ICFA Recognizes Manufacturing & Retail Excellence at Gala Awards

September 18, 2025  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

ICFA members and guests gathered at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 17 for a dinner hosted by interior designer, television personality and fashion stylist Carson Kressley. The evening was staged on the 85,000-square-foot playing field and sponsored by ANDMORE, the co-sponsor with ICFA of Casual Market Atlanta at AmericasMart. A portion of the proceeds from the ticket sales were ear-marked for ICFA’s philanthropic focus, the City of Hope.

Since 2001, the Design Excellence Awards have celebrated the best in outdoor furnishings. This year exhibitors were invited to submit their newest designs, and a panel of retailers, designers and trend watchers scrutinized the entries and selected the winners. More than 130 entries were evaluated based on their design, marketability, innovation, construction, color and creative use of materials. Judges named winners in 11 categories:

Chaise Lounge: TUUCI’s Lulu Day Lounge designed by Dougan Clarke.

Complementary Casual Products – Accents: Ebel’s Cloud Pouf designed by the Ebel design team.

Complementary Casual Products – Furnishings: Jensen Outdoor’s Foundations Sage Serving Buffet designed by Edi and Paola Ciani.

Dining Bar Chair: Three Birds Casual Tribecca Stacking Armchair by Three Birds Casual.

Dining Bar Table: Bernhardt Furniture’s Edenton Dining Table by the Bernhardt Exteriors design team.

Fabric: Outdura by Sattler’s Dotty Dragonfly designed by Maria Elizarova.

Heating/Firepit: Castelle’s Samara Oval Coffee Table with Firepit designed by Curtis Bulleman.

Lighting: Suns Outdoors’ Fay Outdoor Solar Lighting by the Suns Outdoors design team.

Lounge Seating with Cushion: Summer Classics’ Bari Swivel Lounge Chair designed by the Summer Classics design team.

Lounge Seating Without a Cushion: Summer Classics’ Venice Lounge Armchair by the Summer Classics design team.

Shade: Treasure Garden’s Easy Track designed by Treasure Garden.

From among the 11 Design Excellence category winners, the Summer Classics Bari Swivel Lounge Chair received the Lilly Award for Outdoor Furniture, and the Jensen Outdoor Foundations Sage Serving Buffet received the Lilly Award for Outdoor Accents.

From these two finalists, the Summer Classics Bari Swivel Lounge Chair received the prestigious Lillian B. Winchester Best of Show Award.

The Apollo Awards recognize retail excellence in the sales and marketing of outdoor furnishings. Finalists must demonstrate outstanding accomplishments and commitment to customer service. Finalists were announced in June, then winners in two categories, single-store and multi-store, were selected by the ICFA membership through an online ballot in July.

Winner in the single-store category was Fowler Brothers Home & Patio of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Finalists included American Casual Living, Buford, Georgia; Daylight Home, Lighting & Patio, Paso Robles, California; Island Living & Patio, West Palm Beach, Florida; and Villa Terrazza Patio & Home, Sonoma, California.

Winner in the multi-store category was Gasper Exterior Furnishings Studio, Furlong, Pennsylvania. Finalists in the multi-store category included Jack Wills Outdoor Living, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Offenbachers Home Escapes, Herndon, Virginia; Sunnyland Outdoor Living, Dallas; and Viridien, Charlotte, North Carolina.

The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award is reserved for individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the casual furniture industry and to their individual communities. The 2025 honorees, Douglas Sanicola, owner of Outdoor Elegance in La Verne, California, with his wife, Sharon, and Harold Hudson, vice president of strategic initiatives at Gabriella White, were recognized in spotlight videos featured during the September 17 awards celebration.

Sanicola joined ICFA in 2011 and served on the Retail Council and in several board positions before being named chair of the association in 2017. He was the first retail executive to hold the top leadership position. During his tenure, he worked to promote retail membership and encouraged fellow retailers to take advantage of ICFA’s networking opportunities. When ICFA’s 2020 chair was unable to complete his tenure, Sanicola returned to help pilot the association through the pandemic, including hosting the 2020 Awards Gala via Zoom from a hotel room in Chicago.

Outdoor furniture retailing was a second career for Hudson, whose first job was in the defense industry as a group controller. When his unit was relocated to La Jolla, California, he chose to remain in the south and found himself serving as controller and then operations manager for Summer Classics. Hudson was active in the Casual Furniture Retailers Association prior to its merger with the manufacturing group that became ICFA. He served as chair in 2021 and 2022 with a focus on helping retailers return to their pre-pandemic business levels. In addition, he worked to enhance networking and educational opportunities as well as to build philanthropic engagement. Hudson also was among the industry executives who researched and facilitated the weighty decision to move the annual trade show from Chicago to Atlanta in 2023.

Berlin Gardens was named Manufacturer of the Year – a tribute to the design and quality of the company’s products, as well as its outstanding merchandising, customer service, ethics, communications and trade relations. This year’s finalists, all of whom received Manufacturer Leadership Awards, included Frankford Umbrellas, Jensen Outdoor, Polywood and Telescope Casual Furniture.

The Sales Representative of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding sales representative within the casual furnishing industry. Candidates were selected based on leadership, professionalism, exceptional service, communication skills, knowledge and product training

expertise. The 2025 winner, selected from six finalists and determined through online voting, was John Pinion IV of Cedar Park, Texas. Pinion recently was promoted to director of sales at Lloyd Flanders but continues to represent a territory that includes Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Shelby County, Tennessee. Other finalists included Doug Becht, Geneva, Illinois; Chris Cafasso, Savannah, Georgia; Andy Hamilton, Dallas; and Claire Walvick, North Yarmouth, Maine.

Megan Pierson, executive senior vice president of business development for POLYWOOD, received the 2025 Dudley K. Flanders Sr. Leadership Award. Candidates for this award are executives under the age of 45 whose actions demonstrate a quest for excellence and the potential for strengthening and building the outdoor industry. The award’s namesake, Dudley K. Flanders Sr., guided the establishment of ICFA in 2008 and served as the organization’s volunteer leader in its formative years. He died in 2021, and the annual leadership award was created soon after to honor his legacy. Pierson was honored as this year’s recipient in recognition of her visionary leadership, unwavering professionalism and deep commitment to the outdoor furnishings industry. She has played a pivotal role in her company’s growth while championing culture, innovation and team development. A longtime and active ICFA member, she has served with distinction as chair, vice chair and board member and recently co-founded the ICFA Women’s Leadership Network.

The Mia Nault Unsung Hero Award was presented to Stephanie Loomis of Telescope Casual

Furniture. The award was created in 2020 to call attention to outstanding customer service

representatives at casual furnishings manufacturing companies. In 2021 it was named in honor of the inaugural recipient, the late Mia Nault of Ebel Inc. This year’s recipient was described as professional, kind, positive and dedicated to giving 100 percent to every customer.