The Home Furnishings Association (HFA) held its inaugural Home Furnishings Leadership Institute June 19-22. The four-day program was developed with Louisiana State University (LSU) Executive Education and is designed to prepare the most promising leaders to help them take on key positions and move them into a leadership mindset.
This inaugural program includes two manufacturers and 17 retailers from top-100 retailers to single-store operations. Attendees work with companies that are located across the country from California to New York and Ontario, Canada offering a large circle of contacts to tap into on this leadership journey. The in-depth, highly-personalized Institute program is focused on the core attributes of running a retail home furnishings operation—strategic thinking, planning and execution. The executive business sessions were taught by professors from the LSU Executive Education program.
Industry-specific topics were presented by a panel of best-in-class executives facilitated by Tom Olinde, President/CEO of Olinde’s Furniture, Baton Rouge, LA. Mark Dufresne, CEO of The Dufresne Group, Winnipeg, Manitoba, talked about the front end of a retail business providing a winning path from beliefs to behaviors to results. Shaun Bunch, Senior Vice President, Fulfillment & Home Delivery with Ashley Furniture Industries, Arcadia, WI, provided insight into the back end of a retail operation, focusing on all that needs to happen after the sale is completed. Josh Hudson, CEO, Hudson’s Furniture, Sanford, FL, talked to the group about pitfalls to look out for based on his own experience in turning around his family business.
“I came back to work in the family business two years ago . . . I’ve learned a lot about store operations,” says Matthew Schewel of Schewels Furniture, Lynchburg, VA. and member of the Institute Class of 2018, “but I have a lot to learn when it comes to corporate management.”
With topics that included understanding business financials, strategic planning and decision-making, human resources, negotiations and succession planning, Olinde says, attendees, “will come back to their store motivated. And they’re going to put what they learned to work.”
Association CEO Sharron Bradley says the Institute addresses a key initiative for HFA of making home furnishings matter by providing educational opportunities for members so they’re always learning how to take their businesses to the next level.
