jena goldman hall
Jena Hall, president and chief creative officer of Jena Hall Associates, is a recognized designer and business collaborator in the furniture industry, known for applying her merchandising and marketing savvy to a diverse range of industry projects and categories.
Ms. Hall grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, where she developed her work ethic and passion for beautiful furnishings at an early age through her family's business. When the Dallas Trade Mart opened in 1957, her father took her out of school so she could go to the furniture market. She launched her own firm, Jena Hall Associates in 1972, specializing in space planning and interior design. High-profile projects have included the House Beautiful Kitchen of the Future and the restoration of the George Vanderbilt Estate on Long Island.
In the 1980s, Ms. Hall entered the field of product development, designing new furniture lines and integrated merchandising and marketing strategies for brands including American Drew, Bassett, Ethan Allen and Pennsylvania House. Her high-end collections for Casa Bique led to the launch of a licensed collection of fully coordinated home furnishings — Jena Hall's Inspirations from the Old Country for Broyhill Furniture — with thousands of cross-merchandised SKUs covering 22 different product categories. Other licensed and private-label programs were for Nichols & Stone; Johnston Casuals; DMI-Wynwood; Vanguard Furniture; JCPenney; Robb & Stucky; Bloomingdale's; Macy's; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Domain; Spiegel; Neiman Marcus; and Horchow.
In late 2003, Ms. Hall joined aspenhome as executive vice president of merchandising and marketing, winning five Pinnacle design awards and developing a brand strategy for aspenhome to become a household name. Since 2010, she has worked with initiatives including the launch of the HGTV HOME brand, where she serves as design curator, and the recent introduction of Bassett's HGTV collection. As a product designer, Ms. Hall is passionate about bringing features and functions formerly reserved for the interior design trade to the mainstream market. Starting in the 1980s, she has pioneered a mix-and-match approach and furniture solutions with innovative, multifunctional features that are now industry standards.
Ms. Hall was the founding president of WithIt, the women's leadership and development network, supports the Jena and Stephen Hall Scholarship Fund to support rising home furnishings talent. She has served as National Home Furnishings Board president, co-chairman and on the National Executive Committee for City of Hope. She also gives her time to the Anti-Defamation League, the New York Chapter of the Jewish Federation, the American Society of Furniture Designers, the High Point Market Authority Board and the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library Advisory Board. She has received the WithIt Founders Award and Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Furniture Hall of Fame Industry Fellow and the City of Hope Spirit of Life Award.