Archive for August 20th, 2007
AP
The State’s Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) announced today that Hawaii customers of the Ashley Furniture Home Store, who have not already received a refund from the company for merchandise that was paid for and not received, will receive restitution shortly.
The Ashley Furniture store in Waikele closed abruptly in November 2006, leaving more than one hundred customers without delivery of the furniture that they had ordered. OCP received a total of 125 complaints. Most consumers eventually received a refund either through a chargeback to their credit card accounts or from the local Ashley distributor following a liquidation sale.
OCP Executive Director Stephen Levins said that his office has been in contact with the corporate headquarters of Ashley Furniture Industries, based in Wisconsin, about the Waikele store situation. Ashley Furniture Industries has responded by agreeing to provide a restitution fund to assist the affected customers. With this agreement more than three dozen consumers, who still have no refund, will be provided restitution.
Hawaii customers who paid for merchandise which they did not receive, will receive a full refund. Customers who filed complaints with OCP will receive a restitution check in the mail, within a week. Anyone with questions regarding the customer refunds may call OCP at 586-2636.
August 20th, 2007
Written by EditorsChoice
CozyDays Inc. launches 3 new online stores in addition to cozydays.com (http://www.cozydays.com). Each store will be tapping important vertical segments in outdoor living industry.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) July 27, 2007 — CozyDays Inc., a catalog and online retailer of outdoor living products, has officially launched 3 new specialty online stores in addition to it’s main website CozyDays.com. New stores are designed to offer specialty outdoor living products under important vertical segments. Each niche website enables reach to a narrower segment and catering to a broader customer base.
The 3 new stores are:
1. PatioSmart.com : Specializes in patio furniture (http://www.patiosmart.com), patio chairs, patio tables and patio sets. Unique furniture lines feature aluminum, resin, wicker and teak patio furniture.
2. PoolFloatsMart.com : Specializes in pool floats (http://www.poolfloatsmart.com), pool lounges, inflatable and pool entertainment products.
3. FirePitsPark.com : Specializes in backyard entertainment with fire pits (http://www.firepitspark.com), fire places, chimneys and patio heaters.
CozyDays Inc. is currently operating under its main website CozyDays.com offering outdoor living products such as outdoor patio furniture (http://www.cozydays.com), outdoor cushions, furniture covers, pool toys and accessories, fire pits, and patio umbrellas to the retail market. CozyDays Inc. also operates CompaMia.com for contract and commercial outdoor furniture sales. CompaMia.com has been released in 2006 and includes a state of the art online quote system where each commercial buyer can create its own quote.
About Cozydays:
CozyDays Inc. is a rapidly growing Outdoor Living retailer and wholesaler. Based in Miami, FL, CozyDays maintains numerous niche retail websites including it’s main website CozyDays.com. CozyDays pursues all website related work in-house which gives them the flexibility that third party software can not match. All development, warehousing, order processing and fulfillment is done at CozyDays Miami offices and warehouse facilities.
August 20th, 2007
Judith Dickman of Berkeley went there for unusual Southwestern-style wooden tables. Debbie Fischer found a desk for her San Francisco home office. Dinna Myers of San Jose bought a wine cabinet, and Barbara Gerry of Santa Cruz anted up for a coffee table, vanity, stool and nine rugs. Anna Conti ordered a love seat for the living room of her Sunset District home, and Denise Wilder furnished most of her Daly City house. I sprang for a pair of leather ottomans.
These Chronicle Two Cents participants and I weren’t visiting the same mall or outlet center - we were letting our fingers do the walking, often in the middle of the night, to buy furniture online. That we’re all surprisingly happy with the 3-D results of our two-dimensional shopping excursions sends furniture dealers a major message: They’re convincing us that we no longer need to touch and try big, high-ticket items before buying.
Indeed, the nearly $2 billion in online furniture sales last year did not skew toward shelves, coffee tables and everything-but-seating, the experts say.
“We’re getting better and better from the amount of data out there at figuring out what works,” said Sev Ritchie, president of multiretailer platform FurnitureFan.com.
“And usually what we find is that the most popular product on the Web site is the most popular product on the floor. Seasonally, that’s entertainment centers and living room pieces right now, and as we go into fall, it’s beds and bedroom sets. 1800mattress.com sells a great deal of mattresses, sight unseen, delivered to your door.”
Overstock.com home and garden buyer Lani Murakami says her shoppers like brightly colored accent chairs and other items that show well on a monitor.
“And sectionals!” she exclaimed. “They’re spending $1,900 to $2,600 on leather sectionals they haven’t tried. But with retail prices of $4,000, it’s a chance they’re willing to take at that price.”
