Black Whale Homes Kirsten Recce And Anne Thomas Keen At The Arts Awards At Dallas Market Center

Black Whale Home Wins Dallas Market Centre Prestigious 33rd Annual Arts Award for Second Consecutive Year

Location: Dallas TX. Date: January 6, 2023

Arts Award Announcement: Lighting Showroom West

Black Whale Home is thrilled to announce our second consecutive win at the 33rd Annual Arts Awards at Dallas Market Center! This honor celebrates the best in lighting showroom design and excellence.

Arts Awards: the premiere event for suppliers of lighting products in the USA

On Friday, January 6 interior designers, lighting industry experts, as well as other lighting stores gathered at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas TX for the 33rd Annual ARTS Awards revealed its category winners. Hosts Thom Filicia and Carson Kressley presented awards to outstanding achievers who were chosen by a panel of highly esteemed industry professionals from The Dallas Market Center and A.R.T.: The Creative Home Furnishings Network.


“Congratulations to this year’s ARTS Awards recipients and to our special honorees,” said Cindy Morris, President and CEO of Dallas Market Center, while Sharon Davis, Executive Director of A.R.T. added.... “It was an heartfelt evening of celebration for the industry and for the creative leaders who were honored.”

Dallas Market Center 33rd Annual Arts Award logo

About the Arts Award

The Annual Arts Awards were established in 1988 and acknowledge excellence in the lighting business, including lighting store design style, product knowledge and presentation, light fixtures marketing, and amazing customer service. The award jury is comprised of professional lighting experts from retail light store owners, interior designers, and light fixture manufacturers.

Why the Arts Award award matters

The award is an important indicator of the professionalism, innovation and expertise in the business of lighting service, marketing and sales. It is an acknowledgement of the staff of a lightning store who create an excellent experience for clients as they shop the endless options and brands available to them.

The Arts Awards honour the stores that bring to life their clients’ visions, whether the customer is an interior designer, a home builder, or a home owner remodelling their house. It acknowledges the importance of quality lighting, how it transforms a space, and the go to lighting store in each region for professional advice for addressing lighting needs, as well as quality service and support.

Why do Arts Awards take place in Dallas, Texas?

Black Whale Homes Kirsten Recce And Anne Thomas Keen At The Arts Awards At Dallas Market Center

Dallas is home to the Dallas Market Center, a leading wholesale trade complex which co-sponsors the event with the A.R.T., and hosts thousands of lighting companies from around the world. Professionals from the lighting business gather here to gain access to resources, network, and stay abreast of the latest trends.

Lighting Showroom West Winner: Black Whale Home

Black Whale Home’s dedication to excellence is demonstrated through our second consecutive win of this prestigious award, and we are proud to be part of this recognition for our company and the lighting industry at large.

About Black Whale Home's lighting store location

Black Whale Home Lighting Fixture Showroom retail store location exterior

Black Whale Home's showroom has been carefully designed to provide a warm and inviting space for customers to explore their range of luxury lighting options. Our team has worked to create a unique experience for each visitor. From the welcoming entrance to our knowledgeable staff, we strive to create an immersive and enjoyable experience for all of our customers as they navigate the variety of light fixtures.

Black Whale Home's wide range of lighting & home decor products

Black Whale Home offers a wide selection of lighting products, including chandeliers, pendants, sconces, table lamps and more. In addition to light fixtures, we also offer ceiling fans, wall art and home decor, giving customers the opportunity to find a complete look for their space.

We're thrilled with winning the Arts Award again

By winning the 33rd Annual Arts Award twice in a row, Black Whale Home has proven that it is one of the best lighting showrooms in the country. The award serves as a testament to our passion and dedication to providing high-quality light fixtures so that customers get the best value for their money, outstanding service, which all an extraordinary shopping experience.

Arts Award Links

The 33rd Annual Arts Award recipients announcement page:

https://dallasmarketcenter.com/press/33rd-arts-awards-recipients-announced

Our announcement from last year's Arts Award win:

https://www.blackwhalehome.com/blogs/black-whale-home-in-the-news/black-whale-home-wins-the-arts-award-for-best-lighting-showroom

san diego union tribune logo

San Diego Tribune Article About Furnished Home Donations Project

San Diego interior designers seek donations to furnish home for Humble Design project

…The local chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, San Diego (ASID), is partnering with Humble Design San Diego to design and furnish a home for a family emerging from homelessness and is asking for the public’s help.

