The Last Word Blog of Gardner-White Furniture and Mattress Stores Detroit Michigan

Gardner-White Furniture Prevents Lions TV Blackout!

  With 4th down and no time on the clock, Gardner-White Furniture stepped in and purchased all remaining tickets  to the Lions/Rams game on Sunday October 10th at 1:00pm -Ford Field. That means no TV blackout of this Sunday's game. While they last, Gardner-White customers get two tickets free with any purchase. Tickets are available at any Gardner-White store but when they are gone, they're gone.  And if you don't make it to the game you can watch it on the big screens in every Gardner-White store.

"We know how much fans around here love our Lions and we do too." said Steve Tracey, President.

Gardner-White is locally owned and operated. Their assortment includes the largest selection of motion furniture in Michigan, as well as Gardner-White's exclusive Big Picture Package and Rooms That Rocks, featuring the latest electronics from Best Buy. Gardner-White's mattress department boasts an impressive array of comfort and quality, with brands like Simmons Beautyrest, Serta Perfectsleeper, Vera Wang by Serta and Tempurpedic and Trump Home Mattress .  www.gardner-white.com

What's The Connection: Why Is A Furniture Store Sponsoring The #140Conf Detroit About the Real Time Web?

We asked Leslie Carothers (@tkpleslie) ,CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership and Gardner White Furniture's social media agency, why one of our two major sponsors for our Detroit #140conf on Oct. 20th is a furniture store. 

Here's her response:

"When we were first hired by Gardner White Furniture (@GardnerWhite), we were tasked with coming up with innovative ways to engage young families, their next generation of customers, with the Gardner White brand. The Gardner White value proposition has always been: "Providing value for  families." 

After listening closely for 3 months on Twitter to what people in Detroit  were discussing, we could see what they really cared most about was the future of their city and whether or not there would be job opportunities there for them and their families so they could stay. It's no secret that Detroit has had major issues with unemployment which has resulted in the loss of many young families who have been forced to live elsewhere in order to create a secure future for themselves and their children.

We also could hear that many people in Detroit loved their city passionately and we saw that there were many grassroots efforts underway to rebuild and rebrand Detroit that were not getting any attention in the local or national press. 

So, in the spring of this year, the owner of Gardner White Furniture, Barb Tronstein (@BarbTronstein) agreed to our idea to hold a "Brainstorm For Positive Detroit" meeting in Detroit. We had no idea if anyone would show up or not. The entire meeting was set up through Twitter and via phone with the local help of Eric of Urbane Apartments (@Eric_Urbane) and was held at his co-working space, @Urbane_Space. 

On the night of the event, approximately 20 people showed up. Barb and I were both surprised at this turnout since neither one of us had ever met anyone who showed up. Barb and I  listened and took notes. Afterwards, Barb and I discussed what she heard, and what she heard was this, "What everyone really wants to have are opportunities for their businesses so they can grow and succeed and stay here with their families." 

Enter the #140conference. As everyone reading this knows, the #140conf is the most famous conference in the world about the impact of the real time web on businesses and individuals, attracts the world's best speakers in whatever city it is held in, and gets an enormous turnout-both online and offline. 

We proposed to Barb that Gardner White sponsor the conference as a way to show that she really heard the group that night and took meaningful action. Why is sponsoring the #140conference taking meaningful action? Because the #140conf provides excellent networking opportunities for the people that attend. These networking opportunities lead to jobs. Jobs lead to Detroit's young families feeling confident enough to stay in Detroit, buy a home or rent an apartment and, eventually, furnish it.

Is this a huge leap of faith for a furniture store? Yes, but Barb is willing to trust us that you, the young Detroit families will *get* what she is doing , appreciate the guts it took for a 92 year old,  established furniture store to go so far *out of the box* with social media and respond back to her in a way that allows a businesswoman to know the risk she took in investing financially in the #140conf and the personal time she has committed in this brand new way to *provide value to Detroit families" has been heard by and appreciated. 

As Gardner White 's social media agency, what do we hope for? We hope the young families of Detroit will consider thanking @barbtronstein and/or @GardnerWhite publicly on Twitter and *like* their Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture. Most of all, we hope the young families of Detroit and greater Michigan will shop online at http://gardner-white.com or stop into one of their seven Detroit locations to see how their merchandise has changed in significant ways to reflect your more modern, urban tastes and to discover the values Gardner White's  partnership with Best Buy can bring to your enjoyment of your homes- and to let Barb know that afterwards -via Twitter or email. 

Ultimately, what Barb and Gardner White's support allows us to do is create a full circle of *wins* for everyone involved-the #140conf volunteers like @adrianpittman who is heading up the effort, @estrellabella10 who is doing an amazing job with speakers, @ericafinley @DaveMurr, @djmeph and all the other volunteers giving so generously of their time, the young families of Detroit, Christopher Barger (@cbarger) of @Buick (the other major sponsor at this time and the chief catalyst for attracting Jeff's conference to Detroit in the first place) and, lastly, Jeff and his organization for having the faith to bring the #140conf to Detroit and trust that his time would be well rewarded.

