As we move through the traditional holiday season which seems to start in early November and end with the start of the New Year I thought it would be nice to showcase just a few of the holidays we all share during this magical time. These holidays are represented by kindness to each other, wonder in the young and young at heart and by joy in the simple things in life – sharing food, time and laughter with each other.

Some of the most common celebrations at this time of year are

Hanukkah – this is an eight day and eight night Jewish celebration of the original rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The date is moving due to the calendar it follows so this holiday can be celebrated anywhere from late November to late December.

Christmas – Christians celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th – it is a joyous occasion; civil holiday and an integral part of the holiday season. The name comes from Christ’s mass. Gift exchange and a feast are all important parts of this holiday.

Kwanzaa – created in 1966 this is a week long celebration to honor African heritage – it is observed from Dec 26th to Jan 1st and ends with a feast and an exchange of gifts.

Eid-al-Adha – the Feast of the Sacrifice is an important Islamic holiday honoring the prophet Abraham. It can fall from October to December and traditionally includes eating and celebrating with family and friends.

Diwali – also called the Festival of the Lights, this is a 5 day Hindu festival celebrating the victory of good over evil. The lighting of small clay lamps, fireworks and new clothes are all part of this holiday.

Part of the magic of the season is the giving and generosity that seems to happen more frequently and spontaneously at this time of year. We are happy to have participated in Operation Christmas Child again this year sending shoeboxes to children all over the world. The boxes are filled with toys and love and we filled almost 40 this year. Our annual visit from the children from the Florence Fuller Development center remains hands down our staff’s favorite day. 20-25 little ones arrive in a bus and after serenading us and a visit from Santa tear into their gifts. Joy and wonder indeed! We close the year with our annual Cans for Cash to benefit another favorite of ours Boca Helping Hands. I know it is hard to believe that there are hungry people in Boca but there are and they need our help. Lastly our monthly Military Boxes get a few extra holiday items to help bolster the spirits of those who live to protect us.

At Sklar Furnishings we know that our business has many words that start with the letter “F” – furniture, fun, family, finesse, friends, financial, and more. That being said we believe the most import word in this list is Family. To that end since we opened our doors 13 years ago we have closed for both December 24th and 25th to allow our staff a chance to have at least two days with their loved ones.

As “the Holiday Season” continues we wish that however you celebrate and whatever you call your “holiday” that it is filled with family, friends, kindness, joy, wonder and most of all laughter.

The Pinnacle Award is handed out once a year at the High Point market to recognize the industry’s best in design. The design award celebrated its 20^th anniversary this year so the prestige level and excitement was up a notch or two.

Presented by the American Society of Furniture Designers this award is very highly regarded by all of us in the industry. From the manufacturers to the retailers, and to all in the design field. The award was designed by Mark Tucker and in honor of the 20th anniversary this year featured a special laser graphic on the back.

There are many different categories that are honored – major collections, occasional tables, formal dining, stationary upholstery, motion upholstery and a student award to name a few. Once again this year some good friends of ours won.

In the Accessories category Matthew Weatherly won for the Corridor Bar manufactured by BDI. A combination of modern and retro it has been a great seller which is another good way to judge success. In the Home Office category he also won for the Sequel wall mount desk.

For the Green Leaf Award Dietmar Dutilleux won for the Asken Wall Panel sold through Phillips Collection. Recycled, repurposed, made from sustainable product this panel has it all. We have been carrying this wonderful line of well-designed accessories and furniture for over 10 years. They are creative and come out with both whimsy and functionality.

Kelvin Ng won in the Stationary Upholstery – a piece called Prisma 1/2/3. This is manufactured by Planum and we are proud to carry Planum on our floor. Well made, beautifully designed and shipped directly from Italy. It is beautiful!

Lastly James Culleton designed the M1 for Palliser. The category was Motion Upholstery – it is as comfortable as it is beautiful.

Congratulations to all who entered their designs, you are already a winner at that point and to those of you who won – Bravo! Keep up the good work – can’t wait to see what 2016 brings!

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?

Here are a few things that generate gratitude with our Sklar team!

• Good Health
• Good Humor
• Family (near and far)
• Friendship (old and new)
• Kindness (everyday)
• Abundance (for everyone)
• Peace
• Philanthropy
• Creativity
• Laughter (often and lots)
• Each other

You have to love a country that stops almost everything for one full day every year to celebrate Gratitude! We at Sklar want to express our gratitude for our wonderful staff who continue to amaze us with their dedication, their work ethic, their creativity, their ownership in the business and the joy they are to be with.

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and our wish is that your gratitude list is long and just continues to grow! Enjoy the holidays.

For the last eight years we have had a yearly warehouse sale…at the store! To do this we take about 30% of our merchandise off the floor and replace it with all of the furniture that qualifies as “warehouse sale items”. This includes floor sample items, discontinued items, scratch and dent merchandise and a few pieces not up to Sklar’s quality standard. We do not buy for this sale.

