Monday, October 26, 2009

10-23-09

How time flies! Seems like I just did this.

As a reminder, please SIGN IN when you visit the showroom. We know some of you hate it (don't understand why) but it helps us in many ways. We track our traffic and sales, and it is very instructive to see what happens from day to day and month to month. It helps us learn names and remember conversations and who we had them with. We do not EVER share your information with outside vendors, and as I said, it is helpful in many ways. Please humor us in this small matter--so "enter and sign in please."
If you know what that quote is from, you are as old as I am, if not older!!! You young'uns, take my word for it, and SIGN IN!! Thanks!

We continue to get rave reviews for the Deborah Flate Seminars. Tess Horak of Inventive Interiors by Tess told us that she has participated in other coachings and that she learned more in the first class than she had in an entire series! Similar comments have come from other participants. If there is interest, we can consider doing a second series in the spring. Let us know if you would like to be on the list of possible participants. Details on the location of the remaining classes is on the schedule at right. If you need further guidance, just call us. From now on the LCD projector and screen will be used, and the room will be set up classroom style with tables, so note taking will be easier.

Among the topics of ChrisAnn Komosa's Hunter Douglas seminar is coordinating Skyline with Designer Screen and Roller shades, Pirouette, a new program from Chalet Woods and ways use upgrades to increase your profits. Designer Screen shades and Pirouette are very hot right now so don't miss this. This class is aimed at the things that seem to "fall through the cracks" when selling hard window coverings. Call us to RSVP.
Recliners!

Some of you may have seen the article in the October 21 Daily Herald called "Recliner no Decliner". According to the article, Furniture Today reported that despite the overall downturn in furniture sales, recliner sales have increased in 2009 and are projected to climb in 2010! This is attributed to the "stay-cation" frame of mind, home theaters and the aging of the baby boomers. I know that many designers do not like recliners, and associate them with the big, saddlebag styles of the 70' and 80's. However, Taylor King and Bradington Young both have many styles that would complement any room, such as the transitional chair from Taylor King shown here. Why send them to the Lazy Boy store when you can give them a better quality chair that satisfies the design requirements you have for the room? Check it out at CDT!

Taylor King October Sale

Last Week!!! Get those orders in!!!
Don't forget the Taylor King fall sale. You will receive an extra 10% off any Taylor King upholstery during October.

We will have a new Taylor King grouping on the floor by the middle of the month to inspire you! on the floor. We received our new full sized fabric samples today. They will be on the floor soon. Take advantage of this chance for great pricing on this very popular collection.

Please get your orders in by 3:00 P.M. on October 30.

Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

If you are selling, or have sold Architella shades this year, your client may be eligible for a Federal Tax Credit up to $1,500!!! We will have the forms at CDT shortly. This is retroactive to January 1, 2009 and runs through December 31, 2010. What a fantastic selling tool.

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT

Monday, October 19, 2009

10-16-09

Fall is racing by, and we are packing the calendar with all sorts of interesting programs for you to attend and develop your arsenal of skills. Then we can do the holiday thing, collapse for a few days and start over with a new year. Doesn't the idea of a "new year" sound great?

With the crummy weather comes cold and flu season. All of us here do your very best to keep any cooties to ourselves...even if this means staying home. It's always best to stay in and take care of ourselves. Those clients can wait, and you're doing the rest of the world a favor. Some things are better not shared! We hope all of you will stay healthy!

As you may have noticed, vendors are not stocking inventory the way they used to. Often, fabric will not even be ordered from a mill until they have an order for it, which may mean several week back order. Fabrics are also discontinued at a moment's notice. While this has always been true, its worse than ever now. We get discontinued lists monthly, and occasional updates in between. Because we recognize the problems this can cause, we do our best to keep our racks "clean". The books are much harder to keep updated.

If you are working with a fabric of critical importance to your design, ALWAYS check stock before you plan a room around it. If the client does not decide promptly, check again before finalizing your plans. Remember, you can call or visit Robert Allen and Duralee's websites to check stock, or call CDT and our memo room staff will be happy to check availability for you. Remember though, that info is only current for a short time.

