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Furniture|Today > Archives > 05/15/2006 Issue
Table of Contents
Furniture|Today -- 05/15/2006

Bedding Today
  • What we can do to stir more love for mattresses
    May is for mattresses! That's one slogan that bedding marketers could use as our industry seeks to create greater awareness of the role that a good bed plays in getting a good night's sleep. I'll share a few more with you below, but first let's set the stage for this week's topic: Why don't mattresses get more love? A while back, I lamented the fact that national media are a lot more interested...

Editor's Desk
  • Lacquer Craft's milestone move
    Everybody always talks about waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm pretty sure I heard it last week. Well, maybe not literally, but when we broke the news detailing China-based Lacquer Craft's acquisition of Craftmaster, a North Carolina upholstery maker, I knew, nonetheless, that shoe leather had hit the pavement.

Industry Numbers
  • Simmons 1Q sales up 14.7%
    Atlanta— Buoyed by the success of a revamped product line and numerous cost-cutting measures, bedding major Simmons reversed a net loss from last year's first quarter on a sales increase of 14.7%. The company said sales in the first quarter totaled $235.9 million, up from $205.6 million in last year's comparable quarter.
  • Lacquer Craft 2005 sales up 13%, profits up 27.1%
    Dongguan, China— Samson Holding, owner of Chinese case goods manufacturer Lacquer Craft, said sales increased 13% last year and profits rose 27.1%. Its annual report said sales grew to $517 million in 2005 from $457.5 million in 2004. Profits rose to $89 million, or 3.8 cents per share, from $70.
  • Simmons Canada 1Q sales up 16.4%
    Mississauga, Ontario— SCI Income Trust, parent of bedding producer Simmons Canada, said first-quarter sales jumped 16.4% and net income surged 28.8%. Sales of the flagship Beautyrest line and the promotional Beautysleep brand paced the growth, the company said. Sales totaled C$34.5 million, up from C$29.
  • Lower 1Q shipments, rising costs pinch Dorel
    Montreal— Lower home furnishings shipments and the rising cost of particleboard helped drag down sales and earnings for Dorel Inds. in the first quarter. The consumer goods giant's revenue of $451 million was down 4.4% from the same period last year and earnings fell 11.1% to $24.2 million. Revenue in the home furnishings segment was down 8% to $133.
  • Chromcraft Revington income declines 50%
    Delphi, Ind.— Manufacturer and importer Chromcraft Revington said sales rose 2.8% in the first quarter, but earnings fell 50% from the same period in 2005 because of reduced domestic production, an unfavorable sales mix and higher costs. The company said it earned $1.1 million on $45.9 million in sales.
  • CFC profits slide 23.3%
    Chicago Heights, Ill.— CFC International, a producer of specialty coatings and holographic film, said first-quarter sales slid 2.5% and net income fell 23.3%. The company attributed the sales drop largely to a fourth-quarter spike in sales that occurred shortly after the company announced a price increase for its printed products.
  • La-Z-Boy raises dividend by 9%
    Monroe, Mich.— La-Z-Boy's board has increased the company's quarterly stock dividend by 9% to 12 cents per share from 11 cents in the previous quarter. The dividend is payable June 9 to shareholders of record on May 29.
  • Easyhome earnings surge 39.3%
    Edmonton, Alberta— Easyhome, Canada's largest rent-to-own merchant, posted a 39.3% gain in first-quarter earnings as revenue rose 18.9% over the comparable 2005 quarter. The company said it had same-store revenue gains of 8.7% in the period, and continues to open stores. "Three new locations were added in the first quarter, and we are focused on completing eight new stores in the second q...

Insider's View
  • High Point getting better, but this one wasn't pretty
    After many (too many?) years of writing columns for Furniture/Today, I'm running out of ways to evaluate the High Point market. How would you rank the recent one? On the "blind date" scale, this year's spring market had a "great personality" and a nice smile, but you know what that means — not very pretty.

