Assuming your a dude your not supposed to understand the commercials. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. You may also light a candle in honor of Walter E. Smithe Jr. or send a beautiful flower arrangement to the funeral . We had no grand plan.. While it may not be usable 365 days a year, the days that your outdoor space are in fact usable should be embraced. He received a Bachelor of Philosophy in Commerce from the University of Notre Dame in 1958. In some of the footage, youll see my dad installing a dimmer or my uncle driving a truck. 22 miles. Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design (Old Orchard) 17 miles. The CBS Chicago team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSChicago.com. ("Did you notice he used the wide-angle lens when he shot your [rear end]?"). But they still manage to get out to their stores about once a week, touching base with their employees, surprising customers or hosting events such as book signings or wine tastings. Smithe then went into the computer industry working for General Electric and IBM in 1967, according to his obit. Primary Address. I'm so annoyed that I won't buy anything from there. They can really do great things. You may have noticed a change lately in those Walter E. Smithe (smithe.com) siblings-on-a-couch commercials. He began working in the . So as long as strangers keep serenading them with the company jingle instead of pelting them with "Hardrock, Coco and Joe" DVDs, and as long as the business continues to grow, they'll keep doing the ads. What she does: I use both sides of my brain: left for all the analytical spreadsheet stuff and right for the creative vision. I also think, coming from a family business myself, to see how they interact with each other just gives you the feeling that they're good people, that you'd want to do business with those people.". Compare how recession-proof Walter E. Smithe Furniture is relative to the industry overall. "It's a big responsibility. We connect families with the best local resources, advice, stories, things to do with kids and much more. Let's go Cubbies! 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. "It was kind of a neat way to kick off our involvement in the business as a group.". My sisters and I loved being a part of it.. Lewis Lazare. My sisters and I represent the viewpoint of our younger clientele, Meghan says. Sometimes you have to act fast. Anyone got a link to the current commercial? The company offer of a free DVD generated a huge response, and more than 60,000 were given away.). 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. His line was, `If you can talk you can breathe.'". "It almost feels like the business is, in a weird way, a member of the family. "It's been about reworking how we approach visually what we want to convey about the product that we're selling," Meghan said. PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBIN SUBAR, When Maureen Smithe returned from maternity leave after giving birth to identical twin daughters last August (children number five and six for those keeping count), she was puzzled by the pained looks she received from some of her colleagues. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Till your hair grows back."). The 86-year-old patriarch of the Smithe family, Walter Edward Smithe Jr., "died . We all trickled back in, and it happened really organically, says Meghan of the industrious quartet, who collectively has 17 children. Its very much in line with our desire to offer the most beautiful pieces that are of the highest quality. It stuck in your head. But when they finally decided to accept, they knew they needed to come up with a unique and effective way to introduce themselves to the Chicago market as the new faces of Walter E. Smithe. It's fun to be part of Chicago in that way.". Then he and Thorson meet with his brothers and throw ideas around. Edited to add: Looked them up and gee, it's one of the daughters managing the marketing. 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. "Instead we did it on the turn of a dime. 177 East Army Trail Road, Glendale Heights, IL 60139. Were not trying to portray an image that working mothers can pull off everything without something falling through, Maureen says candidly. But even as likable as the brothers are, do they run the risk of oversaturation or going to the well too often? Smithe says that doing everything in-house allows them to be quick on their feet. walter e smithe furniture & design. "Still hard for me to imagine.") Over the last 12 years, one by one, Walter's daughters have been hired on at Smithe in an official capacity. And in between the entertainment were his folksy commercials for Courtesy Motors -- his cars were "honeys" and "sweeties" -- which at one point was the world's largest Ford dealer. It also featured an appearance by Dutchie Caray, wife of the late Cubs announcer Harry Caray. Weird. Now, a lot more people know about us than knew a few years ago.". The 4th generation (Walter III's daughters) join the business after careers in their respective fields; Maureen in 2002, Meghan in 2014, Caitie in 2015, and Colleen in 2016. Furniture Stores. - The Victory Auto Wreckers guy: Almost every night since 1981, on some channel, Bob Zajdel has barely escaped injury when the driver's door