Small Business Helps Intuit Dome Owner Steve Ballmer Realize a Dream
Vitality Furniture designs and manufactures furniture for the Intuit Dome.
Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer envisioned a cutting-edge basketball arena and concert venue. However, his vision required innovative individuals to design, build, and furnish it with modern and longlasting elegance, ideally employing businesses from the community.
After years of planning, the Intuit Dome has given the LA Clippers a place to call home outside of the purple and gold shadow and an opportunity for local businesses like Vitality Casegoods Restorations & Furniture Manufacturing Inc. to shine on a world-class level.
“When we were awarded the contract to manufacture furniture for the Intuit Dome following our contract to provide custom furniture for SoFi Stadium, it felt like a long time coming for me,” said Felecia Fisher-Shamu, CEO and cofounder of Vitality Furniture, a Los Angeles-based custom furniture manufacturing company. Their expert craftsmen and management team are comprised of industry professionals who deliver the ultimate in high-quality furnishings. Vitality Furniture is a trusted partner with two decades of experience to help convert clientsʼ visions into reality. Vitalityʼs portfolio includes significant projects such as the recent renovation of the Los Angeles Westin Bonaventure Hotel, Super Bowl LVI, the Rams Victory Celebration, and manufacturing custom furniture for the iconic SoFi Stadium.
Vitality provided custom furniture designs for the Intuit Dome, producing 42 contemporary leather sectionals for the Halo Suites, furniture for the Playersʼ Lounge, elegant one-of-a-kind wavetables for Club Grey Goose, and a special custom sofa for the office of Gillian B. Zucker, the Clippers president of business operations.
Vitality was also contracted to produce the much-lauded display case, a salute to the rich history of California basketball featuring the jerseys of high school teams across the state. The case wraps 270 degrees around the concourse level. Vitalityʼs President and Cofounder George Shamu couldnʼt resist finding the jersey from his Woodland Hills alma mater, El Camino Real High School.
“I keep in touch with a couple hundred former alumni who attended high school through an alumni group on Facebook,” said Shamu. “It was cool to share a picture of our high schoolʼs jersey inside the Intuit Dome.”
Fisher-Shamu said creating the display case and furniture for the Intuit Dome is a milestone, and it occurs during the companyʼs 21st anniversary.
“Turner Construction and AECOM Hunt wanted to include as many local small businesses and businesses of color as possible in the contract for the SoFi Stadium and then for the Intuit Dome. Thatʼs how we became a part of both contracts,” she said. “As an African American woman-owned business, we always wanted to be a part of significant projects in Los Angeles.”
Shamu said the opening of the Intuit Dome starts a new chapter in the history of Inglewood and his company. “Vitality is about five miles from the Intuit Dome,” he said.
“Our company is just minutes away from the most innovative and ultimate fan experience venue in the world. Every time Steve Ballmer sits on the couch in Gillian Zuckerʼs office to brainstorm new ideas for the Clippers or the community, he will be sitting on a sofa we made with him in mind,” said Shamu.