News
  • John-Richard to open factory in Vietnam
    Greenwood, Miss.— High-end accent and occasional furniture specialist John-Richard expects to open a factory in Vietnam by July and launch product made there at the October market. The 37,000-square-foot plant, the company's first factory in Asia, will be in Ho Chi Minh City. It will start with 50 to 60 employees, making samples for the October market.
  • Maria Yee's antidumping duty lowered
    Washington— The U.S. Court of International Trade has lowered an initial antidumping duty assigned to a China-based furniture maker, a move that puts the company back in the business of supplying bedroom furniture to the U.S. market. Maria Yee Furnishings originally received a 198.08% duty on wood bedroom furniture produced for the U.
  • Flagging attendance hasn't quashed innovative spirit
    Copenhagen, Denmark— A booming Danish economy has pepped up domestic sales for the country's furniture makers, but it hasn't done much to boost flagging attendance at the Copenhagen International Furniture Fair. Trade attendance at this year's show wasn't available at press time, but total attendance — including consumers allowed in on the closing Sunday — came to 14,569, down...
  • Moda founder to open Huffman Koos galleries
    Passaic, N.J.— The owner of retailer Moda Furniture plans to revive the name of the defunct Huffman Koos chain in the Northeast through galleries in its stores. And that's just the first step. "My ultimate plan is to create franchises of Huffman Koos and Breuners locations in all 50 states," said Moda CEO and founder Anthony Mehran, who, through a separate company from the seven-store Mod...
  • La-Z-Boy promotes Sawyer
    Monroe, Mich.— La-Z-Boy has promoted Otis Sawyer to senior vice president, corporate operations, a new position that makes him responsible for information technology, transportation and logistics, and corporate fabric procurement. Sawyer, a 13-year company veteran, had been chief information officer since 2004, and earlier was senior vice president of finance at La-Z-Boy's England Inc.
  • Ventre leaves retailer H.D. Buttercup for new venture
    Culver City, Calif.— Kimberly Ventre, president of retailer H.D. Buttercup, has resigned to become managing partner of 50fifty, a new marketing services company. She has been with H.D. Buttercup since June 2004, nearly a year before the launch of its 100,000-square-foot "manutailer" concept store here.
  • Therapedic realigns corporate staff
    Princeton, N.J.— Top 10 bedding producer Therapedic, now in new corporate headquarters here, has realigned its corporate staff. "With the addition of new domestic licensees, our steady progress in the international community, and our aggressive growth in the specialty licensing arena, we need the increased staffing to manage our growing business," said Gerry Borreggine, CEO and president.
  • Pirtle named SofaTrend president
    San Diego— Michael Larkey has resigned as president of SofaTrend, the fabric upholstery division of Robinson & Robinson. Bill Pirtle, a Robinson & Robinson veteran, has been named to succeed him. Larkey, who said he is leaving to spend more time with his family, joined Robinson & Robinson in early 2002 to head its new fabric division, R&R Upholstery, now SofaTrend.
  • L&P names Haffner CEO
    Carthage, Mo.— Components major Leggett & Platt has promoted a veteran company executive, President David Haffner, to the CEO post. It is only the fourth time in 70 years that L&P has named a new CEO. He succeeds Felix Wright, who remains board chairman and an active employee, the company said.
  • Ferguson Copeland taps Bradley
    Morganton, N.C.— Case goods importer Ferguson Cope-land has hired former Baker executive Dan Bradley as president and CEO. Bradley most recently was president of Baker, Knapp & Tubbs, which includes producer Baker Furniture as well as designer showrooms and stores. Before joining Baker in 2002, he was vice president of operations at high-end producer Henredon.
  • Design Within Reach replaces CEO
    San Francisco— Multichannel home furnishings retailer Design Within Reach has promoted Ray Brunner to CEO, succeeding Tara Poseley, who has resigned. Brunner, previously an executive at such companies as The Gap, Conran's North America and Eddie Bauer, joined Design Within Reach in 2002 and has been executive vice president of real estate and studio operations.
  • Aspen strengthens management team
    Phoenix— Aspen Furniture and Aspenhome distributor Furniture Values International has named Bill Reece as director of import product manufacturing. The company also has promoted Dave Heard to executive vice president of sales for Aspenhome and Aspen Furniture. Reece was formerly director of Asian operations for manufacturer and importer Pulaski Furniture.
