Lost and then Found at Circle Furniture

I am not entirely sure why, but it seems as if everyone in the Cambridge Store is a total dog lover.



A little while ago, on a busy Saturday afternoon, we discovered an unleashed beagle in our parking lot. our store is right on Fresh Pond Parkway, a busy street, and we were all concerned. We went out and convinced the dog to come inside. We brought her into our break room and then proceeded to call animal control. She had dog tags so we were hoping they would be able to contact her owners.

Apparently right after we called, the dog’s owner called the dog officer and reported her dog missing. She was told her dog was here and she called us right away. She had been walking around Fresh Pond with her dog when, the dog apparently took off after another dog.

After about a half hour the owner showed up at the store and a very happy beagle jumped into her arms. We were all so happy and relieved that “Molly” was going home.

We get a lot of walkers that come into our store and often they have their dogs with them. I can’t recall one time when a dog misbehaved and they always cheer up the staff. At Circle Furniture in Cambridge, we encourage all drop ins, whether they have two or four legs.



Submitted by Erna Wiley, Sr. Design Consultant, Circle Furniture, Cambridge

The April Buzz is Out!

Get the goods from the queen bee in our What's the Buzz column

Grand Opening of Pembroke

On March 29th 2009 we had our grand opening Jazz brunch celebration at our new Penbroke location, featuring other local business, raffle prizes, food and drink, with some live jazz music to wash it all down. Resident in house videographer and master producer, Max Tubman, captured the moment.





**PPS Doesn't the Queen Bee's hair look fabulous?!? What's the buzz?

Inspiration: Swapping Ideas Across Borders

I got to chatting with fresh, young, hip Circle up and coming team member Jessica Tubman about her travels in South America. Jessica is currently enrolled in business school and was able to take advantage of a unique opportunity to travel to Brazil on a school project. She reports on what she saw and liked, the food the culture, and a great encounter with Circle Furniture's own product, Charleston Forge Chairs! Different cultures can offer up many sources of inspiration for the design world and beyond.



Jess: "As part of a global entrepreneurship project at MIT Sloan, I traveled with a team to Campinas Brazil, a city outside of Sao Paulo. We consulted for an IT outsourcing company, Daitan Labs, working for 3 months from MIT in Cambridge and then for 3 weeks on location in Brazil at the company's HQ. While in Brazil our analysis included interviews with company executives and local Brazilian Venture Capitalists. In addition to just work, we ate a lot of really good Brazilian bbq (steak!) and toured both Sao Paulo and Rio."

The Before . . .

Lots of hard work went in to make sure our new Pembroke Location opened on time (this past saturday, come in and check it out!) I am not sure the Queen Bee and her team have slept yet, lots to do!


And the AFTER . . .

Its gorgeous!!





The new store is a proud project of ours, remodeling the building, we let in more light and, of course, added some color! This store will provide more space that our smaller Hanover location. Hanover will remain open for the time being as a clearance center, so if you are looking for a bargain there are deals to be had! Stay tuned for news on more events in Pembroke or one of our other locations.

Holiday Party at Chez 42

The Circle Fam got together to celebrate another New Year. We are still here and thriving despite the structure of the current economy putting pressures on small family businesses. What keeps us moving is our team, we are like family and support each other through it all!!

Do you mind if I gush a little more?

We are so proud of, well not so young, Max. The youngest Tubman of his generation has graduated from the University of Vermont against some insurmountable odds encountered this year. On top of that, he released his first independent documentary with its premiere screening taking place this past week up in Burlington, VT. Grads, parents and some other Furniture gurus all packed the house to support this budding young star. Also, no trip to any part of the country is complete without a furniture delivery. Peg and Rich delivered a beautiful American Leather sofa to a customer in Burlington. I often wonder, are all business owners this hands on? I mean, granted I am not an outsider, but that seems pretty cool to have the brains, brawn and beauty(!) behind the biz make personal house calls. Anyway, I stray from the topic, congrats Max, we are so proud, sorry for the gush, but look at that face, can you blame me?