Members of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) prepare to install furnishings at last year’s ASID Humble Design project.

The wish list includes donations of new and gently used home decor; bedding, kitchen and bath accessories; small furniture in good condition; books, lamps, curtains and rods; TVs with stands and remotes; and kitchen trash bins.

“We will use these donations to create a dignified, cozy home that will help put this family on a path toward long-term stability,” said Kirsten Recce, committee co-chair. “We are so honored and happy to partner with Humble Design, a nonprofit interior design company that has furnished more than 2,300 homes across five cities for families and veterans who were previously unsheltered.”…

Read the full article in the San Diego Union Tribune.

arts award hosts carson kressley and tom felicia

Black Whale Home Wins the ARTS Award for Best Lighting Showroom

Good news… we won again! Check out our Dallas Market Center 33rd Annual Arts Award announcement.

We are so excited to announce that Black Whale Home is the winner of the 32nd Annual ARTS Award in the category of Best Lighting Showroom - USA, West Region!

The ARTS Awards is the premier awards program in the U.S. honoring top manufacturers, retailers, designers and sales representatives. We are so proud of our team and everything they have accomplished!

Arts Award Winner logo

Black Whale Home is a lighting showroom located in Encinitas, California. We specialize in high-end, luxury lighting fixtures for residential and commercial applications. Our team of lighting experts have over 50 years of combined experience in the lighting industry, and we are dedicated to providing our clients with the best possible service.

Arts Awards Gala Photo of Kirsten & Maria

We are thrilled to have won this prestigious award, and we want to thank all of our clients and supporters who have helped us achieve this goal. We could not have done it without you!

Read more about the Arts Award and the Dallas Market Center.

If you are in the market for some new lighting fixtures, we encourage you to come visit our showroom or give us a call. We would be more than happy to help you find the perfect fixtures for your home or business. Thank you again for your support!

Thank you to everyone who has supported Black Whale Home! We are so excited to have won the ARTS Award for Best Lighting Showroom - West Region, and we could not have done it without your help!

Tags: Awards
Black Whale Home Recognized for Community Service

Black Whale Home Recognized for Community Service

As part of the 12th Annual Showroom of the Year Awards sponsored by LIGHTOVATION and Furniture Lighting Decor Magazine, Kirsten Recce representing Black Whale Home was accounted as their Showroom of the Year / Community Service award winner.

For Kirsten Recce, Founder and President of Black Whale Home, in Encinitas, CA, there is more to retail than stocking the shelves and selling to customers who walk through her door.

Recce considers Black Whale Home to be an integral part of her personal community, physical community and industry community, and she gives back in all three.

And Recce thinks outside the box. Much like her store, which she and her team have morphed from a lighting-only retail showroom to a lifestyle retail showroom where customers can source furniture and accents as well as lighting, Recce embraces a wholehearted approach to how she interacts with her community.
From a personal perspective, Recce has served on the local school district’s executive parent board for the past eight years and she also serves on several citizen and oversight committees there.

In the community, for the past 20 years, Black Whale Home has made large donations to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore stores, about $30,000 a year. “It doesn’t behoove us to let things linger on our selling floor for a long time,” Recce says, adding that some of her manufacturers also support the program. “They’re shouting out to us all the time,” Recce says of HFH, noting the partnership works for Black Whale’s bottom line as well. “ [ReStore] employees shop here now too.” Recce appreciates that Habitat for Humanity is transparent about how the money they bring in from donated items is spent — on materials to build homes for those most in need.

During COVID this past year, Black Whale Home put even more emphasis on its community when Recce and her team got involved in a program to feed essential healthcare workers while giving local restaurants — many that suffered from early-on shut-downs — an additional revenue stream. Pulling from a program that had been put in place in the community, Recce and team raised more than $16,000 to feed health care workers, buying food from different restaurants that had been hit hard by the pandemic to supply the food. They paid full price — often up to $500 per delivery — to help keep those essential workers in place as well. “It was a great way to get people engaged and give back in a positive manner,” says Recce of the program that evolved organically.

