Archive for January, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Heavy market traffic thanks to the new building here Monday translated into strong interest in dining programs.
Despite reports of congested roads and registration desks, dining exhibitors were pleased with the attendance and the reception to their goods.
Hamilton & Spill was pleasantly surprised to have four big customers stop by on Sunday, giving “significant business” to jump-start the market, according to Gary Harmon, senior vice president of sales and marketing.
On opening day, the company saw retailers from areas it wasn’t sure would be well represented, including the Northeast, Southeast and upper Midwest.
Harmon said he also saw accounts from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Bermex expected that retailers from Western Canada would be more likely to visit Las Vegas than High Point. However, the market might also be pulling traffic from Toronto, too, said Albin Grundner, U.S. national sales manager.
While Grundner said he didn’t attend the recent Toronto market, he said those who attended reported slower traffic than usual.
In Las Vegas, Bermex signed a five-year lease with a $1 million investment. Grundner said he loves the building design and the floor layout, and was especially fond of the busy traffic, as about 60 accounts were in by 2 p.m. — half appointments and half walk-ins.
Zocalo had a similar showing, said Danny Olivas, marketing manager. He said the company’s Las Vegas space has an open display scheme, like many retail settings, and lets the company present its vignettes in a way that retailers might replicate on their floors.
Among the features are lighted room dividers covered with fabric, creating walls that can be easily moved for countless configurations. Zocalo likely will change the layout every market, said Olivas.
Emerald Home Furnishings is making a big splash in dining after moving from a temporary space at The Sands to Building B. President David Beckmann said casual and formal dining are both doing well. Among the groups getting attention is Metropolitan in a medium cherry finish.
Progressive not only met several retailers but saw more designers on Monday than on the average day in High Point, said President Dennis Ammons.
SLF is emphasizing new groups and its Value Ship program this week. The company has 55 new bedroom and dining pieces, said Guy Walters, vice president and general manager of SLF Signature.
Among the dining groups getting attention is Bradford, which has the look of a plank top but uses inlaid veneers instead.
January 31st, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Metal beds vendors here this week are having success with both introductions and
existing product, thanks to brisk showroom traffic.
Officials said traffic was strong throughout the day Monday even as they competed for visitors shopping an additional 1.5 million square feet in the new Building B.
At Fashion Bed Group, officials said the opening day was about as busy as the opening day of the first market in July 2005.
This time, the company has a 16,000-square foot space in Building B, up about 10,000 square feet from its former Building A quarters. The space shows about a third of the line, including four metal beds it is launching this market, priced from $399 to $599.
The new beds, which have higher headboards than the company’s traditional line, were designed with customer requests in mind, said Vicki Fil, director of product development.
“If you give people what they want, they will buy it,” she said.
The company also is receiving strong response on three new wood and metal beds priced from $499 to $699.
Amisco says it’s doing well here with a revised version of its contemporary Delaney metal bed, which was being shown with a black leather headboard. The bed also comes in 45 fabric options.
Amisco’s catalog also includes images of three new transitional-style beds, priced between $349 and $399. Based on buyer interest, officials expect strong order writing from these and other items.
Elliott’s Designs, a manufacturer of Victorian reproduction brass beds, had some interest among buyers for its Queen Anne canopy bed. The model can be configured as a four-poster bed with both short and tall posts, and with any of three canopies. Providing such options is one way the company is trying to distinguish itself as a domestic producer.
Wesley Allen, another domestic manufacturer and design leader, is showing here for the first time. Its traffic in Building B was steady for most of the day Monday with visitors coming from coast to coast. The crowd included some retailers the company has not seen in a while, given that its main focus has been in High Point.
“Especially for the first half day, this is very encouraging,” said Wesley Sawan, director of private branding.
He said that while the company has no product introductions for this market, it is showing best-sellers from previous High Point shows.
January 31st, 2007
Several manufacturers feature new intros
LAS VEGAS – The excitement surrounding the
opening of Building B in the World Market Center translated into heavy traffic Monday for home office vendors.
“Traffic is up. We saw our first customer at 7:20 a.m. and it’s been nonstop since then,” said Vanessa Martinez, brand manager for Kathy Ireland Home by Martin.
