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Bedding Majors Turn Out for Furniture/Today Event

David Perry -- Furniture Today, December 16, 2010

NAPLES, Fla. - The Ritz-Carlton here was Bedding Central during the Furniture/Today Leadership Conference.
     The annual event, held at the Ritz-Carlton Beach Resort here, attracted a number of Alist bedding producers, suppliers and retailers, with almost three dozen bedding leaders among the crowd of about 280 at the conference.
     The bedding producer turnout included executives with Sealy, Serta, Tempur-Pedic, Kingsdown, Therapedic, Restonic, Englander, Natura, Five Star and Reverie.
     Bedding suppliers in attendance included Hickory Springs, Leggett & Platt, Protect-A-Bed and GBS Enterprises. Former Sealy executive Mark Hobson, who now heads a Sandler Training office in Greensboro, N.C., also attended.
     On the retail front, Top 10 bedding retailer Mattress Giant of Addison, Texas, attended, as did Little Canada, Minn.- based Slumberland Furniture and Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Jonathan Stevens Mattress Co, among many other retailers.


Babs Blair, left, and Russell Blair, right, both of World Market Center, with Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic.	Mark Quinn, left, Leggett & Platt, and Ralph Rossdeutscher, Natura.

Ron Passaglia, left, Restonic, and Bill Hartman, Furniture First, Harrisburg, Pa.	Las Vegas showgirls welcome Bob Sherman of Serta to the World Market Center’s cocktail party at the Leadership Conference.

Ken Larson, left, and Barbara Larson, Slumberland Furniture, Little Canada, Minn., with Louis Bachicha and Jodi Allen, both of Sealy.	Linda Bolick, left, and Jerome Bolick, right, both of Southern Furniture, with Dwayne Welch of Hickory Springs.

     L&P's Mark Quinn, director of marketing, made special presentations to the four retailers who were featured on a "Hometown Heroes" panel - Carls Patio, N.B. Liebman, Ashley Furniture HomeStores and Miskelly Furniture. He saluted them for taking responsibility for their success.
     "It's not the economy," Quinn said. "We own where we are and this panel provides a great example of leaders owning it and making a difference."
     Also addressing the conference was Dwayne Welch, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Hickory Springs. He saluted Best Home Furnishings, honored as Supplier of the Year, and Gallery Furniture, honored as Retailer of the Year.
     "Despite the economy, there are so many good things happening in the industry," Welch said. "Jim (McIngvale, owner of Gallery) has done so much and this award speaks volumes to his commitment to the industry. And we are blessed to have people like those at Best Home Furnishings to celebrate."
     Suppliers Leggett & Platt, Hickory Springs and Protect- A-Bed joined producers Serta, Therapedic and Natura as conference sponsors.

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