Recce and her staff added such things as Hershey’s Kisses and notes of gratitude to the meals, and they collected coffee pods for the security workers. At the height, health care workers were triaging patients in the parking lot and they’d have to wait for someone to become available to come get the food. This program went on for 147 days. “It was a half a year with people learning about the program through word of mouth and wanting to get involved,” Recce says. “It was something really special to be a part of. It made everyone feel good and created such a sense of community.”

Beyond Encinitas, Recce is involved in her industry community as well. She’s served on the American Lighting Association (ALA) board conference planning committee, and also serves on the Lighting Showroom Association (LSA) board, a group she’s passionate about. “The ALA is a leader in educational programs,” Recce notes, adding that LSA is a place for lighting retailers to have a voice in the industry and have the “hard conversations.” “We challenge our group to look at some of the challenges our industry is facing and share ideas focused on figuring out ways to make it work,” she says. LSA, she adds, is an organization where thinking out of the box is encouraged, creating an environment where everyone in the industry can find real-time support is a focus, and retailers can find mentors. Recce has been involved in creating spreadsheets to share with members that identify discounts and codes that help retailers get better pricing, for example. One of the most recent initiatives through LSA is a job board where retailers and vendors can put out calls for staffing. “LSA is a platform for independent lighting showrooms to amplify voices across all channels,” Recce says, and it’s a community she’s proud to be part of.

As a lighting, and now lifestyle, showroom passionate about its industry, Recce’s and Black Whale Home’s dedication and creativity around lifting up its community and peers illustrate the importance of independent retail. Kudos to Kirsten Recce and her Black Whale Home team on this Community Involvement Award. It is much deserved.

Article from "Showroom of the Year Winners 2021" by sponsors Furniture Lighting Decor Magazine and LIGHTOVATION by Dallas Market Center.

coastal san diego homes and estates magazine

Let It Glow

Expert Sheds Light on Trends - Technology in Illumination
coastal san diego homes and estates magazine

It could be time to replace the 30-year-old fluorescent lighting in the kitchen. But with what? We asked Kirsten Recce of Black Whale Home about finding the right light. She said half of her Encinitas store’s loyal customers are interior designers and custom builders; the other half are homeowners who first stopped in with questions similar to ours.

Download the PDF to read the full article.

ranch and coast magazine logo

VOTED Best Home Accessories / Decor Showroom by Ranch & Coast Magazine readers!

Thank you so much to the readers of Ranch & Coast Magazine for voting us the best Home Accessories/ Decor Showroom!  We love San Diego!  Serving our community for 28 years.

VOTED Best Home Accessories / Decor Showroom
furniture lighting decor logo

American-Made Advantages In The Coronavirus Era

Reliably Local in 'Furniture Lighting Decor' Interviewing Our Own Kirsten Recce
Page 1 - RELIABLY LOCAL Is coronavirus amplifying the advantages of American-made?  BY DIANE FALVEY

 

Is coronavirus amplifying the advantages of American-made?

…Out on the West Coast, for Encinitas, CA’s Black Whale Home, supply chain issues have only recently started to have an impact, says owner Kirsten Recce. The lighting-retailer-turned-whole-home-showroom began expanding her 7,500-square-foot space into furniture and decor just before coronavirus hit, she says. “Many of our lighting manufacturers who order in from China had been well-stocked,” she said, but in the last month or so, that seems to be changing. “We’ve been told they anticipate this will continue for another six weeks or so.” The issue goes beyond getting product across the ocean, she adds. Getting the products processed once here has presented challenges as well, on docks and in warehouses, where there has been limited personnel.…

While that same issue has affected some domestic manufacturing, particularly in light of earlier shutdowns, they’ve been able to come back online more quickly.

“We are seeing a swing back to Made in the U.S.,” Recce continues. “It’s not as much about getting the product faster, necessarily, but more about clarity as to when the product will arrive. When something is coming in from China, I don’t have an arrival date until it’s on the water, and even then it can change.” With her suppliers who have manufacturing capabilities here, she has a reliable delivery date.…

Read the entire original article in furniture, lighting & decor magazine or at furniture, lighting & decor online.