Martin is introducing an expansion of its contemporary Tribeca Loft collection in eggshell finish, in addition to the earlier black and cherry finishes, with satin nickel finish on the hardware. The company expects the colors and scaled-down size of the desks to do well with smaller home and condo shoppers.
Also new from Martin is the upscale Abbey Lane, a traditional home office with detailed walnut inlays and ash burl and cherry veneers. The executive desk retails for $1,599.
Traffic also was heavy at O’Sullivan, where each of the introductions in the company’s new 1,800-square-foot showroom in Building B is imported, not made at its Lamar, Mo. facility. All pieces incorporate Ledalock, a no-tool, snap-lock assembly system, part of a new O’Sullivan partnership with fellow ready-to-assemble producer Leda.
Introductions include the formal and stately Kingsley collection in vintage chestnut with antique bronze hardware, hand-turned solid-wood feet, framed wood drawers and keyboard management; and Piedmont, a transitional piece in golden cherry with satin nickel hardware and hollow core tops.
All hardware is pre-assembled into pieces.
“We want consumers to be able to purchase case goods —quality furniture from us at an RTA price,” said Keri O’Connell, product manager.
Vaughan-Bassett is showing two 27-inch-deep youth office pieces, a size that allows them to cross over to smaller home uses.
The Lifestyle desk retails for $699 while a Cottage desk retails for $799. Showroom traffic was busy Monday morning, especially after 10 a.m., according to Doug Bassett, executive vice president. He said some retailers had difficulty getting through the parking and drop-off rush in front of the WMC buildings.
The company continues to promote its Vaughan-Bassett Express program, with seven-day delivery for East Coast dealers and 14-day delivery to the West Coast. Bassett said the company hopes to pick up new central time zone accounts here, in addition to more from the West.
“If we see 600 people during this show we expect half will be existing customers and the other half will be prospects,” he said.
HomElegance’s home office offerings this market include a new black finish for a popular cottage styled office collection, an October market introduction. A corner and two 40-inch-top side units retail for $999. The company also features the style in a 69-inch-top desk with hutch, retailing for $799.
HomElegance also has a new contemporary style desk with Asian accents and almost no hardware.
“We’re expanding the category to offer more function and a better look for furniture dealers,” said Jamie Collins, vice president of sales and marketing. “We’re seeing everybody.”
January 31st, 2007
LAS VEGAS — Some case goods manufacturers and importers showing here this week are touting their
use of reclaimed wood, believing it will help dealers attract consumers seeking a certain look and story behind their purchase.
The wood comes from a variety of sources ranging from old barns in southern Louisiana to old bridges and mines in Russia.
The use of such woods has an obvious environmental benefit since it doesn’t involve the cutting of live trees. That eco-friendly or “green” approach can be a handy marketing tool at retail when selling to environmentally conscious consumers.
But most companies interviewed for this story say it’s the look and story behind the wood that gets the customer’s interest first.
That’s been the experience of Jonathan Fletcher, president of case goods importer Arin International, which is showing here in the World Market Center’s Pavilions, space 13012.
The company uses reclaimed pine found largely in Russia and in some Asian countries. Much of the raw material is 100- to 150-year-old wood from old bridges, mines, barns and railway tunnels. There is such an ample supply that there’s little concern of it running out, Fletcher said.
The wood is shipped to Vietnam where it is made into bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture. Fletcher estimated that 80% of his total line is made of reclaimed woods. Some pieces even have hardware forged from metals found with the original raw material.
New for Arin this market are bedroom and dining room pieces in the Irish Coast collection. Five-piece bedrooms retail at $1,495, and a three-piece dining set retails for $795.
Case goods importer Four Hands (WMC B-270) has been slowly shifting to eco-friendly woods such as reclaimed teak and plantation-grown hardwoods. As of last July, these woods made up 48% of its case goods and 40% of its tables. This market, only a few new items include such woods, including a $1,495 retail dining table and a $495 coffee table, both in the Emperor collection, made of reclaimed elm.
Four Hands is using recycled cast aluminum in its Marlo and Miami collections.
