To see these serious, stuffy guys laughing and having fun someone yelled out, `You should use that as a commercial. With 10 years of advertising industry experience, Smithe Parker, daughter of President Walter E. Smithe III, has worked with high-profile advertising agencies in Chicago. Regarded as top performer within the account and the Agency, as a result of consistent over-delivery, passion to grow the business . Smithe was born in 1936 to Margaret Slifka and Walter E. Smithe Sr., and grew up on the Northwest Side in Belmont Central. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). "And of course this summer's blockbuster is supposed to be `Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.' The Itasca-based company has 10 locations across Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana, where the sisters ply their fourth-generation talents. Most recently, she was at . View info about Walter E. Smithe Furniture (smithe.com). Smithe brothers aim for 'Sex' appeal in latest quirky commercial, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Walter_E._Smithe&oldid=1127865487, This page was last edited on 17 December 2022, at 02:33. "We're dreamers and we have big ideas," Meghan said. About. Contact Information. As mothers, theyve learned its not only possible, but preferable, to have a functional yet beautiful home. Born in the heart of Chicago, we're a family owned and operated local business since 1945, now four generations strong. One by one, each sister began working in the family business. 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. "It's always positive, and it's nice to be part of it. 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. His four daughtersMaureen, Meghan, Caitie, and Colleenare now the new faces of this historic Chicago brand, a spot he and his brothers held for decades. They've relaunched catalogs showcasing their furniture in fully designed spaces. "We're not your parents' furniture company," Caitie said. The Smithe sisters - Walter III's daughters Maureen, Meghan, Caitie, and Colleen - are also now executives at Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design and appear in the ads. "They're having a lot of fun. This initiative calls for all hands on deck. - 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. I love the one where they are drinking what looks like Tang out of wine glasses. Visit . Chicago Parent, as a Zoe Communications Group company, is certified as a Womens Business Enterprise by the Womens Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nations largest third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women. Walter E. Smithe Jr. Obituary. Last year there aas a commercial where the puppet quickly moved to close his laptop when someone came in the office. "The girls have all worked elsewhere before coming back to Smithe," says Walter of his daughters who have had careers ranging from merchandising to advertising. Instead of starring third-generation brothers Walter III, Tim, and Mark, the new ones put the spotlight on fourth-generation sisters Caitie, Meghan, Maureen, and Colleen. (847) 933-1481. Darvin is always yelling about discounts. When they get a topic, Smithe says, he tries to figure a way to blend it into an ad. 1251 West Thorndale Avenue. When I first came on board, our industry was very much a good old boys club, says Maureen, who regularly travels to marketplaces around the country to buy merchandise. Walter E. Smithe and Bill Shanahan founded the store anticipating a booming economy in the wake of World War II. Find locations. Introduced to the family business at an early ageI can recall pigtails in my hair, getting a penny or nickel for every clearance tag we pulled, says Meghanthe four daughters of Walter Smithe III have embraced their own roles for the Itasca, Illinois-based company; Meghan is director of marketing, Colleen is director of advertising, Maureen is a buyer, and Caitie is a designer. Walter E. SMITHE corporate office is located in 1775 W Rand Rd, Arlington Heights, Illinois, 60004, United States and has 382 employees. All three attended St. Mary's College in Winona, Minn. Walt got an MBA at Notre Dame, Tim got one at Northwestern, and Mark got a law degree at Loyola. Growing up, she and her sisters held various roles at the furniture and design firm, earning their first paychecks and gaining job experience and exploring interests that would later launch their careers. and runners at CB2 (800 W. North Ave., cb2.com). The Smithe boys started out in a tiny ranch house in Des Plaines, the children of Walter Jr. and Florence. There's a certain time and simplicity factor, so from the time of the idea to the time we shoot it can be as short as a week.". Today. I havent seen the Tile Outlet lady in a while!! Please enter valid email address to continue. Nothing is left unchanged, Meghan notes. Walt and Tim mocked Mark's new haircut. This style is out there and we need to respond and get it on our floor. "We're custom, so we can create everything, but we need to get the right mix out there to give people ideas," said Meghan Smithe, the company's director of marketing. He also hosted telethons. College was a turning point for the sisters, who now call one another their best friends. hbspt.forms.create({ They got on each other's nerves and learned to talk quickly at the dinner table if they wanted to get a word in. Since 1945, the company has established itself as a reliable family-run retailer, with the second- and third-generation Smithe men at the helm. - Lynn Hauldren: Who? I was probably in elementary school when I would come in to work in the warehouse, sweeping for a nickel, Colleen says of the brand, which first opened in 1945. