Archive for August 7th, 2007
Casual Living,
The board of the Sustainable Furniture Council recently met and formed an educational committee with the purpose of bringing members and the industry as a whole along the sustainability path.
Chris Bruning of Groovystuff and Holly Barbo of Barbo Furniture are leading the committee, which will identify resources to inform the consumer and manufacturing sector; create a glossary of terms; provide resources for understanding issues; plan and carry out educational events, both at trade shows and in-store events for retailers; publish an e-weekly newsletter and provide content for press releases.
The committee is interested in participants who will lend their skills and enthusiasm to the organization.
On Wednesday, Aug. 15, at 1 p.m. CST, the organization will have a phone meeting to organize the tasks. For more information, contact Bruning at 214-956-0536 or Barbo at 360-734-1997.
August 7th, 2007
Cinde W. Ingram — Casual Living,
Premarket held last week
Although retail traffic was light at the July 31-Aug. 1 West Coast Casual Furniture Premarket, some exhibitors were pleased with their opportunity to spend unhurried time with major Southern California accounts as well as a few other Western retailers. The show’s dates overlapped those of the Las Vegas Market.
“It’s the best two days in our three years” at this show, Telescope Casual President Henry Vanderminden IV said as his crew was packing its temporary booth. A sales rep for another manufacturer said “the majors that I deal with have been through.”
Santa Fe Springs, Calif.-based Rattan Specialties previewed its simulated rattan Nuvine Collection, which offers the look and texture of vine but was developed for outdoor use.
Wanda Technology received positive feedback from retailers about its umbrella that incorporates music via an iPod or AM/FM radio and a dimming center light. That product and a moveable umbrella base, which also debuted, should be seen again at next month’s Casual Market in Chicago.
Other major umbrella manufacturers Treasure Garden and Galtech also showed their innovative shade products and styles as did Bungalow by E-Z Up during the two-day premarket, held at the Ontario Convention Center in Ontario, Calif.
Retailers got their first look at Veranda Collections, a new cast aluminum furniture manufacturer offering French Country looks and classic designs. Veranda Collections President Gary Parrott said the Bonita Springs, Fla.-based company is focused on upper-end casual furniture dealers and designers, the same sort of discerning customers he served when he worked for Pompeii and Pavilion. “It’s not about quantity of dealers, it’s about quality,” Parrott said.
August 7th, 2007
Collection includes pillows and throws to draperies and accessories
Outdoor furniture manufacturer O.W. Lee Co., has partnered with designer Marcia Blake, founder and president of Outdoor Interiors, to help change the landscape of outdoor living spaces. The two companies joined forces to launch OW Lee Outdoor Couture by Marcia Blake.
“Interior design knows no boundaries,” Blake said. “The newest trends in home decor are being extended into outdoor living spaces and bringing personality to the garden like never before. This new venture will include everything from fashionable pillows and throws, to draperies and accessories — with the utmost attention to detail, without worrying about sun damage and weathering.”
“Folks are discovering a new destination for comfortable and luxurious getaways- their own backyard,” said Terri Lee Rogers, co-president of sales and Marketing at O.W. Lee. “We’re a product innovator and committed to creating a sophisticated and cohesive outdoor environment. This is an exciting and strategic enhancement to our product line that will bring great value to our dealers as well as their customers. Marcia has been instrumental for the last two seasons in selecting designer fabrics and trims helping to take our products to a whole new level, and the O.W. Lee collection gets more exciting by the day.”
Marcia has been published in Coast Magazine and Casual Living. She is a contributor to articles in Water Garden News, Southern Home and Outdoor Magazine. She is also an active ASID Industry Partner and Color Marketing Group Member. Prior to starting Outdoor Interiors, Marcia was buyer and manager of the patio furniture division at Roger’s Gardens in Corona del Mar, Calif.
O.W. Lee Company was founded in 1947 by Oddist W. Lee. Most of the O.W. Lee furniture line is still handcrafted, utilizing the same forging methods as blacksmiths and artisans of centuries ago. Products are sold throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. For additional information on O.W. Lee products and services, visit www.owlee.com.
August 7th, 2007
Larry Thomas — Furniture Today,
Traffic down but order-writing proves brisk
LAS VEGAS — Although sluggish business conditions seemed to stack the odds against the summer market here, the show managed to turn in a strong performance in the eyes of most exhibitors.
While attendance clearly was below the January market, when the World Market Center’s Building B was unveiled, most said showroom traffic was good and order-writing was strong.
“We wrote big orders and lots of them,” said Bill Benton, president of importer Powell Co. “We stayed busy all week.”
