by HIGH POINT — The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame is considering legal action against the International Textile Alliance (ITA) and Interwoven, the trade show it hosts for textiles used in home furnishings. The recently announced ITA honor bears the name of the industry-wide organization commonly known as ”the Hall of Fame” founded, in 1988 as the industry’s most prestigious honor.
“The American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame has spent millions of dollars to establish the brand and more recently to construct a bricks and mortar Hall of Fame as the industry’s home to honor our leaders, to gather and to learn,” said Jeremy Hoff, board chairman and chief executive officer of Hooker Home Furnishings. “We have inducted members, donors, ongoing supporters, annual Foundation members, Paul Broyhill Leaders, participants in our leadership institute, board members, events and museum exhibits representing individuals in the textiles field. It is in our logo and the name on the outside of our building.”
Satya Tiwari, chairman of the organization’s board of directors and chief executive officer of Surya, purchased Mitchell Gold a few years ago.
“The rug side of the business has always held a great appreciation for color and patterns but now that we own an upholstery manufacturing division, I recognize even more so just how critical fabrics are to upholstery – to what sells and what doesn’t sell,” he said. “For ITA to maintain that textiles and their members aren’t a part of the home furnishings industry is just incomprehensible. Even their showrooms are located in the heart of the High Point Market showroom district, with several just across the street from the Hall of Fame.”
“As we all know and appreciate, textile fabrics used in upholstery, pillows, draperies, bed coverings, linens and more are a crucial element of home furnishings,” says John Schultz, Board second vice president and co-CEO of John V. Schultz Furniture and Levin Furniture. “We all know that fabrics introduce color, patterns and tactile textures as a vital and significant element of what makes us a fashion industry and turn a house into a home,. So much so that our Selection Committee actively considers this segment of the industry for induction.”
The selection process used for the Hall of Fame was adopted many years ago after a board committee took two years to diligently study other industries including sports, manufacturing and entertainment, explained Karen McNeill Pond, chief executive officer.
She told Home News Now that the use of the name already has created confusion in the industry, particularly given the timing of nominations and the selection process.
“It’s really unfortunate,” she said. “We’ve invested millions of dollars in terms of building our brand… .”We are certainly not against them having an award, as there are many awards in this industry. It could be anything they wanted.”
She also noted that there are several textile industry leaders that are in the Hall of Fame and that the it would like to include more members from this segment of the industry.
“Other segments of in the industry have recognized people in textiles, but the textile world has not nominated themselves,” she said.
“To copy our name and award has already created confusion,” says Gat Caperton, board first vice president and founder of case goods manufacturer Gat Creek. “Moreover, the timing and manner in which ITA has chosen to position and launch its new venture is uncannily similar to ours, opening their nominations at the same time and adopting a selection criterion that just changes a few words. ITA has even announced that they are going to establish a Wall of Fame again, which we established decades ago. There is confusion about whether this new award is an adjunct or subset related to us.”
Added Hoff, “It is for these reasons that we are defending not just our brand but our very name for past and future inducted members of the Hall of Fame representing the textiles and upholstery segments. We are protecting the value of receiving the industry’s highest honor.”
“This whole situation is unfortunate,” says Greg Avitabile, Board secretary-treasurer. “There is such an easy solution: choose a different name, a worthy name, for the textiles honor. That is all that we are asking.”
Home News Now also has reached out to ITA for comment and will update this story as developments arise.
