Pomp Event Furnishings 

Co-owners: Rebecca and Jessica Pirone

Year founded: 2011

After more than six months of research in the Wilmington events market, sisters Rebecca and Jessica Pirone knew they had a winning idea with Pomp Event Furnishings. Events from weddings to corporate meetings are embracing the relaxed communal atmosphere created by lounge furniture. Anyone who attended GWBJ’s BizTech will remember the popularity of its central lounge area, donated by the company.

Pomp is unique in this area, according to the owners, who also own Just Perfect Home Staging, founded in 2007. After launching their first business, the sisters began getting requests to use their staging furniture for events such as weddings. After they donated furniture as a lounge during a Wilmington Children’s Museum fundraiser, they recognized how profoundly the space was transformed, Rebecca said. Over the next six months, they researched the market.

Beginning in 2011, they worked on the essentials: the website, the business license, researching the collections. “We participated in several events,” she said, citing their donation of furniture for BizTech, the New Hanover Regional Medical Center’s Founder’s Gala, wedding shows and other events. “We did a lot of research within the wedding and event community to pinpoint what styles and pieces were most in demand and built our collection from there.”

Thus far in 2012, Pomp has done five weddings from 70 to 500 guests, and the rest of the year is looking busy. “Weddings are booked very far in advance, so having five already is good,” Rebecca said. She’s encouraged by the feedback they’ve received from each event and has received several referrals from each.

As a extension of -- rather than competition with -- the services of event planners, Pomp’s owners position themselves as a valuable asset. According to Rebecca, “The wedding industry is a close knit community” where planners work with photographers, caterers, venues and many more professionals, and they have the opportunity to make referrals to other event specialists. Because there was not a company in Wilmington renting lounge furniture, planners and meeting specialists were shipping in furniture from Raleigh and Charleston, Rebecca said. Pomp is filling that obvious void.

The sisters’ inventory includes several collections in a variety of styles. Their interactive website allows clients and planners to review photos and details of the collection, build a wish list, check availability and pricing and place the order online. This is particularly important due to the fact that so many out-of-town couples select Wilmington for destination weddings. Likewise, meeting planners for associations booking the convention center or other space can select the product that best meets their needs without having to visit the city.

For those who want to see the furnishings for themselves, Pomp has a showroom on Kerr Avenue where vendors can review the available offerings to ensure a unified statement. “We aim to be a value to the entire community by promoting related businesses,” Rebecca wrote in their CEA application. “...there are a lot of amazing businesses that don’t have a physical storefront. We want to be not only an event furnishings company, but also a referral source for the entire industry.”