NHFA Elects Mary Ann Levitt of Breuners Arizona President

Furniture World Magazine

National Home Furnishings Association elected its first woman president at the 85-year-old trade organization’s annual meeting, Oct. 22, during the International Home Furnishings Market. The first woman to head the nation’s largest retail home furnishings association is Mary Ann Levitt, president of Breuners Arizona, a four-store operation headquartered in Scottsdale. She will officially take office on Jan.1, 2006. She steps into the spot occupied in 2005 by Jerry Baer, Baer’s Furniture, Pompano Beach, Fla., who moves to the post of chairman. Dennis Novosel, Stoney Creek Furniture, Stoney Creek, Ontario, steps down from the chairmanship. Novosel will remain active in the NHFA leadership and is serving as chairman of the 2006 All Industry Convention to be held in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 11-13. Other officers for 2006 are: Wogan S. Badcock III, W.S. Badcock Corp., Mulberry, Fla., senior vice president; Mike Spiller, Spiller Furniture, Tuscaloosa, Ala., senior vice president; and Doug Kays, Premiere Furniture, Los Angeles, Calif., treasurer. Two new members of the executive committee were elected. They are John Wells III, Wells Home Furnishings, Charleston, W. Va., and Lee Goodman. New members of the board of directors are: Leslie Fishbein, Kacey’s Fine Furniture, Denver, Colo.; Rick Howard, Sklar Furniture, Boca Raton, Fla.; Jim Case, Designer’s Loft, Fort Collins, Colo.; Chuck Spang, Ashley Furniture Inds., Arcadia, Wis.; and Rick Gillespie, International Home Furnishings Representatives Association, Greensboro, N.C. Mary Ann Levitt is the third generation of her family to hold NHFA’s top post. Her grandfather Thomas Levitt was president in 1952, and her uncle, Aaron Levitt, headed the association in 1968. Mary Ann Levitt is a long-time member of the NHFA board and executive committee. She also served as president of NHFA’s affiliate, Western Home Furnishings Association.