Cruise Honoring Kaplan Raises $170,000 For City of Hope
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, September 24, 2011
NEW YORK - Some 400 industry leaders and guests gathered here Sept. 10 to pay tribute to Crest Furniture President Simon Kaplan during an inaugural City of Hope dinner cruise around Manhattan.
The Cruise for Hope raised $170,000 for the City of Hope for research and treatment programs for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Guests enjoyed a silent auction, dinner, dancing and other entertainment as they cruised the Hudson River on the yacht Cornucopia, viewing sights including one of new World Trade Center buildings under construction, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline.
Kaplan, a decorated World War II veteran and industry icon, is the founder of Dayton, N.J.-based Crest Furniture, a Top 100 company operating seven Value City Furniture and six Ashley Furniture HomeStores (with a seventh coming next year) in New Jersey. The stores are not affiliated with Columbus, Ohio-based American Signature, which operates Value City Furniture stores.
Kaplan also is a former president of Furniture Marketing Group, one of the largest volume U.S. furniture buying organizations, and was instrumental in the group's formation.
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| Joe Bograd, left, Bograd’s Fine Furniture, Riverdale, N.J.;
Jena Hall, Jena Hall Associates; Bill Hartman, Furniture First,
Harrisburg, Pa. |
Brad Pyne, left and Martin Ploy, AICO; Alex Zimmer; Neil
Zimmer, Sleepy’s; Andy Gans, Gans Bros. |
 |
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Kim Yost, left, Art Van Furniture, Warren, Mich.; Beth Ida Stern, City of Hope; Patrick Cory, Cory Home Delivery Service. |
Simon Kaplan of Crest Furniture, Dayton, N.J., accepts an
award for lifelong industry achievement and commitment to
the City of Hope from Patrick Cory of Cory Home Delivery
Service, who chairs the City of Hope’s Northeast region. |
 |
 |
| Eddie Massood, left, Thomasville Home Furnishings of New
Jersey, Fairfield, N.J.; Simon Kaplan, Crest Furniture, Dayton,
N.J.; Tommy Leflein, Lexington Home Brands; Chris De Lisa,
Cory Home Delivery Service. |
Larry Klaben, left, Morris Furniture, Dayton, Ohio; John
Disa, Ashley Furniture HomeStores; Eugene Chrinian, Ashley
Furniture HomeStores, Edison, N.J. |
 |
Standing: Freddi-Lynn Feinblum, left, Fred Feinblum, Julius
Feinblum, Abe Feinblum and David Lucas. Seated: Linda
Feinblum, left, Erica Feinblum and Jessica Soloff. All are with
Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate, Plainview, N.Y. |
He was joined on the cruise by his wife of 59 years, Annett Kaplan, his two daughters and three grandchildren as well as a host of industry leaders, employees and friends. In heartfelt presentations by Art Van Furniture CEO Kim Yost and Cory Home Delivery Services Managing Partner Patrick Cory, Kaplan was described as man of great perseverance who puts his family above all else.
Cory noted how Kaplan met with Houston-based Gallery Furniture's Jim McIngvale years ago and, like McIngvale, became a follower of the continuous improvement practices taught by Edwards Deming.
Yost called Kaplan one of his heroes, and said, "This is an individual who is committed to a life of learning."
Yost recalled a recent visit with Kaplan and his business partner in Art Van's hometown of Detroit, where he was expecting "a pleasant little lunch." Instead Yost and Art Van Chairman Art Van Elslander "were grilled for over an hour" about the business.
The Cruise for Hope was the first event in the Northeast for the City of Hope's National Home Furnishings Industry partner, and plans already are in the works for another, said Cory, chair for the City of Hope's Northeast region.
"It exceeded our expectations in every way both on the financial side and in the number of attendees," he said.
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