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Made by Gather Names Hoke CRO
Kitchenware leader Made by Gather has named Brian Hoke as its first chief revenue officer. Hoke will lead both the sales and product management teams, combining two important teams that bring Made by Gather’s portfolio of consumer brands to market. This investment is a testament to the company’s growth as it continues to expand Beautiful by Drew and look toward the fall relaunch of beloved flagship brand, bella.
“I had the pleasure of working alongside Brian during our time together at Macy’s,” said Shawn Austin, Made by Gather’s President. “Over the past 20 years, I have watched Brian grow into one of the most successful business drivers and leaders that any organization could ask for. As chief revenue officer, we are creating a major step change for Made by Gather that will position us for even more accelerated growth.”
Hoke joins Made by Gather from Vitamin Shoppe where he most recently served as chief merchandising officer. Prior to that he held chief merchandising officer roles at both Sheex and Lord + Taylor and held various senior executive roles at Macy’s – including the divisional merchandise managers of housewares and the small kitchen electrics buyer during his tenure. He has deep experience in driving retail and wholesale businesses and leading large cross-functional teams. Hoke prides himself in being growth minded, a strong communicator, a relationship builder, and has a passion for developing talent.
Made by Gather, the parent company of the rapidly growing Beautiful by Drew, also recently announced the relaunch of flagship consumer brand, bella during the International Housewares Association’s The Inspired Home Show in Chicago. The announcement marked a transformational moment for the kitchenware brand, founded in 2011, as it doubles down on its decade-long promise of bringing functionally-aesthetic kitchenware and delightful innovation to the masses. Hoke will play an important role in bringing bella to market as it hits shelves at most mass retailers this Fall.
“Coming off IHA’s The Inspired Home Show one thing is crystal clear,” Austin said, “the growth we’ve seen over the last couple of years is just the beginning – we are about to accelerate even faster, and we truly have unlimited potential.”
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Milton & King Launches Wallpaper Collection
Milton & King has launched Milton & King Studio, its first in-house wallpaper collection, curated by an internal team of designers.
This new offering now provides the company with the ability to respond quickly to home design trends and quickly adapt to customer feedback, ensuring the fast-growing retailer continues to stay ahead of the curve. The collection itself seamlessly blends creativity with craftsmanship, showcasing unique artworks meticulously designed by the company’s talented in-house artists.
The first wallpaper from the Studio collection is Gardenia Wallpaper, which kicks off the Milton & King Studio launch, setting the tone for the Studio’s commitment to offering unique and inspiring wallpaper options.
Milton & King added to the collection on March 14, with an exclusive Baseball Wallpaper, which pays homage to one of America’s most beloved pastimes. Rafted with precision and printed on high-quality materials, the Baseball Wallpaper design is offered in seven colorways inspired by various team uniforms. The design includes both plain and pinstriped backgrounds, providing versatility. Its easy-to-install nature ensures a seamless application process, enabling homeowners and interior designers to effortlessly transform any space.
Cloud includes three designs and was released on April 4 and includes Dreamy offering a charming and subtle interpretation of the Earth’s sky; Heavenly wallpaper promises to transform any space into a serene sanctuary; and Serenity, a mural featuring a vast and dramatic skyscape with billowing clouds painted in soft whites, grays and golden tones.
The Snake Charmer Wallpaper was added on April 11 and is a sultry and intricate design that weaves together the graceful beauty of snakes with the lusciousness of fruits and florals in a mesmerizing and maximalist repeat. Hand painted in gouache, the design cleverly balances the serpent’s ethereal presence harmoniously with the delicate charm of rich botanicals. Snake Charmer is a visually stunning and enchanting tapestry that celebrates the dark and decadent side of nature’s diverse elements.
“In creating Milton & King Studio, our goal was to provide customers with wallpapers that not only enhance their spaces but also reflect their individual style,” said Bryce Capp, co-owner. “We’re excited to launch Milton & King Studio, which we believe embodies the best of wallpaper design.”
Milton & King Studio’s commitment to sustainability shines through in its manufacturing process. Embracing an on-demand production model, the studio minimizes logistics costs, lead times, and carbon emissions. Their lean manufacturing approach guarantees that less than 5 percent of production goes to waste, as they exclusively produce what is sold. This not only reduces landfill waste but also prevents the accumulation of outdated inventory, ensuring that their offerings stay aligned with current trends.
The Milton & King Studio collection is now available for purchase on the company’s website.
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Zafferano America Promotes Collins, Fleisher
Zafferano America, the manufacturer of award-winning cordless lighting, handmade tableware and colored glassware, has promoted Chris Collins to executive vice president of sales and Neil Fleisher to vice president of sales, lighting division, effective immediately. The two are seasoned veterans in the luxury home retail and lighting industries, respectively, and have proven themselves as exceptional drivers of the brand’s efforts to build a national sales force in North America.