On a happier note, if you are ordering, or have recently ordered Duette Architella shades, you MAY be eligible to receive a Federal Tax credit for up to $1,500!!!! This is retroactive to January 1, 2009 and runs through December 31, 2010. WOO HOO---this is part of the stimulus plan. Not all Architellas qualify, and we do not have full details yet, but stay tuned!
Clodagh

Clodagh is a widely recognized leader in the field of environmentally
responsible interior design. She has partnered with Duralee to create 5 color stories for the "Global Passage" collection. These fabrics look beautiful, feel wonderful and are anywhere from 51% to 100% "green", either recyclable, made from post-consumer materials or sustainable fibers.
Waste has been reduced as much as possible in creating the fabrics and the books themselves. Fiber content includes a variety of environmentaly conscious polyesters, organic cotton, Bamboo, Hemp, and Flax. Did you know that it takes 16 20 oz bottles to create one yard of fabric? Come meet Gina, our new rep, see the next generation of "green design", and learn more!
Taylor King October Sale

Don't forget the Taylor King fall sale. You will receive an extra 10% off any Taylor King upholstery during October.

We will have a new Taylor King grouping on the floor by the middle of the month to inspire you! on the floor. We received our new full sized fabric samples today. They will be on the floor soon. Take advantage of this chance for great pricing on this very popular collection.

Please get your orders in by 3:00 P.M. on October 30.

Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT

Monday, October 12, 2009

10-9-09

Our most pressing item today is the location of the Deborah Flate followup classes. Tuesday's class will be held in the CDT showroom. Our original intention was to hold them in Building 3 and set up classroom style with tables. However there are some electrical issues with the room, so just come to CDT. Hopefully the next rest of the series will be down the street.
Fabricut Fabrics - Zenith and Meridian

We just received these two new books from Fabricut and could not wait to tell you about them. Zenith looks like raw silk, has a great hand and comes in dozens of great colors. It is a "Green" fabric and passes Oeko Tex Standard 100.
It has a Wyzenbeek rating of 201,000 double rubs. (No that is not a typo!!)
Meridian is not green but has the same durability rating and great look as Zenith. It's more textural, almost a burlap with an extensive color palette Zenith retails for only $53.90. Meridian retails for $53.00
Taylor King October Sale

Don't forget the Taylor King fall sale. You will receive an extra 10% off any Taylor King upholstery during October.

We will have a new Taylor King grouping on the floor by the middle of the month to inspire you! on the floor. We received our new full sized fabric samples today. They will be on the floor soon. Take advantage of this chance for great pricing on this very popular collection.

Please get your orders in by 3:00 P.M. on October 30.

Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT

Monday, October 5, 2009

10-2-09

Happy October!! I imagine that many of you will be busy like I will be, putting out your fall decor this weekend. I hope it's a nice weekend, as our nice days are numbered.

If anyone is still interested in signing up for the Deborah Flate seminars, they begin on Tuesday, October 13. The sign up form is no longer in the newsletter, but you can call us, or go to the CDT blog on our website and find it in the past few emails.
Artifacts

If you have not looked at the Artifacts catalog lately, remember to refresh your memory about this outstanding collection. This is perfect for that customer who wants a high end casual yet elegant look. Their styles are unique, ranging from traditional to contemporary, with primitive and funky tossed in for even more variety. The array of finishes is unsurpassed. Most items can be customized. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have, or request a quote. Remember, many clients will gladly purchase a more costly item if it is customized and totally unique. Artifacts fits the bill.
Taylor King October Sale

Don't forget the Taylor King fall sale. You will receive an extra 10% off any Taylor King upholstery during October.

We will have a new Taylor King grouping on the floor by the middle of the month to inspire you! on the floor. We received our new full sized fabric samples today. They will be on the floor soon. Take advantage of this chance for great pricing on this very popular collection.

Please get your orders in by 3:00 P.M. on October 30.

Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT

9-28-09

Hello All!
I almost hate to say this, so lets all knock wood...things have been busier this week than we have seen in a while. Everyone reports that clients are coming out of hibernation. Lets hope this is true and that it continues. Accessories have just flown out the door. We are re-arranging the showroom this weekend so new things will be out next week. Do an extra good "browse around when you are in next.

A word of caution...if you have a problem with a vendor, delivery service etc. and feel the need to vent, please remember to come in to the office to do it. Remember that there are frequently designers on the floor with clients who do not need to hear about our difficulties. The same goes for discussing discounts. We had a situation recently that required some damage control so let's all of us try to be discreet.
Chicago Design Team on Facebook!

