Archive for June, 2006
By CAMERON MATHEWS
Times Business Editor
Jim King started building outdoor furniture 27 years ago as a hobby. After taking two years off to work as a public service employee at the Pawnee Power Plant, his creative edge and passion to build durable
and comfortable pieces of furniture started to rub off on everyone else in town and allowed King to have fun with his hobby as a full time business.
After a matter of years, his clientele would continue to grow among local residents, purchasing orders started to roll in by the handfuls.
As his company, titled O Wooden U, started to gain momentum, a big-named company based out of Corpus Christi, Tex. caught wind of his operations in March 2005 and decided to use King as a subcontractor. He began creating a variety of styles and high-end wooden pieces for Eureka, which were then seen on the popular television program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Cameron Mathews/Fort Morgan Times
Wooden wizard Jim King, a local carpenter in Fort Morgan, shows off a newly created and oiled table at his shop, O Wooden U. King has been building outdoor furniture for many years and insists his pieces aren’t only built to last, but built for comfort as well.
Now, with his own company and continued success throughout the years, King’s operations basically run all over Colorado.
“I have always liked building outdoor furniture,” King said.
With a busy year in 2005, King would find himself living out of his shop running it by himself. This year, he has hired and trained two employees, and the three are continuing to stay busy filling orders and meeting demands.
King said he and his crew attend three farmer’s markets a week to sell their furniture. The last market they went to, $3,600 was made in sales while 1,300 orders were taken.
King said his furniture isn’t only comfortable, but it lasts up to 30-50 years with proper care. O Wooden U uses Canadian Western red cedar only when creating its pieces.
King said he purchases the special wood from a company in Oregon where the wood is dried to the necessary percentage to last in the climate in Fort Morgan. If dried down to where the wood needs to be, there will be minimal cracking of the wood over time, King said. The wood has a thermal inside and covered with an oil finish to essentially keep it safe from rain and snow.
“They are great pieces to put beside hot tubs or swimming pools,” King said. “If they get water on them, you can just wipe off the water with a towel and you’re safe.”
While Eureka owns the design rights to the pieces they order from King, O Wooden U specializes in custom-made furniture as well. Everything from adirondack chairs, footrests, European folding chairs, tables and buddy benches, King guarantees the company’s garden furnishings are constructed to be the most comfortable wooden pieces of furniture ever invented.
“No two chairs look alike,” King said. “Nothing is repetitious here. You might have an idea what the piece will look like when you start it, but it will come out looking like something different. There’s a whole new surprise with each piece.”
The furniture is almost maintenance-free, he said. Pieces come in adirondack, garden and junior styles, fully assembled and/or stained and primed. While some large sets are pricey, the sets are built to last. At the end of the day, the furniture business is still a hobby for King and his guys.
“It’s not going to work for us,” King said. “It’s going to fun.”
{SECTION}– Contact Cameron Mathews at business@fmtimes.com .
June 30th, 2006
By: Furniture World Magazine
Wickes Furniture Company, Inc., an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., will be prominently featured at the 2006 Gallery of Homes, open to the public from June 30th until July 23rd at 203 Wrenwood in Elgin, IL.
Wickes has fully furnished the $1.5 million show home for Tim Kobler Custom Homes, bringing in over $65,000 of room sets and accessories in creating a cohesive design. Wickes’ own Visual Display Team, headed by Regional Visual Manager Cheryl Consolino, hand picked the selections featured in the home.
Wickes Furniture representatives will be at the show home during the event, handing out coupons worth $100 in savings to anyone taking the tour.
“The inspiration for the selected pieces came from Tiffany chandelier lighting already in the home that featured grapes and ivy”, said Consolino. “We selected most of the furniture from our own World Vineyards’ collection by Klaussner, which was a perfect complement to the brick and wood in the home.”
The 4,400 square foot, four bedroom home is decorated in warm earth tones with splashes of deep purple. All rooms feature Wickes furniture groups and accessories, and the living room area features the Bradbury Manor set, produced by Broyhill and recently introduced at Wickes Furniture stores.
