American Furniture Hall of Fame launches new Web site

Offers more detailed content, easier navigation

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 10, 2010

The new American Furniture Hall of Fame Web site has a new look and more detailed content.

HIGH POINT — The American Furniture Hall of Fame Foundation has partnered with FurnitureDealer.net to redesign its Web site, furniturehalloffame.com.

Hall of Fame officials said the new site is the first phase of a multi-year plan to preserve the industry's history for future generations and make it accessible in relevant, interesting ways.

For many years, the Hall of Fame Web site was provided by and hosted by Furniture World magazine. This is the organization's first independent Web site.

"We are very grateful for the ongoing support that (Furniture World's) Russell Bienenstock has given the Hall of Fame Web site, all free of charge, for many, many years," said Don Belgrad, president of the foundation. "It has been a labor of love that has served us well. Now it is time for us to graduate to our own site."

"We have a passion for history, business and the furniture industry, so it is an honor to be able to partner with the foundation and help take the Web site in a new direction," said Andrew Bernstein, founder and president of FurnitureDealer.net. "The redesign of the site provides users with more detailed content and is much easier to navigate as they learn about our industry's history."

The site features biographies of the 81 members of the Hall of Fame, a gallery of downloadable photos of Hall of Fame banquet guests, vintage photos from the industry and information about foundation membership. It also describes the process of nominations to the Hall of Fame and gives details of the induction banquet.

It also will include online reservations, ordering and payment for AFHF portrait prints, books of oral histories, and this fall's banquet.

"Our vision is to make this site a one-stop resource for historical information on the furniture industry, to provide a registry of historical works and to offer hard-to-find information in collaboration with other industry organizations and universities," Belgrad said. "Ultimately, phase two will expand the width and depth of the site by telling the stories of the people who have made this industry what it is today while looking towards the future."