The International Casual Furnishings Association (ICFA) will honor the late Merv Conn, vice president of Mallin Casual Furniture, and Joe Watson, owner of Watson’s Fireplace & Patio (Lutherville, Maryland), with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2016. Conn, who died in 2013, joined Mallin in 1963 as shipping manager and worked his way up to general manager. In 1991, when the company was purchased by Minson Corp., Conn was named vice president of sales and marketing. Under his leadership, Mallin was re-established as a leader in the industry for comfort and style.

Conn was active in the casual-furniture industry for nearly two decades, joining the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association (SCFMA) board in 1997. He was elected an officer in 2002, served as president from 2004 through 2006, and was chair from 2006 through 2008. He was the last chair of SCFMA before it became ICFA. Conn was an expert negotiator, with a keen eye for styles that would become top sellers. Brenda Pereyda, his longtime Mallin colleague, says, “With his dedication, vision, hard work, and creative thoughts, he helped not only Mallin grow, but the industry in general.”

Watson sold Fuller®Brush products door to door in high school, but his penchant for sales continued, resulting in his acquisition of a garden shop in Towson, Maryland, in 1955, after serving in the Air Force. In just over a decade, the garden shop became a business earning $6 million to $7 million. Watson’s brothers joined him, and they moved the garden center to nearby Lutherville in 1961, where burgeoning residential development led to nearly instant success. In 1986, Watson took the patio and fireplace departments, along with some adjoining real estate, and opened Watson’s Fireplace & Patio.

Watson was active in leading the Casual Furniture Retailers Association (CFRA) prior to its merger with ICFA in 2008. He can’t imagine his business success, he says, without the brainstorming and networking that he enjoyed with his CFRA colleagues.

Conn and Watson will be honored at the ICFA Awards Gala at The Field Museum on September 22, during Casual Market Chicago. Tickets are available at www.icfanet.org. .