Las Vegas Market Unveils 2018 Global Goodness Winners

Furniture World News Desk on 1/20/2018

Las Vegas Market recently announced that four exhibitors – Arcadia Home, Home Trends & Design (HTD,) Pebble and Yumajai – are winners of its seventh annual Global Goodness Awards, recognizing furniture, home décor and gift companies for environmentally-friendly, sustainable and socially-responsible activities. The 2018 Global Goodness Awards will be presented during the Winter 2018 Las Vegas Market, running January 28 to February 1, 2018.

“Las Vegas Market buyers and exhibitors are extremely conscious of the ongoing impact that their purchasing and manufacturing decisions have on the overall health of the global environment, and they are seeking products and solutions that make a positive difference in the world around us,” said Esther Ossei-Anto, Marketing Manager, International Market Centers. “As the leading furniture, home decor and gift destination in the western United States, Las Vegas Market is proud to demonstrate a continued commitment to recognizing social responsibility, sustainability and corporate good citizenship with the annual Global Goodness Awards.” (NOTE: Additional details about Global Goodness are available at: https://www.lasvegasmarket.com/global-goodness-w17.)

From a record number of entries, a three-person panel of industry sustainability and social responsibility experts – Colvin English of ByHand Consulting, Susan Inglis of the Sustainable Furnishings Council and Maud Obe of Aid to Artisans –selected the three winners: Arcadia Home, Home Trends & Design (HTD) and Pebble from each of the Market’s core industries of home décor, furniture and gifts, respectively. A fourth “People’s Choice” winner – Yumajai – was determined by popular voting on the Las Vegas Market Facebook page.

Arcadia Home, based in Brooklyn, NY, employs artisans located in Peru and India to create carefully crafted, thoughtfully produced, eco-friendly, home and holiday décor. Founded by Dawn Kikel in 2001, Arcadia Home designs are made of natural fibers, sustainable resources and recycled materials. Arcadia Home is a member of the Alliance for Artisan Enterprise, which works to preserve traditional art forms and techniques; to provide steady employment for artisans around the world (with an emphasis on women,) and to foster economically viable conditions for the practice of craft. https://arcadiahomeinc.com/

Home Trends & Design (HTD,) based in Austin, TX, specializes in constructing solid wood furniture, industrial accents, upholstery and lighting. HTD constructs 70% of its furniture from mango wood, a sustainable hardwood that is harvested from mature trees that are no longer able to produce fruit. The company also offers a wide variety of reclaimed industrial furniture, crafted exclusively from recycled materials, creating a vintage look that blends art and function. HTD is a founding Member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council and the Mango Foundation. http://www.htddirect.com/

Pebble is a social enterprise that employs more than 12,000 rural Bangladeshi women to produce handmade and Fair Trade baby rattles, soft toys, hats, blankets and more. The Pebble brand is distributed by Kahiniwalla, based in Canton, OH, a retailer and wholesaler established in 2010 by Austin Miller. Previously a product designer with the Mennonite Central Committee's job creation program in Bangladesh, Miller wanted to continue helping to provide employment for the poor of Bangladesh and decided to do so by distributing high-quality baby products handmade by these artisans throughout North America. http://kahiniwalla.com

People’s Choice Award winner Yumajai is a fashion brand based in Colombia, known for creating vibrant, beautiful jewelry and personal accessories. Founded in 2016, Yumajai is a social venture that aims to create opportunities for artisan communities in Latin America by innovating and commercializing their products, supporting the culture of the indigenous tribes through the preservation of crafts, designs and ancestral wisdom. Yumajai co-creates vibrant, beautiful pieces with talented indigenous artisans fusing ancient crafts with modern design. Each purchase funds one hour of training for a group of local artisans on three main topics: creativity, leadership, and entrepreneurship. The word “Yumajai” is drawn from the native Embera tribe in Colombia; it refers to the Spirit (Jai) of the Rainbow (Yuma) and symbolizes that each person is a unique color in the world, and each color is an important part of the whole tribe, community and world. https://www.yumajai.com/

Las Vegas Market showcases Fair Trade, sustainable and socially-responsible products and producers across its campus, with specific concentrations of these resources in the Pavilions at Las Vegas Market. In Pavilion 1, HANDMADE showcases nearly 75 unique handcrafted, artisanal products, as well Aid to Artisans’ inaugural “Training for Entrepreneurs in Artisan Markets” (TEAM) initiative with as an innovative, first-ever partnership showcasing 20 first-time artisan exhibitors. Pavilions 2 and 3 also feature an array of ethnic handicrafts, vintage, antique, recycled and repurposed merchandise within DISCOVERIES: The Antique Vintage Marketplace. The Pavilions at Las Vegas Market run Sunday, January 28, through Wednesday, January 31.

Through an ongoing partnership with the Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), Las Vegas Market also creates “One Good World,” a guide to sustainable furniture and home décor products to help connect legitimate suppliers and retailers in this new era of sustainability and accountability. The One Good World effort includes a sustainable products locator program, showcasing relevant at-Market resources, as well as expanded educational offerings addressing issues and opportunities connected with sustainability.

More about Las Vegas Market: Las Vegas Market is the nation’s fastest growing gift and home décor market and the leading furniture marketplace in the western U.S., presenting 4,000+ gift, home décor and furniture resources in an unrivaled market destination. Las Vegas Market features thousands of gift, furniture and home décor lines, allowing for cross-category commerce among these industries. The Winter 2018 Las Vegas Market runs January 28 to February 1, 2018. For more information, visit www.lasvegasmarket.com.

More about International Market Centers, L.P.: Las Vegas Market is produced by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC), the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. International Market Centers owns and operates 12.2 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit http://imcenters.com/.