showroom top picks
B E T T Y M’s
collection
a focus on client taste and sophistication
By Kelly Sweeney
The Betty M Collection, the anchor showroom of the Chicago Mer-
chandise Mart’s 16
th
floor, was founded more than 20 years ago by en-
trepreneur Betty Menna. After a serendipitous trip to New York with her
husband Ronald in the mid-1980s where she saw products that were not
available in Chicago, Menna launched her showroom and began build-
ing a knowledgeable staff to assist designers with all their design needs,
from specifying products to designing one-of-a-kind custom pieces.
At the time, Menna held a Real Estate Brokers license, which she still
holds; was licensed in myofunctional therapy and taught yoga classes at
a local college. It was this entrepreneurial spirit that led Menna to open
the Betty M Collection.
Menna launched her showroom during a decade when many small
businesses were closing their doors and there were only a handful of
young showrooms owned and operated by women. Today the showroom
is still going strong under Menna’s leadership. Although proud of her
past, Menna focuses on the future and notes that the industry is chang-
ing. “Consumer tastes and sophistication are growing,” she states. Menna
ensures that the Betty M Collection leads the way to create a successful
design community in Chicago by providing exciting products and excel-
lent service.
DTM asked Menna to select a handful of top picks from her show-
room. Her selections run the gamut from traditional and transitional to
contemporary, offering a wide variety of styles and choices.
Menna’s Top Picks
Artifacts International Zambia Four Poster Bed: “Four poster
beds will always be on everyone’s ‘must have’ list and the Zambia
is just that bed,” remarks Menna of the Artifacts International Zambia
Four Poster Bed. Fully customizable and with more than 50 finishes,
the South African-inspired piece features heavy carving and fine details.
“As with most popular items,” she adds, “it can be customized with fabric
and finish.”
Thomas Girot, of Thomas Sarti Girot Interiors in Park Ridge, Illinois,
rade
T
has selected the Zambia Bed many times, “especially in small rooms to
give a feeling of scale and architecture.” Girot appreciates the transi-
esign
D
tional design, which “allows it to mix very well with contemporary or
traditional settings.”
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