Call
it payback. Call it appreciation. Call it class.
No matter what you call it, Carls Furniture Showrooms
president made a grand opening party something more.
There were an estimated 300 guests at the Carls
Furniture and Carls Patio stores just off of I-95 S, at 1400 NW 167th
Street (Palmetto Expressway) in Miami, for a grand opening that provided
more than a look at the new locations.
Fred Friedman, president of Carls, was inspired
by partners Mike Baker and Bob Dragin to make the April 24 grand opening
gala a celebration of life. Friedman was a patient at UM/Sylvester Comprehensive
Cancer Center, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in early 2001. Baker
and Dragin suggested that Carls have a benefit for UM/Sylvester.
Guests started to arrive around 6:30 p.m., welcomed
by sounds of reggae, jazz, pop and Latin music. Two bands performed
near the front entrance of either store.
Loud as the bands were – and the music was
rather emphatic – the rhythms filling one store faded as guests
walked to the other – that’s how big the joined businesses
are. The furniture showroom holds 80,000 square feet. The patio store,
by comparison, is a mere 15,000 square feet.
The high-ceilinged Carls Furniture store, detailed
with masculine wood bracing, was filled with soft, inviting home furniture.
Decorated in earth tones, everything one might expect from Carls was
in place in the massive yet welcoming store. From dramatic beds, both
sturdy and comfortable-looking, to oversized sofas, to entertainment
centers and accessories. It was filled with the voices and rhythms of
Latin, jazz and pop, from a four-person band that inspirited perhaps
two dozen guests to dance.
The Carls Patio store, connected to, but a clear
transition from, the Carls Furniture store, pulsed with reggae and jazz
played by an instrumental trio. The largest patio umbrellas one could
hope for, and a wide array of patio furniture and artful sculptures
filled the smaller, brighter store.
Carls marketing director Gary Fitzpatrick introduced
Friedman around 8 p.m. The cancer survivor, now in remission for two
years, presented UM/Sylvester’s director, Dr. Jarrad Goodwin,
with a check for $50,000.
Carls Furniture, started in 1943 by Carl Ross,
was purchased by four partners in 1974. Friedman, Baker, Dragin and
Baker’s son, Jeff. Starting with only three locations and $2.5
million in annual sales, the furniture retailer now can say it is a
top-50 company with $114 million in annual sales and 520 employees.
In Broward County, find Carls stores in Fort
Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and Lauderhill. The company’s general
offices are in Boca Raton.