“There is strong interest among retailers in checking out these products,” said Vice President of Marketing Jeff Hiller. He said that fashion and design is what strikes buyers and consumers first, and if it’s priced right the company scores a sale by touting the eco-friendly story.
“This is going to be a major emphasis for the company going forward,” Hiller said.
Other companies touting environmentally friendly product this market include Sweet Smiling Home (WMC B-645), American Company (WMC P-12912), Groovystuff (WMC P-12112) and Greenington (CC 5101).
The latter notes that the solid bamboo used in its bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture is sustainable because it’s one of the world’s fastest-growing plants.
Groovystuff uses old plows, wagon wheels and box carts found in Asia in finished goods such as chairs that retail from $340 to $399, dining tables from $1,200 to $2,000, and benches in the $800 range.
“If you want to use old wood, it’s expensive,” said Jeff Singleton, who co-owns the business with Chris Bruning. He added the items fetch such prices because they have a nostalgic appearance suited to second or third homes.
Also showing items with old wood is accent furniture specialist Furniture Classics (WMC B-818), which uses reclaimed teak, oak, pine and other Asian hardwoods, giving items a weathered, one-of-a-kind look.
“It may have holes in it or the board may be warped, but that is part of the character and beauty of the piece,” said Sales Manager Alex Boyer.
January 31st, 2007
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The National Home Furnishings Assn. will hold a workshop here Feb. 25-26 on importing for furniture retailers.
The workshop will focus on the elements and logistics of importing, and will include a tour of the Port of Charleston showing how the port handles security concerns without impeding legitimate travel and trade.
The event also will include two presentations by Chris Roberts, owner and president of Sino Import & Export, on “Benefits to Offshore Sourcing” and “Disadvantages to Sourcing Direct.”
Officials from the South Carolina World Trade Center and the South Carolina World Trade Institute will hold a session called “Nine Steps to Importing.”
The two-day event will be held at the Charleston Riverview Hotel. For more information or to register, call the NHFA’s Education Department at (800) 888-9590 ext. 6169.
January 31st, 2007
HIGH POINT — Two high-end suppliers, fabric source Scalamandré and furniture source Henredon,
have joined forces on a collection of furniture debuting at the spring market here in March.
Tom Tilley, president and CEO of Henredon, and Mark Bitter, co-president and CEO of Scalamandré, announced the Scalamandré by Henredon collection at a launch party Jan. 24 in Scalamandré’s New York City showroom.
The initial collection will include 25 upholstered and exposed wood pieces. A second phase will roll out at the fall 2007 High Point Market, and accent pieces and decorative accessories will follow to complete the luxury offering.
“Joining forces with Henredon brings together two American icons in the luxury home furnishings industry,” Bitter said. Scalamandré has produced luxurious fabrics, trim and wall coverings for 77 years and Henredon has specialized in upscale furniture for more than 50 years.
Scalamandré says its textiles, trim, wall coverings and upholstery collections are rooted in traditional design with an emphasis on high quality and unique historical perspective. The furniture collection with Henredon will be inspired by this same traditional background but also will include transitional pieces with an updated aesthetic.
“We welcome this partnership opportunity,” said Tilley. “Like Henredon, Scalamandré is highly respected for design excellence and very high quality. Interior designers have always been key supporters of Henredon throughout the years. This new venture reinforces our commitment to them by creating a dynamic source for exclusive and unique product.”
Interior designer Jeff Lincoln, principal of Jeff Lincoln Interiors in New York, is the design consultant for Scalamandré by Henredon. He collaborated with the design teams at the furniture manufacturer.
In addition to the Scalamandré by Henredon debut collection, a custom program also will be available that will incorporate a wide range of design elements for customers who would like to create their own pieces.
Scalamandré by Henredon will launch in 13 Scalamandré showrooms and nine agent showrooms. Additional distribution, including Henredon showrooms and select retail channels, also is being explored.
January 31st, 2007
AT THE MARKET — Bedding sales leader Sealy says
it is stepping down in price here to give retailers some powerful ammunition for promotions.
In its first permanent showroom here (World Market Center B-800), the company is showing its new Sealy Posturepedic Reserve Collection. That limited-time collection features a memory foam model that retails at $599, which is $300 less than the previous starting point for a Posturepedic bed with memory foam.
