IHFRA To Honor Bruce Miller With Pillar Of The Industry Award

Furniture World Magazine

The International Home Furnishings Representatives Association announxws that it will honor Bruce Miller with the Pillar of the Industry Award at the 14th Annual Furniture Industry Awards Gala this Spring in High Point NC. Bruce was the CEO of the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC) from 1986 – 2005. The Pillar of the Industry Award is presented to an industry leader who has distinguished himself with creative work and effort to improve, enhance and benefit relationships among representatives and other segments of the industry. This person’s actions and deeds have shown their commitment to the home furnishings industry, their community and to mankind. Bruce Miller began his career in advertising at a publishing house of trade journals in his hometown of Montreal. He left publishing for an opportunity as sales manager for a manufacturer of children's shoes and rose quickly to general manager when he was 28 years old. He accepted an offer from a Columbus, Ohio-based company as vice president of Canadian footwear operations and eventually was asked to move to the United States. Next, Avon Products came calling, and Miller assumed responsibility for sales in the South Pacific and Canada, commuting regularly between New York, Japan and Australia. Recruited as president and CEO of Craddock-Terry Corp., he found himself back in the shoe business. When the company was bought out, he resigned and came to High Point with the Southern Furniture Market Center. He was named SFMC president in 1986 when he was 50. Miller was hired to reinvigorate a struggling business with a negative net worth and to help reinvent the High Point Market, which was known as the Southern Furniture Market in 1986. One of his early bold moves was to change the name of the market's original and largest showroom complex from Southern Furniture Market Center (SFMC) to International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC). The market followed, changing its name to the International Home Furnishings Market. This moved the market from a regional identity (Southern) to one with an international reach. It also moved to a name identified with a much broader product mix -- from "furniture" to "home furnishings," embracing decorative accessories, lighting and much more, which have become such a large part of today's High Point Market. Miller led IHFC to promote the building and market throughout the United States and, then, worldwide. Previously, promotions were limited to the Eastern United States. The results were staggering: in just three years market attendance grew from 8,500 buying organizations to 22,000 -- and they were coming to High Point from all over the world. IHFC had accomplished its major objective, establishing the International Home Furnishings Market as the world's preeminent wholesale marketplace for the industry. To accommodate this explosive growth, Miller led IHFC in a building program that added 800,000 square feet, including the new Hamilton Wing -- expanding what was already the world's largest home-furnishings exhibition building to 3.5 million square feet, an increase of 30 percent. Miller was instrumental in establishing the High Point Market Authority, which now oversees the entire market, and in creating the widely praised Transportation Terminal on Commerce Avenue. Throughout his business career, Miller was a competitive -- and very successful -- weight lifter, winning many championships. In 1988 he was a member of the North Carolina team that won the U.S. National Seniors championship in Dallas. A year later, as a member of the U.S. team at the World's Senior's Power Lifting Games, he won a silver medal in individual competition and helped the U.S. win the team gold medal. He continues to train at Gold's Gym in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he and his wife, Joan, make their home most of the year. The Furniture Industry Awards Gala will be held on Tuesday, April 8, 2008, in the IHFC Ballroom on the 11th floor of the Green Wing. The International Home Furnishings Representatives Association and National Home Furnishings Association are sponsors. Tickets are $75/person or you may purchase a table of eight for $560. For reservations to the Furniture Industry Awards Gala contact the IHFRA office at 336-889-3920.