IHFRA to Honor 3 Leading Reps at 2020 FIAG

February 25, 2020  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

The Furniture Industry Awards Gala (FIAG) will award Geoff Weed its Distinguished Service Award, IHFRA’s highest honor bestowed to a member of the organization.

Libowsky, a veteran of the home furnishings industry, will be recognized with a Legacy Award, an honor given to a rep who has been on the road for three decades or more.

Montero will be honored with IHFRA’s Rising Star Award, given to a rep who has been on the road for five years or less but who displays qualities that make the recipient stand out both with retailers and manufacturers.

Weed attended Claremont McKenna College, Hampshire College and received his Masters at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. He began his furniture career in 1997 by joining his father-in-law’s family business in Chicago. For the past 20 years, Weed has represented Ashley Furniture in Chicago and surrounding areas.

During his 23 years at Ashley, Weed has received the National Advertising Excellence Award (2004), Market Penetration Recognition Award (2005), Salesman of the Year Award (2005), and Marketing Specialist of the Year Award (2006).

Libowsky has been on the road selling furniture since 1966, and credits his father, Irving Libowsky, for instilling a strong work ethic in him.

After serving in Vietnam with the Army, Libowsky traded his rifle for a briefcase and began by representing his father’s company, Duchess Dinettes for more than a decade.

He went on to represent Powell Furniture and Universal Furniture and currently he sells for Progressive Furniture, Sauder, Timberwood, The Monday Company and Restoration Sleep.

Montero, who hails from Miami, Florida, was born into a family that owned a furniture store in Hialeah, Florida. 

He recalls that his parents were sold Ashley Furniture by the Ashley rep and were so enamored with the products that they both became Ashley reps themselves.

Having grown up in the business, Montero chose to study marketing in college because he realized that attracting customers into furniture stores often was a retailer’s biggest challenge.

In 2016, Montero graduated from Florida International University with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing.  Soon after, he began working with Chris Ashby in the case goods division in South Florida and has successfully been representing Ashley ever since.