Giving Thanks

In our lives we come across a multitude of different personalities. This week we enjoyed getting to know a dynamic group of designers and sales associates from all over the United States. These talented purveyors of fashion through interior design inspired us with ideas for product development, our catalogs, our web site and in a multitude of other areas. We give thanks to everyone's willingness to share!

We were so fortunate to have Heather Clawson author of Habitually Chic join us. Please click on her link to enjoy here very gracious posting about her Hickory Chair experience. We hope it brings back wonderful memories of your Hickory Chair University experience!

Keep Firebonz Friends In Your Thoughts And Prayers

Each of our HCC University groups over the past few years has enjoyed a crazy, casual Southern dinner of everything from BBQ, ribs, and all things fried from pickles to oreos. We may enter as strangers but we leave as new friends.

It is with regret that I must share the terrible events of the weekend. On Friday a car lost control and crashed into the side of the restaurant. Then during dinner on Saturday evening a fire broke out. I happened to be dining nearby and saw the fire trucks, police cars and ambulances that were fighting the fire and assisting the guests and staff.

Please keep Jamie, Doug, David, Amber and the rest of our friends at Firebonz in your thoughts and prayers. I am sure they will feel your support. As one who has experienced losing a home to fire, it is the thoughts, prayers and support from friends, family and complete strangers that makes all the difference in how get you through difficult times when you do not know how you will make it through the day.

Hopefully the restaurant will be repaired quickly so that the staff will be able to return to their jobs soon!

Hickory Chair at The Cincinnatian Hotel!

We have had the great honor to be selected by The Cincinnatian hotel as the company that has the right product and flexibility to assist them in the renovation of their historic hotel. Established in 1882, and located in downtown Cincinnati, The Cincinnatian Hotel "is a luxury AAA Four Diamond hotel that epitomizes modern luxury in a historic setting".

When you visit the historic hotel you are immediately greeted by Hickory Chair pieces not only in the lobby and concierge's desk, but also in the bar and restaurant. Many of the suites have Hickory Chair pieces adorning them as well.

This luxury suite features many of our pieces including the upholstered Venetian Bed, Andrew Side Tables, a Camden Love Seat, a Darlington Desk, an Addison Side Chair and a Morgan Media Cabinet!

The hotel is beautiful and we are very proud to be selected to help continue the legacy of this historic hotel. We would recommend that you plan a vacation or business trip that would allow you to stay at The Cincinnatian Hotel!

www.cincinnatianhotel.com

Passion Is Free So Why Do So Few Have It?

This morning we had our quarterly employee meetings with Jay. We reveiwed our first quarter's successes and are now focused on the many opportuntites we have to make our second quarter even stronger than the first. We look forward to our weekly department meetings as well but this 'state of the union' helps us see the bigger picture and motivates us to focus on what we can do to help our entire family.

- We are so excited to know that we have already had 604 employee ideas submitted with 80% completed! This pace would generate over 2400 ideas this year which is about 1000 more than any other year ever! EDGE is working harder than ever for us!

- We are enjoying the rewards of our recycling/repurpose/redesign program. How can we measure that? In 2006 each employee generated 1.3 tons of landfill matter. This year we are on a pace of .4 tons per employee generated! This is a huge impact on the environment!

- We had more positive reaction to our showroom, options and new products at Market than ever before. Some comments were "with your new Silhouettes Upholstery program it will give me the opportunity to achieve just the right custom piece for my clients and it will ship in the same 14-21 day period!" Another commented "customers that are investing in their homes today do not want to settle for something close to what they want, with Silhouettes Upholstery if they want a different arm or a decorative leg, we can provide that for them and not start over trying to find an entirely new piece for them". Lastly and maybe the most important is that "this will save me time and that will let me focus on more sales!".

- We have 40 individuals coming to HCC University next week. We can not wait to show them what you have experienced already. A few in the group are coming for their 'masters degree' because they have not seen Hickory Chair in over 3 years! I bet they will be amazed at how we have evolved since their last visit!

- We have openings this summer in our future events so please share this with your co-workers that have not attended HCC University before. If you would like to come again, please speak with your Hickory Chair sales representative. Our upcoming dates are:

May 31st - June 2nd

July 20th - July 22nd

August 2nd - August 4th

So, after reading all of this, I hope you can feel the passion of everyone here at Hickory Chair. We are very excited about implementing your wishes and are focused on giving you the product, service and loyalty you need to please your clients. We wonder what this world would be like if more people could be as passionate as you are about your design and we are about making each piece for you.

Thank you for reading today's message and sharing it with a friend! Passion is free...