“The Reserve Collection offers features and benefits normally reserved for higher-end beds at $1,000-plus price points,” said Mark Delahanty, vice president of marketing for Sealy Posturepedic. “It provides tremendous opportunity for retailers and great value for consumers.”
The collection features the Posturepedic innerspring, cushioned with memory foam. The knit fabrics and plush feels of the beds offer a strong retail profit story, Sealy said.
Sealy officials say that 75% of all mattresses sold cost less than $1,000, and added that they looked for ways to entice more consumers in that price range to buy a Posturepedic.
The four models in the Reserve Collection, which will be available starting Feb. 15, target retail price points of $599 to $899 and include a range of designs from ultra plush to an ultra plush Euro pillowtop. Features include memory foam, upgraded knit fabrics, plusher feels and substantial profiles that stand out on retail floors, according to Sealy.
Each model combines the Posturepedic innerspring, which responds to the body’s weight and motion, with Sealy’s UniCased construction. Sealy says those elements combine to deliver on Posturepedic’s promise to provide consumers with orthopedically correct support.
“We’ve created an exciting marketing program for this special collection to help our retailers,” Delahanty added. “We’re putting a national advertising plan behind the initiative and the beds will showcase a unique top-of-bed treatment and label that visually distinguish them from other beds on the retail floor.”
January 31st, 2007
SANTERAMO IN COLLE BARI, Italy — Leather upholstery manufacturer Natuzzi may appeal a
Hong Kong court’s dismissal of a lawsuit it had filed against competitor DeCoro over design and hiring issues, according to a statement issued by Natuzzi.
On Jan. 16, the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Court dismissed the suit, which has been contested for years. Natuzzi had accused DeCoro of “pirating” three Natuzzi product design employees as well as a series of sofa models.
The action began in April 2001, Natuzzi said, when it obtained an interim injunction from another Hong Kong court to restrain DeCoro from employing a former senior Natuzzi employee who had a non-compete clause in his contract.
According to Natuzzi, a contempt application is still pending in Hong Kong against DeCoro and its president and CEO, Luca Ricci, for allegedly breaching the court injunction by hiring the former employee despite the non-compete clause.
In response, Heath Corso, executive vice president of sales and marketing for DeCoro said, “We are pleased and vindicated by the court decision and confident any further appeals would meet with the same results.”
January 31st, 2007
But tough conditions may limit action
LAS VEGAS — Retailers should be out in force at
the fourth home furnishings market here, but tough business conditions, heavy inventories and too many furniture markets could keep buying on the light side.
In interviews, retailers characterized recent business as so-so to soft, and hold little hope for significant shifts anytime soon as a weak housing market and other economic uncertainties continue to weigh on consumers.
Still, dealers will be here, many staying longer to check out the World Market Center’s second building. Some are focusing on bedding — a strong category in Las Vegas — and generally looking for outstanding deals to lure consumers.
“Were trying to find ways we can drive some business into the store, some good values. That’s going to be our main focus,” said Jeff Child, president of Salt Lake City-based R.C. Willey.
The company, with 14 stores in greater Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Reno, Nev., Boise, Idaho, and now Sacramento, Calif., will be shopping all categories. Home office, one of the strongest furniture categories for the retailer now, will get plenty of attention, Child said. He noted that the company has done particularly well with groups priced from $1,500 to $2,500, so it will be looking for the latest looks in that range.
“We definitely don’t need a lot of product, so it’s going to have to be really good,” he said.
Child described business as fairly good, saying that Las Vegas is the softest market for the retailer. While he said he hears Sacramento — where the retailer opened its first store last year — is a tough market, R.C. Wiley has no track record for comparison and, so far, the store is meeting expectations.
Child bemoaned the dilemma of too many markets.
“We’re being bombarded with so many new products,” he said. “Our buyers haven’t even gotten (goods) from the past (High Point) market and they’re going to Vegas and seeing new product.
“I don’t think it’s healthy. I don’t think we give product a long enough time on the floor anymore. If something doesn’t work (soon after) it hits the floor, we’re getting rid of it. Used to be it took awhile,” said Child.
