April 2021
Issue 14
SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL REMAINS By Brad Cates The lyrics to Tina Turner’s song “Something Beautiful Remains,” written long before the pandemic, feels somehow Monthly Newsletter prescient and right for our times now given its hook: “For every light that fades, something beautiful remains.” Pandemic exhaustion (some call it pandemic fatigue) is among the dominant themes in the media, and most of the stories I’ve read focus on how to persevere, with the writers usually suggesting more sleep, eating a more balanced diet and so on. Here’s my suggestion: Seek out beauty and surround yourself with it. We humans are naturally attracted to beauty. Numerous studies have found that even infants just a few hours old show they prefer attractive faces. I don’t know whether babies have an inherent sense of aesthetic, but I know I do. My friends know that while I am a math geek, I started out as a Fine Arts major and continue to paint in my free time. Indeed, the majority of the paintings on the walls in our showroom are usually mine. That’s because I have a very clear vision for all things Sarreid, from a potential product’s first sketches to how it will eventually be displayed in our showroom and how that showroom will be perceived. Throughout the last year, I have found that beauty sustains and energizes me. In fact, when the pressures of the job leave me feeling exhausted, I typically head out to the warehouse where I take in the new arrivals and remind myself what we are all about here. I have to say that I have never been more excited to show you all that’s new and coming than I am right now. We are in the midst of a quantum change, taking our “baby” steps toward becoming a whole-home solution. The new upholstered goods and classic, European-design chairs we’ve brought in are both beautiful and appropriately scaled for the American market. While we have always made it our business to present objects of desire, we’re expanding beyond singular looks with line extensions that give consumers, and your clients, more reasons to say “yes.” As example, our new cane pieces combine old-school texture and the architecturally graphic elements of caning with Midcentury influenced designs in open pore finishes with a lot of hang. Continued on Page 2
IN THIS ISSUE Trend Spotting Team Spotlight Sustainability