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Furniture|Today -- 06/09/2003
Bedding Today
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Accuracy of ISPA's 2002 numbers still questioned
According to the International Sleep Products Assn., 2002 was a growth year for the bedding industry. Units grew by a modest 0.7%, with dollars posting a healthy 3.8% gain, ISPA says. But according to a number of leading bedding executives whose opinions I value, those numbers are overstated. They believe that units declined last year by a couple of percentage points, with dollars flat or up sl...
Business Today
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Cost Plus earnings jump 52.8% in 1st qtr.
Oakland, Calif.— Cost Plus reported a 52.8% increase in its first-quarter profits and a 3% jump in same-store sales, fueled by growth in home furnishings and consumable products. Net income for the Top 100 specialty retailer grew to $2.6 million, or 12 cents per share, for the quarter ended May 3, up from $1.
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Rent-Way boosts finances
Erie, Pa.— Rent-to-own operator Rent-Way has wrapped up some refinancing moves it expects will raise its corporate credit rating. The company, which has 753 stores in 33 states, said it has closed on the sale of $205 million in senior secured notes, has attained a new $60 million line of revolving credit, and sold $15 million in newly authorized convertible preferred stock through a priva...
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Mortgage rates dip to record lows as wave of refinancings rolls on
McLean, Va.— Home mortgage rates have plummeted to historic lows, according to Freddie Mac, the U.S. Congress-chartered corporation that buys mortgages from lenders and repackages them into investor-purchased securities. The high point for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 1981's 16.63%. The May 2003 rate of 5.
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Bombay racks up May gains
Fort Worth, Texas— The Bombay Company logged its ninth straight month of double-digit gains in same-store sales in May, while Havertys and Pier 1 Imports reported modest same-store declines. Bombay said same-store sales in the four weeks ended May 31 jumped 22% from the comparable 2002 period. The 422-store, Fort Worth-based company credited a strong assortment at competitive prices, supp...
Insider's View
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Do-gooders can make it hard to get the wood out
Have you hugged a tree today? It appears lots of folks do this a lot. In fact, there are so many do-gooders, mean-wells and politically correctors out there that it's getting more difficult to get anything done. Here in Richmond, Va., where much of the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s and the War of Northern Aggression in 1861–1865 were fought, you can't put a spade in the earth withou...
News
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FBI to close more plants
New York— Furniture Brands International, which has closed 19 domestic factories since early 2001, will shut down more U.S. plants this year as it moves additional wood furniture production offshore. The company also said it would, for the first time, consider direct ownership of offshore factories that would make some upper-end products for its Henredon and Drexel Heritage subsidiaries.
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La-Z-Boy reorganizes its sourcing
Monroe, Mich.— La-Z-Boy plans to consolidate all case goods manufacturing and sourcing under a single executive, and to establish an organization called La-Z-Boy Global Ltd. to coordinate overseas sourcing for all divisions. Bill Johnson, promoted to president of operations for the La-Z-Boy Case Goods Group, will manage the production and sourcing, the company announced last week.
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Rose Hill room packages include folding wall units
Okolona, Miss.— Upholstered seating maker and occasional importer Rose Hill is introducing a line of room packages with coordinating ready-to-assemble wall units and entertainment centers. The imported RTA units use a hinging system that allows them to accordion-fold into and out of flat packs, maximizing warehouse space and making for easy assembly.
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Corrections & Amplifications
- Obituaries
Obituaries
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La-Z-Boy's aim: Maximize plants
Monroe, Mich.— While it's a huge cultural change, the reorganization of La-Z-Boy's case goods brands into pure sales and marketing organizations is the best way to get the most out of the company's plants, said Chairman Pat Norton. "What we're looking to do is maximize our factories," he said. Sharing production facilities among operating companies isn't completely new at La-Z-Boy, he added.
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Expanded Becker entertains shoppers
Becker, Minn.— At nearly 300,000 square feet, the expanded Becker Furniture World is certainly large — a retail emporium whose highway frontage stretches for a quarter mile. But it was designed to be about more than just size. With a 90,000-square-foot addition and with the refurbishment of several previously existing sections, this superstore between Minneapolis and St.
