Outside Insider
Nicole Crews is the new Executive Editor for Casual Living. She will oversee and direct the editorial content of the publication and web site. Nicole also will bring her extensive knowledge of the home furnishings business to this weekly blog, Outside Insider. Feel free to comment on the blog or contact Nicole directly at ncrews@casualliving.com.
World Views
I don't know if you've noticed, but we've embarked on quite the adventure here at Casual Living. Beginning in April we published installment one of our three-part International Feature series. (Think of it as the counterpart to our recent three-part Made in America series.) Editor Cinde Ingram - my co-pilot and fellow traveler - flew to China to attend Outdoor Lifestyle Hangzhou and to get a read... Read More
Comments (0)High Points
It's been said that "You know you're an outdoor product manufacturer if you show at the casual market in Chicago in September" - but that's not the entire story these days.While Chicago's International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market is still destination central for the outdoor industry, manufacturers and suppliers are realizing that in order to reach out to full-line furniture sto... Read More
Comments (1)Flipping Out - Where Style Meets Sizzle
Writer and gourmand extraordinaire Jim Harrison once described himself in his Esquire food column as "a multiple entrée kind of a guy." His book editor at Knopf, Gary Fisketjon, confirmed the description over lunch one day at one of midtown Manhattan's myriad meaty restaurants. "When I take Jim to lunch, it's an all-day affair," said Fisketjon, who seemed to speak for all of us... Read More
Comments (7)Award Season - Casual Living Rolls Out Red Carpet
I'm a sucker for award season. It doesn't matter if it's Critics' Choice or Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Independent Spirit or the grand finale Academy Awards, each New Year the film industry has me enthralled with the first glimpse of red carpet it unfurls. Casual Living highlights two integral facets of the industry with the Supplier of the Year Award and Retailer of the Year Award... Read More
Comments (3)In Living Color
Many editors, like me, originated as creatures of the black and white page - writers and word nerds who liked to let the reader's imagination do the illustrating. That was all well and good for the pre-Information Age. But in today's digital world of multimedia information sources where online, print and video merge, attention span is truncated and competition clamors for face time - we've had to... Read More
Comments (2)Outside Interests
"Use your resources!" is my constant decree around the editorial offices of Casual Living, and the same dictum goes out to the rest of the casual industry. Take, for example, the tome that you're reading right now. Our 2012 Resource Guide is 170 pages of categorized listings of manufacturers, suppliers, representatives and services, an A to Z directory that's a veritable "who's who&... Read More
Comments (2)Casual Living is 'Putting On The Ritz'
At Casual Living, we get around. We cover shows in Chicago, Las Vegas, High Point, New York, Dallas and Atlanta. We report on retailers and suppliers throughout all 50 states - and well beyond into Canada, Mexico and Central and South America. We venture as far as the Far East and Southeast Asia and throughout Europe. The one thing we find that remains industry-constant throughout all of those tim... Read More
Comments (1)Backyard-Agains
A wave of nostalgia has been enveloping our land of late and it's evident in the kiddy comfort foods we crave, the throwback fashions we wear, the memory-fueled fun from childhood we seek out and, yes, the document vintage and retro-inspired furniture we desire. Flowing from Mid-Century Modern design forward into the funky, flamboyant waters of the 1970s, these looks of yesteryear have finally co... Read More
Comments (2)Fashion week takes it outside
Outdoor furniture fashions hit the runway not only at the Apollo Awards opening Alfresco Fashion Show during the 2011 ICFA Market, but on the show floors as well. Never has color and pattern been more diverse and au courant styling so available in casual furniture. Studs, grommets and lace ties added prêt a porter-oomph to outdoor pillowing. Comely silhouettes mimicked modern jacket, pant and skir... Read More
Comments (4)Rising Tide
A few weeks ago Casual Living Publisher Norman Hamilton and I loaded up the proverbial wagon and took off on an outdoor odyssey of epic proportions. With Alabama - and its bevy of casual furniture manufacturers and retailers - in our sights, we hit the ground running. Norman's first stop on the agenda was Crimson Casual in Haleyville where local trucking entrepreneur Jon Bennett saw an opportun... Read More
Comments (1)Taking it Outside
Growing up with an interior/furniture designer mother in a house with wall-to-wall white upholstery is not for the faint of heart, the wearer of dirty sneakers nor the hoarder of all things Crayola. So what's a kid to do? In my case, I took it outside - but with it, I unwittingly took mom's design aesthetic. Said art supplies were put to use creating paintings that are still nailed to the exterior... Read More
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