NHFA honors 2 stores
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 25, 2007
High Point — Two companies still led by their founding families, Lack's Stores of Victoria, Texas, and Cramer's Home Furnishings of Ellensburg, Wash., are the National Home Furnishings Assn.'s Retailers of the Year.
They will be honored at a gala dinner and awards presentation on March 27 in the International Home Furnishings Center here during the spring High Point Market.
Lack's, with 39 stores in 29 Texas cities, is the Retailer of the Year in the over-$10 million annual volume category. Cramer's, with five stores in Washington and one in Idaho, took honors for stores under $10 million.
Retailers of the Year are selected on three criteria: service to the home furnishings industry, contributions to the communities where they do business, and creative leadership of their companies.
Company principals that will share the spotlight at the High Point gala are Lack's President and CEO Melvin Lack and his wife, Janey, and Cramer's co-owners Marty and Michelle Cramer.
Lack's — which ranked 70th on Furniture/Today's latest Top 100 Furniture Stores list with estimated 2005 sales of $100 million — was founded in 1938 by Melvin Lack's father and mother, David and Rebecca Lack, as an auto supply store in Beeville, Texas. Melvin joined the company in 1969, when the chain had 11 stores.
Melvin Lack has led the expansion to the current 39 units, served by two distribution centers.
Lack's pledge to its customers is, "We'll take care of you," and that extends to the communities it serves. For example, when hurricanes Katrina and Rita ravaged the Gulf Coast in 2005, Lack's worked with the Houston Furniture Bank to supply furniture and mattresses to those who lost their homes. The company provided 20 tractor-trailer loads of clothes and furnishings representing $750,000 from its inventory.
Melvin and Janey Lack are active in a number of charities, and Melvin has been an industry leader for decades. He joined the NHFA board of directors in 1982 and served as the organization's president in 1996.
The Cramers opened their first store in Cle Elum, Wash., in 1995. Since then, they've expanded to Yakima, Omak, Oak Harbor and Ellensburg, Wash., and Moscow, Idaho.
The Cramers attribute their rapid growth to an emphasis on staff development and meticulous attention to detail, as well as customer-pleasing policies such as buying and delivery plans that assure consumers receive their purchases quickly.
Michelle and Marty Cramer support community and charitable activities in the areas where they live and do business. Marty is active in industry affairs as a member of NHFA and its affiliate, the Western Home Furnishings Assn., where he has been a board member since 2003 and is serving this year as treasurer.
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