San Francisco Mart Announces Summer Market 2000 Gold Pass Winners

Furniture World Magazine

Each Market, the San Francisco Mart honors select Western retailers who have distinguished themselves by their industry participation, the caliber of their retail stores and their ongoing support of the SFM with the Lifetime Gold Pass Award. The Summer Market 2000 winners, Dave Harkness of Harkness Furniture in Tacoma, Wash. and David Marks of Bank of Antique Reproductions in Brea, Calif., will be honored at a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. July 22 at the WHFA Resource Center on the 7th floor of Mart 2. Dave Harkness' furniture legacy extends back to his grandfather, who founded the Harkness Furniture as a carpet cleaning and weaving business in 1920. Harkness' father, Jim, who was one of the founders of the Pacific Furniture Dealers (PFD), took over the store in the late 1930s and expanded into appliances and furniture. Dave Harkness is the only Harkness family member still active in the business, and he has been the steward of its substantial growth. The business has evolved into a full-line furniture store and an adjacent country furniture specialty store. The 50,000-square-foot main store is built around brand name galleries, and Harkness regards his valued suppliers as "partners." In 1992, Harkness triumphed over a devastating warehouse fire, and in its place he and his team built a 42-foot-high modern facility that now supports their two-store operation. Harkness has been attending Markets in San Francisco since 1975, when he graduated from college and immediately came to San Francisco with his dad. Harkness has been active in PFD for 25 years, serving as President and as a long-time Board member. He was an NHFA-Northwest Board member for more than 12 years and is currently on the WHFA Board of Directors. Harkness also serves as a member of the San Francisco Mart's Retail Advisory Board. David Marks transformed a historic bank into a furniture store and cleverly linked the two by calling the new entity the Bank of Antique Reproductions. Marks and his sister, Linda Weiss, started the uniquely-named, full-line furniture store in southern California in 1976. Prior to that, Marks had worked for his parents, Ben and Sylvia – themselves past recipients of the Gold Pass award - at their store after graduating from college in 1972. He opened his own operation next to theirs. In 1992, Marks founded FindersKeepers Furniture Outlet, a place where retailers and manufacturers could sell closeouts and returns. Now a 2-store chain in Tustin and Fullerton, Calif., these stores are as different from the Bank of Antique Reproductions as any furniture stores could be. Marks manages both now that his sister has retired. In the early 1980s, Marks became active in WHFA. Dave Lane recruited Marks to join the Board, where he served for nearly 20 years and acted as its president in 1986. Marks regards his service to the industry and the relationships he's developed as the highlights of his career.