“We are overly pleased with the way the furniture and decorations look in all of the rooms”, said Tim Kobler of Tim Kobler Custom Homes. “Everything enhances the stylish elements already included in the design of the house.”
“We are excited to have been invited to be a part of the Gallery of Homes. We already have a lot of stylish products and are adding additional quality, name brand selections everyday,” stated John Disa, President and CEO of Wickes Furniture. “We wanted to showcase our furniture offerings in a real home setting, and hopefully, anyone who visits this home will be convinced to shop Wickes Furniture for stylish home furnishings.”
Wickes Furniture is a Top 20 Furniture Retail Leader, serving customers for over 30 years and specializing in offering complete designer room packages with the best financing offers in the industry. Wickes Furniture carries all the latest fashions and has the lowest prices guaranteed in all 34 stores, serving Chicagoland, Los Angeles, Portland and Minneapolis.
For more information, go to www.wickesfurniture.com.
June 30th, 2006
JACKSON, Miss. Death row inmate Curtis Giovanni Flowers has won a new trial for killing four people at a Winona furniture store because prosecutors sought to keep blacks off his Montgomery County jury.
The Mississippi Supreme Court decision came today (Thursday).
Flowers had argued before the justices in a February hearing that race discrimination in the selection of the jury cast doubt on the fairness of his trial.
Flowers, 35, who is black, was convicted in 2004 of capital murder in the deaths of four people during a shooting spree at a Winona furniture store in 1996. Death penalty cases are automatically reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Twice before, Flowers was convicted of capital murder involving one of the victims and each time his conviction and death sentence were thrown out on appeal.
In 2004, Flowers was convicted of all four murders _ store owner Bertha Tardy, 59; store employees Derrick Stewart, 16, and Carmen Rigby, 45; and delivery man Robert Golden, 42. Flowers also was convicted of robbing the store of at least 400-dollars that was in the cash drawer.
The Supreme Court, in a 5-to-4 decision, said the trial judge erred in upholding prosecutors’ peremptory strikes exercised against two blacks in the jury pool.
Since 1986, prosecutors have been barred from disqualifying potential jurors based on their race. One thing prosecutors must show is that they had a race neutral reason to excuse a potential juror.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
June 30th, 2006
Marc Barnes
HIGH POINT – If anything, the challenges for the nation’s medium-sized furniture retailers are greater than they are for the 100 biggest stores, given that the smaller you are, the less room there is for error.
The good news for these retailers is that they are finding a way to succeed, despite daily challenges.
The numbers tell part of the story: In 2005, the Top 100 saw an 8.3% sales gain, more than twice the 4.1% gain in furniture, bedding and accessories sales at all U.S. furniture stores in 2005, which came to $52.4 billion.
Jerry Epperson, an industry analyst and managing director of Mann, Armistead & Epperson, said these figures show that the smaller independents continue to face numerous challenges in the current business climate. The factors include continuing increases in the cost of real estate and gas, as well as a drop in the size of average sales tickets due to imports and price deflation.
“It’s getting more and more expensive to be truly competitive,” Epperson said.
Richard Ennis, president of Ennis Fine Furniture in Boise, Idaho, which has eight locations, is experiencing the real estate crunch first hand. He opened a new Thomasville store in February 2005 and is looking to expand in the Spokane, Wash., and Reno, Nev., markets — if the right deal comes along.
June 30th, 2006
The performance of Cebu’s furniture manufacturing and exporting industry has been affected by the stiff competition in the global furniture market posed by other Asian countries.
This is why the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation Inc. (CFIF) is calling on industry players to be “on their toes” and to constantly find ways to improve and innovate.
“We can’t be complacent. We need to do something as an industry to compete with the ever-changing landscape. We have competitors and they have overtaken us,” said Laurie Boquirin, member of the board of trustees of CFIF.
