High Octane Launch

Team Portfolio was on hand yesterday for Nebraska Furniture Mart's "Ignite 2008" event at the Kansas Speedway. This annual event is a day of information and fun for clients of NFM's Contractor Sales Division. Attendees learned about all of the fantastic appliance lines available at Nebraska Furniture Mart from NFM staff and factory representatives on hand from all the major appliance manufacturers. Participants also had an opportunity to take a ride around the track in an actual Sprint Cup NASCAR race car. Very cool!

The highlight of the day, however, was the official announcement of the new alliance between Nebraska Furniture Mart and Portfolio Kitchen & Home (see the post from yesterday, October 24th for details). Team Portfolio was introduced to the Ignite participants and our own Geri Higgins gave a presentation on how this new NFM/PKH collaboration will bring added value to the builder, developer, and contractor clients of Nebraska Furniture Mart. After the presentation attendees had the opportunity to meet and interact with the Portfolio staff and learn more about Portfolio products and services.

It was an exciting day and a great way to kick off our new relationship with NFM.

It just keeps getting better...

We are excited to announce that Portfolio has begun a new collaboration with Nebraska Furniture Mart to enhance our dedication and commitment to bringing our clients the most comprehensive experience possible.

Truly a unique, cutting-edge aproach to design, this alliance will bring numerous benefits to our clients and will enhance the experience of both Portfolio's clients and Nebraska Furniture Mart's customers.

This exciting relationship continues Nebraska Furniture Mart's commitment to providing their customers with state-of-the-art, upscale appliances and Portfolio's ability to provide expertise and experience in cabinetry and award-winning design.

Click here for the full press release.

A Real-Life Look At Portfolio Confidential...

I have to preface what follows.

For those of you who are keeping up with the blog, we have entitled it, "Portfolio Confidential", playing on Anthony Bourdain's memoir, Kitchen Confidential. The purpose of our blog is to serve as a behind-the-scenes look at kitchen design - chronicling the people, places, events and interesting (and sometimes unusual) happenings at Portfolio Kitchen & Home.

That being said, we received this email from one of our clients after delivering pies to our friends who contributed over $200 each to Geri's "Hot Legs of KC" campaign, benefiting The Touched by Cancer Foundation.

This client is in the middle of a kitchen remodel with us and, at the time, the new kitchen cabinetry was being installed. We thought the description of this experience was so refreshingly candid, and just had to share.

"Please give my thanks to the Portfolio crew for the apple pie. I just ate my first piece and it tasted great. Unfortunately, I was forced to eat it with plastic silverware on a tissue-thin paper plate with a McDonald's napkin. I am sure it would have been even better with real china, good silverware, a scoop of ice cream and a nice napkin. I am sure you can appreciate our short-term challenges..."

Art On The Plaza

We had an excellent showing - in both senses of the word - on the seventh floor of the 4646 Broadway lofts!

Geri Higgins, owner of Portfolio, and Grant Lundberg, Reece & Nichols exclusive realtor for the 4646 Broadway lofts, hosted an art exhibit featuring artist Robert Quackenbush and pieces from his latest "Structures" series, exclusively created for Portfolio's design office.

Throughout the evening, Robert and Geri enjoyed visiting with Caleb Fey, curator for Truman Medical Center, Marcus Cain, curator of the Epstein Gallery, Zim Loy, editor of Spaces magazine, Merrily Jackson and David Jimenez, columnists for Spaces, Lee Norman, Chief Medical Officer at KU Med, Katie Van Luchene and others during the event.

There was a lot of mingling throughout the evening, as well as a sampling of wine and cheese.

Five of the six mixed-media panels in the "Sturctures" collection will be back on permanent display at Portfolio this week.