Thom Filicia of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” takes questions.

New York—Thom Filicia, Emmy-winning designer on Bravo’s “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and one of House Beautiful’s Top 100 American Designers, spoke to a group of achitects and designers in a special direct-to-trade event in Hoboken Floor’s showroom at the D&D Building, here. It was sponsored in part by BR-111 and NY Spaces magazine.

Filicia took the stage after guests and Hoboken staff mingled over gourmet delicacies. Beginning with
a comical anecdote about how a chance meeting in a broken elevator landed him on “Queer Eye,” Filicia shared his simple design concepts with the group.

Using a slide show of his many projects, he discussed his ideas about flooring and how all of his designs begin with the floor and build from there.

“As a designer,” said attendee Jennifer Watty, “I also believe all projects start with the floor and work up. The first and most important decision of flooring dictates the rest of the job.”

“We are proud to have had a designer with Thom’s caliber share his insights at one of our most popular events,” noted Ira Lefkowitz, the distributor’s CEO. “This is the first of several unique and exciting direct-to-trade events we have planned for 2006.”

In other news, Hoboken has expanded its presence in Texas with the opening of its newest facility in Houston this month. The distributor first entered the Texas market April 2005, ( FCNews, March 7/14, 2005).

“Texas has proven to be a great home for us,” said Joel Lefkowitz, president. “The product mix, customer services, marketing and merchandising are a perfect fit within the exciting and progressive Houston marketplace.”

“Part of the reason for our success is our simple philosophy,” concluded Ira. “We believe in servicing our customers by becoming their hometown distributor and are able to execute this by empowering local personnel to make the decisions needed for their market.”

In addition, the new location will house one of the company’s Pro Shops which stocks setting materials, finishes, adhesives, tools and accessories. Professionals will be on hand to offer expert advice, product demos and factory trained machinery repairs.

For more information on Hoboken, call 800/ 222-1068.
—Kathlene Vercellino