His and other positive reports came despite a sales slump that has plagued the industry for nearly a year. Most exhibitors said they had low expectations for the show, given the business conditions and other negative factors that tend to keep buyers away, such as this city’s summer heat and the sheer number of industry trade shows.
However, many said they were pleasantly surprised by the turnout and the amount of business that was written.
Ashley Chairman Ron Wanek said his team saw “lots of interest in new product and lots of orders placed.” He said the just-concluded market was much stronger than last July for the company, since it only opened its second and larger showroom here in January.
He said July markets in Las Vegas won’t be as busy as shows in January, when the city’s warm weather is a boon rather than a barrier, but he remains confident in the event’s long-term prospects as the WMC continues to develop.
“We know that it’s going to be a powerful market,” said Wanek. “It’s a high-quality place to come.”
“The market was so strong in January that we had resolved ourselves to the possibility that some people might not come back in July,” said Larry Klein, vice president of sales at specialty bedding producer Natura. “But it was really steady. On Monday, no one in the showroom had time to eat.”
Shawn Samson, co-managing partner of the WMC, declined to disclose attendance figures, but said registrations were about 20% above the July 2006 show and slightly below the record attendance in January.
“This is very gratifying for us because the industry is telling us … that Las Vegas has the right platform for doing business in the future,” he said.
Samson said he’s especially encouraged by the rising numbers of international buyers and exhibitors, noting that 208 international exhibitors were on the roster.
Many exhibitors said attendance was heavier from small and midsized dealers west of the Mississippi, although major retail accounts from all parts of the country were in Las Vegas in force.
“Traffic seems more heavily weighted from the West, but that’s good because those people are not in High Point,” Benton said.
Sandberg Furniture was one of the few exhibitors to record higher traffic than the January show, but that was because the company doubled the size of its showroom. Traffic was slightly higher than January and more than 10% above July 2006, said President and CEO John Sandberg.
Sandberg said he believes the companies that will succeed in Las Vegas will be those that develop new goods for the show, not “retreads from High Point.”
Similarly, Universal Furniture had strong response to a new contemporary collection, and plans to do two cuttings for the group by the end of the year, said Roland Maddrey, vice president of sales.
“We have had some great commitments where we can support it,” he said, adding that traffic was not as strong as January, but about what the company expected for the summer show.
“This has been the best response to new product we have handled at Las Vegas,” Maddrey said.
Ed Grund, CEO of case goods importer ART, said reaction to introductions was so strong that he has decided to push up the production schedule for the new Calais bedroom and dining room collection, rather than wait to get a second reading from buyers at October’s High Point Market.
“People we didn’t think would come, did come,” Grund said. “Overall, we were pleased with the market.”
News Editor Jay McIntosh, Senior Retail Editor Clint Engel, Executive Editor David Perry and Staff Writer Jeff Linville contributed to this story.
August 7th, 2007
Canadian-based importer says facility will save dealers trips to area factories
MONTREAL — Primo International, a resource for mattresses, case goods and upholstery based here, has opened a 15,000-square-foot showroom in Dongguan, China.
Primo sources many of its goods from factories in the Dongguan area, and the new showroom will serve as a one-stop shop for its dealers, the company said.
John DeFalco, Primo’s senior vice president, said, “In the past, retailers visiting factories in China had to spend hours driving from one factory to the next. Now, we’ve essentially brought the wares from five or six factories to our showroom, saving dealers a lot of time and energy.”
The showroom, which employs 20 people, compliments Primo’s showrooms in Shanghai, Malaysia and Vietnam, the company said.
August 7th, 2007
Nearly 200 mattresses, accessories available; consultants on tap
1-800 Amazon/dp (tb)
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. — 1800mattress.com, a top telemarketer and e-retailer of bedding products and accessories, has joined with leading shopping portal Amazon.com to offer more than 179 varieties of mattresses and bedding accessories online.
Consumers logging onto Amazon.com and searching for bedding products or mattresses will be able to select from 1800mattress.com’s product offerings, including firm, plush and pillow-top mattresses in all sizes, visco and latex mattresses, hotel mattresses, airbeds and waterbeds, bed frames, and other items from the retailer’s “30 Beds and Mattress Menu.”
Shoppers who want to speak to a bedding consultant will also be able to request an immediate call-back, or dial a number and be connected. 1800mattress.com has bedding consultants that speak several languages, including Spanish, French, Italian and Russian.
