Flanders, Homsy To Receive Lifetime Achievement Awards

Furniture World News Desk on 6/27/2015

The International Casual Furnishings Association announces Dudley Flanders and Buzz Homsy are the 2015 recipients of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

Flanders founded Lloyd Flanders with his father, Don, in 1982, and Homsy is co-owner and founder of California Backyard, a five-store retail operation based in Sacramento, Calif.

Flanders started working for Flanders Manufacturing immediately following his graduation from college in 1974. The Fort Smith, Ark.-based case goods company was founded by his father and mother in 1954 and sold to Riverside Furniture in 1969. A year later they founded Flanders Industries after purchasing a metal outdoor and commercial furniture manufacturing company.

In 1982, Flanders and his father acquired the Lloyd division of Heywood Wakefield Company, which produced wicker furniture on the unique Lloyd Loom, patented by Marshall B. Lloyd in 1917. They founded Lloyd Flanders, which would become one of the country’s leading producers of casual furniture. Flanders has served as president of the company since 1983 and as CEO since 1991.

Flanders served as chairman of the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association (SCFMA) from 2002 to 2004 and chaired the committee that helped oversee the organization’s transition to the International Casual Furnishings Association in 2008. He then served as ICFA’s first chairman from 2008 to 2010, and he remained on the Board of Directors through 2013. He also served on nearly every committee within SCFMA and ICFA. In all, Flanders served on the SCFMA and ICFA boards for over 10 years.

Outside the industry, Flanders is a dedicated volunteer, having served on the United Way Board, the Cancer Support Foundation Board, the Employers Health Coalition, the Westark Area Council of the Boy Scouts and the Board of Trustees for Lyon College. He is also a founding board member for the Arkansas Valley Habitat for Humanity, and under his leadership 100 houses were built in his community.

Homsy operates four stores in Northern California and one in Nevada. The operation, which offers outdoor furniture, barbecues, hot tubs and seasonal merchandise, began with a single store in Roseville, Calif., in 1989. Prior to California Backyard, Homsy operated Pool, Patio ‘n Things, a chain of eight stores plus several franchises, throughout Northern California, Oregon and Colorado.

In the early 1980s, Homsy was among the founding members of the Casual Furniture Retailers Association, an association that merged with SCFMA as part of the transition to ICFA. He also created the Casual Classics Group, a retail buying group that now has members representing over 150 stores. Homsy’s passion for collaboration and sharing ideas to better serve consumers continues today through ICFA’s retail roundtables.

Flanders and Homsy will be honored during the ICFA Awards Gala at The Field Museum on September 18, during the Casual Market Chicago.

The International Casual Furnishings Association, based in High Point, N.C., represents manufacturers, retailers, sales representatives and designers of outdoor furnishings plus suppliers to the industry.