Donald Kohler, wearing the relatively new title of vice president of e-commerce for Williams-Sonoma Home, sees it and can’t believe it. “We do an incredible bedding business, and the other thing that sells day in and day out is our towels. But the third thing, I think, is pretty incredible, because I always thought, ‘Who would buy furniture online?’ But the fact is, we are doing incredible business in upholstery.”
“Incredible” is hard to quantify in the Williams-Sonoma lexicon, where brand figures are closely guarded. But it might be considered incredible that Williams-Sonoma Home, which has only eight brick-and-mortar stores across the country, could sell even one, un-sat-on, upholstered couch at www.wshome.com. One of its most popular styles, the Presidio, starts at $2,900 in sueded chino or cotton faille and tops out at $5,000 in embossed ostrich or suede - plus $310 shipping.
WSH will send free fabric and wood swatches, but the secret to selling such expensive furniture online is in the Web site’s detailed imagery of the product, including room shots and product shots. The shopper can download a high-quality photograph of the Presidio and then change the upholstery on the image, over and over, until a satisfying combination appears.
“You can see any of over 46 frames in any of more than 100 fabrics,” Kohler said, “which really emphasizes the customization we offer.”
It also emphasizes a key policy: The customer may not return the sofa unless there’s something wrong with it. She may not say, “This isn’t exactly the shade of plum I was expecting” or “My legs aren’t long enough for these cushions” and send it back.
High return rates, Ritchie said, killed early furniture sales sites, including Furniture.com, which is now reincarnated as a multiretailer platform. The consumer would order furniture that didn’t fit the room or couldn’t get up the stairs or wasn’t exactly the right color, then send it back, creating surplus inventory that had to be liquidated.
Free swatches and high-quality photography solve the color problem, but the other problems stopped modern furniture specialist Room&Board from adding complete-transaction e-commerce to its extensive Web site.
On www.roomandboard.com, you can create your own custom cabinetry and put it in a wish list, but you can’t buy it - and still won’t be able to when Room&Board finally offers e-commerce later this month.
“What we do find with products that can be customized is that there are still a lot of tweaks to be done to make sure that it’s just right for the customer, and with six weeks to get delivery, if it turns out that you wish you’d gotten interior dividers for drawers, we don’t want to have to go through that process again,” said John Schroder, e-commerce business manager for the brand. “So we make it clear that someone will call in the next 24 hours.”
“The delivery coordinator concept helps,” Ritchie said. “They can ask what room this is going in and how many flights of stairs it’s going up, and can then prevent the customer from buying a $3,000 to $4,000 sofa they know would be coming back, and make it a sectional with smaller pieces.
“The last thing you need is items arriving that are not quite right. Some folks have a restocking fee to help prevent that.”
Room&Board levies a 10 percent fee if a customer wants to return a custom piece. Overstock.com, however, may have the most unusual and consumer-friendly return repellent in the furniture business.
“It’s hard to get a good idea of quality on the Web,” said Wilder, the Daly City Internet shopping devotee who bought a large armoire on Overstock.com. “But Overstock has user reviews, and the people are brutally honest.”
Overstock.com, founded by CEO Patrick Byrne and publicly traded since 2002, sells closeout merchandise and ships for $2.95. Byrne said the low pricing is a “trade secret” - Murakami buys “middle to upper-end” furniture, of the Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn look, in bulk - but the brutally honest, no- to five-star reviews preclude other secrets.
The comments are cleaned up by a third party but not filtered - and, Murakami said, “they don’t tend to write mediocre reviews.”
“We did some soul-searching about this,” Byrne said, “and if we get reviews and learn a product is, uh …”
“… crap,” Murakami said.
“… crap,” Byrne said, “we’ll take it down. We think it’s a fair thing to do.”
I was leery of buying furniture on the Web, but there were so many five-star critiques of my ottomans on Overstock.com that I felt confident I would like them more than a similar model at a local store in a national chain, and I do. However, Robin Rice, executive vice president of West Elm, a Williams-Sonoma brand that had a Web site before it had stores, contends that a furniture seller can succeed without user reviews by making consumers happy.
“We’d like to have an online registry, and a rollover on upholstery,” Rice said. “We’d like the feedback from consumers, but online we prefer it to be in the opposite direction, where we’re the ones giving the information.”
West Elm doesn’t ship anything for $2.95, however, and like many other e-tailers, its shipping rates are tied to how many dollars the shopper spends. Choose the $120 sheet set over the $60 sheet set and the shipping costs $6 more. At Room&Board, on the other hand, shoppers are encouraged to spend more, with “household” shipping ranging from $69 to $199, depending on the delivery address.
