A.R.T. of Retail

Gloster Trains and Entertains Troops

Nicole Crews -- Casual Living, 2/20/2012 6:00:00 AM

SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Gloster's third annual Advanced Reseller Training event welcomed 40-some retailers from across the country for a seminar and gathering, Feb. 6-10.

The base of operations for the two-tiered event was the 650-acre Berry Hill Resort & Conference Center - housed on the Historic 1728 Berry Hill Estate. Gloster's corporate office, warehouse, showroom and cushion and fabric production facility was seminar/workshop central for each of the two-day training sessions. Group Managing Director Charles Vernon and President Eric Parsons led the troops through a detailed company history, a primer on teak - which makes up 45% of Gloster's furniture sales in the United States - as well as product review, care and maintenance tips, facility tours and demonstrations. By night, the retailers and staffers gathered back at Berry Hill for cocktails at Darby's Tavern, dinner in the Carrington Room, and - rumor has it - a little ghost hunting.

At Contract GALA,  a related session held Feb. 2-3, the Gloster management team presented Fred Gilbert of Casual Resources as 2011 Contract Representative of the Year. Based in Connecticut, Gilbert manages the New England and New York region on behalf of Gloster.

 The Berry Hill Inn & Resort serves up a hearty Italian feast in the Carrington Dining Room for the crowd. L-R: Patio World’s Justin Cain, Gloster’s Candice Evans and Jim Wagoner of Season’s Leisure.Gloster’s on-site showroom features the company’s current fabric and color stories as well as an array of product.David Meeks takes a group through the Gloster warehouse and explains the in-house pillow, cushion and cut-and-sew upholstery program with Production Supervisor LeaAnn Champeau. L-R: Greenhouse Mall’s Luis Villavicencio, Great Gatherings’ Tony Iannarelli, Laake & Joys’ Dave Jennings, Williamsburg Wicker & Rattan Shoppe’s Anne Sheeran, Big Jim Beacom of Mister T’s Patio, Patio World’s Richard Han Feng and Brant J. Cole of Universal Furniture.Door-to-door limo service and roses for the retail ladies rounds out day one of back-to-back seminars and break-out groups. L-R: Jackie Luke of Patio 1, Kathy George of Hearth & Patio, Sommie Atkinson of Abaca Imports, Anne Sheeran of Williamsburg Wicker & Rattan Shoppe, Shelly Roosmalen of Callaways Yard & Garden Center and Tammy Weidman of Patio at Penn Stone.Teresa Newton of Gloster welcomes Karen Miller of Williams Ski Haus, Shelly Roosmalen of Callaways, Nicole Crews of Casual Living magazine and Anne Sheeran of Williamsburg Wicker & Patio to the Carrington Room.Peggy Pond of Amini’s Galleria, Inc. and Anne Sheeran prepare for a festive eveningBrant J. Cole of Universal Furniture, Gloster President Eric Parsons and Tony Iannarelli gather at Berry Hill’s Darby’s Tavern for an after-dark tour of the historic property’s cemetery.