West Elm LOCAL Program Expands Focus to Furniture and Music for Summer 2017
The West Elm LOCAL program today celebrates its growth into 86+ stores
with two initiatives dedicated to its support of local craft and
building communities. West Elm will host its second annual “LOCAL
Showcase” on June 8, calling upon local furniture makers and designers
to submit their products for consideration in their store’s LOCAL
assortment. West Elm also announced it will broaden its support of local
artists to include musicians, singers and bands with its new concert
series “Celebrate LOCAL”, bringing live music experiences to 12 West Elm
locations across the U.S. beginning in June.
“West Elm LOCAL program sets out to celebrate local craft and build
mutually beneficial relationships between our stores and local makers,”
said Mo Mullen, director of West Elm LOCAL. “We are excited to bring
LOCAL to life in a more impactful way with an expanded local furniture
assortment and our live in-store concert series. Together, these local
experiences allow us to connect shoppers with the artists behind the
craft and grow our LOCAL network of more than 800 artisans and
designers.”
The 2017 “LOCAL Showcase” will focus exclusively on discovering local
furniture makers and designers to expand West Elm’s selection of locally
produced furniture products such as side tables, benches, coffee tables
and more. On June 8, West Elm locations will invite select makers from
online submissions to share their stories and products for a chance to
join the LOCAL assortment and participate in future pop-up events. A
complete list of participating stores and event information is available
at westelmLOCALshowcase.eventbrite.com.
The inaugural “LOCAL Showcase” in 2016 drew in 200+ entries nationwide,
resulting in the addition of 160 new makers and designers and 1,600 new
products across multiple categories to the West Elm LOCAL assortment.
The “Celebrate LOCAL” concert series provides rising local musicians
with a platform to share their craft and aims to create an environment
for communities to connect with local musical talent. The local concerts
will take place at West Elm stores in communities across the U.S from
June through August, including:
-
Birmingham, MI
-
Boulder, CO
-
Brooklyn, NY
-
Charlotte, NC
-
Edina, MN
-
Seattle, WA
For more information on the Celebrate LOCAL concert series, including
confirmed dates, location and talent, visit westelmcelebrateLOCAL.eventbrite.com.
To participate in the 2017 “LOCAL Showcase” furniture makers submitted
their work online via westelmLOCALshowcase.eventbrite.com.
Makers and designers were then notified by their local West Elm store if
they were selected to participate in the June 8 showcase. For more
information about the West Elm LOCAL program or to discover stories
about current LOCAL makers visit the Front + Main blog at blog.westelm.com.
About West Elm
Headquartered in Brooklyn, NY since 2002, West Elm opened its first
store in DUMBO, the neighborhood it still proudly calls home. With a
mission of harnessing the power of design and human connection to enrich
lives, everything West Elm does is designed to make an impact in
everyday life, from creating unique, affordable designs for modern
living and commitment to Fair Trade Certified, from LOCAL and
handcrafted products to community-driven collaborations and events. The
brand operates 99 retail stores in the United States, Australia, Canada
and the UK, ships internationally to customers around the world and
operates stores in Mexico, the Middle East and Philippines through
unaffiliated franchisees. In addition to home furnishings retail, West
Elm operates West Elm Workspace in the commercial furnishings industry
and announced its expansion into the travel and hospitality industry
with the launch of West Elm HOTELS. West
Elm publishes the blog Front+Main and is part of an active community
on Facebook,
Instagram,
Pinterest,
Twitter
and YouTube.
West Elm is a member of the Williams-Sonoma, Inc. portfolio of brands.