As for Overstock.com’s low flat-fee shipping, said Byrne: “Our shoppers are two-thirds women, and their biggest bugaboo is shipping shock on checkout. So we build in the fee: If we know it costs $150 to ship a desk and we need $350 for that desk, we will say the price is $499. That punishes us because somebody else can drop their price to $450 and then add in the shipping and it looks like their desk is less.”
Every edge counts in the depressed furniture industry. Jackie Hirschhaut is vice president of public relations and marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance, which has enhanced its own Web site, www.findyourfurniture.com, with a room planner and a dealer locator.
“In the old days, folks primarily shopped at their hometown furniture and department stores and made selections based upon the merchandise assortments on hand,” she said. “Today, consumers have access to information-laden manufacturers’ Web sites that display their entire product line along with a dealer locator.”
San Francisco designer Barbara Scavullo finds the Web’s research capabilities “liberating” for freeing her from legwork, and she welcomes efforts by the San Francisco Design Center - which will launch an online “sample room” later this year at www.sfdesigncenter.com - to centralize information from showrooms for designers.
On the other hand, there’s “too much information” syndrome.
“Clients are less knowledgeable,” Scavullo said. “I won’t buy a rug from a picture. I’m too smart to do that. But the customer has lost the thought that the picture isn’t the thing. And now there’s no ability to engage them in a conversation about why this rug is $100 and this rug is $1,000.”
That hurts no one more than the small, service-oriented furniture merchant. Johanna Spilman, showroom director for the Design Center boutique showroom Enid Ford, said Enid Ford recently launched www.enidford.net just to help designers pre-select.
“There was a trend, and everybody now has a Web site, and people are surprised if you don’t have one,” Spilman said. “We are not going to be selling off this Web site, but clients can take a look and see what we have, go to the manufacturer’s site and pre-select what they want to sit on when they come in.
“But our traffic is minimal because of the Internet. People don’t get out of their cubbyholes; they do everything on the computer. The way we do business has changed tremendously.”
With a high-caliber e-commerce Web site requiring a $10,000 to $15,000 initial investment, Ritchie said, “it gives the chains a tremendous advantage.” Debbie George, who with her husband, Frank, owns Alameda’s 35-year-old Pillow Park, says the store has had a couple of rough years, and she is debating whether to add e-commerce to PillowPark.com.
“There are a lot of accessories and small items I could sell online, but with a sofa and a mattress, people still want to touch it and still want to feel it,” she said. “With case goods, I get a lot of people who see an ad and keep calling stores to see if they have it so they can at least see it. Then when they see it, they use the Internet to see who has it cheapest. That’s what hurts us. It’s kind of crummy, and I haven’t figured out what to do about that. We’re a mom and pop. We pride ourself on service and on treating our customer not like a number.”
George never dreamed that a shopper in Boise would want to buy a couch from her without first sitting on it, lying on it or caressing it. But here we are.
Inside
Site-seeing: Reviews of the Web sites of several popular furniture retailers. F4
Two Cents: Readers share their experiences of shopping for furniture online. F5
E-mail Susan Fornoff at sfornoff@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page F - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
August 20th, 2007
by Collin Dunn, Seattle
The words on the front of the new Nativa furniture storefront in San Diego pretty much say it all: “Soon We Will Prove That Artistry And Luxury Can Sustain Nature, Art Never Loses Meaning, True Beauty Endures.” Powered by 156 solar panels, the new Nativa store (full disclosure: Nativa is a client of The Change, whose founder, Jerry Stifelman, is a TreeHugger guest poster. TreeHugger Sami Grover also moonlights for The Change) will feature an exclusive range of artisan-quality home furnishings, 85-90% of which will be crafted with FSC-certified rainforest woods.
Nativa’s stance on timber certification represents an alternative to the destructive practices common in the furniture industry, demonstrating a way of doing business that preserves the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous people.
The collection of Spanish and Mediterranean-inspired furniture (the “Campo” dining table is above) features artisan joinery techniques like tongue and groove, mortise and tenon, butterfly and dovetail joints, helping insure that the furniture is as sturdy as it is artistic. About the craftsmanship, Mario Scolari, Nativa’s founder and CEO, says, “Unlike most furniture stores today, we don’t sell anything from China. The world’s most talented craftspeople are right here in South America — and so are most of the world’s FSC-certified tropical rainforests. There’s only one reason I know of to import furniture from Asia — low cost. Costs are low because people are being paid incredibly low wages, quality is inferior, and because no one is watching out for the environment, or speaking up for the forests.”
“If you were to visit our facilities in Argentina or those of South Cone, what you would see would look more like a large artist studio than a factory. Our furniture is crafted by hand and much of it is custom-made to suit the needs of our customers. Our crafts people are well paid and our facilities are located near small family-oriented communities. The way we create furniture supports a traditional way of life for many people.”