  • Freeman, Mills join Flexsteel
    Dubuque, Iowa— Roger Freeman and Justin Mills have joined upholstery maker Flexsteel in two new management positions. Freeman has been named retail development sales manager. He was a sales representative for Thomasville, handling Iowa and Nebraska, and previously for Pennsylvania House in the same states.
  • Maitland-Smith promotes Duke
    High Point— High-end case goods manufacturer Maitland-Smith has named Schon Duke vice president of sales, a new position. For the past 15 years, he has worked in regional sales for Maitland-Smith, most recently as senior sales representative for its Mid-Atlantic and Southern territories. In his new role, Duke will manage the company's national sales team, overseeing sales performance, sal...
  • Bankrupt Ala. reproductions specialist for sale
    Montgomery, Ala.— Bankrupt Harris Furniture Reproductions here is for sale. The full-line, midpriced manufacturer has retained investment banker Equity Partners Inc. to handle the sale. Once a division of Kimball, Harris was spun off in 1990 to current owner Bob Harris, a lawyer. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in mid-February.
  • Pulaski, Bailey team for Build-A-Bear line development
    Pulaski, Va.— Award-winning author and radio-TV host Maria Bailey is teaming with Pulaski Furniture to help design and develop the upcoming licensed Build-A-Bear Workshop Home Collection. She is host of "Mom Talk Radio," a nationally syndicated radio show for moms; founder and CEO of BlueSuitMom.
  • Riverside promotes Ostrander
    Fort Smith, Ark.— Manufacturer and importer Riverside Furniture has promoted Scott Ostrander to chief operating officer. He has been senior vice president of operations since 1999. He continues to report to President and CEO Buddy Spradlin. Ostrander joined Riverside in 1987 as a design draftsman and has steadily moved into jobs with increasing responsibility.
  • U.S. furniture exports grow 5% to $1.9 billion in 2005
    High Point— U.S. furniture exports grew at a 5% clip to $1.9 billion in 2005, still a fraction of the nearly $22 billion the United States imported last year. The growth came despite a dramatic drop in demand for U.S.-made furniture and furniture parts by Mexico, which took in well over a third less in 2005 than in 2004.
  • Off Main closing doors
    Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.— Devastated by a series of hurricanes over the past two years and a rise in competitors with speedy delivery, Off Main Furniture has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and says it will close its four Florida stores. The lifestyle specialty retailer listed assets of $500,000 to $1 million and debts in the $1 million to $10 million range, according to court ...
  • Sauder merges Studio unit
    Archbold, Ohio— Sauder Woodworking, the sales leader in ready-to-assemble furniture, said it is merging the sales and marketing operations of its Studio RTA subsidiary with its Sauder RTA business unit. The company said the move will provide better coordination between its domestic and imported furniture offerings.
  • Rooms To Go expanding
    Seffner, Fla.— Rooms To Go will open nine new stores over the next two years on and near the Gulf Coast of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, including its first New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La., stores. In part, the move is the next step after the company's acquisition of the bankrupt Rhodes chain last summer, and its subsequent reopening of 11 Rhodes stores as Rooms To Go.
  • Copenhagen flashes more color
    Copenhagen, Denmark— At the overwhelmingly modern Copenhagen International Furniture Fair this month, there was a little more color, a little more warmth and perhaps a little more comfort on display than usual. The show, which for 40 years has made its mark with innovative yet simple designs sporting useful and clever functions, offered plenty of that too.
  • For better mental health, get some sleep
    Alexandria, Va.— The Better Sleep Council is teaming up this month with the National Mental Health Assn. to challenge Americans to mind their mental health and make sleep a priority. May is recognized as both Better Sleep Month and Mental Health Month. "Being healthy doesn't pertain just to our physical health.
  • Crink launches motion upholstery importer
    High Point— Industry veteran Laurence Crink launched motion upholstery company Local Motion Only at the April market here. The company, with backing from Chinese investors and factories there and in Mexico, introduced six frames. Motion sofas, loveseats, recliners and sectionals, and sofa-sleepers and stationary pieces, are offered in leather-match, leather or microfiber covers.