“Both Collins and Fleisher have been vital players on our team, helping to build a sales force that has generated tremendous success in a short time,” says Barrett Gross, president of Zafferano America. “In 2019, we introduced our brand, seeking to educate customers about the benefits of cordless lighting. Now, with the help of our outstanding sales team, the Zafferano name has become synonymous with cordless lighting, and our tableware and glassware divisions have demonstrated Zafferano’s growing presence in home design, as well as our core values — color and light.”
Collins has worked at Zafferano America since the fall of 2022, launching the company’s new tableware division as the first vice president sales & marketing for tableware. Collins’ deep knowledge of the luxury marketplace has helped the company develop new relationships in lighting, furniture, retail and hospitality. Prior to joining Zafferano America, Collins served as president of Arte Italica as well as vice president and general manager of 7W New York.
Fleisher joined Zafferano America in February of 2023 as national sales manager, bringing with him over 40 years of experience as a retail/wholesale lighting industry leader. His expertise and relationships throughout the United States and Canada have proven instrumental in growing the company’s lighting division.
Zafferano America was established in 2019 and has rapidly become the leading purveyor of cordless lighting in the American market, outfitting the most celebrated hotels and restaurants across the US, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. Zafferano’s cordless lamps come in 40 different styles and 49 colors and finishes in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and applications.
Zafferano America also manufactures dinnerware in Italy to complement its lighting designs and world-renowned colored glassware collections. The company is rooted in Venice, Italy, the birthplace of Zafferano’s founder and lead designer, Federico de Majo. Federico’s vision and his love for the color and light of his native city is the ongoing inspiration for the Zafferano brand.
The company’s offerings include cordless lighting, colored glassware, stemware, ceramic tableware and lighting fixtures. In September of 2023, Zafferano opened its flagship U.S. showroom in New York City, which is the first retail presence for the brand outside of Italy.
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Kohl’s Expands Home, Seasonal Decor
Kohl’s has unveiled its new approach to home – a strategy designed to deliver customers a fresh and expanded selection of stylish home and seasonal decor, all at affordable prices. The significantly expanded assortment, available now both in-store and online, offers customers an inspiring and discover-worthy curation of home and seasonal products in new categories and styles for every home.
“We’ve been making meaningful changes to reposition and expand our home offerings over the past year and are excited to unveil Kohl’s new assortment of on-trend and affordable home products to customers nationwide,” said Nick Jones, chief merchandising and digital officer. “As part of Kohl’s broader strategy to drive growth, we identified a real opportunity in home, and we’ve been thoughtfully building the category to position ourselves as a destination for home goods. We’re incredibly encouraged by initial customer response to our home decor assortment, and we see Kohl’s becoming a more formidable player in the home business.”
A Home Assortment, Reimagined
To create a meaningful transformation of its home business, Kohl’s expanded select categories in its assortment by 40 percent, offering newness in areas including wall art, glassware and ceramic home decor, barware, botanicals, lighting and more.
- A Curated Assortment of Unique Home Goods: Kohl’s new home collection will feature a curated mix of unique decorative home products in new-to-Kohl’s categories, such as wall art, botanicals, storage, pet, lighting, frames, glass and ceramics. The assortment is focused on approachable style and affordability.
- Strengthened Everyday Essentials: Kohl’s home assortment maintains some of its key programs that customers have loved, such as bedding and bath, but has elevated the assortment to include more modern aesthetics and frequent pattern and color injections to offer a constant stream of style-forward options for customers’ evolving preferences.
- A Seasonal Decor Destination: Kohl’s new home strategy is also positioning the company to be a year-round destination for everyday occasions and seasonal holidays. It will deliver 60 percent newness in home and holiday decor seasonally to keep customers coming back to refresh their homes for each holiday.
Rediscovering Home at Kohl’s
Kohl’s has created an elevated and expanded in-store and digital home experience, making it easier for customers to find something new and exciting for their home every time they shop. To re-introduce its home offerings to customers, Kohl’s is engaging in a multi-channel marketing approach including immersive digital activations that are rooted in inspiration and experimentation, partnerships with home design experts, a live pop-up experience in New York City, and more.
“We know the way consumers shop for home goods is centered around inspiration, and we have a unique opportunity to re-introduce current customers and invite new customers to think of Kohl’s when looking for inspiration for their home,” said Christie Raymond, chief marketing officer. “We’re prioritizing ways to connect, drive awareness and engage with home shoppers to enhance our credibility in the category, reinforce our compelling value, and provide new ideas and solutions that spark creativity for customers, to ensure Kohl’s is a top-of-mind destination for home decor.”
For more information and to see some of Kohl’s exciting new home products, visit stores nationwide and Kohls.com/home.
For more news of interest to the home goods industry, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
Summer Las Vegas Market Gears Up
With a dynamic showcase of more than 3,500 resources across furniture, home decor and gift categories and enriching programming designed to connect, Las Vegas Market hosts the west coast’s leading buying event this Summer. Registration is officially open for the July 28-Aug. 1 Market at World Market Center Las Vegas.