Most items are almost all priced at below cost so as you can imagine we have a great turnout every March. This year we have a brand new warehouse and we have decided to do the sale the last weekend of September there. We have chosen September 26th and 27th to help reduce our inventory before year end and to give our customers a chance to find that special piece for the holidays.

The prices are so low and items are sold so quickly we do not have bargaining or haggling with prices. Anything that does not sell goes to one of our favorite charities – Habitat for Humanity – for their ReStore store to make money to buy property on which to build homes.

Watch for your email invite; check our website banner; or pop into the store and pick up a reminder card. We look forward to seeing you there whether it is your first or ninth sale!

Address
636 SW 12^th Building #5   Deerfield Beach, FL 33442

Dates
Saturday September 26th, 11-5 p.m.
Sunday September 27th, 12-5 p.m.

We are just back from another wonderful industry conference held this year in Orlando at – where else – Walt Disney World. The North American Home Furnishings Association (NAHFA) was founded in 2013 with the merger of the three largest individual existing organizations and represents over 1800 members and 7000 storefronts in the United States and Canada. They provide very valuable services like educational conferences, access to help, discounts on merchant services like insurance and as well provide us with a unified voice in government. After serving 6 years on the board of the old organization in 2013 our owner became the first President of NAHFA and is currently Chairman of the Board with his term expiring in 2016.

This is a perfect venue to network with and meet your peers and vendors who all make up this family we call the home furnishings business. Every year there is a theme and of course this year the incredible culture of the Disney empire is front and center. We were treated to not just one but several keynote speakers. They ranged from social media experts to industry giants to finally finishing with the former COO of Disney – Lee Cockerell, speaking on The Customer Rules. The caliber this year was as good as I have ever heard – relevant, informative, funny and incredibly optimistic. Break out sessions, work groups and product information meetings filled our days. A highlight of the conference was a four-hour tour of the “Business of Disney”. This included the normal backstage tour and the tunnels but as well included their business practices, how they treat their cast members and several stories of problem solving and solution finding.

We all try to work hard at our corporate culture and generally pride ourselves on our attitude. However Disney has their PhD in this and it is evident in the attitude and cheerfulness we have experienced wherever you go for the past few days. The conference ended with a melody of Disney songs sung by three young people who could hold their own on any of the talent shows currently on TV. At the last note out comes Mickey with his constant smile, white gloves and cheerful dancing walk. There was not a face in the audience without a huge grin! More Disney magic and pixie dust. Time to go home, put on our Mickey ears and work at being the best we possibly can be!

As the dust settles and we get back to normal after our annual Warehouse Sale I thought I would share a few facts with you. This year was our 8th Annual Warehouse sale (it is always the first weekend in March) and it is only once a year for several reasons.

It is an incredible amount of work, as much as we call it our warehouse sale we hold the sale in our store, it is definitely a marketing tool to give people who might not normally come to the store a chance to see who we are. We clear about a third of the store and fill the space (several times over) with product we are trying to clear.

We do not buy product to sell at the warehouse. What we sell are one of’s (barstools, floor sample chairs), damaged product, mismatched product, freight damaged product, items we bought that are not selling and floor samples that need to be moved to make room for the new product. We like to call them the “whoops”, “whoa’s” and “who bought those?”

The sale runs for 3 days or when the product is gone. The prices are mostly so low they are below our cost. Once we price the items we do not budge or haggle. That is very easy for us to say because anything that is left over goes directly to Habitat for Humanity to be sold in their Restore.

This wonderful charity is very close to our hearts. It is a natural for our business and we have supported the Palm Beach branch since we opened the store over 12 years ago. One of the owners is on the Board and has been for several years; we have sent out a few teams to do the Habitat build – including one “all women’s team”, we are constantly donating items to be sold at the Restore and last year we donated a house. The money made from the two stores we contribute to help with the purchase of land and products that are not donated. This year we sent over $30,000 worth of product the day after the sale.

The warehouse sale is the equivalent to spring cleaning and a giant garage sale. Everyone feels good when we are finished – the customers who got a wonderful bargain, the warehouse staff who once again can see the racks, and Habitat because the Restore is filled with product.

Come to Sklar Furnishings this weekend and experience the fun of finding something you have been wanting for some time or for more fun something you didn’t even know you wanted!

Once a year for the last 8 years we have cleared out a large space in our store and filled it with sofas, sectionals, chairs, tables, desks, desk chairs, pillows, art, rugs, beds, bedding and more. Some are items that have been on the showroom floor as samples, some are items that have some damage and others are brand new! Whatever it is we have, rest assured most of the items are for sale at less than cost and some items are marked as low as 80% off.

The sale starts this Friday March 6th from 11:00-5:00 and runs Saturday March 7th from 11:00-5:00 finishing on Sunday March 8th 12:00-4:00 or when all the merchandise is sold. This is not the normal Sklar – the store is buzzing with excitement, our Design Team are in running shoes, the energy is high and if you see something you like you had better buy it then and there.  We encourage cash (or credit card) and carry but we also offer delivery service.  Since this sale is a warehouse clearance there is no storing of items, there is no service, all items are final sale, there is no fancy wrapping (we have lots of strong warehouse staff to get it in your car) and there is no pre buying. Lastly we do not barter because anything and everything left over is donated to Habitat—a favorite charity of ours. Their truck arrives at the back door on Monday and we begin the process of getting back to normal ASAP.

