Liberty, Southern Motion and Serta Receive Awards form Furniture First

Furniture World News Desk on 5/19/2013

    

Pictured Above: Bob Phillips Tony Moretti -  Marty Melcher Andrew Kauffman




 Pictured above: Ron Page Ron Childress


Furniture First Buying Group reported that it honored three of their vendor partners with Vendor of the Year Awards, presented May 14, 2013 during the group’s Symposium in New Orleans. Awards were presented in three categories – Bedroom, Mattresses, and Motion. Winners were calculated through survey responses from Furniture First members. The survey encompassed a popular vote and member evaluations of the vendors’ performance in three “Areas of Excellence,” including Service, Quality, and Sales. Only vendors with active programs with Furniture First in 2012 qualified for the awards.

Ron Page, Furniture First’s Senior Director of Merchandising, presented the “Bedroom Vendor of the Year” award to Liberty Furniture; Ron Childress, Sales Manager with Liberty Furniture, accepted the award.

Andrew Kauffman, Furniture First’s Director of Mattresses, presented the “Mattress Vendor of the Year” award to Serta; the award was received by Marty Melcher, Group Vice President of Sales at Serta.

Tony Moretti, Furniture First’s Vice President of Merchandising, presented the “Motion Vendor of the Year” award to Southern Motion; Bob Phillips, Strategic Accounts Director of Southern Motion, accepted the award.

Both Serta and Southern Motion participated in Furniture First’s Symposium as sponsors of the event, joining the more than 100 member retailers and 40-plus vendors.

The Board of Directors authorized the creation of the awards at their 2013 long-range planning meeting. “We wanted to recognize the quality relationships between our members and suppliers and acknowledge that it’s our partnership that leads to our mutual success,” said Bill Hartman, President of Furniture First. “We look forward to honoring more of our partners in the years ahead.” Furniture First’s suppliers represent a variety of rebate programs for member retailers, including 85-plus vendors in the upholstery, leather, case goods and accessories categories, 18 top of bed and mattress vendors, and 37 marketing and business services suppliers.

About Furniture First: Furniture First is a 19-year-old national buying group serving the retail home furnishings and mattress industry. Furniture First has 202 company members representing 421 store fronts and $1.6 billion in retail sales. For more information on Furniture First, please call Bill Hartman at 800-411-3477, ext. 123 or email BHartman@FurnitureFirst.com.