Fourteen Pioneers Nominated To Hall Of Fame For 1999

Furniture World Magazine

The new members to be added to the American Furniture Hall of Fame in 1999 will be selected from the 14 industry legends and leaders who have been nominated. Ballots for voting will be sent to AFHF sponsors who will vote on numbered ballots returning them to the firm of BDO Seidman. The nominees include: Nat Ancell (1909 - 1999) founder of Ethan Allen with his brother-in-law Theodore Baumritter in 1932, is known as the father of the gallery concept in the 1930's. At one time there were 2,200 dealers with Ethan Allen Galleries. While a student in Columbia University Law School, one line from a Contemporary Civilization textbook gave him his life's mission "Home Is The Core of Civilization." Ethan Allen began to establish independent galleries in the 1960s and these stores reached 200 in 1971. Annual sales in 1967 were $50 million and reached $200 million in 1978. Nat Ancell was awarded the "First Distinguished Service Award" by the American Furniture Manufacturers Association; "The Pillar of the Industry Award" by The International Home Furnishings Association; was a founder of the Home Furnishings Council and the American Furniture Hall of Fame. S. Meyer Barnett (1896 - 1986) served Reliable stores for 70 years as manager, officer, president and chairman. He was a leader in revolutionary changes that took furniture retailing from its downtown roots out to the growing suburban areas of our country. In 1924, Barnett acquired 11 northeast furniture stores and solidified them into a successful furniture store chain. He was continually experimenting with retailing concepts ... at one time he operated five furniture stores in Washington, each under a different name, each catering to a different level of customer ... all successful. Joe Benaron (1915 - 1991), an entrepreneurial industrialist, began his career in furniture by founding Belvedere Manufacturing in 1940. An early trailblazer for vertical integration, when Benaron couldn't find suitable materials for his companies, he started his own supply companies. By age 30, Benaron owned and was top officer of ten California-based companies. He was an early pioneer in manufacturing television chassis and cabinets, founded Thomas Organ Company, the LectraBed Corporation which brought adjustable hospital beds to the masses, and JB Research and their Relaxor Massage System, which is being installed in major motion furniture today. Louis S. Bing Jr. (1899 - 1970) graduated Cum Laude from Harvard University when he was 19 years old and entered the family business started by his father, Louis S. Bing in 1891. He was elected president in 1920 and developed the company into a successful chain of 12 units in Ohio. In 1945 he developed and encouraged the adoption of a "Retail Furniture Industry Standard Accounting Practice", in 1956 he received the Chicago Market Daily Award for "Outstanding Merchandising of Home Furnishings", served as chairman and president of the National Retail Furniture Association and was honored as their "Man of the Year" for 1944. George B. Cartledge, Sr. (1910 - 1997), chairman of Grand Piano and Furniture in Roanoke, Virginia, got his start in the industry in 1931. His company became a top 100 furniture chain with 23 stores in 16 cities. As part of his "consideration for customers" creed, he originated the custom in 1953 of offering a frosty bottle of Coke to everyone who walked in the store. In 1998, one million Cokes were given to people who will never forget Grand Piano's hospitality. Cartledge received the National Home Furnishings Association "1996 Retailer of the Year" and the "Virginia Retailer of the Year" awards. George Cartledge believed "you have to put more into business, community, and living than you take out." He lived it every day of his life. Sam P. Finger, Jr. (1916 - has dedicated 64 years to this industry. He has been president and chairman of the board of Finger Furniture since 1959. Under his leadership, Finger's has become the south's largest privately-owned home furnishings retailer, achieving prominence for its many innovations in home furnishings merchandising and customer education, including seminars and exhibits for all socioeconomic and age levels. Sammy's nationally recognized Teen Design Competition has educated decades of furniture buyers. He originated the environmental room-setting concept, where furnishings and accessories were displayed in home-like settings of unparalleled beauty for customer shopping and convenience. Today, Finger's is ranked 27' of the top retailers with a volume of $167 million. Anton "Tony" Gfesser (1930 - ) is chairman of the board of Trendler Components of Chicago, one of the largest family-owned furniture component manufacturers in North America. Gfesser came to the United States after escaping from a World War II concentration camp in Yugoslavia with only $20, and a tradition of old-world craftsmanship. An inventor, Gfesser will adapt a product to a new use or create an entirely new product to solve a customer's marketing or design problem. Don Allen Hunziker (1927 - ). After a successful career with Lea Furniture Company in Richmond, Virginia, Don Hunziker, then president, along with a number of other management personnel, bought Lea Industries, American-Drew, and Daystrom from the Sperry & Hutchinson Company in 1981, forming LADD. The new company faced a serious recession and a prime