Decline
In a press conference last Wednesday at Café Havana, CFIF revealed that Cebu’s share in the country’s total furniture exports last year has declined to 40 percent from 70 percent in 2001.
The data was taken from the Bureau of Export Trade and Promotions, which based its information from the exports that leave every port in the country, including the Port of Cebu.
CFIF president Michael Basubas said, though, that there is a possibility that some furniture exports from Cebu passed Manila port to comply with some environmental requirements imposed by certain countries, such as Australia.
“But this does not change the fact that our (Cebu furniture exporters’) performance, like that of the entire country, is declining,” he said.
Basubas said the Philippines’ share in the global furniture market is .31 percent—small compared to Belgium’s, one of the countries with the lowest market share, of three percent.
China gobbled the largest market share of 17 percent followed by Italy with 13 percent.
With regard to export growth rate, Philippines had a negative growth rate of 6.9 percent from 2000 to 2005. The country has been overtaken by Vietnam, a new player in the market, which has a positive annual growth rate of 38.6 percent.
Despite this grim development and several challenges, the local furniture manufacturing and exporting industry is fighting to stay alive and has managed to stay on top of the competition, Boquirin said.
She said CFIF, the primary support organization of the industry, is coming up with programs that will drive the industry to be more competitive and support the positioning of the industry as the “design destination of Asia.”
Programs
To address the industry’s market and design information needs, the CFIF information center is offering a series of product design and development programs as well as market intelligence forums.
The CFIF IC will also launch the IT explosion, which aims to promote the use of IT in doing business among industry players.
According to the International Trade Council in Geneva, Switzerland, the world demand for furniture in 2005 was estimated to be at $110 billion. Some 30-percent of the market demand comes from the United States. (JBN)
June 30th, 2006
— Furniture Today,
BASSETT, Va. — Full-line manufacturer and importer Bassett Furniture Inds. said sales rose 5.5% in its second quarter as net income nearly tripled.
The company said the gains came in spite of a soft retail business environment and continued operating losses at 25 company-owned Bassett Furniture Direct stores.
Net sales for the quarter ended May 27 totaled $87.7 million, compared with $83.1 million in last year’s second quarter.
The company said wholesale shipments were $75.4 million, essentially even with the same period last year, while retail sales were up 48.6% to $20.9 million as Bassett acquired several additional stores in late 2005.
Net income in the latest quarter totaled $2.9 million, or 24 cents per share. That compared with $1.1 million, or 9 cents per share, a year earlier. Last year’s second quarter included an after-tax charge of $1.5 million, or 13 cents per share, related to the purchase of eight BFD stores in the Dallas area.
In the first six months, net sales rose 6.3% to $174.1 million. Net income rose more than 50% to $5.2 million, or 44 cents per share.
Company-owned BFD stores recorded an operating loss of $2.6 million in the second quarter, but Bassett President and CEO Robert Spilman Jr. said the stores should be operating on a break-even basis during the next 12 to 18 months.
He said the company is closing two corporate stores — one in Texas and one in Georgia — that currently are running clearance sales.
At the end of the quarter, there were a total of 136 BFD stores. One new corporate store and five new stores owned by licensees are slated to open this year.
“Amidst an extremely challenging retail environment, we are squarely focused on selling more furniture in our Bassett Furniture Direct stores,” said Spilman.
About two-thirds of Bassett’s wholesale shipments in the second quarter were to BFD stores, he said.
June 30th, 2006
JS Home Interiors Ltd, the exclusive retailer of Ethan Allen luxury home furniture products in Thailand, says it reached its sales target in the first half of the year.
JS Home Interiors received an overwhelming response from the public after it opened its first showroom in Thailand and Southeast Asia near the end of last year, Ethan Allen’s vice president of retail relations, Jack DeKorne, said yesterday.