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. and became working moms in different industries. Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design advertising has featured everything from parodies of "The Price Is Right" to a 2013 classic in which the Smithe brothers got into a wrestling ring with Billy Corgan. Spoken like the daughter of a true shop owner, as her father Walter E. Smithe III, president of the eponymous furniture retailer calls himself. Colleen loved being able to point out that her dad and uncles, Mark and Tim, brainstormed and executed the ideas themselves. We learned so much from these relationships, Colleen says. We are sad to announce that on October 9, 2022 we had to say goodbye to Walter E. Smithe Jr. of Chicago, Illinois. "It's been about reworking how we approach visually what we want to convey about the product that we're selling," Meghan said. 9615 Skokie Blvd, Skokie, IL 60077. Along the way, they got married, had children (17 in all!) "There are still people who ask us, 'Where are the brothers? Pinterest. But he soon returned to the family furniture business that his father first started in 1945, and pioneered the concept of custom-order furniture in the Chicago area. We can be real nimble when we're this tight and this spread across the business.". The Smithe sisters Walter III's daughters Maureen, Meghan, Caitie, and Colleen are also now executives at Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design and appear in the ads. Caitie, Colleen, Maureen and Meghan Smithe represent the fourth generation helping run their Chicago-based family furniture store, Walter E. Smithe, and they're determined not to be the last. My wife and I were just talking about this yesterday, we truly hate the Walter E Smithe commercials with the daughters. View a map of participating First Friday locations. We not only respect this, we embrace it.. You may have noticed a change lately in those Walter E. Smithe (smithe.com) siblings-on-a-couch commercials. Its nice to see when a family is ready to replace a well-loved piece that they come back to Smithe to do it. To date, there are 10 Smithe stores scattered throughout Chicago, and one in northwest Indiana. They've spruced up their styles, selling more contemporary pieces among their traditional designs. Walter E. Smithe Furniture, Inc. Marketing Contacts Contacts (5/9) Name Title State; Walter S. President & Chief Executive Officer . So as long as strangers keep serenading them with the company jingle instead of pelting them with "Hardrock, Coco and Joe" DVDs, and as long as the business continues to grow, they'll keep doing the ads. The Smithe brothers are following in the footsteps of other memorable Chicago commercial icons: - Jim Moran: Starting in the late '40s, "The Courtesy Man" sponsored wrestling programs, late-night movies, a country-and-western music show and his own variety show. 1251 W. Thorndale Ave. Itasca, IL 60143-1149. Walter E. Smithe is a family business in every sense of the word, the sisters say. "With a strategy to continue Smithe parodies of relevant topics, really, the future is limitless," he says. Thats fast, but it shows what we can do. The 86-year-old patriarch of the Smithe family, Walter Edward Smithe Jr., "died . It said he passed away peacef "If you think of furniture commercials, it's always just panning a showroom with obnoxious graphics," says O'Neil, who has directed all the Smithe commercials. At Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, we are committed to helping our clients love their homes through expert design, quality furnishings, and exemplary service. 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. The founder of well-known Chicago-area furniture company Walter E. Smithe has died, his family announced Wednesday. Chicago's Best Furniture and Expert Design. Timothy Smithe Jr. (m. 2013-2018) Kyla Lynn McCarthy (born October 8, 1986) is the daughter of politician and former Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. This began a long series of lighthearted television commercials, which became increasingly elaborate over the next few years. Its a tough balance, but I like figuring out the retail puzzle.. The announcement was merely an early April Fools' Day prank, although the Smithe brothers said they had received about one hundred emails from viewers who were not sure what to think. "They took different career paths," Tim says. Multi Location Business. 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. For example, Meghan had to miss her sons Valentines Day party at school this year, due to work responsibilities. Still, she never dreamed of working full time for Walter E. Smithe Furniture, even while growing up in Barrington with her three sisters, Maureen, Caitie and Colleen. Smithe's wife of 64 years was by his side when he passed, and he . My sisters and I loved being a part of it.. Some ways to do this include mixing fabrics and leathers such as pairing linens with velvets, shag rugs, fur throws, organic elements such as rattan and bamboo even the reflective-ness of chrome can add texture to a room! 