Many of you have been following us on Facebook. Recently our Facebook "friend" page was shut down. We have started a new "Fan" page that you all can take part in. You can click on
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arlington-Heights/Chicago-Design-Team/139183819750 to see our Fan page and become a fan. This will allow you to contact us and keep up with the latest CDT info through this portal! Thanks to Andrea for keeping us up on all this new fangled stuff! And nods to Deborah Flate of course!!
Deborah Flate Seminar

We had an excellent turnout for Deborah's training session. She rally gave us a lot to think about. I am leaving this form on the nesletter for one more week in case anyone wants to come to the follow ups. You can sign up for these sessions even if you did not attend the first class.

In order to print the form below, place your mouse over the image. Then click with the right button on your mouse. A menu will pop up and you can select "print picture."

Do it NOW while you're thinking of it. Space is limited.
Register Now


Barclay Butera


THE ARLINGTON DESIGN CENTER PRESENTS

WEST COAST INTERIOR DESIGNER
BARCLAY BUTERA
SPONSORED BY KRAVET AND LUXE MAGAZINE

PRESENTING
DECORATING IN A NEW ECONOMY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH
11:00 AM PRESENTATION

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A LUNCHEON AND BOOK SIGNING FOR
BARCLAY BUTERA LIVING IN STYLE
FOLLOWING HIS PRESENTATION

KRAVET BUILDING 2
3425 N. RIDGE AVENUE
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL 60004

PLEASE RESPOND BY SEPTEMBER 25TH
847-394-4364 EXT 26

Due to a miss up in the mailing lists, you may or may not receive a formal invitation. Please feel free to RSVP and come!


Ultimate Accents

We want everyone to be familiar with this unique collection of decorated accent furniture. The price is just amazing for the quality. The drawer construction is great, many drawers are felt lined and several chests come with the decorative painting all the way around, including the back. The catalog is in a pink binder on the accessory shelves. Be sure to take a look. We were VERY impressed when we saw them at Market.

Fall Temple Sale

This is the last week for our semi-annual sale on Temple Upholstery! This perennial favorite is sure to please your client in both style and price. From September 1-30 take an additional 10% off.
Marketing tip: Call ALL of your clients to tell them about this sale. Download photos from the Temple website and make fliers to mail out. This gives you a great excuse to contact everyone. The price point of Temple makes it a great choice for clients to jump back into buying mode! Get on the phone!!!

All orders must be in no later than 3:00 PM on September 30 to allow time for last minute orders to get placed.
Century Sale

Small correction from last week: Don't forget about the Century sale! 10% of all CASE GOOD collections except: Monarch, Grand Tour and Lana Home collections. This offer is good until September 30th! Make sure to get your orders in by 3:00 PM on the 30th to allow for order entry.

Taylor King October Sale

OK...this week I will actually tell you about this sale. You will receive an extra 10% off any Taylor King upholstery during October.
Please get your orders in by 3:00 P.M. on October 30.

We will have a new Taylor King grouping on the floor by the middle of the month to inspire you! We have the newest fabrics in a basket on the floor. Hanger samples will be here soon. Take advantage of this chance for great pricing on this very popular collection.
Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT

9-18-09

Our 2 fall events, the Deborah Flate sales and marketing training, and the Barclay Butera appearance and book signing, are coming up fast. If you have not signed up for these events, please do so as soon as possible so that we can plan seating and refreshments.

Last week a designer expressed concern that the first Deborah Flate presentation was just "a sales pitch for the follow up classes", and wondering if it was worth attending. Let me take this opportunity to clarify this for everyone. Deborah is committed to making this first class a valuable use of every attendee's time. The topics were chosen because they are areas where many of us are weak. Let's face it, we do not really NEED more classes on product or color or design. Those are fun, and within our comfort zone but we are all pretty well versed in these areas. Subjects like branding and social networking are uncharted territory for many of us, due to age, lack of computer skills or just being right-brained...(or are we artistic types left brained??) I rest my case.

