College Woodwork Hip at Toronto Show

Mississauga, Jan. 18, 2008 – As the newly-appointed CEO of College Woodwork, Roland Kielbasiewicz wanted to shake things up a bit. After attending a Las Vegas trade show in 2007, he was convinced that the company was going to have to step up its marketing game, and that his first move in that direction would be to develop a “show-stopping” exhibit to use in its 2008 sales campaign.

College Woodwork has been doing business in Canada for an impressive 105 years. Over the past two decades, the strong Canadian dollar and the cannibalization of the domestic furniture market by Asian imports has seen the number of homegrown furniture manufacturers reduced from about 600 to just a handful. College is among those few still standing, and against all odds, the company has consistently and diligently defended its share of the market.

Kielbasiewicz has made it his business over the past year to chase dealer representatives and retailers for feedback on how to enhance College products. He’s used these suggestions to make significant design revisions and manufacturing alterations in order to stay current with the demands of the modern market.

The Canadian Home Furnishings Market trade show, held in Mississauga this January, marked the debut of both the enhanced College Woodwork products and of the company’s sophisticated new marketing campaign, developed and implemented by the team at Limelight Advertising & Design.

Spanning more than a century, the four stylish “vignettes” of the company’s new trade show floor display combine modern-day College furniture pieces with historically inspired elements of décor. Each vignette evokes key moments from both global and company history. For instance, the appropriately funky orange-and-brown-themed 1969 vignette marks the introduction of College’s Rockport line of furniture, while also celebrating Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon, taken that same year.

Limelight’s Ryan Bullock and Adrienne Boyer worked with interior designer Roberta Seidman to flesh out the four vignettes with stylish period bedding and accessories. Dealer representatives in attendance at show were universally wowed by the visually striking new display; one retailer ordered an entire vignette – right down to the very last bell and whistle – to use as a floor display in his own outlet.

“It really is a stunning display,” said Boyer, the Limelight designer behind the College concept, which also included a revamped website and product catalogue. “It turned out even better than we’d expected, and most importantly, it got exactly the reaction the client was looking for.”

New orders have been trickling steadily into College Woodwork since the trade show wound up Jan. 15, and although it may be a bit too early to say for sure, Kielbasiewicz is predicting another successful 105 years to come for this Canadian business, which has withstood the test of time and survived to tell about it.