— Furniture Today,
HIGH POINT — Eight industry leaders have been nominated for spots in the American Furniture Hall of Fame.


Hall of Fame sponsors have been sent ballots, to be tallied by accounting and consulting firm BDO Seidman. Those elected will be installed at a High Point Market gala Oct. 17.

Nominees are:

+ Alfred J. Audi, who bought the storied but ailing manufacturer L. & J.G. Stickley in 1974 when it had 22 employees and has revived it into a thriving international business with three factories, 14 showrooms and 1,600 employees. He later acquired assets of manufacturers Heirloom Upholstery, Widdicomb, Cibola Leather and Madison Square, preserving and revitalizing those brands as well.

+ Bobby Wesley “Bob” Bush Sr., a board member and retired vice president of sales at components supplier Hickory Springs Mfg. He has spent more than 50 years building the family company’s reputation for quality, innovation and value, and played a vital role in working with manufacturers during the formative period of the Southern furniture industry.

+ Ormon William “Bill” Fenn Jr., former president and CEO of Ladd Furniture, who has worked to help the furniture industry become a global business. His contributions to the North Carolina Furniture Export Council have contributed to the overseas market for U.S. furniture, and he has served as honorary consul general representing North Carolina in Japan. Before joining Ladd, he also worked at manufacturers Stanley, Thomasville and Armstrong World Interiors.

+ Fred Friedman, who died in 2012. He acquired Coconut Creek, Fla.-based Carls Furniture with partners Mike Baker and Bobby Dragin in 1974 and helped build the company into a Top 100 chain with 22 stores and more than 500 employees. Friedman knew all his employees by first name, and his personal involvement contributed to the company’s success.

+ Sidney A. Gayle Jr., who worked for more than 50 years as a photographer in the industry and was president and CEO of Alderman Studios and later owner of Omega Studios. He pioneered the concept of photographing furniture in a home environment created in the studio. He was the first to offer to photograph at night in showrooms during the High Point markets, allowing customers to have prints of new furniture before they left town.

+ Charles A. Greene, founder, president and CEO of upholstery manufacturer Classic Gallery. He started his company to serve independent designers with quality upholstery, a need he believed other manufacturers were not meeting. He chairs the North Carolina Home Furnishings Export Council and is the author of “Success by Design,” a widely praised book on how to run a successful design business.

+ Charles T. Knabusch, the former president and CEO of La-Z-Boy, who died in 1997. He earned a law degree and worked his way through the ranks of the company before succeeding his father, La-Z-Boy co-founder Edward M. Knabusch, as president in 1972. He became CEO in 1985. During his tenure, La-Z-Boy completed several acquisitions and consistently outperformed industry growth averages, growing to sales of more than $1 billion.

+ Ronald G. Wanek, who founded Ashley Furniture Inds. in the early 1970s and has taken the company from a small producer of occasional tables to the largest manufacturer in the United States. The company’s retail network, Ashley Furniture HomeStores, also was the second largest U.S. furniture store chain last year. He was a pioneer in global sourcing in the 1980s, becoming one of the first manufacturers to both source and sell around the world.