSA) will be presented to sales representative and former IHFRA president Frank Lorenzo. The DSA was first presented in 1975 and represents the highest honor that IHFRA bestows to a member of the organization. The DSA is given to a sales representative who embodies certain qualities and character and who has distinguished himself of behalf of IHFRA to sales representatives and the industry.

Lorenzo, whose family migrated from Cuba in 1960 to escape the Castro regime, joined his family’s furniture business in 1984, as a floor sales representative. In 1986, he decided to venture out and explore his options as an independent Sale Representative for several small local factories. After a few years representing local factories, Lorenzo joined Coaster Fine Furniture in High Point in 1988, followed by Ashley Furniture in 1989 as a sub rep with a focus of cultivating, growing and selling to the Hispanic furniture market in South Fla. In 1993, Lorenzo decided to make a career move and join Michael Amini, representing AICO in South Fla.; a spot he has enjoyed for the past 25 years.

Rising Star Award

The Rising Star Award is given to a rep who has been on the road for five years or less and displays qualities that stand out to both their retail customers and their manufacturers.

Alyssa Barrett joined the Hooker Furniture Companies in 2018. Based in Houston, Tex., she is partly responsible for the South Tex. territory for all Hooker Furniture brands.

Barrett began her career with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and spent the next several years analyzing and developing options structures. In 2013, she decided to use her talents in a different way and make a bold move into the interior design space. "Though the two careers seem unrelated, they are actually very similar. I started by moving money around and ended up doing the same with furniture. One is simply more tangible than the other," said Barrett.

Legacy Award

The Legacy Award is given to a rep who has been on the road for 30 years or more, is still active and has established relationships that have lasted throughout the years.

When Tom Schuckert, a longtime member and former president of the International Home Furnishings Representatives Assn., receives the Legacy Award, he will also have the distinction of having received IHFRA’s highest honor, the Harold P. Braun Distinguished Service Award, which was presented to him in 2008.

Schuckert worked in retail for 11 years and has been a sales representative for 50 years, having worked with leading companies including Chintaly Imports, Palliser, Stearns and Foster, Vermont Tubbs, Conover Chair and CR Laine.