Boutique Design - January/February 2009 - (Page 20)

THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY NICHE. IMPROVEMENT. ESCAPE. Yes, Virginia, There Will Be Building this Year, But It Needs to be More Valuable than Ever Before BY REBECCA GOLDBERG spots out there — those that provide the guest with added value, a heightened sense of experience, and fill a niche — shine brightly like a flashlight in the dark. A Loosening “It hit very quickly,” said Jonathan Nehmer, president of HVS compass Interior Design and Jonathan Nehmer & Associates Inc. “It was in the end of September and beginning of October that everyone pulled back and said ’let’s see where this thing goes.’” In a downtime, his company has taken the opportunity to strengthen its message. “The normal knee-jerk reaction would be to pull in your horns and not spend on something intangible,” he said. “We’re seeing that this is the time to get out there.” Preparation for the future is the best way to remain optimistic — whatever your role in hospitality might be. “That said, we’ve seen things loosen up over the last few weeks,” he said in mid-December. “People are banking on the fact that by the time a project gets into a construction phase, they’re going to find financing and it will turn around in a year or two.” Crafting a Niche David Rau, partner, at 3north, D ownturn: it’s a word that we’ve heard countless times since September 2008. It means that life as we knew it — with a vibrant, steaming and perhaps bloated hospitality industry — slid down the wheel of fortune, and threw hundreds from the ride along the way. The very nature of the word insinuates that there must also be an upturn, however. Sure, the wheel stopped for a few months there, and the industry anxiously awaited for it to turn again, yet it seems that from here we have nowhere to go but up (hopefully). The bright “With or without the economy, the pendulum is due to swing back. People often return to traditional values and aesthetics when times get tough for comfort and familiarity.” —DAVID RAU, PARTNER, 3NORTH 20 • boutique DESIGN january/february 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Boutique Design - January/February 2009

Boutique Design - January/February 2009
Contents
Boutique Buzz
Designer’s Eye
Ian Schrager on Edition, His Partnership with Marriott
Business Sense
Niche. Improvement. Escape. The State of the Industry: Now and the Future
Industry Research
Three Firms Fight On
Designology
The Do’s and Don’ts of Networking
Simeone Deary Design
Haute Suites
Shopping the Market: Tabletop
Shopping the Market: Seating
Jeffrey S. Degen, AIA On Reasons Why the Time is Right for Hotel Development
Wanda Jankowski Speaks to Karen Daroff about Bathroom Trends
Calendar/ Advertisers Index

Boutique Design - January/February 2009