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Industry News
CREATIVE TUESKOES BECOMES
CREATIVE EQUIPMENT
In April 2003 Creative Tueskoes Corp., Buckner, KY, was sold to Robert
S. Borders, Louisville, KY, and is now Creative Equipment Corp. The
company was founded by Emery and Irmi Tueskoes and operated by them
for more than 26 years manufacturing and selling equipment primarily
for drapery workrooms.
Borders brings more than 25 years of industrial sales and marketing
experience to the company and has spent more than a year as a minor
partner in Creative Tueskoes. The Tueskoes will maintain ties with
the new company as advisors and sales agents, according to Borders,
and all of the company’s current employees have been retained
and have a stake in the success of the business, he adds.
Creative Equipment will remain in its 15,000-square-foot facility
in an industrial park in Buckner.
ANNUAL CONFERENCE MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Interiors by Decorating Den, Montgomery Village, MD, left a lasting
impression in Dallas, TX, while holding its 34th annual conference.
The first-ever Human Pink Ribbon fundraising event raised more than
$35,000 for two breast cancer foundations as part of the company’s
Decorating for a Difference program.
Sponsors from the United States and Canada donated $20 for each foot
of the pink fabric, which was donated by Kasmir Fabrics. Participants
wore pink shirts and hats donated by Hunter Douglas and Fabricut.
Interiors by Decorating Den has raised more than $100,000 in the past
year for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the Canadian
Breast Cancer Foundation.
More than 300 franchise owners and decorators attended the company’s
conference to participate in decorating seminars and workshops and
to browse the Design Center, an exclusive collaboration between the
decorating professionals and preferred suppliers. The newest home
fashions products were unveiled and new preferred suppliers were introduced.
An important part of the annual conference is the display of Dream
Room entries, which are a part of the company’s International
Dream Room Contest (see D&WC, June, page 54).
DESIGNER BLINDS HONORED WITH 2003 OPTIMAS AWARD
Designer Blinds, Omaha, NE, was honored with a 2003 Optimas Award
from Workforce: HR Trends for Business Results magazine. Designer
Blinds received the award in the Managing Change category at a gala
reception in New York, NY, in May.
Each year since 1991, Workforce celebrates excellence in workforce
management with these awards presented in 10 categories ranging from
Competitive Advantage to Vision. MetLife and Saks Fifth Avenue sponsor
the awards.
To improve employee retention in the past several years, top managers
at Designer Blinds began by viewing recruiting and retention strategically
and quantitatively. Then they launched an entirely new approach to
hiring. One focus was networking with representatives of various cultures.
Designer Blinds President Lloyd “Woody” Woodworth and Human
Resources Manager Deb Franklin were on hand at the award reception.
“We are very honored with the outstanding recognition for our
efforts. Having a great place to work is not only part of our business
strategy, it is the right thing to do,” said Franklin after being
presented with the award from Workforce Editor Carroll Lachnit, who
officially recognized Designer Blinds for making dramatic changes
that significantly improved employee retention and provided exceptional
business results.
Designer Blinds is a full-line Hunter Douglas fabricator of custom
window coverings.
WINNERS SELECTED IN STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION
A total of $20,000 was awarded to the 12 second-year students at the
New Jersey School of Architecture (NJSOA) at New Jersey Institute
of Technology who designed winning entries to a glass house competition
entitled “A Glass House: From the Penthouse to the Shorehouse.”
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, sponsored
the competition and supplied the cash awards. The winning entries
were selected by a panel of jurors on April 24.
To make the competition as realistic as possible, the students were
required to design for actual sites and clients. Half the students
designed an urban penthouse for the rooftop of the DIA Art Foundation’s
building in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. The other half
designed for a beachfront property on the New Jersey shore in Bayhead.
A first prize of $5,000, a second prize of $2,500 and a third prize
of $1,000 was presented to the top entries in each property. In addition,
six honorable mentions with a $500 award were presented.
Thomas Jardin, Windsor, CT, won first prize for his shore house design.
First place for the penthouse category was won by Andy Young Kim,
Parsippany, NJ. Joe Jankoski, Hunter Douglas corporate vice president
of merchandising, presented the checks.
BTX OFFERS TECHNICAL SEMINARS
BTX Window Automation Inc., Dallas, TX, now offers two-day training
and technical seminars in motorized window coverings. Whether a company
is new to the business, considering getting into the business or is
a seasoned installer of motorized window treatments, BTX offers training
seminars to help companies get the full exposure to the benefits and
application of motorization.
