Warren Shoulberg To Receive Gift For Life’s 2022 Industry Achievement Award

March 31, 2022— Gift for Life, the gift and home industries’ sole charitable organization, today announced that business journalist Warren Shoulberg will be honored with its 2022 Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award on June 22, 2022, in Dallas, TX.

Gift for Life’s Industry Achievement Award, which has been presented at Gifts & Decorative Accessories’ Retailer Excellence Awards (REA) since 2009, recognizes overall excellence and contribution to the gift and home industry – whether as a thought leader, standard-bearer or overall industry influencer.

“Warren’s journalistic excellence in the home and gift industries makes him so deserving of this special recognition,” said Cole Daugherty, chair of the Gift for Life board. “His keen observations and analysis over the decades have been a catalyst for business leaders and companies to outperform expectations and to improve manufacturing, retail and wholesale.”

Warren Shoulberg knows home furnishings. As the former editor in chief for several leading business-to-business publications specializing in home furnishings retailing he has chronicled the good, the bad and the ugly of the business in a career spanning four decades. He has been a regular contributor to The Robin Report, Forbes.com and The Business of Home as well as his own blog Warrensreport.com. His award-winning commentaries elicit both praise and complaints, and he welcomes them both equally. He has guest lectured at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and been honored by the International Furnishings and Design Association and the Fashion Institute of Technology. He has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, and other media as an expert in the field. He served as a board member for Gift for Life for more than a decade, ending his term in 2017.

"Gift for Life is the Real Deal, and I am just thrilled to be honored by an organization I've been involved with as a board member, supporter and just fan of for close to two decades,” quipped Shoulberg. “Having this happen is really a Triple Treat: Besides my connection to Gift for Life, I also spent a chunk of my career with Gifts & Decorative Accessories, and I am a huge supporter of Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen work around the world...not to mention he makes very tasty food. This is one of the best things that's happened for me in a very long time.” 

The 2022 Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award will be bestowed to Shoulberg at the 71st Annual Retailer Excellence Awards (REAs), which will be presented in person at the Dallas Tower Club, on June 22, 2022. Hosted by Gifts & Decorative Accessories, the Retailer Excellence Awards recognize excellence in seven retail awards categories, as well as the vendor and manufacturer’s rep of the year distinctions. Register atwww.retailerexcellenceawards.com and donate to World Central Kitchen in support of Warren at https://donate.wck.org/REA2022.

Gift for Life was founded by Peter Schauben of Appleman Schauben in 1992 in response to the tragic loss of industry lives to AIDS. The organization’s first meeting at the National Stationery Show brought together a cross-section of the industry’s leading publishers, market centers, sales reps, manufacturers and retailers – all willing to convene and work together towards a common goal. Since that time, Gift for Life has raised nearly $6 million for AIDS research, education, treatment and care through nationwide at-market events, cause marketing programs and direct donations. With COVID-19 temporarily causing cancelation of in-person events at industry markets, Gift for Life pivoted towards online digital events with a specific emphasis on COVID-related hunger relief. As Gift for Life celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2022, the all-volunteer organization will continue to support programs that address hunger relief. More information is available at www.facebook.com/GiftForLife.