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Furniture|Today > Archives > 02/04/2002 Issue
Table of Contents
Furniture|Today -- 02/04/2002

Bedding Today
  • Is bedding company in the future for FBI?
    A major bedding brand could get a new owner. The initials of the new owner could be FBI. It's all strictly speculation at this point, but it is, we must admit, tantalizing speculation. And it's not just wild speculation, which can be fun but is something that we try not to indulge in in this space. No, this intriguing notion comes straight from the top man at Furniture Brands International, Mi...

Business Today
  • Leggett & Platt posts 2001 sales drop of 3.8%
    CARTHAGE, Mo.— For just the second time in its 34 years as a public company, components giant Leggett & Platt has reported an annual sales decline. The nation's largest supplier of furniture and bedding components said sales dropped 3.8% to $4.1 billion in 2001. Same-location sales, which exclude figures from recent acquisitions, were off 9.
  • O'Sullivan's sales dip 9% in latest quarter
    LAMAR, Mo.— Second-quarter results for O'Sullivan Inds. Holdings, parent of O'Sullivan Furniture, showed a sales decrease of 9% but a slight increase in a key earnings category. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, sales for the ready-to-assemble furniture major were $87.9 million, down from $96.6 million for the year-earlier quarter.
  • Stanley results down for year; earnings beat forecast
    STANLEYTOWN, Va.— Last year's soft economy continued to hit Stanley Furniture in the fourth quarter, with sales off 17.8% from a year earlier and earnings before one-time charges down 49.5%. But a reduced tax bill helped the company report earnings of 31 cents per share before charges in the quarter, beating the 29 cents forecast by Wall Street analysts surveyed by Thomson/First Call.

Insider's View
  • Why pent-up demand is just about to kick in
    Writing these columns is always risky. I have to be in a mood to write and do not respond well to deadlines, so I tend to write them weeks ahead of time. So who cares? I believe strongly that our industry is mending at a good pace as of the date I am writing this. I had a column saying the same thing after some encouraging numbers in August, but then the Sept.

News
  • Powell consolidates distribution to N.C. site
    CULVER CITY, Calif.— Furniture and accents importer Powell Co. has leased 300,000 square feet for a distribution center in Greensboro, N.C., and will phase out centers in Los Angeles, Dallas and Baltimore. Jerry Ruff, chief executive officer, said the Greensboro center, in a former Sears warehouse, is already receiving inventory and will begin full-fledged operations in March.
  • Upholstery mfrs. take Argentine crisis in stride
    HIGH POINT— Like their South American export partners, leather upholstery manufacturers who trade in Argentine hides express detachment over that country's currency crisis. Manufacturers view leather as a global resource and feel free to skip to the next continent should a logjam arise in South America.
  • AFMA plans imports seminar March 1
    GREENSBORO, N.C.— An American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. seminar here March 1 will take an in-depth look at "The Impact of Imports on the Furniture Industry." Among the speakers is John D. Bassett III, president and chief executive officer of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture in Galax, Va., who will discuss Vaughan-Bassett's determination to remain a strong domestic producer in spite of rising...
  • Industrywide importing association seeks members
    GREENSBORO, N.C.— A veteran customs broker is seeking to lower the furniture industry's importing costs by organizing manufacturers and retailers into the International Furniture Products Shippers Assn. Chartered last week, the IFPSA is a nonprofit industry association designed to create better leverage in negotiations with shippers and freight companies by combining buying power, accord...
  • Levi named president of TurnKey Products
    SAN DIEGO— TurnKey Products, a furniture design and sourcing consultant, has appointed Ken Levi its new president, effective in mid-March. Levi joins TurnKey from Martin Furniture, where he has been national sales manager since 1994. He replaces Tony Cantrell, who rejoined Aspen in January as vice president of import with responsibility for product development, information systems, qualit...
  • Nine more for Raymour
    LIVERPOOL, N.Y.— Raymour & Flanigan will open 10 stores and close one this year as it shoots for $400 million in sales in its most aggressive growth spurt to date. The 43-store company will open five stores in greater Philadelphia — including its first in Atlantic City, N.J. — three in Connecticut and two in upstate New York as it fills in and pushes out from its Northeast...
  • Dot-coms: Went there, came back
    HIGH POINT— A number of furniture executives, attracted to the energy and potential of the Internet, left established companies to gamble on dot-coms. Most have returned to the industry, but they are, without exception, glad they tried. They saw the industry from a different perspective, worked with dynamic thinkers and entrepreneurs, and got a view of the Internet-enabled future.