Anyway, the small admission price is a way to make having a speaker like Deborah available to all of us at a reasonable price. We also wanted to ensure that the audience is made up of designers who truly want to learn about the topics. A small fee helps keep the group to a more manageable size which streamlines things, especially when it comes to questions. For some designers, the first class will be enough. For those who are ready to take their marketing efforts to the next level, more detailed, more personalized information will be needed. The follow up classes are for them. Rest assured, you will get your money's worth whichever route you chose.

If you are planning on being in business and growing in the next few years, it is important to keep up with the current ways of marketing. I was at Barnes and Noble and Borders yesterday, and the business aisles were full of books on these topics. It's important to keep up with ALL the trends...not just the ones that deal with decorating. Think back even 5 years ago. Many of us did not even do e-mail. Only a few designers had web sites. Marketing is undergoing a huge change. All of us need to "catch the wave".

HOT TIPS
Jasper Cabinet has a new catalog. In order to promote it, they are offering 10% off on any domestically made pieces, and 15% off imported items.

Cox now has a collection of "Perfect Fit" benches, which can be ordered in 22", 35" or up to 72" lengths.

Sam Moore has added new wood finish colors.

Big Fish is offering 15% off from now till the end of the month

Keep reading for more sales and promotions highlighted below.

Help us solve a mystery!
It has come to our attention that during the course of the past few months, about a dozen items have disappeared from the showroom. It is hard to imagine, given the size and description of the items, that someone stole them. They would have to be a better thief than designer! Clearly we have to tighten up our procedures for accessory loan outs. So, effective immediately, all items going out on approval will go out via the memo room door ONLY.

Meanwhile, if you took out accessories and have not been billed, please let us know.

Did anyone buy the small metal cone-shaped planters with greenery that were on the wall by the memo room? The white ceramic rooster??? We are baffled!


Deborah Flate Seminar

In order to print the form below, place your mouse over the image. Then click with the right button on your mouse. A menu will pop up and you can select "print picture."

Do it NOW while your'e thinking of it. Space is limited.
Register Now


Barclay Butera


THE ARLINGTON DESIGN CENTER PRESENTS

WEST COAST INTERIOR DESIGNER
BARCLAY BUTERA
SPONSORED BY KRAVET AND LUXE MAGAZINE

PRESENTING
DECORATING IN A NEW ECONOMY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH
11:00 AM PRESENTATION

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A LUNCHEON AND BOOK SIGNING FOR
BARCLAY BUTERA LIVING IN STYLE
FOLLOWING HIS PRESENTATION

KRAVET BUILDING 2
3425 N. RIDGE AVENUE
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL 60004

PLEASE RESPOND BY SEPTEMBER 25TH
847-394-4364 EXT 26

Due to a miss up in the mailing lists, you may or may not receive a formal invitation. Please feel free to RSVP and come!

FFDM

FFDM is the latest addition to the CDT showroom. Many designers requested that we add this line, and we are happy to make it a reality. You will find excellent quality and a variety of beautiful designs at price points that will make your clients happy. Styles range from traditional to contemporary, with a bit of mission, West Indies and country tossed in!
Be sure to take a look when you are next in the showroom. We know that you will like what you see!

Fall Temple Sale

It's time for our semi-annual sale on Temple Upholstery! This perennial favorite is sure to please your client in both style and price. From September 1-30 take an additional 10% off.
Marketing tip: Call ALL of your clients to tell them about this sale. Download photos from the Temple website and make fliers to mail out. This gives you a great excuse to contact everyone. The price point of Temple makes it a great choice for clients to jump back into buying mode! Get on the phone!!!

All orders must be in no later than 3:00 PM on September 30 to allow time for last minute orders to get placed.
Century Sale

Don't forget about the Century sale! 10% of all collections except: Monarch, Grand Tour and Lana Home collections. This offer is good until September 30th! Make sure to get your orders in by 3:00 PM on the 30th to allow for order entry.

Hunter Douglas Holiday Promo

We are happy to announce the Hunter Douglas fall 2009 promotion, "The Season of Giving"! From September 25-December 15 there will unprecedented savings with no minimums or maximums on the most popular window fashions, including Duette, Silhouette, Luminette and Pirouette. Your customers can save from $25-$600 per window while enjoying beautiful new looks and greater energy efficiency.

Help your customers celebrate the holidays with a nice rebate check!

As usual, details and rebate forms are available at CDT
Taylor King October Sale

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