Giving Old Furniture New Purpose
“Quality built from the inside out… It’s at the heart of what we do.” That’s what our founder, Johnny Tipton, believed. Today, it’s become the foundation of the Smarter Furnishings culture.
Aligning for a positive impact.
One way we try to live this principle is by aligning with reputable organizations like the Chicago Furniture Bank, whose goal is to help those facing poverty furnish their homes completely with free furniture. In 2022 alone, they aim to provide 4,000 homes with furnishings.
Because our installation team also provides removal of old furniture when needed, it creates great opportunities to find and align with organizations that will put the furniture to good use. Sustainability is a shared value in our corporate culture, so we’re always looking for ways to keep usable furniture out of landfills.
“We connected with Smarter Furnishings through one of their customers, The Scion Company, who donates their old furniture from communities across the country,” says Griffin Amdur, Director of Corporate Partnerships at the Chicago Furniture Bank. “The Chicago Furniture Bank furnishes 15 homes per day for families leaving homelessness behind—free of charge. Bulk donations make it much easier to get the volume of furniture required for each home.”
The people behind the partnership.
Leading the charge in this initiative is our Director of Operations, Carson Vines. But it’s more than a one-person job. Many of our team members help make a difference and get the items where they need to be, including our Logistics Manager, Taylor Long, and Warehouse Manager, Shane Ashcraft.
Taylor is responsible for overseeing the transportation of products on a national level. From initial orders to the final delivery day, he’s in charge of ensuring customers receive everything they need for a successful installation. As the Warehouse Manager, Shane ensures a smooth transition of goods, meaning products are delivered safely and on time. Though his work tends to occur “behind the scenes,” his dedication to getting the job done right the first time, every time shines through in every customer experience.
At Smarter Furnishings, we strive to uphold these key pillars of success: wisdom, reliability, and focus in our work, customer relationships, and overall lives.
We’ve seen our customer and team relationships grow stronger when we serve with a humble heart, and we’re thrilled to partner with The Chicago Furniture Bank to help improve lives in every community it serves.
You can learn more about this organization and its impact below or by visiting them online at ChicagoFurnitureBank.org.
“The mission of the Chicago Furniture Bank is to provide dignity, stability, and comfort to Chicagoans that face poverty by allowing clients to handpick an entire home’s worth of furnishings for free—believing everyone should be able to sleep in a bed, share a family meal at a kitchen table, and enjoy the comfort of a furnished home.”