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. She had been a buyer for Abercrombie and Fitch for a few years after college when a job opened up in the Smithe merchandising office. One of the first opportunities to test their compatibility was through a partnership with interior designer and TV personality Jeff Lewis. The Smithe sisters are working to expose the brand to a new customer base Photo credit: Robin Subar. The brothers spend most of their time in the company's Itasca headquarters, which also serves as a warehouse, customer service center and point of departure for the fleet of Smithe trucks. I was probably in elementary school when I would come in to work in the warehouse sweeping for a nickel Colleen says. Walter Smithe, president of the furniture company named for his grandfather, is flanked by daughters, Maureen, left, and Caitie on March 21, 2017, as theywatch his other daughters Colleen, far left, and Meghan play pingpong at the Walter E. Smithe furniture store in Oak Brook. Dont burden yourself with the boredom of a matching wood set. Even with little ones underfoot, the Smithe sisters make balancing their family furniture business and their growing broods look effortless. walter e smithe furniture - inc. walter e smithe furniture. Industry: Home Furniture & Housewares Stores. Read the rest of the issue. Caitie Smithe is aDesigner, Design Coordinator + Stylist atWalter E. Smithe Furniture + Design. Walter E. Smithe Jr. died peacefully at age 86, his family said in a prepared statement. It's fun to be part of Chicago in that way.". The campaign was inspired in part by a partnership with designer/house-flipper Jeff Lewis of the Bravo show Flipping Out. Only a year apart in age, the lively, fast-talking Smithe sisters consider one another best friends. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune). Walt (actually Walter Smithe III), 45, is president and general manager of the company; he and his wife have five kids and live in Barrington Hills. Shop the Sofa Sale. Chicago, IL. They're going to be the ones buying furniture for the next 50 years, so we have to be ready to serve them the way they want to be served," said Walter Smithe, 57. The Smithe brothers used good-natured humor on countless TV commercials selling furniture. Even if you weren't sure that Walt, Tim and Mark Smithe were brothers -- yep, those Smithe brothers, of "Walter E. Smithe, you dream it, we build it" fame -- their banter at a recent commercial shoot was a dead giveaway. Caitie Smithe, Designer and Stylist. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. But the truth is, I love coming to the office. The Smithe brothers have been described as "Chicago's most recognizable furniture purveyors", due to their ubiquitous television commercials starring themselves. Their camaraderie is genuine, and they can easily share ideas and bounce between conversations. Calkins says that by minimizing production costs and media costs and doing those quick turnarounds, Smithe gets a bigger bang for its advertising buck. We all trickled back in, and it happened really organically, says Meghan of the industrious quartet, who collectively has 17 children. Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. But it wasn't long before he approached his youngest daughter with a proposition. Now, the fourth-generation leaders of Walter E. Smithe are learning to balance their busy personal lives with the big responsibility of carrying out the legacy of their family-run business. Tim recalls Walt trying to smother him -- repeatedly, apparently -- with a bean bag chair. Only a year apart in age, the lively, fast-talking Smithe sisters consider one another best friends. Walter E. Smithe, Jr., founder of Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, has died at the age of 86, his family said. Sometimes its the only quiet I get.. In some of the footage, youll see my dad installing a dimmer or my uncle driving a truck. William Hageman and Tribune staff reporter. They've transitioned into the spotlight. Instead, the Smithe sisters Colleen, director of advertising; Maureen, a buyer; Caitie, a designer; and Meghan, the marketing director help a Chicago couple with tastes that sometimes clash give their town home a new look before relatives show up for a visit. His line was, `If you can talk you can breathe.'". Trendwise, Caitie says the color gurus at Pantone were right on when they selected a bright shade of green as Color of the Year. ("Did you notice he used the wide-angle lens when he shot your [rear end]?"). "Staying fresh, young and relevant is how we're going to sustain the brand into the next 75 years," Meghan said. So, somewhat reluctantly, they let themselves become the public face of Walter E. Smithe Furniture. Walter Smithe, president of the furniture company named for his grandfather, is flanked by daughters, Maureen, left, and Caitie on March 21, 2017, as theywatch his other daughters Colleen, far left, and Meghan play pingpong at the Walter E. Smithe furniture store in Oak Brook. The company made its website easier to use and more modern-looking. But the sisters also know they can always turn to the