He also hosted telethons. Since 1945, we have been Chicago's local source for quality furniture and expert design. How, they wondered, would longtime customers respond to four new female faces on their television screens? Explore more of the publications in our portfolio here. Walter E. Smithe Furniture, Inc. is headquartered in Itasca, IL. "You think a huge corporation is going to have pencil pushers and button touchers," says Lynn Hamilton, vice president of the Shirley Hamilton Agency, a Chicago talent agency. We had no grand plan.. "Pam, Bill and I are always on the watch for pop culture. Others have been parodies of reality television shows, such as The Apprentice and The Bachelor. "And there's 10 televisions, all tuned to the same station. Regarded as top performer within the account and the Agency, as a result of consistent over-delivery, passion to grow the business . It's partnered with celebrity designers and broadened the mix of products carried in stores, online and in its resurrected catalog to include more current trends and a wider range of price points. [1] The 4th generation (the Smithe Sisters), all daughters of Walter III, are Maureen Smithe (buyer), Meghan Smithe (director of marketing), Caitie Smithe (designer, design coordinator and stylist) and Colleen Smithe (director of advertising). 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. It was founded by Walter Edward Smithe and Bill Shanahan in 1945. Walter E. Smithe Jr. died peacefully at age 86, his family said in a prepared statement. I love the attention I get as a local celebrity," Mark says. 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. "They're having a lot of fun. Edit: I have been informed that they are the daughters, not the wives. The store, which has 10 locations in the Chicago area, has been open for nearly 75 years and has faced all the challenges of . 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. "And I'd be yelling, `I can't breathe! Customers were more concerned with what we were selling versus the people who were selling it, she adds. "But these are guys who you'd go to dinner with, you know? Through March 7, EuroFurniture (2145 W. Grand Ave., eurofurniture.com) is offering 15 percent off BDI media cabinets and consoles available in-store, online, and by phone. Billy Corgan and Walter E. Smithe Wrestling. The sisters laughed at hearing this family adage, knowing that home furnishing has been woven into the tapestry of their lives. She is a celebrity who is genuinely interested in how her furniture will do and be perceived, Maureen says. My sisters and I represent the viewpoint of our younger clientele, Meghan says. Anyone got a link to the current commercial? 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. The answer -- and the sisters' secret to success -- can be summed up in three key words: Fresh. Walter E. SMITHE corporate office is located in 1775 W Rand Rd, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004, United States and has 382 employees. Walter was the first of the third generation to join the family business in 1981 . Most recently, she was at . The daughters took over the company. Newlyweds can now register for exclusive honeymoon stays and experiences at 23 of Auberge Resorts Collections luxury hotels and resorts worldwide More, With two movies out this winter, the actress and producer Salma Hayek Pinault is at the top of her game More, The star of A Beautiful Noise, which just opened at the Broadhurst Theatre, is a big Neil Diamond fan More, The writer and actor makes his Broadway debut in his just-opened play Aint No Mo More, After flying high in the hit sequel Top Gun: Maverick, Glen Powell stars in the new film Devotion, out now More, It's not enough to just be smart. 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. CHICAGO (CBS) -- Walter Edward Smithe Jr., the founder of Chicago's Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, has died at the age of 86. "We're not your parents' furniture company," Caitie said. We are a 4th generation family-owned business, and our employees are an integral part of . Walter E. Smithe also is changing up its ads. Our learning curve has been steep and long, with a lot of challenges, says Colleen, flanked by her sisters at the familys Lincoln Park location, a 10,000-square-foot boutique store. [4], In March, 2017, daughters of Walter E. Smithe III became the fourth generation of the Smithe family to be featured in the commercials.[8]. Were often building on what we see resonating in the market and what is interesting and beautiful at the moment., Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design is coming off a successful year of strategic partnerships with Bravo TVs Jeff Lewis and interior designer Cynthia Rowley. This is not how you attract a premium buyer or build a premium brand. 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. Margie, who used to be a buyer for Smithe, moved to St. Louis with her husband, who worked for Anheuser-Busch's ad agency. Sisters Colleen, Meghan, Maureen and Caitie Smithe, from left, say three key words have helped them carry their family-run furniture company into a fourth generation: fresh, young and relevant. Sometimes we present to our dad as a united front and other times we need him to be a tie breaker. Furniture Stores. Walter E. Smithe Jr's death was announced Thursday on the company's Facebook page. Primary Address. /r/Chicago is the place to discuss and stay updated on the daily happenings of Chicago, Illinois, USA. The 4th generation (the Smithe Sisters), all daughters of Walter III, are Maureen Smithe (buyer), Meghan Smithe (director of marketing), Caitie Smithe (designer, design coordinator and stylist) and Colleen Smithe (director of . Then when I plugged it in, the place went up for grabs. They hammer out a script, call in O'Neil and start filming. 1428, hollyhunt.com) has expanded its Great Plains textile offering with the Foreign Affair collection, which has a mix of warm and cool neutrals. They pointed out how affordable the pieces are. The inky accents create a sleek statement against the white walls and lend a streamlined look to the space. Hotel Mousai Puerto Vallarta, Room Request: Four Seasons Hotel Bogota Casa Medina, New Restaurants and Bars in New York City, Clare V., Mulberry and More New Retail Openings in NYC, Tony Robbins Challenge to Provide 1 Billion Meals Nears its Goal, Get behind-the-scenes pictures on Instagram. They seem very pretentious I think. walter e smithe furniture & design. To their delight, the reaction to that initial campaign was primarily positive, as has been the case for every commercial they've produced since. Currently, there are 3 generations involved in the business: Walter Smithe Jr is retired, but regularly visits the showrooms. "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. Explore. "What about you and your sisters?". 