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Hooker finalist for Ernst & Young award
Martinsville, Va.— Manufacturer Hooker Furniture is one of 16 finalists for Virginia's 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, recognizing the accomplishments of innovative businessmen and women who make the economy vibrant. Award recipients in several categories will be announced at a gala June 19 at the Downtown Richmond Marriott.
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La-Z-Boy to coordinate sourcing
Monroe, Mich.— La-Z-Boy is looking to its new global sourcing organization to coordinate a huge array of needs created by its operating companies' variety of styles, materials and price points. While it falls under the umbrella of the company's new president of case goods operations, Bill Johnson, La-Z-Boy Global Ltd.
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Showtime expectations high
High Point— With some economic indicators looking up, sponsors of Summer Showtime 2003 have high expectations for increased traffic at the semiannual fabric show, set for July 14–17 here. "The war (in Iraq) is over, manufacturers report they had a better-than-expected (April) furniture market, and our members are reporting a steady flow of orders," said Catherine Morsell, director o...
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Henredon: A little less formal
New York— The affluent consumer who buys Henredon is changing, but longtime Henredon President Mike Dugan says the company also is changing so it can offer the styles buyers want. "There was a little bit of a 'showoff' element to decorating that isn't as noticeable now," Dugan told analysts and investors at a Furniture Brand International conference here.
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N.C. export official tastes life in Japan
High Point— Shannon Neal, director of the North Carolina Department of Commerce's Furniture Export Office, has moved his office — to Japan. He left here last month for Otsu, Japan, to take part in a program designed to build business, including furniture exports, in Japan. The Local Government Officials Training Program is an initiative of the Japanese federal government and Iwate p...
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Showtime schedule
High Point— Companies will show fabrics at summer Showtime from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, July 14–16, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, July 17. Showrooms are in Market Square Textile Tower, Market Square, Suites at Market Square, Fabric Center, Resource Center, International Home Furnishings Center, Radisson Hotel and other buildings.
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Roundtable will examine quotas, tariffs
High Point— The International Textile Market Assn. is holding a pre-Showtime roundtable discussion on Sunday, July 13, on the issues of quotas and tariffs on Chinese imports. Current quotas and tariffs will end on Jan. 1, 2005. "This is a very scary situation," said Jack Eger of Craftex Mills, coordinator of the roundtable.
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Free shuttle service on tap
High Point— Showtime exhibitors are located throughout downtown High Point and a free shuttle service runs daily from Monday through Thursday between major buildings and buyer parking lots. The shuttle starts daily at 7:30 a.m. and stops at the following locations: The two buyer parking lots on the shuttle route are on Commerce Street between Hamilton and Centennial, and on Green Street b...
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Piracy advice available for Showtime exhibitors
High Point— Showtime exhibitors can get free help during the show with the complex issues related to protecting intellectual property. The International Textile Market Assn., which sponsors the semiannual fabric show here, has retained Richard Taffet, an attorney with New York-based Thelen, Reid & Priest, to provide guidance so exhibitors can address design infringement issues promptly.
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ITMA urging members to help design schools
High Point— The International Textile Market Assn. is launching an educational program called Adopt-a-School to create resource-sharing partnerships between member companies and design schools. "There are so many resources that go to waste that could be redirected into schools," said Jack Eger, president of ITMA and vice president of marketing for Craftex Mills.
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ITMA honors outstanding students
High Point— The International Textile Market Assn. Educational Foundation has named the winners of its 2003 Virginia Jackson Design Awards and the recipient of the High Point University Scholar Award. The awards, named in honor of industry icon Jackson, were started in 1995 to recognize and encourage students enrolled in a textile design curriculum.
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ITMA backs internship program
High Point— The success of the Showtime fabric fair here is helping fund an internship program launched this summer by the International Textile Market Assn., which sponsors Showtime. The program focuses on providing design students an opportunity to see the textile business in other areas of the country.
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Colony House store targets younger set
Centreville, Va.— Colony House Furniture has opened a 40,000-square-foot store here, its second unit and one that extends the high-end retailer into the heart of this growing Washington suburb of young, affluent consumers. The new store, the first expansion for the family-owned business since it opened its Arlington, Va.
