Furniture Sofa

Art Van Award of Hope is Given to 4 Leaders

Who gives away a million dollars? Art Van does! With no strings attached, Art Van Furniture will award grants from $5,000 to $50,000 to support 50 Michigan-based nonprofit organizations that focus on children, health and human services programs.

The announcement was made at an exciting event at the Art Van Lansing store. The evening included special grant announcements and awards, along with the new Art Van Award of Hope which recognizes the outstanding philanthropic work of four individuals and their favorite charities.

The 2011 Art Van Award of Hope honorees who have continuously displayed outstanding work with their charities are L. Brooks Patterson (Rainbow Connection), Maggie Varney (Wigs 4 Kids), Krista Mason (Benjamin’s Hope), and Laurie Baumer (Ele’s Place). In addition to the award each of the four charities received a $5,000 grant.

This is the third year in a row that Art Van Furniture has present its Million Dollar Charity Challenge, designed to encourage the people of Michigan to make a contribution and maximize fundraising opportunities. With this incentive, the 2009 Art Van Million Dollar Charity Challenge donation turned into four million with matched challenges.

“One thing is for certain,” explains Chairman and Founder, Art Van Elslander, “regardless to how worthy a cause may be or how sincere the organization is about achieving its goals, without the proper financial resources, very little can be done. That’s why this challenge is such a big deal.”

Representatives from the previous 100 Art Van Charity Challenge recipients were also on hand at the event, where they received a very special surprise. The remaining 96 charities received an additional grant of $1000!

“We are accepting applications for another 50 deserving recipients, but that does not end the connection with the previous 100,” says Gary Van Elslander, President of Art Van Furniture. “We are committed to assist long-term by providing resources that build success.”

This one of kind program has garnered amazing results. Thousands of lives have been touched and made better as evidenced by a quote from a letter, one of many, received from Art Van Million Dollar Charity Challenge beneficiaries. Here’s the compassionate ending to this particular letter:

“Thank you, Art Van, for helping fund the transitional housing program at the WRC (Women’s Resource Center, Traverse City). Although I know you cannot put a price tag on a human life, you should know your money helped saved three lives.”

And yes, while it is a rarity in these tough economic times that anyone makes such a generous gesture, applications are now being accepted for 2011-2012 MDCC grants until August 1, 2011.  Interested parties should visit artvan.com for details on qualifications and directions on grant submission.

Art Van is giving away another $1 million and fifty more non-profit, 501c3 organizations will be awarded grants in September 2011. If that’s not enough, when this 50 is selected, all 150 charities will be given an opportunity to vie for $25,000 that will be awarded to one organization. For more information contact Diane Charles at (586)983-3022 office – (586)850-7332 cell or visit artvan.com

About Art Van Furniture
Art Van Furniture is Michigan‘s largest furniture retailer and America’s largest independent furniture retailer. The company operates 34 stores in 33 communities throughout Michigan, a full service e-commerce website, plus three freestanding Art Van PureSleep bedding stores in Canton, Troy and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1959, the company is family-owned and headquartered in Warren, Mich. Check out artvan.com for more information.

Facebook bought Netherlands start-up Sofa for an undisclosed sum yesterday.

The company, which in the past has developed Apple Mac software and design projects, announced the takeover on its blog.

Sofa will be shipped out from Amsterdam to Palo Alto, California in the next few weeks and said it would take its “particular flavour of Dutch culture” to Mark Zuckerberg’s social network.

The outfit, which started life in 2006, said it was unable to resist Facebook’s charm.

“We expected to keep working at Sofa forever. But after Facebook first made contact, we were quickly convinced to join forces,” said Sofa.

“Facebook is full of talent and has a great culture. We feel challenged and at home at the same time, and can really get things done there. But equally important, we believe that at Facebook, we will be making a real difference to a lot of people’s lives.”

Unsurprisingly, Facebook hasn’t acquired Sofa’s full kit ‘n’ kaboodle of Apple-flavoured products. Its Kaleidoscope and Versions software didn’t form part of the buyout, said the Dutch firm. Instead those Mac developer tools will be separate from Sofa.

The apps are temporarily unavailable in the Mac App Store, presumably while the Facebook acquisition rumbles on. Sofa said it was talking to Apple about this and hoped to make the tools available via Cupertino’s online store soon.

“We’re also working with our joint venture partner to provide the smoothest transition and best possible future for Checkout, Enstore and their collective customers,” it said.

The partner in question is Acclivity, which will sell and support the products from here on in. There was no mention in the statement, however, that the apps would get any further developer love.

Sofa will be folded into Facebook’s design team, which presumably wants to prettify its offerings. ®

Bernie Siomiak has a new furniture business called Crazy Bernie, and a guarantee to fit the name. For any item sold in his store, he said, if a customer can find it for less anywhere in the country or on the Internet and he doesn’t pay that person double the difference, the customer can punch him in the face.

Siomiak, who owned World Furniture Direct until it closed in early April, started the new business with a different name and a different approach. He buys furniture at a discounted price either from other furniture stores that have not sold the product and need money to pay the bills, or from retailers overseas whose original clients are unable to pay.

“Instead of buying furniture the way everyone else buys it, I buy it from wholesalers when they’re desperate for money, and they’ve got to get rid of stuff,” Siomiak said.

He said competition is fierce with more than 120 furniture stores in the area, such as Gary O Furniture and Fashion Furniture.

The store opened May 1 at World Furniture Direct’s old space. It has a 30-foot-tall painting of the “Crazy Bernie face,” the company’s logo.