74% of employees would recommend working at Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design to a friend and 70% have a positive outlook for the business. You have this sense of passion and responsibility for it. "Staying fresh, young and relevant is how we're going to sustain the brand into the next 75 years," Meghan said. - Linn Burton: He started selling appliances in Polk Bros. ads in 1953, but the majority of his 35-year TV career was spent hawking cars -- Kaisers, Frazers, Joe Rizza's Pontiacs and, most famously, Bert Weinman's Fords. The commercial, Colleen's brainchild, aimed to show off the company's new "worry-free" performance fabrics that repel stains, a trend Maureen recognized at a major industry trade show and brought back to the Chicago market. The Smithes had been encouraged to air their outtakes on television after Tim Smithe screened them at an interior design seminar and received a positive reaction from the crowd. I havent seen the Tile Outlet lady in a while!! "We're all rolling up our sleeves and getting dirty. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features Press Copyright Contact us Creators . 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. 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. Check out the new collection. Hell stand on things, jump on them, do his best to break dining chairs. Nearby is a mangled lamp that will never find its way to a Smithe showroom floor. The original simple jingle and slogan was perfect. Chicago's Best Furniture and Expert Design. It was an organic transition for each of us, says Colleen, the youngest sister. Relevant. Walter E. Smithe Jr. Obituary. College was a turning point for the sisters, who now call one another their best friends. Chicago, IL. The Smithe sisters have heard it all before, and they've set out to dispel those misperceptions. We are sad to announce that on October 9, 2022 we had to say goodbye to Walter E. Smithe Jr. of Chicago, Illinois. Till your hair grows back."). They can really do great things. We refer to Smithe.com as our 12th store, since many of our clients are doing their research online before coming to see us in person.. We dont always agree on things, Colleen says. From 5 to 8 p.m., select retailers will offer refreshments while highlighting unique designers. 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! (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). The Empire Carpet Guy, of course. Chicago magazine newsletters have you covered. Smithe was born in 1936 to Margaret Slifka and Walter E. Smithe Sr., and grew up in the Northwest Side's Belmont Central neighborhood. Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design is a family-owned furniture retailer, founded right here in Chicago, back in 1945. The best commercial -- at least the one viewers relished -- featured this grating kid getting hit in the face with a pie. 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. Lewis Lazare. Our dad always put an emphasis on hard work, and it stuck with us.. 1E, kneenandco.com) continues to add to its Robbe & Berking assortment with the new Martel Bar collection, which features bar cart staples like handmade silver tumblers and cocktail coupes as well as bottle openers and nutcrackers. walter e smithe. It was a natural fit, she said. The implication was that he was doing/looking at something inappropriate. "It was kind of a neat way to kick off our involvement in the business as a group.". Only a year apart in age, the lively, fast-talking Smithe sisters consider one another best friends. Calkins says that by minimizing production costs and media costs and doing those quick turnarounds, Smithe gets a bigger bang for its advertising buck. Now its only the wives and zero about the furniture. So I'm speaking, and they're half listening, you know. What The Walter E. Smithe Daughters Do . And I thought, `makeup and lighting. Smithe's three sons the Smithe brothers Mark, Tim, and Walter III became executives in the business and were regularly featured in the commercials. When they get a topic, Smithe says, he tries to figure a way to blend it into an ad. They've been able to weather the unexpected storm of the coronavirus pandemic. They're nice folks. I think people felt sorry for me, assuming that I wasnt getting any sleep and having to come to work every day, says Maureen. "I was at Dulles Airport in Washington, waiting for a 9:30 flight at night," Mark says. The process starts with Tim Smithe, Pam Thorson (the company's director of advertising) and director/editor Bill O'Neil of O'Neil Productions of Wilmette. Tags: Design Controls - Facebook Instant Article, Home & Garden, Interior Design. And they represented Walter E. Smithe with a sense of drive and zeal that can only exude from the third-generation stakeholders of what has become a household name. CHICAGO The founder of Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design has died. Courtesy of Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design, - Courtesy of Walter E. Smithe Furniture and Design, Paddock Publications, Inc. is an Employee-Owned Company. Over the last 13 years, one by one, Walters daughters have been hired on at Smithe as the jobs became available. We don't take that lightly.". 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. October 12, 2022 / 3:27 PM When Smithe makes a furniture delivery, Its not uncommon for our crews to bring a 25-year-old sofa with a Smithe sticker on it back to this warehouse, Meghan says. ", Instead they talk about the U2/iTunes takeoff, the brothers' version of "The Apprentice" or the Olympic parody from last year. Shop now. Get 5 free searches. "I said, `Let's get you guys on camera.'". Walter E. Smithe Furniture, Inc. Marketing Contacts Contacts (5/9) Name Title State; Walter S. President & Chief Executive Officer . Be sure to visit Sawbridge Studios, which will showcase sustainably harvested, live-edge furniture by David Stine. and runners at CB2 (800 W. North Ave., cb2.com). Along the way, they got married, had children (17 in all!) Not as long as they keep the commercials clever and topical, O'Neil says. And yet, as they went off to college and moved into the next phase of life, they were never expected to someday return full time. It stuck in your head. For decades, the public faces of the privately owned company have been the sisters' father, Walter E. Smithe IIIthe 59-year-old grandson of the business's namesakeand the sisters' uncles, Mark and Tim. A few bucks later, the clunker is off to Victory's Bensenville lot. "I think it's time for us to get out of these TV commercials," Walter said. With 16 1/2 children among them (Colleen is due with her third baby this month), the sisters also find work as a time to be togethersans children. Born in the heart of Chicago, we're a family owned and operated local business since 1945, now four generations strong. [4][5] In 2008, they filmed and edited a takeoff of the Sex and the City franchise, with the brothers sipping "Smithe-o-politans".

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