Attending the Furniture Today Leadership Conference were, from left: BrandSource’s Jarred Roy; Ashley Furniture founder Ron Wanek; Leadership Award recipient and BrandSource member Jake Jabs of American Furniture Warehouse; and FTS’s Luke Larsen and Michael Posa. (Photo courtesy Furniture Today)
American Furniture lauded; Michael Posa impaneled
By Alan Wolf, YSN
Furniture Technology Source (FTS), AVB’s marketing, retail tech and merchandising arm for home furnishings members, took center stage this month at Furniture Today magazine’s 2024 Leadership Conference.
The annual gathering is a premiere event for the furniture business, drawing the industry’s top retailers, manufacturers, suppliers and service providers. This year’s conference was held Dec. 3-5 at the Naples Grande Beach Resort in Florida, where BrandSource member American Furniture Warehouse (AFW) was honored with the publication’s prestigious Furniture Industry Leadership Award in the $200 million-plus revenue category. Accepting the accolade for AFW was founder, CEO and philanthropist Jake Jabs.
In announcing AFW’s win, Furniture Today Editor in Chief Bill McLoughlin described the billion-dollar business as a fixture of the magazine’s annual Top 100 rankings. With 16 stores stretching across three states, the company, now in its third generation, “has established itself as one of the savviest, operationally efficient and creative furniture dealers in the business and is widely respected not only for its outstanding merchandising acumen but for the integrity with which it engages its vendors, employees and customers,” McLoughlin said.
He added that this year’s Leadership Award winners “epitomize the resilience, creativity and passion that make family businesses the backbone of the furniture industry.”
Also in the spotlight was AVB’s VP of Home Furnishings Michael Posa. The FTS point man joined a panel of esteemed retailers including AFW President Jackie Brookshire and Tony Boldt, president/CEO of Warren Buffet’s legendary Nebraska Furniture Mart, for an on-stage discussion about “Building a Culture of Innovation.”
Led by moderator Beck Besecker, founder and CEO of 3D Cloud, a 3D product visualization platform, Posa and his fellow panelists reflected on what today’s leaders need to do to create a culture of innovation and growth that resonates with younger generations.
Next year’s Furniture Today Leadership Conference will be held Dec. 2-4 at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
YSN publisher AVB BrandSource is the nation’s largest merchandising and marketing co-op for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
