Coaster’s Larry Furiani chats with AVB’s Seth Weisblatt this week on the Furniture Channel.
By Alan Wolf, YSN
With more and more furniture dealers migrating to BrandSource, the group has increased its home furnishings content accordingly for this month’s Summit 21.
Building on last summer’s exclusive Convention interview with Ashley division president Rick Coppola, BrandSource is presenting an extensive, furniture-focused educational track developed by AVB’s Seth Weisblatt, director of home furnishings merchandising.
Dubbed the Furniture Channel, the lineup kicked off yesterday with a series of one-on-one interviews with top manufacturing execs and industry experts including Michael Campbell, CEO of Leather Italia; Larry Furiani, VP of Dealer Relations for Coaster Company of America; and a return engagement by Ashley’s Coppola, who heads North American sales for the company.
The sessions, which are available for on-demand viewing today, also feature:
- Steve Riley, former furniture buyer at Nebraska Furniture Mart
- A roundtable discussion with Editor-in-Chief Bill McCloughlin and the staff of FurnitureToday, the iconic industry publication
- Post-COVID predictions for the real estate market, with Feinblum Real Estate Services
- Plus presentations by Tempur Sealy, Kalora Interiors, MLilly Mattresses, Porter Designs, Guardsman, Perq, Storis and more.
The programming culminates this afternoon at 1:00 p.m. CST in a Furniture Regional Meeting Town Hall, where Weisblatt will lead an open discussion about opportunities and strategies that can help BrandSource dealers’ businesses grow.
“The Furniture Channel is an attempt to speak to the heart and soul of our industry — the mom-and-pop retailers who are fighting to remain a valued shopping destination on behalf of their families and communities,” Weisblatt explained. “The goal of the Channel is to provide retailers insight into the industry in short chunks, help them make sense of the chaotic environment that the furniture industry finds itself in, and to identify new partners that will help them accomplish their goals.”
See also: BrandSource Announces Furniture Technology Source at Summit
“I’ve never seen such a tough environment for retailers,” Weisblatt added. “This a scary time for many of our stores. But BrandSource and AVB Marketing are here to provide you with the tools to help you stay in front of the ever-changing customer, to stave off the fierce competition, and to help ensure your profitability as an independent retailer.”
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, furniture, mattress and CE dealers.