“Our sales projection for 2006 was set at Bt60 million and our sales performance to date is in line with our targets. Beyond 2006, we are looking for a 15-per-cent annual growth rate,” DeKorne said. “Our strategy is to offer premium, luxury, beautifully designed products in a way that is customer-focused.
“We are focused on meeting each customer’s individual needs with professional attention given each step of the way. We provide in one place the design services needed to bring together each part of the decorating process.”
Ethan Allen was established in 1932 as a manufacturer of fine wood furniture in the United States. Today it is internationally known as a premium brand.
“We believe that the high end of the home furnishings market in Thailand will continue to grow as more and more consumers are exposed to luxury brands from around the world and aspire to express themselves in their home using luxurious designs,” DeKorne said. “We see significant growth opportunities not only in Bangkok but also in other coastal and resort areas of the country.”
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn, The Nation
June 30th, 2006
— Furniture Today,
HIGH POINT — Kimberley Wray, a veteran home furnishings writer and marketing executive, has been named vice president of marketing at the International Home Furnishings Market Authority, the organization that oversees the High Point market.
In the newly created post, she will oversee the group’s marketing, communications and advertising efforts.
“Kimberley brings us a wealth of background, not only in strategic marketing and business development, but also in her extensive knowledge of the home furnishings industry among several different vertical market sectors,” said Market Authority President Brian Casey. “I have no doubt that the relationships she has developed over the years will prove invaluable as we move forward.”
Wray, who will begin her new duties July 17, has been vice president of marketing and communications for the Connie Post Companies since 1999. She also has been a contributing editor for Furniture Insights, an online newsletter published by the accounting and consulting firm BDO Seidman.
Earlier, she was vice president of marketing for Majec Inc., a sister company to Gefen Productions, editorial director for High Points magazine and group editor of HFN. At HFN, she was responsible for developing the HFN/High Points Impact conferences for leading retailers and manufacturers.
Casey said Wray is “the kind of talent we need for the future development of the market and the overall growth initiatives the authority intends to achieve.”
Wray, a High Point resident for the past 10 years, said she is excited about her new post and eager to get started.
“In the decade since I moved here, I have come to care deeply about the market, High Point and the people who call this city home,” she said. “I am tremendously excited by the challenges that lay ahead and the prospect of making a difference.”
June 30th, 2006
Jeff Linville
PULASKI, Va. — Pulaski Furniture says it has cut inventories, improved delivery times and reduced waste as part of a new emphasis on lean manufacturing.
Lean manufacturing has become a buzzword for domestic companies seeking to remain competitive with importers. Pulaski, however, does both, importing case goods but maintains a 415,000-square-foot curio operation here.
The Keepsakes curio line remains big business, with about a quarter of Pulaski’s annual sales coming from goods made at this facility, according to John Oakley, senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer.
While the new lean strategies were implemented last year, Oakley said the turnaround began two years earlier when the company set up “continuous improvement teams” in the plant. He said the idea was to train people on better ways of doing their jobs and to condition them to accept change and make further improvements.
Every time a team reached a milestone in improving a process, the company set new objectives, said Jim Kelly, executive vice president of product development and marketing.
In March 2005, Pulaski hired a consulting firm to train middle and upper management on lean manufacturing.
“We jumped in with both feet,” said Oakley, noting that 50 people spent a week in training. “From the CEO down to the line-level team leaders — that’s as cross-functional as you can get.”
From that experience, the company developed strategic plans on how to run the operations. Managers mapped out processes on a wall and figured out how long each should take, and how many people would be needed.
This led to cutting out about 100 feet of conveyor line to reduce inefficiency, and moving machinery and other equipment around in the plant; a few new pieces were added too. Reducing waste didn’t mean cutting any jobs, Oakley said. Instead, some workers were reallocated to other areas as needed.
A driving influence in the decision to remake the company was to reduce inventory both for Pulaski and its retailers, said Oakley.
“We want to be easier to do business with,” said Kelly. Rather than leave retailers choking on inventory after ordering container loads, Pulaski is offering smaller shipments more often.
