Talking Business
Jay McIntosh News Editor Hi! I’m Jay McIntosh, news editor at Furniture/Today, and it’s my job to keep track of the issues and events of the day. I’ll use this space to offer comments or insights that I hope will bring something new to the table. I welcome your responses and suggestions.
"Furniture Wars" a good summer read
I just finished Mike Dugan’s book “Furniture Wars: How America Lost a Fifty Billion Dollar Industry” and I highly recommend it. Not to find out why Asia makes most of our wood furniture these days. That’s a two-word answer: Lower costs. No, what’s really interesting about “Furniture Wars” is its blow-by-blow account of the decades of infighting in t ...... Read More
Comments (2)Confidence rubs off on furniture stocks
Most furniture stocks are enjoying price gains today, probably thanks to this morning’s report of higher consumer confidence. Retailers Pier 1 Imports, Cost Plus World Market and Havertys were all up more than 10% as of about 2:45 p.m. Eastern time. Manufacturer and retailer Select Comfort also was up close to 16% after a private equity fund said it would buy just over half the shares of th ...... Read More
Comments (2)Pier 1 Imports rises from the doormat
Pier 1 Imports’ stock has gone from doormat to darling in two days. It rose 275% Monday and is still climbing today. All this after an evidently successful move to shore up its balance sheet by selling some debt to an overseas subsidiary, and a report by industry analyst Budd Bugatch of Raymond James that, in his opinion, the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer now looks strong enough to survi ...... Read More
Comments (2)Who might buy furniture companies?
Furniture/Today columnist Jerry Epperson wrote a piece a few weeks ago lamenting the fact that he could either supersize his fast-food meal or for the same money, buy shares of stock in several furniture manufacturers or retailers. His point: Many of the stocks of our industry’s publicly held companies are way undervalued. This raises an interesting question. Even in this era of tight credi ...... Read More
Comments (2)Like us, president's new man has China ties
President Obama’s latest, and hopefully last, choice for Commerce secretary has something in common with the furniture industry — close ties to China. Former two-term Washington Gov. Gary Locke is the son of Chinese immigrants and is the only Chinese American ever to become a governor. In the four years since he left office, he has led the China practice of a Seattle law firm, accord ...... Read More
Comments (0)Here’s why our industry won’t ever get a bailout
Here’s a message I think we’ll hear on our voicemail sometime in the next six months: Greetings from the Federal Bailout Administration. We have taken the U.S. furniture industry’s request for a bailout under advisement. In case you are unfamiliar with Washington-speak, that means we are sitting on it, buddy. Your chance of getting a bailout is about as good as the chance that ...... Read More
Comments (3)What’s next for Furniture Brands International?
What’s next for Furniture Brands International? If Sun Capital did indeed win three seats on the board as it claims, the answer could be turmoil. Furniture Brands, the parent of Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon and Maitland-Smith, says it needs until May 20 to verify the results of the proxy election votes that were submitted at this week’s annual shareholders ...... Read More
Comments (4)FBI’s ‘rejection’ of Sun Capital bid may be just a starting point
If you’ve surfed the Web looking for stories on Sun Capital’s bid to acquire Furniture Brands International, you may have read that FBI “rejected” the bid. That’s not quite right. True, Furniture Brands executives expressed some disdain for the proposal last week from Sun Capital, which said the private equity group wants ...... Read More
Comments (1)
