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.
Where is Furniture Brands headed?
Furniture Brands International executives Ralph Scozzafava and Steve Rolls assured securities analysts in a conference call Thursday morning that the company would have positive free cash flow next year. This proved to be not very assuring at all to many investors, who sold off the stock in droves that day and sent its share price down more than 25%. Furniture Brands, the largest U.S. publicly hel... Read More
Comments (9)On dog food and party goods
I just read about a couple of brand extensions that surprised me a little but make sense when you think about them.Biltmore, the Asheville, N.C.-based company that manages the Biltmore Estate and has licensed lines of home furnishings and other products based on the huge and lavish home, is getting into the party business with Biltmore Inspirations. As its press release says, "Biltmore Inspir... Read More
Comments (10)China currency issue takes a back seat
It looks like those furniture importers were on to something when they said they didn’t expect anything dramatic to happen to the value of China’s currency anytime soon. This past Saturday, the U.S. government said it was delaying a report that could have spurred more debate, if not action, on the issue. People watching the situation were anxious to see if the Treasury report was going to label Ch... Read More
Comments (0)"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 the executive suites of many of the industry’s lar... Read More
Comments (3)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 the airbe... 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 survive the... 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 credit, I wo... 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, according to a New Y... 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 your government will... 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 meeting. Sun s... Read More
Comments (7)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 to acquire the big manufacturer and importer (parent of Broyhill... Read More
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