Just to make the Warehouse Sale even more fun selected regular priced merchandise is offered at 10%.  And one more thing—-certain Italian product is offered at an additional 10% off —the Euro is low right now so we are passing our savings along to you. Not a weekend to miss—there is definitely something for everyone.

See you Friday!

Muvman – sounds like an order to “get going” when in fact it is a wonderful new sit to stand seating solution.  The center post offers lateral motion and a thirteen inch height adjustment range. This low impact, subtle, intuitive motion makes sitting and standing healthy, dynamic and fun.  It is a great perching stool.

We have all heard about the study of ergonomics – the definition comes from the Greek word ergon meaning work, and nomoi meaning natural laws. It is the science of refining the design of products to optimize them for human use. Human characteristics, such as height, weight, and proportions are considered, as well as information about human hearing, sight, temperature preferences, and so on. Ergonomics is sometimes known as human factors engineering.

Computers and related products, such as computer desks and chairs, are frequently the focus of ergonomic design. A great number of people use these products for extended periods of time — such as the typical work day. If these products are poorly designed or improperly adjusted for human use, the person using them may suffer unnecessary fatigue, stress, and even injury.

Four health benefits from working in an “ergonomic” position are the following

1. Longer life expectancy
2. You burn more calories
3. Improved posture and circulation
4. increased energy and stress reduction.

Happy New Year to all of our staff, vendors, customers, and industry partners! How can it possibly be 2015 when it seems like no time ago we were all obsessed with Y2K?

We live in a wonderful country and we have so much to be thankful for.  We are very grateful, and in no particular order for the following especially.

Fabulous Staff

We would just be another furniture store without them all.  The furniture industry is one with many moving parts so we need a very diverse group with specialized skills. We have every job possible filled by capable and kind people. Receptionist, data entry, warehouse staff, delivery staff, prep staff, Design Associate, managers, customer service and part time college students. We always appreciate that all of our employees are “owners”. It is impossible to be successful by yourself.

Vendors

These are relationships of trust and respect and we cherish them all. We try very hard to listen to each other because how else can both of us improve and learn? We are very careful who we choose to partner with and it makes a huge difference.

Customers

Realistically you cannot choose your customers but you can choose how you treat them. Our wonderful staff usually become friends with their clients after spending so much time in their homes and helping them to realize their dreams! The fact that many of our customers keep returning to us and/or refer their family and friends is much appreciated.

Industry Partners

These are our peers who teach us so much so selflessly, the people who we see at every market every year, the contemporaries that we sit on Industry Boards with to help our industry become an even better steward of the planet and above all the retailers and vendors who have become friends.

So we move into 2015 grateful for the past year and very optimistic for the year ahead.  May it be filled with peace, good fortune, excellent health, love and just a little magic!

The Contemporary Design Group has announced the winner of the first annual Edward Haimsohn Design Award at their annual conference in Coral Gables, FL. The winning design was the Corridor Media Cabinet, designed by Matthew Weatherly for BDI.  The award was accepted by Bill Becker, CEO and Design Director of BDI.  There were over 30 entries for consideration in this year’s competition and 11 final nominees. A panel of judges, consisting of CDG retailer members, evaluated nominees on originality, creativity, consumer appeal, use of materials, functionality, and manufacturing execution.  A complete list and description of nominees is available here.

The award is named after CDG’s co-founder, Edward Haimsohn, who was well known for his strong eye for design and attention to quality. “Eddie Haimsohn was a great mentor to me and many other people in our industry,” says Bruce Selik, CDG Board Member and CEO of Hillside Furniture in Bloomfield Hills, MI.  “Unlike many retailers, Eddie always looked at merchandise and never hesitated to make comments that he thought might be helpful in making the product design or structure better for the consumer.  He certainly was not shy about telling you his opinion.  Our decision to name our award the Edward Haimsohn Design Award is because he knew and understood excellent design.”

As co-founder of the Contemporary Design Group, Edward had the foresight to help create an organization of like-minded retailers who appreciated design and who saw home furnishings as much more than just a product to sell. The members of Contemporary Design Group continue on in the spirit of constructive collaboration, teamwork, and partnership between retailers and manufacturers in the contemporary home furnishings category.  Today, Edward Haimsohn is retired and is living in San Diego, CA.

CDG is currently accepting designs for consideration in 2015. To learn more about entry criteria, or to submit a design, visit here.

The Contemporary Design Group is a national association of independent home furnishings showrooms, specializing in modern and contemporary design.  Currently the buying/performance/networking group is 42 showrooms strong with retail members in more 39 cities from coast to coast. www.contemporarydesign.com