Opinion Today
  • We need to all make great music together
    The other day, I tuned in to a radio station that offers classical music and was very fortunate to catch a Mozart opera and an intermission interview with two stars, one a famous tenor and the other one of the world's most sought-after opera conductors. The interview was most revealing. These two winners not only complement one another's great musical skills but, more importantly, I learned tha...
  • Reinvention must be never-ending
    A couple of interesting things came out of the National Retail Federation's annual conference last month in New York. The first was the change in the makeup of the retail base that participated. Clearly, the most notable was the emergence of Crate & Barrel's Gordon Segal as chairman of the organization.
  • That blue light is looking pretty dim from here
    By now you've probably heard more about Kmart's bankruptcy filing than you ever heard about their branding program or competitive pricing or even the return of the blue-light special. And I imagine there are a number of retailers (and manufacturers) out there thinking, Thank goodness that's not me! It's so easy to pick on Kmart.

Special Report
  • Market Report
    Maison spirited as ever, but also conservative
    PARIS — It was a spirited, elegant, and idea-ful show for furniture and fabrics, but Maison & Objet here last month definitely reflected a more conservative point of view compared with several of its more recent editions. The color palette, which had been influenced by citrus shades and retro acids, was noticeably stepped down — but still intense, saturated and exuberant.
  • Made In America
    U.S. case goods in survival fight
    HIGH POINT — It's no news that imported furniture continues to eat away at domestic case goods production, but 2001 saw a startling drop in the number of U.S. workers and plant space involved in the manufacture of furniture. According to preliminary reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, residential furniture factory employment fell by 25,000 or 10.
  • Made In America
    Helping U.S. mfrs. battle back
    GREENSBORO, N.C.— Rather than worry about what others are doing, U.S. manufacturers can do a better job tending their own house, according to Lee Houston, a consultant and former manufacturing executive with Ladd. Smaller runs of product, made more efficiently and delivered to customers on a timely basis, are the key to U.
  • Made In America
    U.S. producers find ways to compete
    ONTARIO, Calif.— Dealing with outside forces is nothing new for Oakwood Interiors, a California case goods manufacturer that remains adamant in its commitment to all-domestic production. Long before imports became such a factor in case goods, California's own environmental and labor regulations forced Oakwood and other manufacturers in the state to find ways to compete with producers in ...
  • Made In America
    Vaughan-Bassett gets supplier buy-in
    GALAX, Va.— While increasing efficiency on the production floor can make U.S. manufacturing more competitive, furniture makers control only so much of the cost that goes into their product. If lumber mills, hardware vendors and other members of the supply chain serving a plant don't have their house in order to achieve the best possible prices, their costs carry through into the furniture.
  • Made In America
    Stanley takes care in adding imports
    HIGH POINT — Stanley Furniture might be closing one of its U.S. plants, but the case goods manufacturer says it remains committed to domestic manufacturing and its attendant control over quality and service. Stanley gradually has incorporated imported components and full pieces into its line in a way it hopes will make its domestic plants more productive, said Jeff Scheffer, president an...
  • Market Report
    International buyers fill Cologne show
    COLOGNE, Germany— A big influx of international buyers helped offset a decline in German attendance at last month's Cologne International Furniture Fair. European Union attendance from outside Germany was up 4% and non-European participation rose 26%, especially from China, India, Israel, Japan, North America, South Korea and Taiwan.
  • Market Report
    U.S. exhibitors praise Cologne
    COLOGNE, Germany— U.S. exhibitors at the Cologne International Furniture Fair made up some of the ground they lost when the Sept. 11 attacks smothered international participation at the October High Point market. Stanley, showing for the sixth time here in the U.S. Pavilion sponsored by the Furniture Export Office of the North Carolina Department of Commerce, had its best show since its f...
  • Retailer Profile
    Luxury bedding gamble still paying off for Kittles
    INDIANAPOLIS— Way back in the mid-1990s, when mattress price points rarely topped $2,000, executives at Top 100 retailer Kittles decided they wanted to make a bold statement about high-end bedding. Luxury bedding was still in its infancy in those days, and there were a fair number of skeptics who believed it was a passing fancy.
  • Curio sales, popularity are 'terrific'
    HIGH POINT— The word recession doesn't fit in the collectors cabinet category, as sales have increased at some of the larger producers. In fact, sales of collectors cabinets are going strong, manufacturers say. "The curio business is terrific. It really is," said Stan Reinisch, co-owner and chief executive officer of Phillip Reinisch Co.