“Las Vegas Market provides a hub to discover the new and next in every category,” said Bob Maricich, ANDMORE CEO. “This summer, we leverage the availability of better home furnishings, celebrate veteran and emerging resources across gift and home and embrace top programming to best serve our retailers and designers.”
World Market Center Las Vegas serves as the western shopping destination this Summer with 3,500+ resources, including 450+ temporary exhibitors in The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas. With categories catered to every attendee, refreshing merchandise mixes and discovering the perfect match for design projects are made easy at July’s Market.
Permanent showrooms across 35 floors in Buildings A, B and C provide access to top furniture, home decor and gift brands, with highlights including bedding resources and design-forward furniture sourcing. As the national bedding market, buyers can find the greatest collection of mattress and bedding in Las Vegas, with nine floors of resources. Following its much-anticipated Winter launch, a design-driven sourcing destination on B2 makes its Summer debut in July with some eight brands offering on-trend products.
The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas is a must-visit destination within Las Vegas Market to see the latest products and trends in the gift and home industries, offering more than 450 gift and home temporary exhibitors presented in six categories: Design, Gift, Handmade, Home, Immediate Delivery and LUXE. The B6 Home Furnishings Temporaries present 100+ furniture temporary exhibitors, following its relocation from B2 in January.
A full list of Las Vegas Market exhibitors is available at LasVegasMarket.com/exhibitor/exhibitor-directory.
Leading Programming Supplements Premium Sourcing
Innovative programming returns to Market with events and inspiration dominating the design and business spaces. Las Vegas Market delivers keynote speakers, product displays, influencer programs and unmatched amenities over four days to round out the west coast’s favorite sourcing event.
Buyers can expect at-Market enrichment with CEU-accredited seminars, influencer and highlighted brand product displays, floor parties and daily amenities across the World Market Center Las Vegas campus. Curated event highlights include a Market Kickoff Party, a seminar and book signing by celebrity designer Roger Thomas, a gift-focused workshop with buying coach Kristin Fisher, an Ahead of the Curve panel in partnership with Luxe Magazine and the annual ANDYZ Awards honoring interior design excellence.
Las Vegas Market inspires with Market Snapshot on all Market social media channels, giving buyers a sneak peek into trending products and brands in the weeks leading up to the buying event. A Market Snapshot display is available in the Building C lobby, showcasing the Summer’s hottest new products. The Summer edition of ANDMORE’s newest influencer program, The ( A ) List, returns to Las Vegas for its sophomore session to bring Instagram fast finds and a Build ( A ) Room display to life, sourcing exclusively from Las Vegas Market exhibitors. A brand-new class of Market Pros also returns on the Market’s social media – @LasVegasMarket – with can’t-miss tips and Instagram takeovers.
Amenities include Buyer Breakfast in the Courtyard, floor parties, B6 Happy Hour and Happy Hour & Music in the Courtyard, Sunday, July 28 to Wednesday, July 31; and Happy Hour in the Expo at World Market Center, Sunday through Tuesday, July 30.
A full list of at-Market events and amenities will be announced in the coming weeks at LasVegasMarket.com/Explore/Events-and-Seminars.
Market Planning Tools
Las Vegas Market makes Market easy with tools to prepare attendees for sourcing and networking at the buying event.
New this summer in digital resources is the Market Planner. Launching in June, this web-based planning tool is an additional outlet designed for pre-show mapping and strategy. The @Market App, ANDMORE’s premier digital tool to navigate Market, returns to Summer Market for onsite exploration and networking before, during and after the event. All app capabilities are now available on iOS and Android devices.
Market information including an exhibitor directory, travel information and on-campus dining options are available on the Las Vegas Market website, LasVegasMarket.com. Find special hotel rates in the city at LasVegasMarket.com/Attend/Hotels, and follow @LasVegasMarket on Instagram and @LVMarket on Facebook to stay updated on featured products and Market tips for optimized shopping and community. The Las Vegas Market Preview Guide gives an inside scoop on Market resources for pre-Market planning, and Buyer’s Guide and EXPLORE – The Gift & Home Temporaries Magazine provide on-site guidance with complete lists of events, product offerings and articles on how to maximize Market.
For Summer 2024, permanent showrooms in Buildings A, B and C are open Sunday, July 28 – Wednesday, July 31, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Thursday, August 1, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. The Gift & Home Temporaries, located in The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, are open Sunday, July 28 – Tuesday, July 30, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Wednesday, July 31, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Home Furnishings Temporaries, newly located in Building B, Floor 6, are open Sunday, July 28 – Wednesday, July 31, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Thursday, Aug. 1, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Registration for the Summer 2024 Las Vegas Market is open now at LasVegasMarket.com/Market-Info/Registration-Details.
For more news of interest to the home furnishings and gift industries, subscribe to Kitchenware News & Housewares Review.
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