Stickley returns to roots at retail
Store in old hometown is company's largest
By Brian Carroll -- Furniture Today, February 24, 2002
FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. — Stickley Furniture opened its largest retail showroom this month by christening a 78,000-square-foot store and warehouse at Fayetteville's Towne Center, a complex that once was Fayetteville Mall.
With a cocktail reception and more than 2,500 friends, associates, community leaders and industry members, the Audi family introduced a new retail trading name to central New York — Stickley, Audi & Co.
The showroom replaces a 37,500-square-foot retail space in the company's main factory complex in nearby Manlius, space that has been converted to manufacturing.
"This is an exciting new chapter for our company," said Alfred Audi, who owns Stickley with his wife, Aminy Audi, vice president. "Stickley began more than a century ago in Fayetteville, and we're delighted to be coming home and playing a role in revitalizing the former Fayetteville Mall."
To mark the opening, the Audi family contributed $250,000 to a new $15 million YMCA facility going up adjacent to the Towne Center complex.
"We share the same values as the YMCA, including a commitment to family and community," Aminy Audi said. "We want to see this part of Fayetteville vibrant and thriving again."
The new store's many features include a front-and-center display of the original 20-foot-tall Stickley spindle chair built in 1989 to mark the company's reissue of the Mission Oak Collection. For the past dozen or so years, the chair has toured the country and made stops at Stickley dealers.
Also on display are several vintage Stickley pieces from the company museum in Fayetteville, including furniture once owned by entertainer Barbra Streisand, which the Audis acquired at auction in 1999.
In addition to Stickley furniture, the new showroom carries Baker, Century, Henredon, Hickory Chair, Vanguard and Ralph Lauren. Leather upholstery is supplied by Hancock & Moore, Leathercraft, Ekornes, Cibola and Bradington-Young.
| In an atrium under a skylight in the store is the famous 20-foot-tall Stickley chair, surrounded by outdoor furniture. |
| This bridal registry assortment is a new feature in Stickley stores. |
| The new store bears a new retail name for the company in central New York — Stickley, Audi & Co. |
| Shown with Stickley Fine Upholstery pieces is occasional from the company's Metropolitan Collection. |
| A century old and still a bestseller, the Mission Collection naturally anchors the new Stickley flagship store. |
Industry celebrates grand opening
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| Fayetteville mayor Henry McIntosh, left, joins Alfred Audi, Aminy Audi, Carolyn Audi, and Onondaga County deputy executive Ed Kochian at the store's ribbon-cutting ceremony. |
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| Colin Baird, left, Wendy Baird and Pedr Sorensen, Ekornes; Mariana Mangan, Stickley, Audi & Co.; and Aminy Audi, Stickley. |
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| Jacques Wayser and Sam Anderson, French Heritage; and Bob Cozier, Hickory Chair. |