The plant is looking to turn its entire inventory eight to 12 times a year, said Kelly. With 200 SKUs in the catalog, cuttings are kept short in order to run every product once a month.
The smaller lot sizes required a change in the manufacturing process, said Oakley. Usually, plants run big lots so that the machinery doesn’t have to be recalibrated and lumber can be taken from the same piles. However, by finding similarities between groups, Pulaski has created “families” that use the same equipment settings and/or lumber sizes.
This change has meant standardizing many components, said Larry Webb Jr., Pulaski president and CEO. While the company wants designers to have creative freedom, it helps the plant to have common sizes for parts like curio side panels.
The company offers a limited number of curio depth options — like 14 inches and 20 inches — so the same width side panel can be used in many different pieces. Workers can run many panels at once and not waste time changing equipment and settings.
The end result is that a year after adopting the lean processes, Pulaski has reduced its lumber inventory by 25%, its finished goods inventory by 40% and its works in process by 50%, said Oakley.
Yet shipping times are better. While the company has always kept top sellers in inventory, and still does, every product in the line is now cut at least once every four to six weeks — a shorter waiting period than before the lean management changes.
Rather than stop at improving the curio plant, Pulaski this year has initiated lean strategies throughout the company, including customer service and logistics. Management recommended some books on business practices to its executives. Office work was streamlined.
According to Kelly, the focus on improvement now covers the whole business cycle, from receiving an order to manufacturing and delivering them.
June 30th, 2006
By: Raul Cazan | Date: 2006-06-21
Showing a close relation between management and the employees, the Italian entrepreneurs are usually structured in networks that sustain local development, and not in corporate hierarchies, he added.
In Romania, the Italian companies are mostly present in sectors such as footware, textiles, equipment manufacturing and wood processing/furniture industry. Banking and energy are also representative for the Italian investment in Romania.
However, Romania’s European Union accession next year is expected to bring about changes on the market that will afect the business environment.
Manager of the clothing manufacturer GMC Textile, Domenico Cuccarollo, said “the main reason for which I started a company in Romania was the low cost of labor force, a good prerequisite for a small business.” Cuccarollo’s factory production is based on the ‘lohn’ system, which will no longer be sustainable after Romania’s EU integration. “It is going to be very difficult, perhaps we will target other markets,” added Cuccarollo.
In turn, Mihaela Andrei, with footwear producer ETG Sollini, emphasized that “shoe manufacturers are investing in Romania because they are able to produce high quality products with low costs.” In her opinion, Romania is not yet fully prepared for joining the EU. “Wages will increase and companies will see their expenses grow considerably, thus small enterprises will be threatened by bankruptcy.” This is why her company has changed focus, starting trade operations. “We have started importing products and equipment for the footwear industry and we distribute them to local manufacturers.”
Giovanni Santi, manager of furniture company Santi Comexim said the market in his line of business had become very difficult and competition was extremely tough due to low consumption and especially due to the arrival of big players on the Romanian market.
“People buy much less this year in Romania, and, strangely, exports are not favored by the Government. And I’m saying this against my own interest, as I am also an importer,” said Santi. The European integration, in Santi’s opinion, is the effect of big international economic interests that look for open markets and a pool of 21 million consumers. “Indirectly, my activity as a small producer has to suffer because multinationals take everything. Clustering of small and medium enterprises is not functioning anymore in Italy and nor does it work in Romania. The Italian model is dead.”
Marchegiano, however, thinks that Romanians “have the seed of entrepreneurial mentality and the regional economic systems based on industrial districts, just like in northern Italy, are quite likely to emerge here.” Currently, Marchegiano added, Romanian SMEs still have a “speculative character.”
After Romania’s EU accession, when customs barriers cease to exist, “many imports will flood Romania; indeed, consumption will increase, but not from wealth produced within the country. This is a fact that will lead to a higher inflation and domestic imbalances.”
June 30th, 2006
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