It took the mother of six children a few years to figure out how to juggle her demanding career and busy home life. So, somewhat reluctantly, they let themselves become the public face of Walter E. Smithe Furniture. Then he and Thorson meet with his brothers and throw ideas around. There are so many cool and unique materials being used to manufacture furniture these dayssuch as capiz shells, bone inlay, faux shagreen, concrete, rope and slate. And they wanted a way to build the brand. Now, the fourth-generation leaders of Walter E. Smithe are learning to balance their busy personal lives with the big responsibility of carrying out the legacy of their family-run business. She also sees more demand for curation: Rather than walking into a store and getting an entire matching bedroom or dining set, people are mixing and matching and getting a look thats uniquely theirs., The new ED Ellen DeGeneres furniture collection (now available at all 11 Walter E. Smithe showrooms) allows for just thatand it includes versatile pieces that transcend their typical use. For example - my favorite large upholstered dining chairs are under $200. They pointed out how affordable the pieces are. At Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, we are committed to helping our clients love their homes through expert design, quality furnishings, and exemplary service. Receive a 20 percent discount on sofas, love seats, sectionals, chaises, and more at Cassona (5241 N. Clark St., cassona.com) through March 13. E. Smithe sisters Caitie, Colleen, Meghan and Maureen were introduced to the business at a young age. That collective experience comes in handy ahead of any major decisions. As their father, the company president, has told customers for decades, Life is too short to sit on uncomfortable furniture.. "In what seems to be their unending and over-the-top zeal to self-promote, they just may be helping drive traffic," he wrote, adding, "If nothing else, the advertising suggests the chain has some suits with personality attached. "An hour and a half. There is nothing like a day spent soaking up the sun and a good book or an evening with friends and good food and drinks under the stars. Walter E. Smithe is a furniture company based in Itasca, Illinois. What she does: Come up with ideas that get people off their couch and into our storesand put my sisters in awkward positions (see our commercials)., What she does: Whether were working or just hanging out, my Type A personality keeps us organized and on track.. Edit: I have been informed that they are the daughters, not the wives. Over the last 13 years, one by one, Walters daughters have been hired on at Smithe as the jobs became available. How could they ensure the 75-year-old brand would be sustainable for decades to come? Only a year apart in age, the lively, fast-talking Smithe sisters consider one another best friends. "I said, `Let's get you guys on camera.'". Rocketreach finds email, phone & social media for 450M+ professionals. Sometimes you have to act fast. Bringing new and various textures into a room can take it from plain and lacking in interest to exciting and memorable. What she does: I use both sides of my brain: left for all the analytical spreadsheet stuff and right for the creative vision. I presented my ideas for this two weeks ago and it will be out on the floor in three weeks. Plus, they seem like nice guys. Were not trying to portray an image that working mothers can pull off everything without something falling through, Maureen says candidly. The brothers are recognized on the street, in grocery stores and coffee shops ("I got a free Starbucks latte once," Tim says). To make up for it, she woke up early to make heart-shaped pancakes. "It's never gone completely crazy -- no one can say that one commercial will bring customers in -- but we kind of thought it re-established us in the marketplace. Then there's their father, a hardworking industry expert who leads by example and walks into any work setting saying, "We check our egos at the door.". Darvin is always yelling about discounts. We've got the radar out for that," Tim Smithe says. Her sisters had fallen into their own specialties and were pursuing different paths at the time. With 10 years of advertising industry experience, Smithe Parker, daughter of President Walter E. Smithe III, has worked with high-profile advertising agencies in Chicago. The Feldco guy creeps me out more. Walter E. Smithe is a furniture company based in Itasca, Illinois. "What about you and your sisters?". He was still spending weekends at Smithe furniture showrooms until recently and he volunteered for many years for Habitat for Humanity, building houses in the U.S. and Central America. Favorite design style: Cozy and comfortableaka hygge ethos. Instead, the Smithe sisters Colleen, director of advertising; Maureen, a buyer; Caitie, a designer; and Meghan, the marketing director help a Chicago couple with tastes that sometimes clash give their town home a new look before relatives show up for a visit. Walter Smithe, president of the furniture company named for his grandfather, is flanked by daughters, Maureen, left, and Caitie on March 21, 2017, as theywatch his other daughters Colleen, far left, and Meghan play pingpong at the Walter E. Smithe furniture store in Oak Brook. Business Profile for Walter E. Smithe Furn-Itasca. He began working in the . Shop the Sofa Sale. Maureen Smithe and Caitie Smithe had the pleasure of working with Chicago's own Mr. FixIt, Lou Manfredini.Such a nice guy and a true Chicagoan! [2] Today, the company has ten showrooms in Illinois and Indiana and is listed by Furniture Today as one of the top one hundred furniture retailers in the United States. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. View info about Walter E. Smithe Furniture (smithe.com). Press J to jump to the feed. Lewis teamed up with Smithes merchandising team to create in-store vignettes, and also featured the store on his show. Its no longer that way.. It's all a part of an effort to hang on to the company's loyal customers while persuading younger shoppers that Walter E. Smithe isn't just their parent's go-to store. Tim, 41, is the vice president of sales; he and his wife have four kids and live in Winnetka. After college, all three gravitated back to the family business, which was founded by their father. Read the rest of the issue. "I was at Dulles Airport in Washington, waiting for a 9:30 flight at night," Mark says. At that age, it was very exciting to come home and brag that we sold maybe hundreds or thousands of dollars in furniture, Meghan recalls. Take dress up and glam up a notch with a self-care day at this luxurious spa for kids and tweens. This style is out there and we need to respond and get it on our floor. Walter E. Smithe is a family business in every sense of the