Kathy Ireland Worldwide Partners With Vaughan Furniture

Furniture World Magazine

Kathy Ireland Worldwide® (KIWW), the design and marketing company founded by C.E.O. and Chief Designer, Kathy Ireland, announced a new partnership with Vaughan Furniture, an innovative, family run manufacturer since its founding in 1923. The partnership will be a complete resource for import bedroom, dining, occasional and youth furniture which will express KIWW designs. The products will be marketed as Kathy Ireland Home® from Vaughan Furniture. The new association brings together two of the most successful and respected firms in the furniture field. “Vaughan Furniture is an industry leader and house hold name for retailers and consumers. It has been that way for Vaughan since the beginning. This new partnership continues our desire at KIWW to progress from promotional manufacturers to those of exquisite quality. KIWW considers this the successful result of years that we’ve auditioned for Vaughan. This is a dream come true,” said Kathy Ireland. “Kathy Ireland Worldwide® has a global reputation for fashion, quality, value, safety, solutions, and beauty of design in the home industry,” stated Taylor Vaughan, Chairman, President & C.E.O. of Vaughan Furniture. “KIWW has cultivated a spectacular dominance as a brand name in dozens of product fields by adhering to the company’s mission statement, ‘…finding solutions for families, especially busy moms.’” “The innovation, quality and practical application of all the companies varied design endeavors make her brand, according to the reliable research of Global License Magazine, 23rd most successful licensed brand in the United States, ahead even of Ford Motors. Forbes, Newsweek and Wall Street Journal report that KIWW has reached over one billion dollars in retail sales annually,” Vaughan added. “We look forward to working with Kathy and her brilliant team to implement the innovative designs and creative solutions KIWW brings to the market in so many areas of product design, with a particular impact in the home and furniture industries.” “Taylor Vaughan, the Vaughan family and every leader at Vaughan Furniture has welcomed us warmly. We cannot wait to begin this strategic alliance between Kathy Ireland Home® from Vaughan Furniture and our other successful partners in the home industry. All of our designs will now coordinate seamlessly and live in our Style Guides,” said Kathy. “The synergy that is offered by this new relationship achieves one of our primary goals of 2009. Holistic sharing of retail information is crucial to brand building for operations of our scale. Kathy Ireland Home® from Vaughan Furniture will be unique in our ability to serve retailers and our manufacturers with design collaboration and sales information in a powerful way,” said Stephen Roseberry, President and C.O.O. of KIWW. About Kathy Ireland Worldwide: Kathy Ireland Worldwide® (KIWW) is the design and marketing firm founded in 1993 by CEO and Chief Designer, Kathy Ireland. The mission of KIWW is “…finding solutions for families, especially busy moms.” Forbes Magazine reports that KIWW is a design empire which grosses over 1.4 billion dollars annually in retail sales. KIWW products include flooring, rugs, home furniture, office and entertainment furniture, lighting, decorative accessories, window coverings, bedding, mattresses, candles, apparel, jewelry, hand painted porcelain, top of bed fashions, leather, ceiling fans, permanent florals, bath accessories, wall paper, skincare, socks and fresh cut flowers. In 2000, KIWW began expanding its mission with the addition to the portfolio of brands, presenting “Design Ambassadors” ACafé by Chef Andre for food and entertaining and JduJ cultivated by Nicholas Walker for outdoor living and garden inspirations. About Vaughan Furniture: In 1923, two brothers, raised on a small farm in southwest Virginia, founded Vaughan Furniture Company. Taylor G. Vaughan, Sr. and his brother Bunyan C. Vaughan and members of their families and friends set out to begin a furniture manufacturing business that would survive the Great Depression to become the established Vaughan family legacy that endures today. The company was organized, financed and built to manufacture a line of dining room furniture to complement another company's line of bedroom furniture. During the 1930's, Vaughan was selling complete bedroom suites for as little as $24.95. In 1954, the lowest priced bedroom suite sold for $69.95. The suite included a double dresser, chest-of-drawers, tilting Venetian plate glass mirror, bookcase headboard and panel footboard. Two higher priced suites were competitively priced for $79.95 and $89.95. During the mid-1950's, when Taylor's son George was elected president, improvements were made in manufacturing and efficiency. By 1964, Vaughan orders had doubled and so had the manufacturing space. In the years that followed, through 1997, the company continued to grow and acquire manufacturing plants at a rate that may never be seen again. John Vaughan was the company's fourth president. For John, style, quality, integrity and a strong partnership with dealers were the guiding principles of doing business. Now, the third generation of family management continues the traditions of the founders. Bill Vaughan was elected the company's fifth president in 1995. Taylor Vaughan was elected the company's sixth president in 2007 and today serves as Chairman, President & CEO. David Vaughan is Senior Executive Vice President, Roger Porter is Senior Vice President of Sales, Michael E. Stevens is Senior Vice President of Administration and David Miller is Senior Vice President of Merchandising. Through rapid growth and expansion, the Vaughan family of skilled craftspeople have always been at the heart of the company. Vaughan Furniture Company remains committed to its fellow employees, its customers and to delivering a quality product at value pricing. Vaughan employs a sales force of approximately 55 and maintains a distribution to more than 3,000 dealers, internationally. An approximate 28,000 square foot showroom in Plaza Suites (PS-210) in High Point, North Carolina, serves as the primary display location for product, shown twice each year, at the Spring and Fall Furniture Markets. As a complete resource for bedroom, youth, dining room furniture, entertainment units and occasional tables, Vaughan looks to the future with revitalized optimism.