interest rate of 22%. Under Hunziker's leadership and direction, LADD became one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the country with estimated 1998 sales of over $600 million and 6600 employees. Don served as president of SFMA and is a director emeritus of AFMA. He received the "Distinguished Service Award" from AFMA and was named "Chief Executive of the Year" by Financial World Magazine in 1988. David Wolcott Kendall (1851 - 1910) was the Dean of American furniture designers and became the most widely copied designer for 25 years. His finishes and stains would become industry standards. Kendall designed the McKinley chair that is said to be the basis for modern arts and crafts furniture and he is credited with inventing the Morris chair. Grand Rapids Kendall College, founded in his honor in 1928, continues to produce much needed industry professionals. Over 90% of the members of the American Furniture Designers Association are Kendall College graduates. Kendall's ceaseless study and research, as well as his impact on new technologies and inventions in furniture design, directly contributed to the development, growth and strength of the American furniture industry. Spencer Colie Kittinger (1901 - 1968) served as Kittinger president from 1941 to 1966 during a period of growth and innovation. Under his leadership, the name Kittinger became a legend in the furniture industry for high-quality reproductions of English and American antiques. The company, the only authorized manufacturer of the furniture of Colonial Williamsburg for 54 years, also had an exclusive appointment to make Newport Reproductions and furnished several rooms in the White House. Spencer Kittinger spent over 50 years as a leader in design excellence and highest quality standards that helped to raise the performance levels of the entire industry and to build pride and confidence in American furniture. Katharine Covington Lambeth (1917 - 1998) founded Erwin-Lambeth in 1946 with her husband Jim. Shortly thereafter, Jim returned to his family business, leaving Kay to manage the young company. As the first female president and CEO of any furniture manufacturing firm, Kay was a vocal and visionary furniture executive. She pioneered concepts of design, production and merchandising that would become the basis for modular seating innovation, the rise of eclectic design and the lifestyle concept for merchandising. She spearheaded the concept of the independent factory representative, thus benefiting smaller companies. She was a charter member of the National Home Fashions League (now International Furnishings and Design Association) and served as its first president; director of the ASID Resources Council; and founding board member of the Bienenstock Furniture Library Association. Harley Ferguson Shuford, Jr. (1937 - ) became president of Century Furniture in 1969 at age 32, when his father, Harley F. Shuford Sr., founder of Century, retired. Buck, who had aspired to become an astronaut and a scientist, majored in physics at UNC-CH graduating Phi Beta Kappa. As president, he put his scientific background to work using computer technology to achieve greater efficiencies. He moved Century into production of furniture with quality and style, added plant and showroom space that spurred solid growth as Century became one of the premier furniture manufacturers in this country. He received the AFMA "Distinguished Service Award" in 1994 and served on the first board of trustees of the American Furniture Hall of Fame. Albert Z. Sutton, CHR (1917 - 1992), a consummate sales representative for 58 years, was a pioneer in sales training and professional education. He used the skills of psychology, marketing and business from his degree in business from the University of Chicago, to help develop what became the industry-wide Certified Homefurnishings Representatives (CHR) program. He gave over 200 seminars on retail sales training and was the author of more than 40 articles and texts. He served IHFRA as president in 1974 developing closer working relations with AFMA and NHFA, especially in the legislative arena. He was on the board of NHFA's first Marketing Council and the American Furniture Foundation. He was awarded IHFRA's "Man of The Mark" in 1976. Elliot Sherrill Wood (1909 - 1999) started his first furniture manufacturing company, Heritage, in 1937 and raised the quality level of all Southern manufactured furniture by building the highest quality upholstery attainable, with the best eighteenth century design. Wood started Founders Furniture in 1946. In 1947 with partners who had also invested in Heritage, he was one of the founders of high-end Henredon. This formed the Heritage-Henredon combination. It lasted until 1957 when Drexel, Heritage and Morganton became Drexel-Heritage. In 1963, Wood and partners founded Woodmark; in 1981 he founded Markwood, the first holding company to provide venture capital for home furnishings ... thus launching many other furniture enterprises. Over thirty men who began their careers under his tutelage went on to become chief executives of major companies. The American Furniture Hall of Fame is an all-industry effort organized to honor those individuals whose outstanding achievements have contributed to the continued growth and development of the American furniture industry and to research, collect and preserve its cultural, economic and artistic history. For more information call (336) 882-5900.