Chris Pelcher, general merchandise manager for Smithton, Pa.,-based Levin Furniture, agreed, saying, “It’s just silly at this point. Basically, we’re still waiting for everything we picked up in September and October” (in High Point and from a buying trip to China).
Levin took care of most of its lineup changes in the fall. That, combined with a productive two days at High Point’s mini-market earlier this month, limit the Top 100 company’s open-to-buy for Las Vegas.
“We’re at a point now where something really has to be an amazing value, a deal-we-can’t-refuse type of thing,” Pelcher said.
In Levin’s Cleveland and Pittsburgh markets, business has been a battle every day, he said. What’s more, Levin has had to contend with going-out-of-business sales at La-Z-Boy stores in Pittsburgh, which has it looking to counter with strong motion and recliner promotions of its own.
“That would be our biggest need if we had any right now,” he said.
Like Levin, Kane’s Furniture of Pinellas Park, Fla., attended the Lifestyle Enterprise-led mini-market in High Point and will buy some goods. But that’s not affecting its shopping plans here.
“If we see it and we like it, we buy it,” said CEO Irwin Novack.
In the hard-hit Florida market, where Novack said home sales last year were off 50% from the year before, business has been spotty and inconsistent, he said. But Kane’s is still in the market for fresh product.
In July, Kane’s skipped Las Vegas because he didn’t feel there was enough new product at the second show to make the trip worthwhile.
“With the opening of Building B, we’re going to give it another try,” Novack said. “There will be more vendors showing and hopefully more new product.”
Among other things, Kane’s will check out what’s new in direct container imported upholstery programs, a category he said is “just starting to explode.”
Kris Woodcock, vice president and general manager for Wheeling, Ill.-based Wickes Furniture, said her buyers will be here primarily to fill in between High Point markets, seeking special purchases and values in everything from upholstery to case goods. Wickes also will focus here on California suppliers for its 14 Los Angeles-area stores.
On Woodcock’s shopping list: deals in casual contemporary sofas at $399 and wood beds it can retail for $299 to $399.
“We’re bringing our bedding buyer along,” she added. “Las Vegas is the big bedding market, so he’ll be shopping bedding, and we’re investigating the specialty bedding arena.”
Wickes carries Tempur-Pedic, but “we want to look at some other things too,” she said.
Taylor Ganz, vice president of the 17-store Los Angeles-based McMahan’s, will look to add color to his upholstery mix, starting at $399 sofas and across the board to $1,119 frames.
“The proliferation of earth tones continues, and we need to break that up,” Ganz said.
Jake Jabs, president and CEO of Englewood, Colo.-based American Furniture Warehouse, isn’t expecting much in the way of upholstery here. Most of AFW’s key vendors in the category aren’t showing, although Jabs said he will be eager to see what’s new at Ashley, Klaussner, Douglas and GuildCraft of California.
He’s expecting more luck in the home accents category, noting that past Las Vegas markets have yielded some great surprises, including $299 marble-top sink cabinets from K.Y.O. Trading, which the retailer has been selling by the container load, and Max Win, which has become a great source for traffic items such as hall trees, mirrors and vanities.
Bedding also will get AFW’s full attention, especially new offerings in memory foam from Chinese sources.
AFW’s sales in December were off $3 million from a year ago, Jabs said, thanks to back-to-back weekend snowstorms that shut the stores down for several days. This month, the company is running an “Everything on Sale” promotion, playing up the fact that it’s overstocked.
“We’re giving 3% off … and it’s working,” Jabs said. “We’re up 10% for January.”
Jabs is expecting a good crowd at the Las Vegas Market despite difficult business conditions around the country for many retailers.
“Every little dealer I’ve talked to said they’re going to be there,” he said. “There’s that appeal to Vegas.
“In fact, my wife is going with me — her first furniture market in 30 years. I guess I’m caught in the same trap.”
January 31st, 2007
By Gregory Smith
PROVIDENCE — An Olneyville furniture factory
allegedly targeted for an arson fire was insured for $4 million, an arson investigator testified in District Court yesterday.
East Sider Markus Gorkin, owner of the factory, is charged with first-degree arson for an alleged unsuccessful attempt to destroy the building by using what investigators describe as elaborate incendiary devices triggered by timers.
