WHFA’s 2010 Western Retailer of the Year, Jim Hering and Ron Werner, owners of HW Home, Boulder, Colo.
The Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA) announced HW Home of Boulder, CO as their 2010 Western Retailer of the Year. The Western Retailer of the Year award is bestowed upon a home furnishings retailer that exemplifies exceptional store design, innovative advertising and brand marketing, unwavering commitment to community and the environment, outstanding operations and a continuing dedication to the home furnishings industry. Nominated and judged by a panel of industry peers, the Western Retailer of the Year Award is the home furnishings industry's highest honor.
“We are very proud to honor HW Home as our 2010 Western Retailer of the Year,” said Sharron Bradley, WHFA’s executive director. “With their dedication to detail and customer satisfaction, HW Home exemplifies everything an exceptional retailer strives to be.”
In 1998, co-founders Jim Hering and Ron Werner visited Ron’s sister in Boulder, Colo. to design the interior of her new home and immediately saw an opportunity to bring fashion-forward designs and styles to the area. An idea for a high-end, urban eclectic home furnishings boutique store was born and in 1999, Jim and Ron introduced HW Home to their loyal Colorado customers. HW Home saw instant success and outgrew their first location within a year. Today, the little boutique store has grown into four showroom locations and a thriving eCommerce business with approximately 40 employees.
HW Home measures their success solely by their customer’s satisfaction. Their focus is on quality, style and value while delivering exceptional customer service. Hering says, “We strive to set ourselves apart from our competitors daily. We need to look better, be better and deliver more than others.”
Hering and Werner have made their business open to their customers’ four-legged friends by welcoming them into their showrooms. Hering and Werner’s strong love for animals has also made them active with Humane Society of Boulder Valley. During the annual HW Home Warehouse Sale and other events, the Humane Society brings out their mobile pet adoption vehicle and finds new homes for the animals. HW Home also sponsors other organizations in the area including The Matthew Shepard Foundation, where Werner serves on the Board. The store often hosts events for different organizations such as Colorado Youth Tennis Foundation, the Colorado Children’s Campaign and the Provider’s Resource Center. HW Home is also a large supporter of the Denver Furniture Bank and has created a program to pick up customers’ old furniture when a new piece is delivered. HW Home will arrange for the old furniture to be delivered to the furniture bank and the customer then receives a tax letter for the donation.
On receiving the news that they had been named the 2010 Western Retailer of the Year, Werner and Hering said, “We’re incredibly humbled, elated and kind of blown away to be named Retailer of the Year. To be honest we thought our business was a little small since we knew we were up against larger companies that are really great, successful, beautiful furniture retailers with great industry experience. We weren’t counting on anything and we were just so excited to find out that we were nominated back in the fall. We are very honored and thrilled to be the recipient of this prestigious award.”
HW Home will be honored on May 4, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. at Disney’s California Adventure® Park, Hollywood Pictures Backlot in Anaheim, CA with an exclusive dinner celebration and awards presentation. The event will take place as the grand finale to WHFA’s May 2-4, 2010 Conference & Expo.
For more information on HW Home, please visit www.hwhome.com or contact David Sumrak at DavidS@hwhome.com.
About Western Home Furnishings Association
The Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA) is the largest affiliate of the National Home Furnishings Association, representing more than 1,000 independent home furnishings retailers in more than 2,800 stores in 12 western states. For more information, visit www.WHFA.org.