Archive for September 28th, 2007
Furniture Brands International Inc. for the second time in a week announced it is closing one of its manufacturing facilities, this time in Carysbrook, Va.
Phillip Miller, president of Virginia operations for Creative Interiors a divison of Furniture Brands, said the 200,000-square-foot plant, which employs 170 people, will close by Nov. 23 due to a decrease in business. On Sept. 20, another Furniture Brands unit announced it was closing its North Carolina facility.
The Carysbrook plant produces ready-to-assemble furniture that was sold to Wal-Mart, Target and other big box retailers, Miller said.
“It was demand-related,” Miller said of the decision. “Some of that demand has been consumed by offshore products, coming in primarily from Asia.”
Miller said production will be shifted to its 1 million-square-foot plant in Appomattox, Va., about 50 miles southeast of Carysbrook. It is hoped that some of the Carysbrook workers will be transferred to Appomattox, but Miller said that would depend on what the business level is like come the end of November.
The Appomattox facility employs 650 people.
St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International Inc. (NYSE: FBN) manufactures furniture under the Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage, Maitland-Smith, Broyhill and Lane brands.
Published September 26, 2007 by the St. Louis Business Journal
September 28th, 2007
A SECOND hand furniture shop at Seaton was allegedly fire-bombed early this morning.
Witnesses said they saw a person smash the front window of the business about 1.20 am this morning then return a short time later throwing a lit object inside.
The Tapleys Hill road business sustained about $100,000 damage according to police.
Police are asking any witnesses to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
In an earlier fire, a man had to smash a window to escape his blazing unit late last night.
A smoke alarm woke the resident just before midnight, he then had to smash his way out of a bedroom window to escape.
Fire cause investigators have determined a lit cigarette was the cause of the $60,000 fire in the Kilburn unit.
The man was taken to hospital where he was treated for smoke inhalation.
September 28th, 2007
HIALEAH, Fla. (WSVN) — Hialeah Fire Rescue responding to 5 Brothers Furniture Warehouse located 395 E 10th Avenue.
Shortly after 7 p.m. on Thursday firefighters first responded to a different address due to the spreading smoke. When crews arrived they found flames shooting from this unoccupied building and made this a 2 Alarm fire. The roof did collapse on the warehouse so firefighters are now fighting in a defensive mode. The business next door was also affected by the flames. There are no injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
(Copyright 2007 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
September 28th, 2007
Kolcraft Enterprises, the maker of baby furnishings, recalled about 425,000 playpens after the strangulation of a 10-month-old boy, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said yesterday.
The agency said in a statement that it received a report of a boy strangled by a looped restraining strap hanging from a changing table on the company’s Sesame Beginnings Travel Play Yard.
The voluntary recall by Kolcraft, based in Chicago, covers 12 different play yards made in China. The products were sold from January 2001 through this month and cost $50 to $130, the statement said.
“This is not a made-in-China issue,” a safety commission spokeswoman, Patty Davis, said in a telephone interview. “This is a defect in the design of the product by the U.S. company.”
A Kolcraft spokeswoman, Diane Steed, said the incident involved misuse of the product, which carries a warning against leaving a child in the playpen with the changing table on top.
A list of recalled playpens and model numbers is available at www.cpsc.gov, the agency said.
On Wednesday, about 670,000 Chinese-made toys, children’s chairs and gardening tools were recalled by the RC2 Corporation and five other companies over concerns about lead-paint levels and safety.
On Sept. 21, the maker of Graco and Simplicity products recalled one million Chinese-manufactured cribs.
While Mattel has recalled 21 million toys since August, the toy maker apologized to China last week for design issues that led to the recall of 18 million of them because of small magnets.
The rash of recalls has led Congress to consider legislation to increase the safety of products from China, which manufactures about 80 percent of toys sold in this country.
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September 28th, 2007
Kids Today,,By Jeff Linville
Battered by low-cost imports, 30-year-old rustic youth bedroom maker Barn Door here will cease production at the end of October, with the factory closing by year’s end.
“After several years of declining sales and mounting losses with no improvement in sight, the company’s owners decided to close the facility,” said John Paul Tate, son of President John Tate.
Some of the company’s 62 workers will stay on during November and December to ship finished goods. Barn Door is based in Henderson, N.C.
