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Furniture|Today -- 05/31/2004
Bedding Today
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ISPA backpedaling on California FR support
Last summer, the International Sleep Products Assn. issued a press release headlined, "Mattress industry supports California flammability regulations." In the release, top ISPA officials commended California for its leadership on the mattress flammability issue, said they supported the revised standards issued by that state, and said those standards "will substantially reduce casualties from re...
Business Today
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Canadians make money in '03
TORONTO — Six of the nine publicly traded Canadian furniture companies saw stock values increase in 2003. Three recorded drops in revenues for the year, but none reported a net loss. The nine are a diverse lot. Five are manufacturers, including Dorel Inds., the nation's largest furniture maker, and No.
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La-Z-Boy links $5.8M net loss to writeoffs
MONROE, Mich. — La-Z-Boy said a series of one-time charges and writeoffs, many related to its struggling case goods business, resulted in a net loss of $5.8 million in its fiscal year. The second-largest U.S. furniture maker, which derives about 25% of its revenues from case goods, said the number included a net loss of $42.
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Natuzzi 1Q sales rise 21.9% in dollars
SANTERAMO IN COLLE, Italy — Upholstery giant Natuzzi said sales in the first quarter were up 4.5% in euros to 191.8 million. In U.S. dollars, sales were $240 million, up 21.9% over last year's first period. The average exchange rate was just over $1.25 to one euro for the 2004 quarter and about $1.
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Consumer confidence up slightly in May
NEW YORK — A slight gain in overall confidence in May, coupled with a similarly small increase in consumers' buying plans for big-ticket items, may signal that consumers are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the present compared with the near future. In May, The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index was 93.
News
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Sansegal Home offers high-end style at affordable prices
SANDY, Utah— For the past eight years, SansegalChina has specialized in production management, helping high-end furniture manufacturers create product that would sell in the American marketplace. It continues to do that, but is now also taking some of those skills and applying them to its own branded product line.
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BFP Int'l expanding Asia offices
CLEMMONS, N.C — Case goods importer BFP International has opened a second China office and also has set up shop in Vietnam. The new China office, in Hangzhou, focuses on sourcing, product development and quality control for product lines that include bedroom, dining room and occasional furniture.
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Minneapolis show closes after 19 years
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Home Furnishings Market, a fixture at International Market Square here since 1985, has quietly come to an end after several years of declining attendance. Officials at IMS said the most recent market, held in February, was the last. "It just didn't make economic sense for us to continue to produce the show," said Carolyn Olson, general manager of the facility.
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New Hooker VP to develop, market collections
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Hooker Furniture has hired retail veteran Kenneth Williams to help develop and market whole-home collections. Williams, who joined the case goods and upholstery manufacturer and importer just after the April market, holds the new post of vice president of merchandising. Hooker offers bedroom, occasional, casual dining, home office and home theater furniture, and sell...
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NHFA told: Sell women differently
PHOENIX — Regardless of whether you think women are from the same planet as men, they require a different selling approach. At the NHFA All-Industry Convention here, Rebecca Maddox, a consultant and author specializing in marketing to women, talked about how women are taking a stronger role in purchasing decisions, forcing merchants to change their approach.
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NHFA heading to Fla. for 2006 convention
PHOENIX — A strong convention here has the National Home Furnishings Assn. looking ahead to its next major gathering in 2006, this time on the East Coast. The NHFA and its affiliate, the Western Home Furnishings Assn., orchestrated the All-Industry Convention here, attended by more than 400 people, up from 350 at the 2002 convention in Orlando, Fla.
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Toxicology group to test FR chemicals
RESTON, Va. — The Society of Toxicology will help furniture makers and fire marshals determine if two types of flame-retardant chemicals can be used without harm to human health. The society, which says it is the world's foremost organization of toxicologists, said it has been asked by the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn.
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ADL salutes Kathwari, George at gala
NEW YORK — About 400 industry executives and friends gathered at the Grand Hyatt Hotel here this month to salute Farooq Kathwari, chairman and CEO of Ethan Allen, and Judy George, CEO of Domain, at the annual dinner dance gala of the Anti-Defamation League. Kathwari received this year's Humanitarian Award and George was honored with the American Heritage Award.
