Renew. It’s a word that inspires new beginnings, a fresh approach and a recharge of life. With the start of another New Year, one we fully believe to be filled with prosperity and promise, all of us here at ACC are  just that…we are renewed!

As many of you know ACC has undergone change recently, Chip and Leslie Livingston have retired and Larry Goldstone, our owner since 2006, has stepped into the company in a larger way. Larry’s passion for the continued growth and success of ACC has been met by everyone with great enthusiasm. Larry accompanied the new buying team to the High Point Market in October and was met with an equal level of excitement from our vendors. As we all learned at Market, ACC has a very special place in the hearts of our vendors because of our creative and respectful way of doing business. That specialness began with Carol Israel and Michael Needle who founded what was then known as “American Country Collection” some 25 years ago.

Accompanying Mr. Goldstone at market were some new faces. Joining Larry were Jeff Fenton, newly named Sr. VP & General Manager of ACC; Larry Nearhoof, ACC’s long time Creative Director; and newly appointed Director of Stores, Trish Spencer. With their decades of combined experience in design, retail, and as employees of ACC, the creative team was ready to add a fresh dimension to the stores with their “fashion” approach to buying.

In addition to the beautiful array of new silhouettes, fresh fabrics and inspiring color stories from vendors such as Pearson, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair, Lee, Burton James, Theodore Alexander and Ralph Lauren (to name a few), the buying team also felt strongly about adding unique “statement” pieces to the collection to push the look of our stores in a more fashion forward and dynamic way. Look for some of our fall Market buys to hit stores by Thanksgiving, and new merchandise will continue to make its way into our showrooms throughout winter and into spring!

In addition to the exciting changes you will see in our furniture assortment, you can also expect to see a fresh approach to our marketing and communication strategies, including an emphasis on social media and e-mail notes that offer extra special deals to our clients. Be sure you are on our email list and become a fan of ACC by “liking” our page at www.facebook.com/accsantafe. In 2012, look for an updated web site, e-commerce and a new point of sale system in all of our stores. We believe that these strategies will further improve our ability to serve our customers.

As you can see from everything we’ve shared, “renewal” can be exhausting….but it is also exhilarating. This is an exciting time at ACC and our talented staff is renewed and ready for all that is coming.  If you haven’t been into our stores recently, we invite you back. If you have been in recently, we can bet that you have already noticed changes.

Come share in our renewal and in our enthusiasm for all that ACC is to the community and to our clients. We hope to see you soon!

Larry Goldstone, Owner, CEO & President

Jeff Fenton, Sr. VP & General Manager

Sharon Micheletti, Sr. VP & Controller