Barn Door, which had a High Point showroom on the second floor of the International Home Furnishings Center’s Main wing, won’t show at next week’s market. The company once showed in Tupelo, but pulled out there several markets ago.
Barn Door’s rustic line included twin beds, bunk beds and bed systems that included storage, sleep and study. The company was hurt not only by Asian imports, but by pine suites from such South American countries as Brazil, said John Tate.
John Paul Tate said he had worked in advertising before leaving that field to help his father at Barn Door. He said the furniture industry had left a bad taste in his mouth, and he likely would return to advertising, perhaps opening his own firm.
September 28th, 2007
Kids Today
According to Child Craft President Bill Suvak, reports that ran in this week’s Louisville Courier-Journal and Indianapolis Star are incorrect and were triggered by a simple recertification process.
Child Craft, based in New Salisbury, Ind., applied for Trade Adjustment Assistance through the U.S. Department of Labor in 2004. This program was put in place by the government to assist displaced employees from companies that have been affected by the globalization of trade.
“As a manufacturer in the furniture business for nearly 100 years, we have definitely been impacted and, therefore, qualified,” Suvak said. “Our certification under this program was set to expire in October of this year. Our human resource director applied for and received a two-year extension (to September of 2009) of this potential employee benefit simply to provide our employees with an opportunity for these benefits should they be laid-off in the future. This is not to make any declaration that they will be out of work, but rather to provide a benefit that we currently have in the event that should happen.”
Suvak said there are no plans for major layoffs and there are no plans to close the Harrison County plant, which both papers also reported.
The Courier-Journal article also made reference to Child Craft moving production to Honduras.
“The truth is that we have operated a plant in Honduras since 2003 and nothing has changed in that regard,” Suvak said. “The company continues to source from Asia and Honduras, while maintaining light manufacturing capabilities and functions at its main location in Indiana.”
Suvak said the erroneous reports have caused a lot of confusion for retailers and consumers. He asserts that “things are no different this week than they were last week.”
September 28th, 2007
By: Furniture World Magazine
Ashley Furniture Industries is donating $50,000 to the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA), the unified charitable organization of the furnishings industry. The NFBA facilitates Help1Up, the service which annually collects used furniture from over 125,000 homes in America, then gives the furniture to families in need.
There will be a check presentation ceremony attened by senior executives of Ashley Furniture Industries and the NFBA as well as news media and other industry members on Monday, October 1, 2007 in the Ashley Showroom, IHFC H900, High Point, NC at 10:00-10:15 AM.
Help1Up is endorsed by all of the home furnishings industry associations, and is sustained by sponsorships from retailers, manufacturers, and service providers.
About the National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA): The NFBA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with the mission to increase the service capacity of existing furniture banks, and to open new furniture banks in areas without one. No child in America should have to sleep on the floor. Visit http://www.help1up.org for more information, and to learn about becoming a Help1Up sponsor or contact Don Lawrence, NFBA Executive Director, dlawrence@help1up.org or (800) 576-0774 for more information.
September 28th, 2007
Furniture Today,
ST. LOUIS — Furniture Brands International said it has asked the two major debt ratings agencies, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, to withdraw their ratings for the company.
FBI, which refinanced much of its debt earlier this year, said its lenders no longer require debt ratings.
“With our current capital structure and with no foreseeable debt issuance needs, we have concluded that we no longer need to maintain a third-party credit rating,” said Ralph Scozzafava, vice chairman and CEO-designate. “We made this decision as part of our ongoing company-wide initiatives to gain efficiencies and to cut costs whenever possible.”
Companies pay the rating services to assess their debt issues.
Several months before the refinancing, the ratings agencies placed FBI’s debt in the “substantial credit risk” category.
September 28th, 2007
Heath E. Combs — Furniture Today,
HIGH POINT — A North Carolina court has found case goods importer Collezione Europa guilty of copyright infringement for representing Universal Furniture product as its own in its High Point Market showroom.
On Sept. 14, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina ruled that Collezione Europa violated the federal Lanham Act barring unfair competition and North Carolina’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The case involves Universal’s Grand Inheritance and English Manor collections, introduced in 2001 and 2002.
Collezione Europa issued a statement saying it disagrees with the judge’s rulings and believes they are contrary to the prior appeals in this case. The company said it expects the decision to be reversed on appeal after damages are issued. An attorney for the company, Nicholas Mesiti, said Collezione will argue that the pieces were not subject to copyright protection.
