Wednesday, September 13, 2023

5:30 p.m.

Harvard Club 

35 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036

The Home Fashions Product Association (HFPA) and Home Textiles Today are collaborating to co-host an event at the Harvard Club of New York City on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.

The HFPA Foundation aims to raise funds for its scholarship program, which supports students enrolled in surface design or home product marketing courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

HTT is celebrating its annual Trailblazers & Titans awards in an in-person format. The awards will recognize two retail and two supplier companies. Previous recipients of this honor include Bloomingdale’s, Big Lots, Boll & Branch, Casper, Malouf, Revman, Trident, Pegasus, Wayfair, Welspun, and WestPoint Home.

The event will be a lively two-hour evening affair featuring cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, an introduction to FIT’s home fashions program students, and the presentation of HTT’s 2023 Trailblazers & Titans awardees.

All proceeds from ticket sales will contribute to the HFPA Foundation’s scholarship program.

2023 Titans

Macy’s: Long a top retailer of home textiles in the U.S. market, Macy’s doesn’t rest on its laurels as the largest department store retailer in the country.

Under its Polaris strategy, which launched in early 2020, Macy’s is creating a more agile retail model by leveraging its store base, creating new retail formats and accelerating its digital business. Through its Mission Every One campaign, Macy’s has committed $5 billion to create a more equitable and sustainable future for people, the planet and communities.

At the heart of it, always, Macy’s is a merchant. Its recently introduced “On 34th” women’s brand is the first in a series of launches under its strategy to refresh its full portfolio of private label brands through 2025.

Larry Queen: Known within the industry as the man who invented the bed-in-a-bag concept, Larry Queen is a home textiles veteran who has worked both sides of the aisle over the course of a career that has seen profound changes in how and where products are made and sold.
Queen began his career as a retailer, moving through several positions with the May Company and Macy’s department stores as a branch store trainee, assistant carpet buyer, rug buyer, towel and bath buyer, sheet and bedding buyer and, ultimately, VP DMM for home.
He moved next to manufacturing, holding the positions of EVP of marketing and sales for Burlington Industries’ Home Textile Division, President of Burlington Industries’ Lees Carpet Division and President of Dan River’s Home Division. He founded AQ Textiles in 2003 and is its CEO.

2023 Trailblazers

Bed Bath & Beyond/Overstock: The e-commerce giant Overstock completed its transition to a total home furnishings retailer last year, then made an even bigger move in June by acquiring the Bed Bath & Beyond brand and intellectual property.
Now in the process of integrating its operations under the Bed Bath & Beyond nameplate, the company is marrying the power and high consumer awareness of the Bed Bath & Beyond brand with the asset-light and technology-focused process of Overstock. Reaction to the news within the trade came rapidly, with more than 100,000 new items joining the platform within the 1st week after Overstock was named the stalking horse bidder for BBB.
Currently dba Bed Bath & Beyond/Overstock, the company is focused on building out the value-oriented assortment most prized by BBB’s millions of legacy customers, including key soft home categories.

Loftex: Loftex led the home textiles industry in establishing a roadmap for full circularity and did so at a time when the idea of sustainability was still getting off the ground across the broader home textiles sector.

In addition, Loftex’s willingness to regularly share its progress toward achieving its circularity goals set a standard before the concept of “transparency” became part of the industry vernacular.

The company has also been a leader in embracing innovative fibers/performance technologies and adapting them to terry manufacturing. Technical innovations such as Loftwist and digital sampling underscore the company’s trailblazing creativity.