ML - Vegas Magazine

Vegas - 2015 - Issue 4 - Summer - Art of the City - J.K. Russ

Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.

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photography courtesy of robert Maricich (Wolf) View from the top Home furnishings authority Robert Maricich talks about his life in Las Vegas. Foodie Favorite: "We absolutely eat out: Wynn and Encore, Cosmo, Joël Robuchon, Sen of Japan, Lotus of Siam, Raku. Any great restaurant is a friend of ours." GivinG Back: "I just got on the board of Opportunity Village, and I'm really excited. The work they're doing is just sensational." the hood: "We live in Park Towers. We're denizens of the Strip, but we're also supporters of Downtown. It's almost like we live in two cities." Great escape: "We have a little place in the Florida Keys and a little place in Montana. Fly-fshing has been a passion since I was a little boy, so that's the ultimate getaway—just a few days in the ocean or in the river in Montana." with a degree in civil engineering. He brief ly worked for Texaco, where, he says, "I discovered I hated being an engineer." Suddenly without a career, Maricich found a job managing a factory that produced high-end veneers used by architects and furniture manufac- turers. "I've always been interested in general management," he says, adding that he liked the cre- ative aspect of home furnishings, "the element of being involved in creating a product and the satis- faction of seeing something come to life—a sofa, dining room, bedroom, or something like that." Over the past 30 -plus years, Maricich has gone from product manager at Flexsteel Industries to CEO of the high-end furniture giant Century Furniture to joining the Flexsteel board of direc- tors some 21 years after he left the company. He has emerged as an industry leader—a guy who's been tapped for government committees, who has a deep understanding of the home furnishings business while also appreciating the beauty of a well-made chair. "My wife gets embarrassed because I can't go into a room without lifting the cushions and seeing who made the sofa," he says, laughing. Maricich and his wife live primarily in Vegas, just a block off the Strip, in a Park Towers condo featuring a custom Vladimir Kagan sectional that Maricich describes as "literally a work of art" and pieces created by Oscar de la Renta in collabora- tion with Century when Maricich was its CEO. These days, the International Market Centers president is excited about the future of World Market Center, where 29 acres are still waiting to be developed. Already, Building C has made Vegas the Western hub of the home décor and gift indus- tries. "You won't find anywhere on the planet a better permanent showroom complex than what we have in Las Vegas," Maricich says. "People use the term 'world-class' loosely, but it really applies." V Maricich in one of the showrooms of World Market Center. right: Maricich with Vicente Wolf, a past recipient of the center's Design Icon Award. "my wife gets embarrassed because i can't go into a room without lifting the cushions to see who made the sofa." —robert maricich vegasmagazine.com  59

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