  • Klaussner consolidates entry-level line
    Asheboro, N.C.— Klaussner Furniture has consolidated its entry-level Realistic brand into its regular line as it moves toward more lifestyle-oriented products. The consolidation is part of a "continuing effort to simplify our business model, and to become an easier company to do business with," said Jeff Davis, senior vice president of marketing and strategic development.
  • Klaussner of Calif. leases 280,000-square-foot facility
    Santa Fe Springs, Calif.— Klaussner of California, the West Coast service center for upholstery and family room resource Klaussner Furniture, has leased a 280,000-square-foot distribution facility here. The facility, to open in June, will consolidate imported goods inventory from existing warehouses in Mentone, Calif.
  • Bedding Benchmarks
    New exec team at United Sleep launches flagship
    High Point— The new executive team at United Sleep Products rolled out a flagship line during the April market here. The Nature's Dreams line of specialty and innerspring bedding retails from $799 to $4,999 and offers the strong values that dealers have come to expect from United Sleep, the company's new leaders say.
  • Bedding Benchmarks
    Sealy, S&F introduce anniversary bed models
    High Point— Two of Sealy's best-known brands are celebrating a total of 285 years in the bedding business, and offering new models to mark their long histories. The company's high-end Stearns & Foster brand celebrates its 160th anniversary with two new beds, in plush and plush pillowtop versions, retailing at $999 and $1,299.
  • Karastan gets it together
    New York— Karastan has launched its American Treasures collection, a group of coordinated broadloom carpets, runners and rugs, at Top 100 store ABC Carpet & Home here. The collection features nearly a dozen patterns and colors, with suggested rug retails from about $899 to $2,399 for a 6 by 9 size.
  • Karastan reunites sales force
    New York— Karastan rugs and broadloom carpet again are being sold by the same sales and marketing team. "We have a national sales force of 100 people, and everyone is very happy to have the full product line back under one team," said Dennis Thiets, vice president of sales for Karastan. "Consumers and many of our retail customers have always considered Karastan as one unified company.
  • Cantrex allies with Quebec-based electronics buying group
    Montreal— Sears Canada-owned buying group Cantrex has forged a strategic alliance with La Clef de Sol, a Quebec-based buying group serving independent consumer electronics retailers. Cantrex will provide the 250-member group with a wide range of services, including central billing, volume rebates and product sourcing.
  • World Market Center speeds up registration
    Las Vegas— Registration is open for the third installment of the Las Vegas furniture market July 24–28, and the World Market Center says it's faster. Its Web site, www.lasvegasmarket.com, has a new feature called Quick Reg that accelerates the procedure for anyone who has attended a past market here.
  • Lane realigns team
    Tupelo, Miss.— Lane Home Furnishings has promoted Charlyne Schoolar to manager of direct containers for wood and has named Dan Darling director of import sets/cover procurement. Both positions are newly created. Schoolar has been with Lane since 2000 and has held positions in sales service and the wood division.
  • Industry executives gathering for 1st World Furniture Congress
    Palma De Majorca, Spain— Several industry experts will address issues facing furniture manufacturers during the first World Furniture Congress, set for May 23–25 here. The event is sponsored by the European Furniture Manufacturers Federation, or UEA, which represents factories in 26 countries.
  • Corrections
    The manufacturer of the Casual Living dining set pictured on page 40 of the May 8 issue was not identified. The set is from Nichols & Stone's Williamsburg line. A photo on page 43 of the May 8 issue incorrectly described this new product from Wynwood Furniture. It is Petrona, a transitional group with primavera veneers in a Hazelnut finish and scalloped nickel accents.
  • Sleep survey: New mattress a low priority
    Alexandria, Va.— Consumers are ignoring some fundamental steps they can take to improve their sleep, a new survey indicates. The results of the 2006 Better Sleep Month survey suggest that millions of Americans are willing to try almost anything to cope with sleep deprivation and emotional stress.