Lastly, Barb hopes her support helps the city of Detroit wins. She hopes the international attention the #140conf receives will put Detroit firmly back on the map in the minds of investors everywhere and let them know that Detroit is a viable and desirable place to invest so they will come to Detroit and help rebuild it for the families Gardner White hopes to serve for the next 92 years.

Gardner White IS changing and finding innovative new ways to "provide value to Detroit families." We're simply happy to be part of helping Gardner White create the *winning circle* using the real time web.

 

Come On Down-Price is Right at Gardner-White

COME ON DOWN

The Price Is Right, one of America's iconic family game shows, is holding their ONLY Michigan auditions at our Canton store. The store is loacted on Ford Road next to the Home Depot.  see www.gardner-white.com for directions  Auditions will be held today Thursday July 15th  from 2PM-7PM.

On Thursday, the producers of CBS's long running hit game show will choose three of you as semi-finalists based on your applications and your answers to their questions and, if you are one of them, you will be flown to LA,  attend a filming of The Price Is Right and have a 1 in 3 chance of being selected to appear as a contestant on The Price Is Right!

Not only is this a great opportunity to have fun and chat with some of your fellow Michiganders who love the show, too, but it's a great opportunity to meet the local media and, if you are selected, the national media, as well.

To download your application, click here: http://llnw.static.cbslocal.com/station/wwj/PriceIsRightContestantSearchApplication.pdf

and to see the eligibility requirements, click here: 

http://llnw.static.cbslocal.com/station/wwj/PriceIsRightContestantSearchRules.pdf

The Price Is Right has enjoyed  a resurgence in popularity amongst a whole new generation of viewers. With Drew Carey (@DrewFromTV on Twitter ) as the host now and famous internet personalities like @ijustine (with over 1 million twitter followers) appearing on TPIR, it's grown more popular than ever!  

You can now play the The Price Is Right on Facebook,on your  Blackberrys and IPhones and can download it onto your Wii or Playstation 3 that you might have gotten for free from us when you purchased your *Room That Rocks* (btw, that offer is still good and we have them in stock, too! ) 

We'll be posting updates and videos over on our Facebook Page at http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture and updating our Twitter feed @GardnerWhite and invite you to become our friend or follower on those sites to keep up with all the goings on as we track our three local semi-finalist winners!

We hope you'll #ComeOnDown and have a great time Thursday from 2-7pm! See you there and good luck!

Do You Know a 2010 Michigan High School Graduate?

 We love celebrating and supporting the children and families of the communities where we live.  We want to congratulate all graduating high school seniors in Michigan and let them know how proud we all are of what they have accomplished.  How?

Announcing our first Gardner-White Book Scholarship of $1000.00

How can you help?

1. Upload a picture of your 2010 high school graduating senior in their cap and gown to our Facebook Page: http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture.

2. Tag their picture with their name and leave a comment for them on our Facebook Page sharing how proud you are of them!  Share your comment with your Facebook friends so they will be encouraged to congratulate the graduating high school seniors too.

3. Ask your friends to upload the pictures of their own 2010 high school graduating seniors to our Facebook Page.

4.  Come back to our blog here and let us know in our BLOG comments that you uploaded a picture of a 2010 high school graduating senior and commented on their picture and leave us your contact information.

On June 15th 2010, we will snip ALL comments left on our blog here by you and your friends and put them in a box and draw one name.  That lucky 2010 Michigan high school graduating senior will receive our $1000.00  college book scholarship.

Imagine the feeling these students will get when they see the hundreds of thousands of supportive comments we are hoping to get from families all over Michigan.  Please share this blog post with your friends. Let's let everyone know how proud we are of all the hardworking determined young men and women of Michigan.

Working together as a state we can support a more positive future for ALL of Michigan's young people and encourage our students to stay her and work here after college by showing them we care about making sure they have a future full of enticing possibilities and a supportive network of adults who care about their success!

Follow us on twitter,too @GardnerWhite and use the hashtag #MI2010Grads! Let the fun begin!

Winner must be a graduate of an accredited Michigan high school in 2010. The check will be made payable to an accredited university, community college or technical school located in Michigan. The graduate may be asked to show proof of graduation and admission to an accredited institution of higher learning. The decision of Gardner-White regarding the winner is final. Employees, children of employees or suppliers of Gardner-White are not eligible.

Gardner-White to host tryouts for the Biggest Loser-Saturday March 13th at

NOW CASTING THE BIGGEST LOSER SEASON 10. APPLY TODAY!!!

Biggest Loser Tryouts on Saturday at Gardner-White!

'Biggest Loser' Holds Detroit-Area Casting Call

Ruth Spencer Consumer Investigator

POSTED: Thursday, February 18, 2010

UPDATED: 1:57 pm EST February 18, 2010

Do you have at least 100 pounds to lose and want to win big by being the biggest loser?

Then you should go to an open casting call for the popular NBC show, "The Biggest Loser."

The Detroit-area casting call will be held at the Gardner White Furniture Store located at 45300 Hayes Rd. in Macomb On March 13.