BTX training seminars are two days of extensive hands-on instruction
and in-depth technical discussion. BTX has specifically designed the
training seminars to be “real world” instruction so the
average person can immediately begin to sell and install motorization
while creating a profit.
GCWC HOSTS SOLUTIONS TRADE FAIR
Gulf Coast Window Covering, Houston, TX, will be host for the all
new Hunter Douglas Solutions Trade Fair in Houston on September 24,
2003. The trade show will be held at the Reliant Center at Reliant
Park, home of the new Houston Texans football stadium.
This interactive program offers classes in color, design, marketing
sales presentation skills, new business-building technology and the
latest in Hunter Douglas innovations. In addition, window coverings
professionals will have the opportunity to see the entire Hunter Douglas
product line in life-size displays and eye-catching room settings.
The Solutions program offers a customized format; dealers can sign-up
to attend a full day, half a day or just one class with registration
fees structured accordingly. Select sessions qualify for continuing
education units for ASID and all classes earn two credits in the Hunter
Douglas Window Fashions Institute.
D'KEI IS ON THE MOVE
Moving into the next generation, Kristin and Peter Norville have acquired
D’Kei Inc., a major supplier of home decorative trims. The company
will be located at P.O. Box 1570, 1004 1st Ave., Council Bluffs, IA
51502; (712) 3281800; fax: (712) 328-1808. Denise and Keith Axtell,
founders of D’Kei, will continue in advisory and design capacities.
Peter Norville, president, has more than 15 years of professional
business experience with three Fortune 500 corporations. His experience
includes contract negotiations, financial business case development,
product development, sales and marketing.
As vice president, Kristin Axtell Norville, in conjunction with Denise
Axtell, director of design, will work to continue innovative product
development.
Dee Comstock, with nearly 10 years of D’Kei marketing and sales
experience, continues as director of marketing with responsibilities
for trade shows, advertising, marketing and representative relations.
The company will continue to operate the Trim Designer Showroom of
Lisle, IL, a full-line home decorative trim showroom serving the needs
of the interior design trade in the Chicago area. The Trim Designer
Showroom will serve as a stocking distributor of D’Kei products
for immediate delivery to the trade.
ALTA ATLANTA RECEIVES CORPORATE SAFETY
AWARD
Troy Hackett, director of risk management and corporate safety for
Hunter Douglas, Inc., recently presented the Hunter Douglas President’s
Safety Award for Best Overall Division to Terry Hyde, plant manager
of Hunter Douglas Alta™, Atlanta, GA.
With more than 150 employees, the Atlanta plant achieved a total
case incident rate of only 1.73 and a lost time incident rate of
zero for the full year 2002.
The Atlanta division has been operating since January 1996 manufacturing
aluminum, honeycomb, wood and vertical blinds for the contract divison
and Alta Window Solutions Specialists, a Hunter Douglas company.
VERTISCAPES GOES COLLEGIATE
Vertiscapes, Inc., West Palm Beach, FL, announces it has been officially
licensed by the Collegiate Licensing Co. (CLC) to use the logos
from the Florida State University, the University of Florida and
the University of Miami on its Theme Binds two-inch faux wood products.
Vertiscapes will add additional colleges and universities from other
states in the future.
ENDISCO ADDS EUROPEAN HARDWARE LINE
Endisco Supply Co., Tulsa, OK, has added the Valencia Collection.
The hardware line includes black, rust and verdigris wrought iron;
solid brass and antique brass; brushed nickel; and a stone leather
finish.
Tubing ranges from 5/8- to 1 3/16-inch diameters and is all cut-to-measure
with several options of finials, brackets, rings and accessories.
CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS
Our May 2003 cover story, “What’s In a Name” (page
20), incorrectly stated in a photograph caption that actress Mariette
Hartley was “exclusive to Eddie Z’s Blinds & Draperies”
and in the body of the article that “Hartley has been retained
exclusively . . .” In fact, Eddie Z’s has rights to Hartley
in the four states in which it markets: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa
and Wisconsin. House of Blinds & Draperies, Southfield, MI,
owns rights for the use of Mariette Hartley in the window coverings
industry for the rest of the country. We regret the error.
House of Blinds owns and operates a chain of window coverings retail
locations in Michigan and Ohio (see D&WC, May 1998) and has
a small mail order division that also uses Mariette Hartley.
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