PRIDE FAMILY BRANDS (FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA) recently promoted Rory Rehmert to the position of senior vice president of sales and marketing and hired Erwin Gremmer as vice president of sales. With his promotion, Rehmert will continue to oversee the entire sales and marketing effort for the manufacturer, including coordination of the company’s independent-representative force.

Rehmert is a casual-furnishings veteran with more than 35 years of management experience in sales and marketing. He also has held multiple leadership positions within the casual industry, including chairing the board of directors for the International Casual Furnishings Association.

Gremmer will be responsible…

DUDLEY FLANDERS AND BUZZ HOMSY have been named by the International Casual Furnishings Association (ICFA) as the 2015 recipients of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Flanders founded Lloyd Flanders with his father, Don, in 1982, and Homsy is co-owner and founder of California Backyard (Sacramento, California), a five-store retail operation.

Flanders started working for Flanders Manufacturing (Fort Smith, Arkansas) immediately following his graduation from college, in 1974. The case-goods company was founded by his parents in 1954 and sold to Riverside Furniture in 1969. A year later, they founded Flanders Industries, after purchasing a company that manufactured metal outdoor…

MARY FRUEHAUF, PRESIDENT and owner of Fruehauf ’s Patio & Garden Center (Boulder, Colorado), died recently after a long battle with ovarian cancer. According to her colleagues, Fruehauf was a hardworking, dedicated, and passionate person.

She had been involved in the casual-furniture industry and had worked at Fruehauf ’s since her parents, Vic and Gretchen Fruehauf, started it in 1977. Over that time, with a lot of hard work, she grew Fruehauf ’s into the successful business that it is today.

She was highly engaged with the industry, serving in various roles in the Casual Furniture Retailers Association…

BROWN JORDAN OUTDOOR KITCHENS’ new line of mobile outdoor kitchens for the hospitality industry received a 2015 IIDA/HD Product Design Award. Honored in the case-goods and freestanding-furniture category, Brown Jordan Outdoor Kitchens accepted the award at this year’s HD Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, in May.

Award winners were selected based on innovation, technical advances, cost effectiveness, environmental responsibility, aesthetics, both client and user benefits, and need and use in the hospitality industry. The esteemed panel of judges included Fabio Grego, American Institute of Architects, LEED®associate, Hyatt International (Chicago, Illinois); Scott Hierlinger, International Interior Design Association (IIDA), LEED AP,…

HEARTH & HOME TECHNOLOGIES (HHT) celebrated another fantastic year with a week in Mexico. The 150 top-selling customers and their guests relaxed in Puerto Vallarta with HHT members from April 27 through May 1, 2015.

In addition to enjoying the amenities of the all-inclusive resort, customers experienced catamaran sailing, zip lining, waterfall rappelling, golf, spa treatments, a private farewell dinner, and entertainment on Las Caletas Island. Owner winners were selected based on the highest year-over-year growth or highest individual brand volume; sales-representative winners were selected based on the most products sold.

JOHN JACKLICH HAS BEEN WITH M&G DURAVENT for 56 years in many respected positions, including president. M&G DuraVent has deep appreciation of Jacklich’s efforts and achievements. He and his contributions will be missed.

In 1956, the Peerless Manufacturing Company, a manufacturer of wall furnaces, unit heaters, and room heaters, decided to get into the venting business. To accomplish this goal, it hired an engineer from General Electric to be the new general manager. The engineer was Alex Boutacoff, a Russian with some farsighted ideas for the emerging venting industry. As a result, the DuraVent Corp., a subsidiary of Peerless…

TWIN-STAR INTERNATIONAL (DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA)BEACH, FLORIDA) recently made changes to its management team to continue its objective of strengthening its alignment with customers, suppliers, and employees while upholding its mission of designing and delivering luxury home-furnishing products, stoves/ heaters, and consumer electronic accessories at mass price points. As part of the reorganization, Pete Harper (previously vice president and CFO) was promoted to the position of co-president and CFO of Twin-Star International. Harper will retain his CFO role and will assume responsibility for worldwide operations, human resources, information technology, and customer service.

Marc Sculler (previously senior vice president of Bell’O…

THE OUTDOOR GREATROOM COMPANY NOW offers a DIY solution for those who want to build unique firepits. The company’s line of hardscape gas-firepit kits, including the Hudson Stone™gas-firepit kit, makes creating a uniquely designed custom firepit table easy, fast, and affordable.

The Hudson Stone kit (which includes a DIY-38 Crystal Fire™ burner, Hudson Stone units, a control panel, a venting block, and lava rock) is easy to assemble. It comes set up for natural gas, but can be converted to LP. The Outdoor GreatRoom Company’s other DIY hardscape firepit kits accommodate every design criterion and are available in round,…