word, the sisters say. - Lynn Hauldren: Who? "There was some physical violence between the brothers," Walt says with that satisfied look of a big brother who got to dish it out. The business grew in popularity as they approached adulthood, at which point friends would regularly sing the jingle and colleagues would ask about the creative TV ads. 1428, hollyhunt.com) has expanded its Great Plains textile offering with the Foreign Affair collection, which has a mix of warm and cool neutrals. The Bob's puppet is a far better actor than the Smithe girls though. I'm so annoyed that I won't buy anything from there. By last year, though, each had returned to the company their great-grandfather founded. The campaign was inspired in part by a partnership with designer/house-flipper Jeff Lewis of the Bravo show Flipping Out. We learned so much from these relationships, Colleen says. The boys' first ventures into the working world included Walt's daily paper route -- 70 Tribunes, three or four Sun-Times and a couple of Wall Street Journals -- that Tim helped him with ("I got 1 cent per paper, and I'd give Tim 10 cents for helping me"), and collecting beer cans that they resold at a Park Ridge flea market. Like most mothers, whether theyre working or staying at home, we do what we can, she says. Shop the clearance. Walter e smithe is a high end furniture store, no surprise their ads are geared towards middle aged women from high income households aka suburban moms. Walter Smithe III and Mark Smithe (the Smithe Brothers) are the sons of Walter Jr, and serve as President and VP/Legal Counsel, respectively. The Smithe sisters - Walter III's daughters Maureen, Meghan, Caitie, and Colleen - are also now executives at Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design and appear in the ads. This has been our priority since we first began serving the Chicago area back in 1945. Please enter valid email address to continue. I can't breathe!' . They decided on an ad campaign that would, simply, pitch their product. 1251 W. Thorndale Ave. Itasca, IL 60143-1149. You have this sense of passion and responsibility for it. "If you think of furniture commercials, it's always just panning a showroom with obnoxious graphics," says O'Neil, who has directed all the Smithe commercials. As the fourth generation to run their family-owned Chicago furniture store, Walter. It turned out so well that Tim carried along a copy to a speaking engagement. Who are the Walter E Smithe daughters? Walter E. Smithe wants to create a series of similar videos to give customers a behind-the-scenes look at their services and the company. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. A 2005 advertisement showed Mark and Tim Smithe dueling with CGI-enhanced lamps in an homage to the lightsaber duels of the Star Wars films. Walter E. SMITHE corporate office is located in 1775 W Rand Rd, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004, United States and has 382 employees. Find employees, official website, emails, phone numbers, revenue, employee headcount, social accounts, and anything related to Walter E. Smithe Furniture. The first order of business: ditch the longstanding, highly recognizable ad campaign featuring their father and two uncles. What she does: "I make spaces beautiful for clients' homes, our catalogs and showrooms, and play couples' therapist for clients who can't agree on a sofa." Favorite design style: Modern mixed with traditional. We had no grand plan.. What she does: I make spaces beautiful for clients homes, our catalogs and showrooms, and play couples therapist for clients who cant agree on a sofa.. Then when I plugged it in, the place went up for grabs. Then they brought in the wives. "We wanted to entertain people first, so then when we wanted to inform them they'd already be paying attention," Tim says of their advertising philosophy. No surprise why the quality is so crap. Our lives can be overrun with technology, commitments and schedules. Tim offered Walt brotherly support after a just-completed scene. The company makes, sells, and repairs furniture, . While a new recession may strike a particular industry, measuring the industry and . All three attended St. Mary's College in Winona, Minn. Walt got an MBA at Notre Dame, Tim got one at Northwestern, and Mark got a law degree at Loyola. Walter E. Smithe Jr. also earned a master's degree in Anthropology at Loyola University Chicago in 1980. Currently, there are 3 generations involved in the business: Walter Smithe Jr is retired, but regularly visits the showrooms. So is there a `Wally and the Sofa Factory' in our future?". 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cindy went to college in Iowa and settled there after school. His signature line: "Linn Burton for certain!". Even their more than 250 employees are treated like family. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. That can help Walter E. Smithe differentiate itself from the growing number of lower-priced furniture retailers that have moved into the Chicago area in the past couple of years, Walter Smithe said. Whoever said brick-and-mortar is dead hasn't met the Smithe sisters. Sibling revelry; Their offbeat commercials have made the Smithe brothers cult heroes. We all trickled back in, and it happened really organically, says Meghan of the industrious quartet, who collectively has 17 children. A new book offers a primer on how to spot, seize, and exploit and create lucky breaks More, Two new must-visit hotels from Austin to Houston More, Shop Patek Philippe timepieces, Oiya bracelets and a Miami-based skincare brand More, Plan a day of relaxation at Pressed Roots and The Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas More, Raise a glass to our favorite new French-inspired bistros, charming piano bars and bold Italian eateries in Manhattan More, From shoes to handbags, here are the new boutiques to visit in New York City More, The best-selling author, entrepreneur and global philanthropist continues a push with Feeding America to provide 1 billion meals More, Were Over The Moon About This New Travel Registry, 2022 Holiday Gift Guide: The Best Edible Presents, Room Request! Haute Living is a network of luxury publications with bimonthly regional editions in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. walter e smithe. It was founded by Walter Edward Smithe and Bill Shanahan in 1945. Updating your home theater? This is not how you attract a premium buyer or build a premium brand. 443 were here. What The Walter E. Smithe Daughters Do . In one of their most memorable ads, the four women get into a food fight -- spaghetti and red wine included -- and seemingly destroy a bright white couch, which is then scrubbed clean. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune).
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