CHFA names 2016 award winners

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario – The Canadian Home Furnishings Alliance (CHFA) has named a veteran upholstery maker as the recipient of the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award and, for the first time, will honour one retailer from Western Canada and another from Eastern Canada with its Retailer of the Year Award.

The association will bestow this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Angelo Gallo, president of Statum Designs Inc., a Toronto-based upholstery manufacturer and a long-serving member of its board of directors.

“The CHFA established the Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize those individuals who over their lifetime have made exemplary and sustained contributions to the Canadian home furnishings industry and their communities,” CHFA chairman Laine Reynolds said in announcing the award.

“For 15 years the CHFA has been honouring our industry’s most impressive individuals and organizations. We are very fortunate that our industry has so many remarkable people and organizations within it and their success deserves to be celebrated,” he added.

Last year’s honouree was Jim Sunderji, president of Dynasty Furniture, an upholstery producer headquartered in Calgary. Prior winners have included the late Orville Mead, president of Durham Furniture; Art DeFehr, chairman of Palliser Furniture; and, Richard Magnussen, chief executive of Magnussen Home.

For the first time in its 15-year history, the CHFA has selected two retailers to receive its Retailer of the Year Award.

The award will be shared by J.C. Perrault, a five-unit full line furniture retailer based in Montreal, and by Nordic Holdings, the operators of Konto Furniture and Sofa Land with stores in Edmonton, Camrose and Calgary, Alberta.

“In acknowledgement of our association’s national presence, we believed it was time to recognise two retailers – one from Eastern Canada and one from Western Canada,” Reynolds said, referring to the amalgamation of the CHFA with Furniture West three years ago.

“Both of these businesses have many parallels. Through vision, drive, strong leadership and an intense commitment to retail excellence both have a significant presence in their respective marketplace,” Reynolds said.

“JC Perrault and Konto/Sofa Land are great examples of retailers that truly represent success in our industry. They embody the spirit of enterprise which is admired and provides inspiration for other businesses to follow. They are very worthy recipients of this coveted award,” he added.

Last year’s retail award winner was Ameublements Tanguay, the Quebec City headquartered subsidiary of the publicly-held BMTC Group. Prior winners include Leon’s Furniture, Stoney Creek Furniture, Tepperman’s Furniture and Easyhome (now GoEasy), among others.

While the CHFA Awards Gala will continue to be the unofficial opening of the Canadian Furniture Show, the celebration’s location has been changed to Universal Event Space, a short distance away from the International Centre where this country’s only national furniture industry trade event is held.

The gala will be held on Friday, May 27 in Studios 1 & 2 of the Universal Event Space, located at the corner of Highways 7 and 27 in nearby Vaughan, Ontario. A reception begins at 5:30pm, followed by dinner at 7pm and the awards presentation at 8pm. CFS opens for its three-day run the next morning, May 28.

“The awards not only spotlight individual talent but they also serve to enhance our industry and raise our collective profile,” Reynolds said, adding, “Our annual gala evening has also become the Canadian home furnishings premier event allowing for an exceptional evening of fellowship and camaraderie.

This is where we come together to celebrate the inspiring achievements of our industry leaders,” he continued. “The CHFA is justifiably proud of the awards gala, which grows in stature as new recipients are added to the long list of high profile industry leaders and the companies that came before them.

For tickets or more information at the CHFA Awards, contact association Murray Vaughan at (905) 677-6561 or by e-mail at murray@chfaweb.ca.