The casting call will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The winner of "The Biggest Loser" season will receive $250,000.

For more information, visit "The Biggest Loser" casting call Web site.

Copyright 2010 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Gardner-White to host tryouts for the Biggest Loser

He has kept the weight off, developed his own 10-week life transformation class (Lose It Fast, Lose It Forever) and touched thousands of lives as a motivational speaker. 

Sterling Heights’ Helen Phillips just graced the cover of Good Housekeeping and continues to wow the world with her weight loss of 140 pounds. She won $250,000 on the seventh season of “Loser” and hopes to open a spinning and wellness center in Macomb County.

Now “Loser” representatives have lined up a March 13 date at Gardner White Furniture in Macomb to find contestants for an upcoming season of the show. 

The open casting call runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Those who show up must be at least 18 years old and a U.S. citizen They should have 100 pounds or more of weight to lose and should bring along a photo. The store is at 45300 Hayes Road in Macomb. 

For more, go to htp://www.thebiggestlosercasting.com.

WXYZ- Announces the Winner of the Oprah No Zone-Gardner-White Contest

(WXYZ)- The No Phone Zone pledge is gaining support across the country.

The pledge was made popular on the Oprah Winfrey show. Gardner White took the on line initiative one step further and held a contest to get more folks to sign-up and to reward one customer who already did.

Michelle Proper was the big winner of the contest. She received a big surprise for pledging not to text and drive, talk on the phone while driving or pull over to use a cell phone.

It's estimated that 6,000 people have died in distracted driving accidents, and a recent survey suggests that 71% of people between the ages of 18 and 49 admit to texting and talking on cell phones while driving.

Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel Believes this is an epidemic that needs to be addressed.

19 states including the district of Columbia have bans on texting while driving, however Michigan isn't one of them.

The state House passed a ban last year and now the state Senate is deliberating a 2-bill package which could make texting or talking while driving against the law.

Sign the No Phone Zone pledge at Gardner-White and Enter to win a Big Picture Package

 

 

 

 

Gardner-White Room Full of Furniture Contest

Official Rules Contest List

Visit any of the 7 Gardner-White Furniture locations and enter for a chance to win a 50-inch High-Def TV, a room FULL of furniture, PLUS two tickets to see a taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show, courtesy of Gardner-White Furniture.

Take the Oprah NO-Phone Zone Pledge at Gardner-White

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

February 4, 2010-Detroit, Michigan

 

Gardner White Furniture, WXYZ-TV-Detroit, The Oprah Show Partnering to help end

Distracted Driving

 

Gardner White Furniture, Warren, Michigan (http://gardner-white.com) has teamed up with WXYZ-TV (Channel 7 in Detroit) to further Oprah Winfrey’s initiative against Distracted Driving.

On Saturday, February 6, at 7pm, Gardner-White will sponsor Channel 7’s re-broadcast of Oprah’s No Phone Zone Show (originally aired on Monday, January 18, 2010). The re-broadcast will reach viewers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, Lapeer, St. Clair and Sanilac Counties.

 

Oprah’s No Phone Zone Show has helped spark a nation-wide movement against distracted Driving. Bob Sliva, Channel 7 Vice President and General Manager commented that, “distracted driving is a dangerous, life-threatening practice that has become all too commonplace.  That’s why we are proud to have joined forces with The Oprah Winfrey Show and Gardner White Furniture to address this problem and the significance of the No Phone Zone pledge to our viewers”.

 

In 2008, distracted driving caused 16% of all highway fatalities and over 515,000 accidents. 19 states and the District of Columbia now have laws preventing texting while driving and 23 more are considering them. Six states and the District of Columbia now ban handheld cell phones while driving.

 

Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation has made banning texting one of the main priorities of his department. Recently, the DOT launched the federal site http://distraction.gov as a resource for concerned citizens.

 

Following the re-broadcast, viewers will be asked to take Oprah’s NO-Phone Zone Pledge at Gardner-White Stores, where they can register to win a Big Picture Furniture Package, as well as tickets to an Oprah taping in her Chicago Studio.

 

Gardner White is also using social media to get local residents to take the “pledge”.

Leslie Carothers, of the Kaleidoscope Partnership, comments that, “The interaction of a Broadcast Television Network, a Local Business leader, and the Social Media communities

Is an ideal way to get the word out. Parents connected to our communities are now reaching out to their own communities for participation. Distracted Driving affects everyone.”

Carothers, who has been building Communities for Gardner-White on Twitter and Facebook futher comments that Ray LaHood himself has responded to Gardner-White Twitter messages on the subject.

 

 

Barb Tronstein, owner of Gardner White, says, “We want to use our media presence to help save lives. We are grateful to Channel 7 and Oprah Winfrey for allowing us to help. Leslie has done a great job online.

If you look on our Facebook page http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture you will see photos of distracted driving accidents. The larger tragedy is that these accidents are 100% preventable.”

 

 

For more information:

 

Tina Noor

TVWorks, Inc.

248.248.882.0059