Store Openings
  • Restonic plant opens third Everton Mattress unit in Boise
    MERIDIAN, Idaho— The Restonic licensee in Twin Falls, Idaho, has opened a 6,500-square-foot Everton Mattress store here. This is the third Everton Mattress unit in metro Boise and Restonic Twin Falls' seventh store. General Manager Michael Davio operates the Meridian store. In addition to Restonic bedding, the store carries bedroom furniture, futons, latex and air beds, RV sleep sets a...
  • 10,000-sq.-ft. Ethan Allen store debuts in Chattanooga
    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.— A 10,000-square-foot Ethan Allen Home Interiors store has opened here near the Hamilton Place mall on Commons Boulevard. The owners are Gary and Patti Wilde and Steve and Loretta Foutch. The store joins more than 300 Ethan Allen stores in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
  • Thomasville store launched in Wilmington, Del.
    WILMINGTON, Del.— Thomasville has opened a 16,500-square-foot store here as part of its plan to open 25 stores nationwide. Julie Nelson manages the new Thomasville Home Furnishings of Wilmington store. Co-owners Brian Good and Clair Sauder are developing plans to open up to five additional stores in the Delaware Valley area over the next year.
  • McDonald's Furniture installs La-Z-Boy gallery
    ANDERSON, Ind.— A La-Z-Boy gallery has been installed at McDonald's Furniture here. The 6,150-square-foot gallery features a broad selection of La-Z-Boy products. Phil McDonald is the owner of the 18,000-square-foot store.

Up Front
  • McKay's new King Koil
    HINSDALE, Ill.— Bedding veteran Larry McKay and his high-powered management team are ready to introduce a "new" bedding company to the industry — King Koil. True, the King Koil name itself is not new; it's been around for more than 100 years. But just about everything else is new, including the company's new headquarters in this Chicago suburb, a new executive team, a stable of new ...
  • Drexel Heritage promotions designed to strengthen dedicated store efforts
    DREXEL, N.C.— Drexel Heritage has promoted three regional vice presidents to new posts in a move designed to strengthen the high-end manufacturer's focus on its dedicated store program. Blain Wrench, previously vice president of sales for the Southern region, has been named vice president of store development, responsible for streamlining store openings and enhancing the profitability of ...
  • Breuners consolidating Wayside, Huffman Koos
    LANCASTER, Pa.— Breuners Home Furnishings Corp. is merging its six Wayside Furniture stores into its Huffman Koos chain in a cost-cutting and brand-building move. The Wayside name will change to Huffman Koos, but neither suppliers nor consumers will notice a difference, said Joe Reddington, chairman and chief executive officer of 48-store BHFC, which operates Huffman Koos, Wayside and Go...
  • Moose in new sales post
    APPOMATTOX, Va.— Rick Moose has been promoted to the new post of national sales manager for Founders Furniture and Vignettes, two case goods divisions of Thomasville Furniture Inds. A 25-year industry veteran, Moose in 1995 joined Thomasville's Creative Interiors division, where he became sales manager.
  • Leather suppliers not crying over Argentina
    HIGH POINT— Leather exporters and suppliers doing business out of Argentina do not expect to feel much effect from the country's currency crisis, largely because they routinely trade in U.S. dollars. The devaluation of Argentina's peso in January spawned unrest including frozen bank accounts, bank closings and the installation of a new president, Eduardo Duhalde.
  • Schumacher taps Williams as president of Waverly
    NEW YORK— Dale Williams will join F. Schumacher & Co. later this month as president of its Waverly Lifestyle Group, succeeding Christiane Michaels, who left in December to become president of White Barn Candle Co., a division of Bath & Body Works. Waverly licenses a broad range of home furnishings, from specialty bedding textiles to lamps, dinnerware/glassware and paint.
  • Hurtado USA hires Falken
    HIGH POINT — Daniel Falken has joined high-end case goods and exposed-frame seating resource Hurtado USA as national sales manager. He replaces James Dumbrowski, who left the company. Falken assumes all sales and market distribution responsibilities for the company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Spanish manufacturer Hurtado Muebles.
  • Crossingham joins Dinec
    LOUISEVILLE, Quebec— Casual dining producer Dinec has named Chase Crossingham to the new position of North American sales director. For the past five years, Crossingham has been a regional sales manager at Furniture/Today for the northeastern United States and Canada. Previously, he was a sales manager at textile producers.
  • Cologne touts flexibility, comfort
    COLOGNE, Germany— A flexible approach to how consumers use furniture and a focus on comfort highlighted product introductions at the Cologne International Furniture Fair last month. Case pieces that fit a variety of rooms or configurations got heavy play, as did upholstery combinations that can be arranged for various room sizes or uses.
  • Doblin, Circa 1801 merge into one company
    TYNGSBORO, Mass.— Doblin and Circa 1801 have been merged into a new entity, Circa 1801/Doblin, the high-end unit of the giant home furnishings textiles producer Joan Fabrics Corp. Both companies are important suppliers of fabric to upscale upholstery makers. Elkin McCallum, chairman of Joan Fabrics Corp.

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