“Amazon.com is one of the largest home products retailers online today, and we value this relationship as a means to serve the millions of customers looking for mattresses and bedding accessories through this portal,” said 1800mattress.com Executive Vice President of National Sales Joe Vicens. “Amazon in many ways has become the shopping mall of the future, and it was important for us to open a storefront in this important retail channel.”
All the products being offered by 1800mattress.com on Amazon.com can be delivered as quickly as the same day or no longer than in 72 hours, depending on availability and the location of the customer, significantly reducing the time it will take for customers to receive bedding products ordered on the site. Mattresses and bedding products also can be shipped internationally, the company said.
1800mattress.com is utilizing its 300 recommended bedding retailers throughout the country to provide service to Amazon.com customers. All 1800mattress.com policies will be offered to Amazon.com customers, including its Comfort Guarantee, where a consumer can try a mattress at home for several weeks to assure the product is right for them, or make a comfort exchange for another product.
Also, 1800mattress.com consumers do not pay for their purchases until delivery is accepted.
August 7th, 2007
Quarter began poorly but retailer said it turned profit in June
ATLANTA — Full-line retailer Haverty Furniture reported a second-quarter net loss of $1.4 million, or 6 cents per share, as sales for the Top 100 chain dropped 11.3%.
In last year’s second quarter, the chain turned a profit of $3.6 million, or 16 cents per share. Sales in the latest quarter came to $187.1 million, compared with $211 million in 2006’s second quarter. Same-store sales decreased 12.7% in the quarter.
President and CEO Clarence H. Smith said, “Severely weak sales volume early in the quarter created a difficult hurdle for us and produced a quarterly loss. We had noted in our May and June sales releases that with double-digit sales declines we would not be profitable. Sales were especially poor in the first half of the quarter, but we were heartened by the improvement in volume and return to profitability for June.
“The close management of our merchandise flow and clearance activity resulted in a reduction in inventory of $15.5 million, or 13.1%, as compared to year-ago levels. The increased clearance sales contributed to a 64 basis-point reduction in gross profit margins versus the second quarter of last year,” he said.
In the six months, Havertys net loss was $520,000, or 2 cents per share, versus net income of $8.7 million, or 38 cents per share, in the comparable 2006 period.
“The second quarter is typically the weakest of the year for Havertys,” Smith said. “We expect to return to profitability in the second half as fixed expenses are leveraged with the seasonally higher sales volume anticipated.”
Havertys has 122 stores in 17 states in the South and Midwest, and ranked No. 10 on Furniture/Today’s latest listing of Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores.
August 7th, 2007
Event includes hundreds of exclusive products Beginning today, CBK is offering a special promotion to celebrate its more than 28-year history and its growth as a leader in the home décor, accessories and gift industry. Serving customers ranging from furniture stores, florists, interior decorators and gift stores, this special promotion will deliver items with a broad range of price points and lower minimums.
This special promotion will include a catalog of more than 200 items, most of which were purchased exclusively for this program. These items are expected to be in high demand, so preorders begin today, with shipments to begin in mid-September for the holiday shopping season. Most of the items included in this promotion are one-time offerings and will be sold while supplies last. These items are in addition to the company’s selection of 5,000 items in its everyday line.
“This project has been a collective and coordinated effort from product selection, price point analysis and sales projections between all of the different departments within CBK,” said Terry Stewart, president of CBK. “This is an exciting initiative, and we are very excited to offer this to our customer base. It is also another example of how we can respond to our customers’ requests in a very short period of time.”
August 7th, 2007
Retailer achievement lauded Winners have been selected for the Atlanta International Rug Market’s 14th annual Retailer of the Year awards.
The ROY Awards recognize outstanding achievement among the nation’s premier area rug and home furnishings retailers. Candidates were nominated by AmericasMart area rug exhibitors and voted on by an independent panel of industry experts.
Rug/Floor Covering Store of the Year was Gallery of Oriental Rugs; the year’s most Outstanding Merchandising award went to Jordan’s Furniture; Abbington Rug Outlet received the Creative Selling award; the Furniture Retailer of the Year award went to Lillian August and Rug Retailer of the Year was Krimsa Fine Rugs & Decor.
August 7th, 2007
Products to be unveiled at N.Y. Gift Fair
Home product distributor Shine Home is debuting a collection of occasional tables and lighting at the New York International Gift Fair.
The occasional tables feature intricate patterns of inlaid nail heads, sweeping curves and geometric angles. The lamps juxtapose vintage and contemporary styling.
Southern California-based Shine Home based is a leading designer, marketer and distributor of home design products that combine classic and modern styling. The company is exhibiting at the gift fair, Aug. 11-15, at Home Division Pier 94, Space 44009.
August 7th, 2007
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