fell off his old Chevy. To make up for it, she woke up early to make heart-shaped pancakes. I dont think anyone in the furniture industry does advertising well. But one by one, they followed Maureen's lead and rejoined the family business. Those early Smithe commercials were straight-forward affairs, with each brother talking about his area of expertise -- Walt discussed the merchandise, Tim the company's designers, and Mark Smithe's delivery system and customer satisfaction -- and, of course, the furniture. The new generation of Smithes are featured in the company's new advertising. We strive to bring our clients the best in home furnishings for every style, budget, and. In fact, none of the sisters seriously considered having a career in the company, founded by their great-grandfather in 1945. But always start from a place where we love each other and enjoy working together., Between the ages of 10 and 18, former Barrington High School soccer, For Olympian Patrick Gasienica, ski jumping has been a part of his, Dr. Rekha S. Rajan has devoted her personal and professional life to, One of the most prestigious dance companies in the world, The Joffrey, Saint Anne Catholic Community Churchs Project Hope ministry, A night of sequin-studded disco fever, the 5th Annual Hoosier Ball was. Since 1945 the company has . Personally, I dont want to stare at ugly furniture for all those years, Meghan says. We see this country chic trend currently happening as a design emergency, says Maureen. Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design is a family-owned furniture retailer, founded right here in Chicago, back in 1945. The Smithe sisters now serve as the face of the firm, offering a female perspective that better reflects the company, the industry and the country today. between Scott Ave. and Tower Rd., Winnetka, shophwdd.com) hosts a First Friday event on the North Shore. Also would somebody please feed them? Warehouse workers go over every piece of inventory awaiting delivery with a fine-tooth comb, looking for things an untrained eye would never see. She had been a buyer for Abercrombie and Fitch for a few years after college when a job opened up in the Smithe merchandising office. The are the Smithe sisters, Meghan, Colleen, Maureen and Caitie. The two renamed the store Smithe and Shanahan, but Bill Shanahan eventually sold his share to Smithe's brother Charlie. I gave up sleep and TV, Maureen jokes. At-a-glance. Sometimes its the only quiet I get.. The commercials are created in-house. The Smithes: (L-R) Colleen, Meghan, Walter III, Walter Jr., Mark, Caitie, and Maureen. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. "Some dabbled and moved on and others just weren't interested.". Sisters Colleen, Caitie, Maureen and Meghan Smithe, from left, are breaking the mold as fourth-generation leaders of the 75-year-old Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design. "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. They seem very pretentious I think. Now, there are 12, a 115,000-square-foot headquarters in Itasca and more than 550 employees, and this year Walter E. Smithe Furniture will do $100 million in sales. Walter Smithe III and his brothers Mark and Tim helped make the furniture store a household name with clever commercials -- a tradition that's continued with Smithe III's four daughters, Colleen . From 5 to 8 p.m., select retailers will offer refreshments while highlighting unique designers. Industry: Home Furniture & Housewares Stores. He attended the University of Notre Dame and earned a bachelor 's . Were now getting calls from all over the world., Under Colleen and Meghans direction, Smithe now has a beautiful new lookbook in its marketing toolbox and a stable full of breathtaking photography, as they become the exclusive distributor for Ellen DeGeneres new furniture collection from Thomasville. The answer -- and the sisters' secret to success -- can be summed up in three key words: Fresh. It's pretty surprising they are still playing on these tired sexist tropes in this day and age. "I said, `Let's get you guys on camera.'". Three generations are involved in the family-run Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design, including Walter Smithe Jr. (far right); his sons Walter III (far left) and Mark; and his four granddaughters, from left, Maureen, Caitie, Colleen and Meghan. "If we'd done that with a large agency, it would have been flying people in from New York and storyboards and approvals along the way," he says. This is not how you attract a premium buyer or build a premium brand. [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. There have been more than a thousand of them since, and thanks to the magic of cable TV he is now a national celebrity. "And they've been able to personalize a retail chain through the use of the brothers. Since 1945, the company has established itself as a reliable family-run retailer, with the second- and third-generation Smithe men at the helm. The girls have all worked elsewhere before they came to work here, says Walter of his daughters who have had careers ranging from merchandising to advertising. The sisters laughed at hearing this family adage, knowing that home furnishing has been woven into the tapestry of their lives.
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