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Cover Story : Story of The Glasser Group
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From the beginning |
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I was born in the Bronx," said Stu Glasser. We spoke of many things during my visit to Tampa, the city he now calls home, along with his wife, best friend, and business partner Linda. "I grew up in St. Albans, Queens. My dad and all my uncles were in the glass business... |
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Glasser - Flotation Era |
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Like many of his peers in the waterbed business there were boom years, and there were the regrets. Glasser's experience ran the gamut from starry eyed wealth to losing it all. "My experience during that time has seasoned me," said Glasser... |
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Glasser Group - The Logistics Business |
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Here we offer a manufacturer much, much more. In essence we develop detailed marketing and business plans for many of our key vendors. In a lot of instances we are a manufacturer's customer service department, their traffic department... |
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The presentation is everything |
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I was a very successful retailer," Glasser said. "I understand what they deal with and struggle with every day. We are convinced that by equipping a futon retailer's sales force with the critical information they need to sell... |
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Glasser Group Key People |
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Generation of detailed reports and manuals for each retailer, with full color sales charts, margin analysis, price point analysis, detailed floor plans, and statistical back-up materials.... |
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Special Feature : The Sun Sets On New West
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New West - From The Source |
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From The Source relied heavily on regional distributors to fuel its growth. The most important was New West, the distributor of futons on the west coast. In addition to warehousing From The Source products, manufactured its own line of pine futon frames.... |
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Wal-Mart Venture |
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When we started to sell to mass merchants, the company lost its focus," said Mario Morales. "You've got to sell to one or the other... |
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Aftermath - What went wrong? |
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The small New West staff went all-out to present their new introductions at the Futon Expo in Phoenix. This was the last stand, and it had to count. The New West display was fresh and exciting. The sales reps were psyched...
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Publishers Forum : Futon Life's memory lane
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Publishing Futon Life - From the Start |
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The following is a year by year retrospective of futon furniture highlights and other interesting things that happened to us all in the past ten years of our "Futon" life... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 89 to Winter 90 |
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We covered some very basic, common sense topics in the first issue. In fact, we still continue to cover some very basic common sense issues even now. I guess the difference is we didn't know how valuable the basics were back then.... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 90 to Winter 91 |
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The first ever "Futon Primer" hits the streets. This would be the first of several new benchmarks for the magazine. I believe when we honestly reported on the actual events around the industry began to make believers out of people outside the circle... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 91 to Winter 92 |
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Davis Furniture's product was featured on the cover but the big thrill for me was the mention of Simmons and Sealy looking at the futon business. I had always believed that they would come in and help with the exposure of the futon concept to... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 92 to Winter 92-93 |
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Bob Naboicheck was still thinking black and white when we did this cover. Our second survey's results were released with $399 being the most common price point for a futon, cover and futon frame ensemble.... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 93 to Winter 93-94 |
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When Dan Weiss called and began to talk about wanting to do a cover I balked at first. I had always viewed Sun Tui as shrouded in mystery. They were selling thousands of mattresses and were now moving into the futon frame business. I consented to do the story but sensed.... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 94 to Winter 94-95 |
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Up to this time we had charged our advertisers for the cover and cover story. During a trip to Orlando to check out the Expo site Bob Naboicheck, Irma McInness, and I drove to Tampa. During the hour or so drive Bob drove the car and me into the free cover era.... |
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 95 to Winter 95-96 |
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Part two of the Futon Primer and a great story on the state-of-the-industry in Europe by Carlo Merli (with Dale Read doing the ghost writing) appeared in this issue. It was also the first of two covers with white backgrounds...
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Futon Life's memory lane Spring 97 to Winter 97-98 |
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Our fourth iteration of the Futon Primer clarified some old issues and also had a new section on the botany and characteristics of cotton fibers. This was also our largest issue ever with seventy-two action packed pages.... |
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The Road Not Taken : The World's Best Seltzer Bottling Futon Factory
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Mixing Pittsburgh Seltzer and Futons |
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Dave and his partner, Evan Hirsh, have been longtime friends and partners in the futon business. Last year, they teamed up with a third friend to buy the Pittsburgh Seltzer Works.. |
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Industry Updates : Updates on Styles, Designs and Options
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Another Award For Oak & Leather Futon Designer Steve Sanfilippo |
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Its new line of well finished and packaged hardwood beds and accessories for the bedroom. There are four models, designed to retail from $299 to $450, and the margins will be excellent. "This has been a productive area for numerous speciality home.... |
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Supersizing Sleepers |
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These will be marketed as "Convertible Sofa Sleepers" in order to separate them from the rest of the "futon" line. The company feels that diversity within their futon frame line will prove to be a strong suit when it comes to gaining placement on showroom floors... |
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Tri-Core foam cavity futon mattresses are here |
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With its 100% satisfaction guarantee is retailing very well after its debut last year stated Sheppard, its designer. By combining Reflex Foam and our revolutionary tri-zone spring system we're able to offer softer seating plus total lumbar support while sleeping... |
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Genuine Leather Futon Cover by Henri Julian |
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Two of the home furnishings industry's hottest categories - leather and futons - are brought together when the futon business' newest entrant - Henri Julian Leather Futon - brings new genuine leather futon covers to the markets this spring.... |
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Business to Business : Receiving Promotion and Starting a New Firm
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Driving force behind Casual Lifestyles |
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"For 14 years we've concentrated on futon products," said Robin. "In the last year especially, our customers have asked for a broader range of home fashion products including bed-tops and window treatments. Our company has refocused... |
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Surveys and Studies : FAI's Futon Marketing Council
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