Unsung hero: Furniture designer Joe Miller
Helped bring RTA products into mainstream
Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, August 10, 2009
 Joe Miller |
NAPLES, Fla. — Joe Miller is anything but your average Joe. While he may not be a household name, furniture he designed has landed in thousands of homes, from those of average Joes to Hollywood's Joe Piscopo.
Add to this the fact that his work has appeared in a myriad of movies and popular TV sitcoms such as "Seinfeld," and it's safe to say that Miller has made his mark in the home furnishings arena.
Currently overseeing the design team at Altra Furniture, Miller kicked off his career in the 1970s designing stereo cabinets and consoles, then went on to have successful runs with furniture makers including Soundesign, O'Sullivan and Bush Inds.
"Ironically, I studied art, not design, in college. But a man named Charlie Giarratana, who became my mentor, was impressed with my talent as an illustrator and encouraged me to pursue product design," Miller said.
Early on, Charlie, a home electronics designer, taught Joe what arguably is the most important lesson any furniture designer can learn: To marry great design with practical applications.
"Charlie always stressed that in addition to being great looking, the furniture also had to be practical enough to hit a realistic price point, and to be able to flow through the production line in a cost-effective way," Miller said.
One day, Giarratana shared another bit of information that would affect Miller's career, telling him about a new company that at the time only made TV carts. "Charlie said the company was based in Missouri and was called O'Sullivan Inds. He thought they had a big opportunity to get into the furniture business."
After visiting the facility, Miller joined O'Sullivan and helped the company create its initial line of home entertainment furniture. A short time later, Miller convinced O'Sullivan to add audio racks, which opened the door to a host of other categories for the company.
After his stint with O'Sull-ivan, Miller joined Case/Casard, which had been a key supplier of RTA kitchen furniture and was also an early source of imported home furnishings. (O'Sullivan has since gone out of business, and Case/Casard was later acquired by Bush.)
From there, Miller moved to Greensboro, N.C., where for the next five years he operated Miller Designs. During that time, he began doing work for Jamestown, N.Y.-based Bush, which at the time was one of the top three domestic suppliers of ready-to-assemble furniture. He eventually joined the company.
"Over time, my role at Bush went from designing for them to participating in their product presentations to their customers," Miller recalled. He found himself working alongside talented sales and marketing veterans such as Dave Messinger, Brian Olsen, Kurt Gelke and Jim Fiala.
The chemistry was right, RTA furniture was beginning to make major inroads - in part by its dominance of the then-hot new category, home office - and Miller and his team began cranking out a steady stream of products that won favor with big-box buyers at Staples, Office Depot and top mass merchants, as well as with consumers.
Along the way, Miller's ability to design furniture that was as production-friendly as it was design-driven brought him kudos from industry groups, including the American Society of Furniture Designers.
Each year since 1995, the ASFD has recognized outstanding furniture designs with its Pinnacle Awards. The awards were created to promote design quality and salute designers, celebrating designs that are produced in large numbers for sale to customers through retail stores.
In 1997, Miller won the Pinnacle for Milano, a home office collection he designed for Bush Inds. The next year, Miller and fellow designer Felipe Planes were Pinnacle finalists for the Office Revolution home office collection from Bush.
In 1999, Miller was a co-designer of the Allegro Collection, a Pinnacle finalist. And in 2004, two of the three Pinnacle finalists in the home entertainment category were from the Bush design team, headed by Miller. The winner was the Tuxedo Entertainment Center, designed by Bush's Walt Shaw.
Along with recognizing the support of all the members of the Bush design team during that era, Miller is quick to share the spotlight with the sales and marketing team that included Messinger, Gelke and Olsen.
"These are brilliant guys and we were a wonderful team. Working together during the 1990s, we helped Bush reach $550 million in sales, " Miller said.
Olsen, now retired, says Miller should be credited for bringing RTA design into the mainstream. "Joe changed the boxy look of knockdown furniture into products that had the look and feel of pre-assembled furniture. He also led the evolution of the home entertainment and home office categories," Olsen said.
He added, "Assembled case goods are primarily distributed to furniture retailers. RTA is primarily sold to office superstores and consumer electronics retailers. The latter retailers were on the cutting edge of changing technology, so Joe's designs were always relevant to the consumers' needs."
Messinger, who retired from Bush in 2001 and is now a partner in Colecraft Commercial Furniture, a manufacturer in Falconer, N.Y., recalled meeting Miller.
"When I first met Joe, back in the early 1970s, he was a cocky young designer working for the consumer electronics manufacturer Soundesign. I met with Joe at Soundesign's New Jersey offices where I was trying to sell Soundesign audio racks to coordinate with their electronics.
"I don't remember if we made that sale, but I do remember the first impression that Joe made on me. From our first contact, Joe impressed me with his creativity and his ability to think outside the box when it came to furniture design," Messinger said.
During that time, he added, the image of knock-down furniture, now called RTA, was transformed into a legitimate furniture category, gaining the respect and recognition of the broader furniture industry.
Through the 1990s, RTA became the fastest-growing category in furniture, according to Messinger, who stressed that, "Joe, as much as anyone in the RTA and consumer electronics industry, deserves credit for that transformation."
Gelke, Bush's former vice president of marketing and current president of NewPath Learning, an educational materials company, praised Miller's unique ability to "balance exquisite design elements and finishes with the sometimes restrictive manufacturing requirements of RTA."
Steve Warhaftig, vice president and general manager of Altra Furniture, Miller's current employer, agrees.
"One day, while walking through one of our Brazilian factories, the manager showed us a strip of veneer with beautiful cathedral grains. I thought it would make a great TV stand finish. Joe said nothing. He stuck his finger in his mouth, and touched the veneer. The wet spot evaporated as soon as he touched the wood. ‘Too thirsty,' Joe said, ‘It'll use too much stain to finish.' Joe walked on," Warhaftig said.
Gelke also credits Miller's background in the consumer electronics market for allowing him to develop designs that "accommodate the functional needs of the latest hardware - without sacrificing aesthetics or compromising value."
Jim Fiala, a former Bush executive now with manufacturer Dorel, said Miller had "a unique ability to take input from salespeople as well as customers and his own observations of what was going on in the industry and come up with products that resonate and actually sell at retail.
"Unlike many designers, Joe was willing to listen and incorporate the contributions of many others along with his ideas in the development of product," Fiala added.
Former retailer Bob Young, who retired from Sears and Sears Homelife as the senior buyer for case goods and RTA, remembers Miller for his willingness to stick to his guns.
"One time, Joe created a collection for us and we were debating the scale. I wanted bigger pieces, but Joe was convinced bigger was not the way to go. As a solution, he designed a storage armoire that became an immediate hit and stayed on our floor for years," Young recalled.
"Joe fought hard for what he believed in and unlike some other designers, was never a ‘yes man' with a big customer. That's why his customers trusted him," Young added.
Gelke captured the sentiments of many of the people Miller has worked with by saying, "If you were looking at building a furniture team from scratch, Joe would have to be considered a franchise player - someone you built the foundation of your business on. On a personal level, Joe is a compassionate, caring individual who cares as much about his fellow workers as he does his work."
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Unsung hero: Designer Joe Miller
Aug 10, 2009
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