The district court rejected Collezione Europa’s challenges and held that Universal owns valid copyrights in the Grand Inheritance and English Manor collections, and that Collezione Europa infringed on those copyrights through the creation, promotion, and distribution of its “20000” and “20200” collections.
To read the court’s findings in the case, click here.
Universal is seeking a permanent injunction to stop Collezione’s sales of the products and for impoundment and destruction of infringing items.
Court documents said retailer Rhodes Furniture was a major purchaser of Universal’s English Manor and Grand Inheritance collections until Universal altered its credit terms.
In August 2004, the documents said, senior Rhodes buyer James Hendrick approached Collezione Europa about creating substitute to replace the lines. Collezione said it obtained a display set of the new lines from Chinese manufacturer Art Heritage, and introduced the copies during the October 2004 High Point Market.
Universal employees learned that Collezione was displaying the same or nearly identical pieces in its showroom. Stephen Giles, senior vice president of merchandising for Universal, went to Collezione’s showroom and took photos of what he believed were actual English Manor pieces. Some had a production sticker on the back showing a date and the letters “LC.” (Universal’s parent company in China is manufacturer Lacquer Craft.)
Universal sent Collezione a cease-and-desist order, claiming copyright infringement. Collezione said it would redesign the lines to make them distinguishable from Universal models and submit them to Universal for review prior to marketing them.
When the redesign was complete, Collezione showed the pieces at the San Francisco furniture show in January 2005 and advertised the sets in Furniture/Today without providing Universal any notice, court documents said. Collezione eventually submitted the designs to Universal, but didn’t mention it was already marketing them. While the designs were different, Universal felt they were still too similar and filed suit.
Collezione claimed that the furniture couldn’t be copyrighted because its design elements were taken from the public domain, among other points in its defense.
But the court ruled that pieces, designed by 30-year design veteran Steven Russell, met the threshold for originality.
“The court’s ruling is a major victory for Universal Furniture and the entire furniture industry,” Universal CEO Randy Chrisley said in a released statement. “We believe it sends a powerful message to all players: If you work hard and invest in creativity, like Universal Furniture does, the law is going to protect you; but if you copy other people’s work, you are going to be held accountable.”
September 28th, 2007
By: Furniture World Magazine
The High Point Market Authority reported that they have published a 512-page High Point Market Furniture and Designer Preview, the largest published in the history of that publication.
“The high caliber of premier companies that choose to advertise in the Furniture and Designer Previews, and the companion Accessory Preview, reflects not only the stature and vigor of the High Point Market, but the continuing importance of the design trade to our Market,” says Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive of the High Point Market Authority. “It is also a reminder of the great number of preeminent home furnishings names that exhibit here. Indeed, the High Point Market is truly the only high-end furniture market in North America.”
A Market planning tool for many buying organizations, the High Point Market Preview Guides can also now be accessed by retailers and designers around the globe, via the home page of the highpointmarket.org website—just as if flipping through the pages of a catalog.
“The pages of each of the Preview Guides provide retailers and designers worldwide with an exciting and inspirational look at the thousands of new product introductions that the High Point Market’s exhibitors have in store for them in the coming days,” Casey says. “While many people love to pour over the Previews the usual way—page by page—we now also offer a higher-tech version on our website to extend the reach and usability of these valuable resources.”
Tom Lindh, president and chief executive of the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC), relates, “The collaboration with the Market Authority to produce the Previews and other official Market directories has been an important one. The publications are powerful resources and the dynamic, web-based versions are just another example of how, together, we are providing Market-goers with the tools they need for a successful High Point Market.”
“Indeed,” says Casey, “coupled with our upgraded Market Planner utility, as well as the vast amount of rich content provided on the website—including the latest industry insights and in-depth reports on business and fashion trends—High Point Market-goers have a wealth of information at their fingertips designed to help them maximize their time here. As in everything we do, our goal is to find ways to continually improve the High Point Market experience for all and help everyone chart an enjoyable and productive trip that will pay dividends for their businesses in the months ahead.”
About the High Point Market Authority: The High Point Market Authority is the official sponsor of the High Point Market in High Point, North Carolina. Featuring an extensive selection of exhibitors spanning every category, style and price point and attracting tens of thousands of visitors from more than 110 countries twice each year, the High Point Market is the driving force of the home furnishings industry.
September 28th, 2007