Sep 29, 2008

ARTS Awards to Honor Murray Feiss with Academy of Achievement Award

DALLAS –– Dallas Market Center (DMC), the world’s largest wholesale merchandise resource, and the Accessories Resource Team (ART), the trade association representing the decorative accessory industry, today announced that Murray Feiss will receive the Academy of Achievement Award at the 20th annual ARTS Awards.

The Academy of Achievement Award is awarded to an individual who has made significant contributions to the decorative accessories industry. The honor, along with awards for the more than 20 category winners, is presented at a gala event each January during the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market (January 14–20, 2009). The ARTS Awards is the premier awards program for the home decorative accessories industry. This year’s gala will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2009 in The Grand Pavilion at the Trade Mart.

“The home décor industry owes a debt of gratitude to Murray Feiss and his legendary achievements,” said Bill Winsor, president and CEO, Dallas Market Center. “Murray’s decades-long leadership has elevated the trade to extraordinary heights, while building an innovative company that is an industry pillar.”

Feiss was born in the Bronx, New York to Rose and David Feiss, who played a significant role in his development as a passionate entrepreneur. He received his degree in Business Administration from New York University (NYU) after serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. While at NYU Feiss lent his mother a hand with her small, but growing lampshade business, Stylecraft Lamp Shade Co.

Several years after graduating from NYU Feiss started a new company, Murray Feiss Lamp Co.; that developed into Murray Feiss Import Corp. in Spain and then expanded to Italy, Germany, Holland, Austria, and Sweden, where he imported a full range of decorative residential lighting. Because of the rising costs of importing from Europe, he moved his operations to Asia as one of the first to open operations in Taiwan and China. Today, Murray Feiss, a Generation Brands company, has four factories in China with more than 4,000 workers producing lighting and accessories for the North American markets.

About the Accessories Resource Team
The Accessories Resource Team (ART) is the association representing accessory manufacturers, retailers, representatives and other industry individuals and companies interested in promoting the decorative home accessories industry. The association’s goal is to enhance the market position of decorative home accessories. Each year ART sponsors programs such as the ART conference, regional educational seminars and the ARTS Awards. The Accessories Resource Team Web site is available at www.accessoriesresourceteam.org.

About Dallas Market Center
Founded in 1957, Dallas Market Center is the world’s largest wholesale merchandise resource. Within its marketplace of more than five million square feet, retailers from around the globe source products ranging from home furnishings, gifts, decorative accessories and lighting to textiles, fashion accessories and men’s, western, women’s and children’s apparel. With more than 50 markets each year attended by more than 200,000 retail buyers from all 50 states and 84 countries, Dallas Market Center offers hundreds of events and seminars geared toward helping retailers expand business and increase profits. As a result, more than $8 billion in estimated wholesale transactions are conducted annually within the Dallas Market Center complex. The Dallas Market Center Web site is available at www.dallasmarketcenter.com.