Rodman Ride 2008 - Not going to let a little rain slow us down!

Congrats to the Circle Team for another year of riding for at risk youth at the Rodman Ride for kids. This year, the 17th annual, was RECORD BREAKING, raising over 5.5 million dollars. Harold, Rich, Peg, Sarah and Kate Springfield teamed up with a couple of other furniture gurus to bike 25, 50 and 100 miles rides! Congrats to all who participated and for those who missed out, there is always next year.

Celebrating Sixty!

So today marks a momentous occasion, Harold turns 60! Firstly, let me say a big happy birthday to one of the brothers behind this little family gig we call Circle Furniture. The Queen Bee supplied the steak tips and chicken, and Moise and Ralph manned the grill while managing the warehouse, these are men of many talents. This day in history, September 25th, also marks the writing of the Bill of Rights, groundbreaking on our very own Fenway Park, Chubby Checkers' "Twist" topped the charts (I believe Harold was old enough to partake in this one . . .) and Sandra Day O'Connor was sworn in as our first female supreme court justice. Harold himself has been making his own little dent in history as an active member of numerous community projects and organizations, see him next in the Rodman Ride for Kids on Oct 4th!
While on the topic of longevity, let us give a little shout of of gratitude to Heather Ryan, the manager of the Cambridge Store, who is celebrating 10 years with Circle this month! Its the many many folks who stay on this team for the long haul that truly make Circle a family!

Hey where have you been?

Celebrating!! What a summer of celebration it has been! Congrats to two Tubman's kicking the big C word to the curb so that the family can get back to focusing on the important things, sailing and furniture. A big applause this weekend to Sean D, as he took his first steps to becoming a key organizer for the Ally Regatta in Boston. Despite weather threats, the race went well and the fund raising for the Ally Foundation was a great success. Team Tubman let the Queen Bee aboard Charisma and finished the race with out personal property damage or bodily harm, A.K.A success!

Other things we are proud of this summer: Cindy Hale! Another "c" survivor pedaling her way to the finish of the pan mass challenge. Congrats to her and her husband, all that energy keeps the creativity flowing for OTC.


Whats in store at Circle? TAX FREE WEEKEND, we are gearing up to sell it all with out taking any extra for you know who.

We love our Vendors and Our Vendors Love Us

Perhaps it a product of being raised by a mother with great taste and tact, but I find myself basing my decisions on whether or not to support businesses based on the service experiences I have. For example there is this little dry cleaners down the street from my apartment, one of three or four in a few block radius, and after one visit I was sold as a customer for life. They only accept cash, which is hard sometimes because, as I am not a waitress anymore, I don't always have cash on me, and their prices can be a touch higher. HOWEVER, after one visit the elderly gentleman who runs the place, who is literally there every day, recognized me and I was immediately welcomed into the family of clientèle. Each customer that squeezed through the door to the shop had a very personal exchange with the shop owner, it just made me smile. The experience reminds me of the early years of Circle Furniture, a little mom and pop shop run by my grandparents who worked diligently for so many years. Today just because there are more stores and one more member at the helm (see note earlier about my wonderful mom) doesn't mean the values of family and quality service have gone, our family has just grown exponentially. Our family now includes vendors and sales people and more and more customers. It is the strong bonds created between all of us that keeps our business alive. Thanks again to all the great folks at BDI, our Vendor of the Year as voted by our designers, for all your contributions to our success!

Holiday Party

Another fabulous year with our Circle Furniture family deserves another fabulous party. Thanks for everyone who attended and congrats to this years big winners. Roberta Frost was our top designer, she and her talents can be found in our Cambridge store. Jonathan Boyle, our Director of Operations, picked up another employee of the year award. BDI, providers of sleek home entertainment systems and other accessories received the Vendor of the Year award. Cheers and here is to a great 2008!