Furniture First symposium set for Sept. 10-13
Buying group members to meet in North Carolina
Michael Knell -- Furniture Today, August 12, 2010
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Furniture First will hold its annual symposium at the Embassy Suites hotel here Sept. 10-13, just before the High Point Premarket.
Harrisburg, Pa.-based Furniture First is one of the largest U.S. furniture buying and marketing groups. The member-owned group has some 174 members that operated a total of 378 stores at the end of 2009.
The event will kick off on Sept. 10 with a golf tournament followed by a welcome reception and dinner featuring comedian and juggler Greg Bennick.
The conference will begin the following morning with a general session led by James Dion, president of Chicago-based retail training and consulting firm Dionco. A psychologist by education and a former retailer, he will discuss market, economic, political, demographic and consumer lifestyle trends and how they have changed over the past two years, and what other changes retailers can plan for in the near future.
Other sessions will be led by industry executives including Eugene Alletto of mattress and furniture protection specialist Guard Master, who will discuss how retailers can increase their closing rate and average ticket for mattress sales. Frank Stanley, sales relationship manager for Wells Fargo Financial, will speak about the state of consumer financing.
Several Furniture First senior managers will also lead sessions. Jonathan Gaspari, director of mattresses, will lead a panel discussion on improving mattress advertising. Lark Shirley-Stevens, director of marketing and merchandising, and Hayley Leocha, marketing assistant, will lead a discussion on "Smart Phones, the Internet and the Power of Private Labels."
Other speakers include Rick Segel of Rick Segel & Associates, who will speak about the effective use of signage, and Bob George and Tom Zollar of Impact Consulting, whose session is themed "How to Expand Your Market Share and Leverage Your Strengths."
A member dinner Saturday will support the City of Hope National Home Furnishings Industry Chapter. Furniture First will once again participate in the annual Hike for Hope as a kickoff to the October High Point Market.
Brian Casey, president and CEO of the High Point Market Authority and Kevin O'Connor, chairman of the Premarket sponsors group, will brief Furniture First members on Sunday evening about Premarket, which runs Sept. 13-14.
The Market Authority will sponsor a shuttle service from the Embassy Suites to downtown High Point during Premarket.
For more information about the symposium, contact Furniture First at (717) 540-9725. The group has a website at www.furniturefirst.com.
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