CFDA Newsletter

Announcements:

The May meeting program will be about magazines that we use and enjoy.
Matt and John will serve as presenters.

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CFDA Meeting Report:

CFDA Minutes - Board Meeting April, 2009

Seventeen members and one guest were in attendance at Hafele, who hosted us for the evening.

John Kriegshauser began the meeting at 7:00 with a summary of the status of the Rising From Ashes show. About half of the show is in Glenview right now, and the remaining pieces need to be picked up from the Chicago Center for Green Technology. More information will be forthcoming on the exact dates for having to have the pieces out of there.

The Milwaukee Fine Furniture and Furnishings show, (aka, "the Carla Little show") will reportedly cost individual members a $250 show fee. This dollar amount represents the total dollar figure that our group is being charged for the six aggregated booths, divided by the number of members interested in showing at the booths. While considerably higher than recent shows we've put on, this is exceptionally reasonable in terms of what a regular booth fee would be at this selling show.

Calls for Entry have gone out and the applications and downpayments are due by May 8th. Check your email boxes for more details.

Lloyd reported that the CFDA has about $10,000 in the bank right now. And the upcoming round of dues collection is being delayed a bit because of the number of plates that Lloyd has spinning in the air right now.

Despite the Milwaukee show being on our calendar, this is really only a one-weekend selling opportunity and isn't a substitute for a 'show' for this year. We are genuinely in need of topic and venue ideas, so please step forward if you have any viable notions.

Dan Diewald is still heading up the efforts for the Neocon show, to be held at the Merchandise Mart from June 15-17. Between Matt Speer and Hal Link, they're coordinating the efforts to spruce up the CFDA's aging signage to help put our best foot forward. Dan mentioned that he was going to go down to the Mart to evaluate the space. Jan Sopoci mentioned that the space will likely be dynamically-sized to tightly fit the number of entrants. This is a visual tactic to prevent open, unused spaces from making the show seem 'sparse'. So it's worth noting that the intended area may shift around a bit by the time the show actually opens.

The next meeting will be on the topic of magazine periodicals within our industry and discussions about their general state of being. It will be a moderated round-table discussion.

The business meeting ended at 7:10.

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Program:
Hafele

Our meeting for the evening was hosted by Hafele, who graciously catered dinner and cocktails for our group. Sherry Kay and Scott Roeburry were our hosts and tour guides for the evening.

The Chicago location of Hafele was their third showroom in the U.S., behind New York and Los Angeles. They are a business-to-business company with no onsite inventory. The showroom exists to demonstrate, in action, what their impressive collection of hardware and accessories is capable of doing and looking like. If interested in an item, the Customer Service department is a phone call away. You can order via credit card, or they can also create a net-30 account for you. This can be valuable if your business needs to establish a viable credit history for future growth.

Hafele has also found a niche in hosting architectural and design-based meetings in their generous space. Their large and small conference rooms can accommodate the needs of a variety of types of functions within our industry.

Adolf Hafele started the company in the 1920's, initially as a hardware store. His son, Wolfgang, ultimately sold the company in 1999, and the new owners have branched out their innovative business model to locations worldwide.

You might not see the exact same products from showroom location to location, as Hafele is nimble enough to show market-specific items in each location. So the Singapore location may sport some very different items than does Chicago, purely because of the demand in that location.

Hafele sports a very impressive showroom environment, and Sherry and Scott toured us around from vignette to vignette to highlight what the items were, how they operated and to entice us with their possibilities.

The tour began at the home kitchen display, with hinge, door lift, lighting and decor embellishment items being shown. From there we were lead through their door movement and lock area, as well as some nifty concealed hardware for cabinet door slides. A glass cabinet showed off an impressive adhesive that will join glass to glass or glass to metal, and which is UV-cured and completely invisible when dry.

They then lead us to a closet display, with track-mounted, arced sliding doors, and an entertainment center with pop-up television actuator. The nearby handle hardware display captured the imagination of many, as did the innovative Murphy bed and home office suite.

In all, Hafele demonstrated to us that we have options and alternatives that go beyond the usual catalog items. And if there are ever any questions or concerns about utilizing any of their products we can always return to the showroom or contact their Customer Service department.

The meeting concluded at 9:00.

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