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Wynwood to introduce top-of-the-bed packages
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Case goods and upholstery importer Wynwood Furniture will introduce in August a top-of-the-bed package that coordinates with the company's upholstery collections. The company said the package, called DreamScapes by Jena Hall, gives retailers an opportunity for add-on sales. "The consumer benefits with one less decorating decision to make, creating a unified look and el...
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Profitsystems readies June conference in Fla.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Retail furniture software provider Profitsystems will hold its 19th annual client conference June 8-11 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fla. This year's event will focus on the implementation of best practices in retail furniture operations for improved profits.
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Stanley's factory in Robbinsville sets 3.7-million-hour safety record
ROBBINSVILLE, N.C. — Workers at Stanley Furniture's case goods plant here set an industry record recently by working nearly 3.7 million hours — about three-and-a-half years — without a lost-time accident. The previous record was 3.645 million hours. To celebrate the milestone, each of the plant's 565 employees was given a certificate by Andy Counts, CEO of the American Furnit...
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J. Clyde Hooker Jr. steps down from board
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — After 60 years with Hooker Furniture, Chairman Emeritus J. Clyde Hooker Jr. is leaving the company's board for health reasons. He is the son of the company's founder and was its CEO from 1966 to 2000. "I can never adequately express what Clyde Hooker has meant to all the people he has touched during his career," said Paul Toms, Hooker's chairman and CEO.
Opinion Today
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Danish manufacturers elevate design to an art
Just like U.S. companies, Danish furniture manufacturers face low-cost competition, not only from Asia but from the emerging market economies in Eastern Europe. And like the best U.S. companies, the most successful Danes are staying in business by focusing on what they do best. In their case, it's design.
People Today
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A-America honors reps
SEATTLE — Case goods importer A-America gave out top sales performance awards at the April market in High Point. Larne O'Toolereceived the A-America Sales Representative of the Year Award for 2003. He covers Pennsylvania and up-state New York. Other reps honored for exceeding their 2003 sales goals were Mike Glenn, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado; Ron Davis, Kansas and Oklahoma; Jason Ashey...
- People on the Move
People on the Move
SALES Hickory Hill VALDESE , N.C. —Patton Kincaid
has received the Sales Representative of the Year Award from Hickory Hill Furniture Co. He has been a rep with the manufacturer for eight years, covering the Florida Panhandle, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas. In Arkansas, he more than tripled the sales volume there in his first year.
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Hollingsworth heads new IHFRA officers
HIGH POINT— The International Home Furnishings Representatives Assn. has installed officers for 2004-2005. Terry Hollingsworth, CHR, Ashley Furniture, was elected president. In his honor, the Ashley marketing specialists of Georgia established a $500 Certified Home Furnishings Representative scholarship.
Store Openings
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Boca Leather readies sixth unit
DALLAS —Boca Leather Gallery is set to open its sixth store here on Inwood Road on June 10. The 30,000-square-foot store is believed to be among the largest leather furniture specialty stores in the United States. Co-owners Guiora Kaplan, president and CEO, and Daniel Dominitz, chief financial officer, have served metro Dallas/Forth Worth for 20 years.
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N.Y. store installs Broyhill gallery
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Brothers Michael and Ed Rosenfeld's new store here, the 35,000-square-foot Hudson Furniture Galleries, features a 12,500-square-foot Broyhill Furniture Showplace gallery. The store opened in March. The Rosenfelds formerly owned IFR Executive Rental in New York City for 35 years.
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Ethan Allen adds 4th China unit
DANBURY, Conn. — Manufacturer-retailer Ethan Allenhas opened its fourth store in China. The unit in Beijing is part of an agreement with Markor Furniture International to develop a chain of Ethan Allen stores in China. The 35,000-square-foot, three-level store is located at Li Ze Bridge, South Road of Si San Huan, Feng Tai District.