Opinion Today
  • When much of the furniture looks alike...
    It was an interesting, and strange, April market. Far much too much time was spent, mostly by suppliers, discussing when market in October really would begin. The Monday-through-Sunday format seems to have a lot of folks flummoxed. The issue is simply when the big boys will come in. Come on, folks, this isn't rocket science.

Special Report
  • The X factor
    High Point— Xs aren't the most original shape in the universe. And perhaps not even the most graceful. But they are jazzing up the world of furniture. Items ranging from headboards and occasional tables to vanity sinks and entertainment centers bear the shape, giving them a classic look that harkens back to 1920s Paris — and possibly even ancient Egyptian times.
  • Retail Profile
    Eighth Bova store takes total approach
    Beltsville, Md.— Bova USA has opened its eighth store — the first on the East Coast — along the busy Route 1 corridor here. Bova, a retail showroom-warehouse operation with stores in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, St. Louis, Phoenix and, soon, Tempe, Ariz., wanted to get in on the brisk retail action generated by the well-heeled clientele in this area.
  • Retail Profile
    Whelan joins Bova USA
    Atlanta— Jim Whelan has joined retail showroom and warehouse Bova USA as retail operations manager. He worked with Denmark-based retail chain Bo Concepts from 1993 to 1996 and again from 1997 to 2005, where he was regional sales manager for the northeastern United States and Canada and, more recently, retail operations manager.
  • Retail Profile
    Bova plans ninth unit in Tempe, Ariz.
    Atlanta— Bova USA, a Danish-owned retail showroom-warehouse operation specializing in contemporary furniture, is preparing to open its ninth store in the United States after 28 years here. Established by Ole Bjerrregaard, president and chief operating officer, in Denmark, Bova's U.S. business is keyed to a central warehouse/distribution center, feeding its stores coast-to-coast.
  • 'No, no, no' falling out of favor with some stores
    High Point— No money down. No interest. No payments. For years now, furniture retailers have promoted "no, no, no" financing programs as a way to get customers in the door and move product out. Some still actively promote these plans, while others have backed away from them in favor of new marketing strategies.
  • Furnitureland South seeks new approach to help consumers finance entire house
    Jamestown, N.C.— For Furnitureland South, it isn't that there aren't any tools available to help consumers finance furniture. It's just that the tools in the marketplace right now don't fit its specific needs — and a better alternative is needed. Jason Harris, executive vice president, said that Furnitureland South implemented a private-label credit card program with Household Finan...

Store Openings
  • Post galleries installed by S.C., Wis. retailers
    Barboursville, W.Va.—Connie Post Companies has opened Affordable Design by Connie Post galleries in stores in South Carolina and Wisconsin. In Garden City Beach, S.C., Garden City Furniture, a family-owned store serving the Grand Strand/Myrtle Beach area for over 50 years, has a Post gallery in its store on business Highway 17.
  • La-Z-Boy adds 1, expands 1
    Monroe, Mich.— Top 25 manufacturer La-Z-Boy has opened a gallery in a Missouri store and expanded an in-store gallery in New Mexico. In Washington, Mo., retailer Home Creations has installed a 10,000-square-foot La-Z-Boy gallery in its 22,000-square-foot store on Louis and Clark Drive. Ron Carson and Karen Carson are co-owners of the store.

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