leaders who came before them. While a new recession may strike a particular industry, measuring the industry and . Spoken like the daughter of a true "shop owner," as her father Walter E. Smithe III, president of the eponymous furniture retailer calls himself. "If we'd done that with a large agency, it would have been flying people in from New York and storyboards and approvals along the way," he says. The commercial included the tagline "Change the Name, Change the Luck", a reference to the Cubs' decades-long struggle to reach the World Series. Chicagoans came to know and appreciate the three Smithe brothers who starred for years in quirky TV commercials touting their family-run furniture company. Unlike their brothers, they chose other careers. No surprise why the quality is so crap. The CBS Chicago team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSChicago.com. "But these are guys who you'd go to dinner with, you know? Reviews on Outlet Walter E Smithe in Glendale Heights, IL 60139 - Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, Toms Price Home, The Dump Furniture Outlet, Ashley HomeStore, The RoomPlace, Roy's Furniture, Domicile "As needs within the business grew, positions opened up organically," Maureen said. getting a penny or nickel for every clearance tag we pulled," says Meghanthe four daughters of Walter Smithe III have . They pointed out how affordable the pieces are. Shop now. They can really do great things. Walter Smithe, president of the furniture company, climbs the stairs March 21, 2017, at the Walter E. Smithe furniture store in Oak Brook, alongside his four daughters, Colleen, from left, Caitie, Maureen and Meghan. The slogans "You dream it, we build it", or "That's Smithe, with an E" are commonly used. Smithe guy Walt actually Walter Smithe III 45 is president and general manager of the. The girls have all worked elsewhere before they came to work here, says Walter of his daughters who have had careers ranging from merchandising to advertising. We understand that customers see a certain look on, say, Instagram and they want it replicated in their own home, Colleen says. Not as long as they keep the commercials clever and topical, O'Neil says. My sisters and I represent the viewpoint of our younger clientele, Meghan says. Meghan can recall her pigtails bouncing as she ran through the Walter E. Smithe warehouse as a young girl, pulling sales tags in exchange for a nickel or dime from her grandfather, Walter Smithe Jr. That's why when she and her three sisters -- Maureen, Meghan and Caitie -- were asked a few years ago to transition into the role their father and uncles held for so long, they weren't immediately receptive. The company has become known over the years in particular for its quirky TV commercials Chicago TV viewers have long known the jingle, "Walter E. Smithe, you dream it we build it." walter e smithe. What are they up to?' Smithe says that doing everything in-house allows them to be quick on their feet. The journey from Point A to Point B started with an all-blooper and outtakes reel that O'Neil and Tim Smithe put together as a birthday gift for mom Florence. The Smithes: (L-R) Colleen, Meghan, Walter III, Walter Jr., Mark, Caitie, and Maureen. We strive to bring our clients the best in home furnishings for every style, budget, and. "He'd come up from behind and drop in it on us," Tim says. The company makes, sells, and repairs furniture, specializing in custom upholstery, and operates ten showrooms throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. Find employees, official website, emails, phone numbers, revenue, employee headcount, social accounts, and anything related to Walter E. Smithe Furniture. The Walter E. Smithe furniture jingle "you dream it, we build it" has been a longtime fixture in the firm's television ads, just as the Smithe brothers themselves have been. Shop the label. Mix together different, but complimentary, elements such as woods, metals and stonesand feel free to mix various metals together. He cites the U2 music video takeoff. And it's not uncommon for their kids to make cameo appearances in advertisements or to help sort through fabric samples, "which would technically make it a five-generation business," Maureen says. "Case in point, I was just this morning sketching out my first ideas for The Three Tenors, featuring, of course, the Smithe brothers in a coliseum. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Smithe then went into the computer industry working for General Electric and IBM in 1967, according to his obit. And now with the company's 75th anniversary approaching in August, they're ready to push forward plans to expand and evolve. Zajdel was a driver for Victory when he made the commercial a quarter-century ago. She also sees more demand for curation: Rather than walking into a store and getting an entire matching bedroom or dining set, people are mixing and matching and getting a look thats uniquely theirs., The new ED Ellen DeGeneres furniture collection (now available at all 11 Walter E. Smithe showrooms) allows for just thatand it includes versatile pieces that transcend their typical use. (Last year, Walter E. Smithe resurrected the 1950s-era cartoon that was a holiday staple on WGN-Ch. Check out the new collection. As teens, the four sisters worked only part time