City arson investigator Joseph F. Dorsey testified that an insurance company representative told him that Gorkin had renewed the insurance policy in early December, only weeks before the alleged arson attempt fizzled, on Dec. 27. It was not clear in testimony whether the building or its contents, or both, were insured for fire loss.
In the past, Dorsey said he was told, the policy had lapsed from time to time due to nonpayment of the premium, and then had been renewed.
Dorsey took the stand at a hearing in which Gorkin is attempting to persuade Judge Elaine T. Bucci to short-circuit his prosecution at an early stage. With the unusual maneuver, called a probable-cause hearing, the accused seeks to win dismissal of the charge against him for lack of probable cause to believe he committed the crime.
Gorkin, 67, of 14 Maxcy Drive, is a well-regarded member of the Jewish community who emigrated in 1979 from what is now Belarus, but was at the time a part of the Soviet Union.
Now a naturalized U.S. citizen whose wife is a physician, he said outside court that he has helped hundreds of Jewish émigrés to relocate to the United States by assisting them with jobs, short-term living expenses, education and similar arrangements.
The police allege that Gorkin, who holds a college degree in engineering, used his mechanical expertise to cobble together simple components to set up six incendiary devices to burn his business, United Industries of New England, which is housed in a mill complex at 99 Hartford Ave., across the street from the Olneyville Post Office.
Only one of the devices placed throughout the two-story building ignited, apparently at about midnight Dec. 26, causing a fire that scorched a wall and burned a small hole in the first-floor ceiling. The smoldering blaze, which set off the sprinklers, was discovered at about 5:30 a.m. when a factory employee saw water running under a door and out of the building.
According to testimony, each device consisted of a heating coil removed from a space heater, attached to a timer, mounted on a wood plank for stability, and plugged into an electrical wall socket. A wire connected the heating element to a cardboard tube about 4 feet long and 1½ feet in diameter that was stuffed with upholstery foam and pieces of cloth soaked in a flammable substance thought to be gasoline.
Plastic bags filled with upholstery foam were packed around at least some of the devices. A sample of the foam burned readily, Dorsey testified.
The investigator said that in his 16 years of specializing in arson, he has never seen such an elaborate incendiary device and that Mike West, an investigator for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, told him that he had never encountered such an elaborate device.
The bespectacled Gorkin, attired in a beige sweater, gray slacks and black shoes, his head crowned with a skullcap, sat quietly at the defense table in a courtroom in the Garrahy Judicial Complex downtown, listening to his lawyer, Keven A. McKenna, make urgent arguments to the judge.
Bucci complimented McKenna for his passion but admonished him for making inappropriate gestures and facial expressions and for interrupting her. At one point McKenna suggested that she step away from handling the case because, he contended, she had prejudged it. Bucci rejected his suggestion.
The hearing lasted for more than three hours yesterday and is scheduled to resume today. At several points, McKenna suggested outright or in his questions to witnesses that the devices were intended to be a warning or were merely a case of vandalism rather than a serious attempt to burn the building.
Providence police Detective Maurice Green said the police charged Gorkin based on a variety of factors, including their discovery, in his van, of items that apparently were used in making the incendiary devices; statements that Gorkin made in police interviews; and the fact that there was no forced entry into the building and that Gorkin was the last person in the building before the abortive fire and the first person to enter the building afterward.
While talking to the police, according to Green, Gorkin speculated that someone might have assembled the devices as part of an effort to force him to retire from the business. His son, Baruch, and a salesman both wanted him to retire early, the elder Gorkin was quoted as saying. Baruch Gorkin was in the gallery yesterday, listening to the testimony.
“Someone was trying to move him out,” Green said he concluded from Gorkin’s remarks.
Dorsey testified under questioning by Special Assistant Attorney General Dawson Hodgson that half of the sprinkler system had been shut down for months, meaning that the system would have been less capable of containing a fire.
Asked what would have happened if the devices had worked as intended, Dorsey declared, “It is my belief that they would have overpowered the sprinkler system and the building probably would have burned to the ground.”
gsmith@projo.com
January 31st, 2007
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