It Happens Every June — This Time Only More So

Every June the furniture industry has its big trade show right here in Chicago. It's called the NeoCon World's Trade Fair.

All the manufacturers set up elaborate showrooms brimming with their latest and greatest products. All for the benefit of interior designers, architects and retailers like yours truly.

Although every year is interesting, this year's show was palpably exciting. No kidding. Here's why:

First of all, the attendance was way up. There were many more designers and architects than in previous years. Most had major projects in hand and were actively looking for the newest solutions for their clients. It was a very clear reflection of our rebounding economy, to be sure.

The range of colors on display from all the manufacturers was also striking. So much so that I wrote a companion piece about it. Click here to read more.

Another major buzz factor was the sheer ingenuity on display. The products themselves were just astounding in ways large and small. They just keep getting better every year. Here's a couple of examples of what's coming down the pike.

Sneek Peek #1 : The Think™ Chair from Steelcase

Steelcase is best known for their popular line of high performance Leap Chairs.

Well, now they've entered the the middle market in a big way with their new Think Chair.

It's remarkable for the degree of performance, simplicity, comfort and elegance designed into such an affordable work chair. Even seemingly simple things list arms that slide back when they touch your desk are brilliant.

What's also remarkable about the Think Chair is the extremely high degree of environmental friendliness that went into this marvel. Every single aspect of this chair was designed and engineered with the environment in mind.

In fact, Steelcase created a rather amazing brochure all about it. You can read it by clicking here. It gets a bit technical, but it offers an awesome insight into the kind of holistic design and engineering thinking that created Think.

Sneek Peek #2 : The Liberty™ Chair from Humanscale

Humanscale, the maker of the Freedom chair and a terrific line of ergonomic accessories, received the Best of NeoCon 2004 Gold Award in the Ergonomic/Task Seating category for its new Liberty chair.

Using a patent-pending Form-Sensing Mesh Technology, the Liberty chair brings together the benefits of traditional mesh seating (breathability, durability, sustainability and aesthetic appeal) with the body-friendly support of highly-contoured foam cushions.

Instead of using a single, flat panel of stretch mesh, the Liberty features three panels of extremely low-stretch mesh that are bonded together in a specific pattern. So it creates a contoured shape optimized for exceptional lumbar support without an external lumbar device.

In fact, this chair adjusts dynamically to accommodate different back shapes and sizes. There’s no need to manually adjust the lumbar position or curve – Liberty does it automatically.

Needless to say, I'll be writing more about these marvels in upcoming newsletters.

The Think chair is due to ship in late summer and the Liberty is due by the winter holidays. One of the very first truckloads of each will be coming straight here.

If you'd like us to set one aside for you, simply give us a call toll-free at 1-877-MY-OFFICE and one of our experts will be happy to answer all your questions and take care of all the details.