- Our Community
Sealy supplies beds to N.Y. firestation
New York— Sealy answered the call when Debbie Sarube's third-grade class was seeking beds for a New York City fire station. It's the second time Sealy has aided New York firefighters. This time, the company delivered new Sealy Posturepedic mattress sets and frames to Engine 325, Ladder 163, in Woodside, Queens.
- Our Community
Bernie & Phyl's donates furniture to Goodwill
Nashua, N.H.— Bernie & Phyl's Furniture has donated $12,000 worth of furniture to Goodwill Inds. of the Merrimack Valley to support the organization's job training programs in the area. Bernie & Phyl's "Friends In Need" program donates furniture to charitable organizations in need in all areas where the company has stores.
- Our Community
RAC contributes to Big Brothers/Sisters program
Plano, Texas— A Rent-A-Center campaign this year raised funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The campaign, at Rent-A-Center's stores across the United States, asked visitors to the stores to contribute $1 and sign their name to a paper Easter egg displayed in the stores during the campaign.
- Our Community
La-Z-Boy auction raises $125,000
Monroe, Mich.— La-Z-Boy's effort to auction off recliners designed by the stars of television's "Friends" show helped raise $125,000 to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Stars of the sitcom each designed a recliner, which was custom-built by La-Z-Boy and auctioned to the public on eBay last month.
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Select Comfort creates airbed display in airport
Minneapolis— Travelers at the airport here have a new way to pass the time while waiting for flights: They can try out an air bed from a hometown company. Select Comfort, which produces and sells the beds, hopes the airport display helps sales take off. The company, based here, has joined with Interspace Airport Advertising to open today the nation's first interactive Sleep Number bed dis...
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Serta Sheep rank with Pepsi, Nike, says Ad Age
Itasca, Ill.— Serta's award-winning Counting Sheep campaign has been recognized for its high brand recall by Advertising Age magazine. The Counting Sheep, who are kept out of work in the television commercials by Serta's comfortable mattresses, are among such high-profile brands as Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Nike in the Ad Age rankings.
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Hooker giveaway promotes home entertainment product
Martinsville, Va.— Hooker Furniture recently renewed its home entertainment promotion with an armoire giveaway. The case goods manufacturer worked with dealers to offer a home entertainment sale through June 2, including a consumer drawing for a Summer Cottage slim-line entertainment center. The cabinet, only three feet wide, holds up to a 27-inch television set and comes in a Cottage Whi...
Opinion Today
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Another 'friendly' cue we could take from Wal-Mart
The other night, I did what I always do as soon as I get home: I play hide and seek with the mail. My kids have a bad habit of inadvertently hiding the mail when they bring it in. My job is to find it. Yesterday, somebody had a brain fade and left the mail in a neat pile on the dining room table. I wish they had made me work harder.
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The changing face of lowball pricing
Attention, all you folks out there in furnitureland: The godzilla from Bentonville, Ark., has struck again. If you thought you were beginning to get the hang of deflation and its impact on the business, think again. Fortunately, the latest challenge from retailing behemoth Wal-Mart is confined mostly to one product category, leather furniture, although that's one of the hottest categories in th...
People Today
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Robb & Stucky names Pipes GM in Boca Raton
Boca Raton, Fla.— Jeff Pipes has been appointed general manager of the Robb & Stucky store in Mizner Park here. The unit, the retailer's first on Florida's east coast, opened in March. Pipes previously worked in the chain's Plano, Texas, store and before that for Macy's in New York as a furniture buyer and then assistant store manager.
- People on the Move
People on the Move
Awards Cochrane Furniture Lincolnton, N.C. — Steve Klunk was given the President's Award for Salesman of the Year at Cochrane Furniture's annual awards banquet. He has been the upholstery and case goods producer's sales representative in the Maryland/Delaware/Washington area since 1993. Klunk received the award for his professionalism, dedication and development of his territory.
Special Report
- Exclusive Survey of
Ashley network scores big gains
High Point— Ashley Home Stores, the retail network of the Arcadia, Wis.-based manufacturer, claimed the title of fastest-growing furniture chain on Furniture/ Today's Top 100 this year with sales and store count growth unmatched by its competitors. The fairly new network of 102 U.S. stores at year-end — No.