To open on 1003 University Avenue, this will be Nativa’s third store in the San Diego area. Eventually, the other locations will be modified along the lines of the new store. Representing an investment of $225,000, the new Nativa’s roof is lined with 156 photovoltaic panels, enough to actually return power back through the grid at low-demand times. Other sustainable building practices integrated into the new store include refinishing the original 1925 hardwood floors, and the use of water-based paints. Set to open at the end of September, we hear rumors of a big launch party, but we’ll keep you posted. TreeHugger loves to see this kind of synchronicity — sustainable forestry + human rights consideration + solar power + generation-spanning longevity — so we’ll be watching and wishing Nativa all the best. ::Nativa
August 20th, 2007
Avoid being part of the throw-away mentality when it comes to home furnishings. Learn how to make good choices based on long term value. Here are some helpful guidelines.
Bed linens and towels
In this category, density matters. When shopping for bed linens, look for the highest thread count you can find. Dense fibers make a world of difference in softness, comfort and durability. Decide whether you like the satin feel or crisp cotton or linen feel. Look for thread counts over 400. You’ll definitely notice the difference.
When selecting towels, feel them for softness not just color saturation. Some good quality towels have a tight, more velvet feel while others are soft due to the high density and quality of the cotton. The department stores have a tremendous range of colors and quality. If you’re thinking of replacing or stocking up due to a recent move, look for a white sale as it will be worth the wait in savings if you go for the good stuff.
The same rule applies to kitchen towels and dining room linens, the better the fabric, the more durable and good looking the item will be. If you use tea towels and dish towels on a regular basis, and you spend a good deal of time cooking, investing in good quality kitchen linens is a nice luxury. When they finally do give out with stains and wear, turn them into the nicest rags you’ve ever had.
Hardwood furniture
When purchasing occasional and cocktail tables and casegood pieces, consider beforehand where in the house these items will be placed. For children’s and teen’s rooms, bookcases, desks and night tables, local retail stores such as Room & Board and Crate & Barrel may be the way to go. For pieces in the main living spaces of the house, look for bookcases with solid wood backs, tables with solid, reinforced joinery and wood veneers and finishes that will hold up to years of use. An investment of this sort will allow a refinishing or two, when necessary, and be with you for years to come.
Upholstery
In this category there are two issues to keep in mind. First, the frame of any furniture piece should be a hardwood frame, kiln-dried, and eight-way hand tied, not just glued and screwed. I have seen first-hand what happens when springs are stapled into the frame without screws. It’s not pretty, but it is fixable.
The second critical element of an upholstery piece is, of course, the fabric. When you order any piece of upholstered furniture, you also select a fabric for it. Making sure that the fabric is all that you want — durable, soft, color-specific, soil-resistant, made from natural fibers — is part of your job. Do not be surprised if good quality fabric is expensive because it is. You can expect to pay $75, on the low end, to $200 per yard for fabric that will wear well for decades. This is not the place to cheap out.
After you’ve selected a fabric that you love, and one that meets your specific requirements, have it treated to protect it from water, oil, sun and soil. One such service is Fabric Life Services, at (800) 266-7023. It’s good insurance to protect your investment.
Outdoor furniture
It certainly is the season to see what’s available in every shape and size and this is where, too, if you’re not careful, you can fall into the throw-away mentality. If you are looking for aluminum frame outdoor furniture, buy the best you can afford. It will last for a very long time. The catalogs that arrive on your doorstep multiple times a week make outdoor furniture look fun, festive and even romantic. Obviously, people can’t buy up every year or two, so choose wisely. Though the furniture may look whimsical, the prices surely are not. Avoid chairs that spin, tip and bounce. Select a simple and straight-forward style; these designs are more likely to hold up over time.
The teak furniture market is different. Designs don’t vary as much, but look closely at how the pieces are constructed. Be aware that teak furniture requires maintenance. Without care in our climate in particular, it will not stay the dark, rich color for long.
Outdoor cushions and pillows with manifold fabric choices are available everywhere after a long time in coming to the retail market. This is a place to change things from time to time. These fabrics are long-wearing, and while not inexpensive, still changing them after a number of years will liven up your outdoor space for a reasonable amount. It is easy to select fabric and recover existing cushions and pillows or donate yours and start over.
Heirloom or other
Not every piece needs to be of heirloom quality. Which will be and which will not, is for you to decide based on your lifestyle and what spaces you enjoy using most in your home. If you enjoy having dinner parties, investing in good quality dining chairs that are comfortable, well-constructed and well-built would make sense. Ask yourself these questions and it’s likely the answers will be a good guide to how and where to put your money.
Beth Wiley Boyd is president of Wiley Designs, LLC in Highland Park. She can be reached at wileydesigns@comcast.net.
August 20th, 2007
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