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Turner's opens La-Z-Boy gallery
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. —La-Z-Boy has installed a 12,500-square-foot gallery in Turner's Fine Furniture here. The 57,000-square-foot store is on Village Square Boulevard. Russell Turner owns the store.
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Thomasville sets Florida stores
WELLINGTON, Fla. — The fourth of eight planned Thomasville Home Furnishings stores in South Florida opened here in Palm Beach County on May 1, and the fifth is set to open in June in West Boca Raton. The stores are owned and operated by Hendricks Furniture Group, a Top 100 store chain based in North Carolina.
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Klavohn's features two galleries
DAVENPORT, Iowa —Klavohn's Home Furnishings has opened a 25,000-square-foot store here. The store is owned by David and Patty Robinson, who also own a store in Geneseo, Ill. The new Klavohn's store features two galleries, a 3,000-square-foot Smith Brothers of Berne gallery and an 8,000-square-foot Lane gallery.
Up Front
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Scandinavian show off 20%
COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Attendance at the Scandinavian Furniture Fair here May 12-16 was down 20% from last year to 15,024 people, and show organizers blamed a royal wedding. "The attendance figures for the first two days of the fair matched last year's and were definitely pleasing, and the number of visitors from outside Denmark was even well above the figures from the same time in 2003,"...
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ICFF attendance rises 6%
NEW YORK — Attendance was up 6% this year at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, which concluded May 18 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center here, according to show organizer George Little Management. GLM said 18,309 designers, architects, retailers and others visited the four-day show, which covered 110,000 square feet and included 491 exhibitors.
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ISPA goes to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON — Members of the mattress industry went to Capitol Hill this month to support the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's work to establish a national mattress flammability standard. They said the CPSC's approach is a better way to deal with mattress flammability than what they called the impractical approach spelled out in the American Home Fire Safety Act, a bill before Co...
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NHFA panel: Let's work together
PHOENIX — Cooperation and communication are the obvious yet elusive ingredients that can create stronger ties between manufacturers and retailers. In a broad ranging panel discussion at the National Home Furnishings Assn./Western Home Furnishings Assn. All Industry Convention here this month, representatives from both sides of the fence talked about what can be done to make their business...
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U.S. factories post more gains in March
HIGH POINT — U.S. residential furniture factory orders in March were up 18% from the same month a year ago and shipments jumped 13%, according to BDO Seidman. Some of the gains made up for ground lost in last year's weak first quarter, the accounting and consulting firm said. "While this was a very strong performance, it should be noted that new orders in March of 2003 were down 11% compa...
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Spiegel Catalog sale set
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — A company headed by a former Spiegel executive is acquiring the once-mighty Spiegel Catalog for $31 million. Pangea Holdings Ltd., a Hinsdale, Ill.-based company led by Christian Feuer, a former vice president of marketing at Spiegel, will acquire substantially all the catalog's assets and inventory and will assume certain liabilities.
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Drexel can remove furniture from bankrupt Conn. store
BROOKFIELD, Conn. — A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge has granted a motion by Drexel Heritage to remove its furniture, signs and related material from a store here that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year. Drexel, a secured creditor, said in court filings the owners of Brookfield Furniture Store were wasting assets and had taken funds from the insolvent company "for t...
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Covington wins copyright round
NEW YORK — Fabric converter Covington Inds. has won a court ruling in its action against American Decorative Fabrics for copyright infringement. A U.S. District Court judge here ruled last month that Covington's Maxwell design was sufficiently original and creative to be worthy of a copyright.
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Schweiger shuts doors
JEFFERSON, Wis. — Only a dozen employees were left last week at Schweiger, cleaning up the remains from an auction of the upholstery manufacturer's equipment and getting the factory here ready for a new use. Mostly woodworking equipment was sold, but a handful of local upholsterers snapped up upholstering equipment, said President Leon Wilkosz.
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Lacquer Craft's Dongguan plant set to begin production in Sept.
DONGGUAN, China — Chinese manufacturer Lacquer Craft is nearing completion of a 2 million-square-foot factory here that is set to begin production in September. The complex was expected to open in June, but there were construction delays, said Mohamad Amini, Lacquer Craft executive vice president.
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