in their fathers showroom or outlet store, selling furniture and earning their first paychecks along with other eager, cash-strapped teens. Those early Smithe commercials were straight-forward affairs, with each brother talking about his area of expertise -- Walt discussed the merchandise, Tim the company's designers, and Mark Smithe's delivery system and customer satisfaction -- and, of course, the furniture. October 12, 2022 / 3:27 PM "We take that very seriously, and we have so much passion for it.". Start shopping. Walter e smithe daughters. The commercials are created in-house. To the Smithe sisters, the company has always been a piece of their identity, an integral thread of their childhood. Walter E. Smithe also is changing up its ads. Walter E. Smithe is a furniture company based in Itasca, Illinois. Through March 16, enjoy savings of up to 20 percent on select rugs (hopscotch, anyone?) Meghan was hired in 2013 and now serves as director of sales strategy. I gave up sleep and TV, Maureen jokes. "And I'd be yelling, `I can't breathe! This rating has improved by 10% over the last 12 months. The implication was that he was doing/looking at something inappropriate. This is not how you attract a premium buyer or build a premium brand. Explore more of the publications in our portfolio here. Receive a 20 percent discount on sofas, love seats, sectionals, chaises, and more at Cassona (5241 N. Clark St., cassona.com) through March 13. Assuming your a dude your not supposed to understand the commercials. [4], Many of Walter E. Smithe's commercials have been pop culture parodies. The four women have been taking on bigger roles at the company and star in its new ad. Walter E. Smithe wants to create a series of similar videos to give customers a behind-the-scenes look at their services and the company. "They've done a wonderful job building a distinctive brand," says Tim Calkins, a professor of marketing at Northwestern University. Tomorrow, Hubbard Woods Design District (Green Bay Rd. 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. The Smithes stand out because they're doing silly things. Our dad always put an emphasis on hard work, and it stuck with us.. Now, there are 12, a 115,000-square-foot headquarters in Itasca and more than 550 employees, and this year Walter E. Smithe Furniture will do $100 million in sales. CHICAGO (WLS) -- Walter E. Smithe, Jr., founder of Walter E. Smithe Furniture & Design, has died at the age of 86, his family said. "We have wonderful clients who are my generation or older, but we have to figure out how we cater to this new generation that's setting up households now. Then he and Thorson meet with his brothers and throw ideas around. That can help Walter E. Smithe differentiate itself from the growing number of lower-priced furniture retailers that have moved into the Chicago area in the past couple of years, Walter Smithe said. But learning how to work together while also juggling their busy personal lives -- they have 18 kids among the four of them -- can be a delicate balance. Even their more than 250 employees are treated like family. Whoever said brick-and-mortar is dead hasn't met the Smithe sisters. "What about you and your sisters?". When the boys took over from their father, there were about a half-dozen stores. Three years later, she recruited Colleen to become advertising director -- a position she accepted without hesitation. [7], Chicagoans have had mixed reactions to the Walter E. Smithe commercials. Bloomingdale Plaza. His four daughtersMaureen Megan Clarke Caitie Jisa and Colleen Parkerare now the new faces of this historic Chicago brand a spot he and his brothers held for decades. Determine whether Walter E. Smithe Furniture grew or shrank during the last recession. The first change I noticed was it became all about the sons. We feel like we can now speak to the multitude of generations who shop with us, she says. 2023 Zoe Communications Group | 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite #LL-M974, Chicago, IL 60604 | 708.386.5555 | Website by Web Publisher PRO, ParentEd Talks: Free Virtual Speaker Series, A Concerned Parents Guide to Gun Violence and Gun Safety. 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. We are a 4th generation family-owned business, and our employees are an integral part of . Margie, who used to be a buyer for Smithe, moved to St. Louis with her husband, who worked for Anheuser-Busch's ad agency. [4][5] In 2008, they filmed and edited a takeoff of the Sex and the City franchise, with the brothers sipping "Smithe-o-politans". Indian Trail, High Street intersection work approved in Aurora, Suspect in high-speed chase crashes into, kills veteran Indiana State Trooper trying to stop him: officials, Educators get peek at Paramount play about artificial intelligence which is set to tour schools, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. [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]. I only hear them on the radio. Whether bringing in color as an accent or making a big statement with a lot of color, your home will feel instantly transformed and personalized. Then when I plugged it in, the place went up for grabs. After college, all three gravitated back to the family business, which was founded by their father.
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