To Valley Ho We Go

This month, the annual Contemporary Design Group (CDG) Conference was held at the retro-chic Valley Ho resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Client Helen Brier of Toray Ultrasuede finds the yearly event is the best place to mix and mingle with retail partners like Boston-based Circle Furniture as well as her manufacturing customers such as Dallas-based American Leather.

While the diverse group gathers in the spirit of building business relationships and sharing best practices, there are always bits of fun thrown in. A new tradition - the business equivalent of speed dating - is a fast paced way to ensure that everyone attending gets face time and a chance to share what's new.

For Ultrasuede, that included our just christened retail sales training video, which we created in collaboration with Paper Bridge Productions of Greensboro, NC. It's an 8-minute primer on the luxurious, suede-like fabric. We designed the video to help retail sales associates explain to furniture shoppers why Ultrasuede is an ideal cover choice for upholstered furniture - and how it will additionally help them increase their ticket sales and profits.

Naturally, we threw in a few bits of fun, too.

What's New in NYC

The annual - and lively - 'What’s New, What’s Next' event at 200 Lexington Ave. in the New York Design Center is certainly a design lover's destination, and how fun for our first encounter of the day to be with a fabulous DESIRON sofa covered in Ultrasuede®, the luxury high performance fabric from our longtime client. 

Next stop was the 5th floor, where client Bolier & Co., a division of Decca Home, has its showroom, and also where esteemed designer Dakota Jackson was on hand to celebrate his elegant new collection called Cosmopolitan by Dakota Jackson.

Designers and friends Michelle Workman, Corey Damen Jenkins, the gang from Steelyard and Interior Design magazine editor Mark McMenamin were among those who stopped in for visits.

In case you were wondering, yes; the iconic Cosmopolitan Martini was served. Cheers!