Supplement
- SoHo Today
Scandinavia Fair
Home office introductions at last month's Scandinavian Furniture Fair in the Bella Centre here put a high priority on flexibility and mobility, but did not sacrifice the sophisticated, clean styling for which the Danish are known. The overall amount of new product developed with the U.S. market in mind was dramatically reduced this year due to the departures of Danish giants Tvilum-Scanbirk, Cl...
Up Front
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Wood set to retire as FMCA's EVP
High Point— Barry Wood will retire as executive vice president of the Furniture Manufacturers Credit Assn. in August after seven years at the helm. FMCA has hired a new executive who will start on June 30, said Paul Purcell, FMCA president and vice president of credit administration at Pulaski, who added that he couldn't name the new person yet.
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Emerson et Cie names Mark Smith to new VP post
High Point— Mark Smith has joined case goods and occasional importer and manufacturer Emerson et Cie in the new position of vice president of marketing and product development. Smith, the son of Emerson et Cie founders Marvin Smith and Connie Smith, previously was a sales representative on the West Coast for a number of lines, including Emerson et Cie, Hickory Chair, Jasper Cabinet and, m...
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Stewart furniture sales not expected to stall
New York— Bernhardt Furniture's chairman and chief executive officer doesn't expect Martha Stewart's legal troubles to materially hurt sales of Bernhardt's Martha Stewart Signature collection, which he said was the most successful introduction in the company's 114-year history. "Last week, consumers-sold orders for the collection were the largest we've experienced," said Alex Bernhardt Sr.
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Regs shackle domestic industry, House panel told
Washington— Dave Dyer, senior vice president of operations for Henredon, testified before a House Appropriations subcommittee here about the effect of Chinese furniture imports on domestic producers. The American Furniture Manufacturers Assn., of which Dyer is a manufacturing group member, helped coordinate the Capitol Hill testimony before the subcommittee, which provides funding for tra...
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Bombay's Carreker also CEO
Fort Worth, Texas— Bombay Chairman James Carreker was named chief executive officer of the home furnishings specialty chain, ending a long search for a leader after the departure of former CEO Carmie Mehrlander in August. Carreker, founder and owner of Dallas investment firm JDC Holdings, joined the Bombay board in December as non-executive chairman.
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Bassett's Weiman acquires Preview
Christiansburg, Va.— Weiman Furniture, a division of Bassett, has acquired Preview Furniture, a producer of high-end upholstery in High Point. Terms of the deal, which includes Preview's inventory and designs, were not disclosed. Preview, which will operate as a division of Weiman, closed its plant and ceased operations at the end of May.
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Mastercraft of Omaha reborn
Council Bluffs, Iowa— When 75-year-old upholstery maker Mastercraft of Omaha announced it was going out of business a year ago, the Nadler brothers saw nothing but opportunity. While the Nebraska-based manufacturer's upper-priced seating seemed a little behind the times, the company had a good name in the industry and was respected as a producer of traditional lines for a regional market.
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Schnadig closing Simplicity div.
Des Plaines, Ill.— Citing poor results, upholstery and case goods manufacturer Schnadig said it is closing its Simplicity division. The division, which had its own showroom in the International Home Furnishings Center in High Point, debuted two years ago with four collections of lifestyle-oriented case goods, occasional and coordinated upholstery in the mid-to-upper price points.
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Danish mfrs. eye theft-proofing options
Copenhagen— Theft of high-end furniture in design-savvy Denmark has become so much of a problem that the Assn. of Danish Furniture Inds. is working on a program that would integrate computer microchips into new furniture. Home furnishings designed by the likes of Arne Jacobsen and Alvar Aalto have become such coveted items among burglars that manufacturers and the Danish trade association...
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Crypton, Quaker team up
West Bloomfield, Mich.— Crypton Super Fabrics, a supplier of textile performance technology, has taken another step into residential furniture with a licensing agreement with Quaker Fabric, which will make and sell Crypton chenille fabric for upholstery. Already well known in the contract, hospitality, assisted living and health care industries, Crypton's technology provides breathable, s...
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Thomasville taps Miller
Thomasville, N.C.— Phil Miller has been promoted to the new position of senior vice president and general manager of Virginia operations for Thomasville Furniture Inds. He was vice president of sales and marketing for Virginia operations, which include case goods maker Founders Furniture and ready-to-assemble manufacturer Creative Interiors.
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