September 16,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on September 17, 2010
A new contemporary upholstery furniture line, Gary George Designs, will launch during the Oct. 16-21 High Point Furniture Market.
The company will occupy a 2,100-square-foot showroom, IHFC-D702, where it will show designs by Founder and CEO Gary George, as well as those of two other celebrated modern and contemporary furniture designers, Stanley Jay Friedman and M. Fillmore Harty.
George brings 25 years of custom upholstered furniture production experience, which includes high-profile residential and commercial projects in deluxe locales, to bear on designs for the new, retail-focused company.
"Progressive styling with its modern edginess has a myth of hardness within the designs," said George. "Creating glamorous, comfortable upholstery is paramount to my collection."
Ten upholstered groups plus occasional seating are planned and will feature sofas, sectionals, lounge chairs, ottomans, dining chairs and barstools. A wide range of in-stock covers include Ultrasuede.
"Ultrasuede lends itself toward our styling and for this reason was one of the first fabrics to be put into our line," George said. "Ultrasuede has a great color range which makes for an exciting showroom presentation."
Orders for the new offering ship within 30 working days, and additional custom capabilities around frame sizes, COM, and exclusive styling are available.
"We are capitalizing on the need for a new middle to upper-end fabric-based, contemporary upholstery resource in the residential retail segment," said Jerry Greenblatt, vice president of sales and marketing for Gary George Designs. "This is a fresh look for the marketplace, filling the niche of special order upholstery proudly made in the USA."
Gary George Designs is a member of the Contemporary Design Group.
September 15,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on September 16, 2010
American Home Furnishings Alliance has launched
Eco3Home, a furniture labeling program for manufacturers to communicate products' beneficial features to consumers.
Those benefits relate to consumer health, safety and the environment.
Kincaid Furniture is piloting the program at the October
High Point Furniture Market with its new "Homecoming" collection. Kincaid management, sales representatives and dealers will be the first to view the consumer-facing marketing materials and will have the opportunity to provide feedback on those materials as part of the pilot effort.
Eco3Home will be anchored by a consumer Web site,
eco3home.com, where shoppers can research the attributes of a particular piece of furniture in detail, review the environmental record of the manufacturer, and learn what the industry is doing to safeguard consumer health and safety plus improve environmental stewardship. The Web site will debut in mid-October.
"AHFA invested in research to determine what consumers expect from 'eco-friendly' furniture," said AHFA CEO Andy Counts. "We discovered that consumers tend to focus on environmental attributes that impact their personal health and safety ... or their family's health and safety. So, for example, having little or no impact on indoor air quality and containing no harmful chemicals were identified more frequently as environmental attributes of furniture than, say, sustainably harvested wood."
This finding was consistent among both "greener" consumers (those already buying eco-friendly products for their homes) as well as the general population of furniture shoppers overall. The top furniture construction feature named by both groups was "recycled components."
"These findings did not change AHFA's commitment to promoting sustainable practices among our member companies in their sourcing, manufacturing and overall operations," Counts said. "But the findings did change the way we ultimately decided to communicate Eco3Home to consumers. In fact, the name 'Eco3Home' really emerged from the realization that, in the consumer's mind, safety, health and environment are closely linked."
As a result, consumer marketing materials will emphasize that the Eco3Home label identifies products that carry a safety, health and environmental promise from the manufacturer.
Those promises include:
* Safety: Eco3Home products meet or exceed federal safety standards, as well as industry-adopted voluntary standards. For case goods manufacturers, this means an Eco3Home product must meet voluntary ASTM standards, such as those for tip over, as well as
Consumer Product Safety Commission standards, like those for bunk bed construction. For upholstery manufacturers, an Eco3Home product must meet the voluntary UFAC fire safety standard until superseded by a federal standard.
* Health: Eco3Home products meet or exceed federal standards regulating the emission of unhealthy chemicals, such as formaldehyde, as well as the presence of unhealthy substances, such as lead. Further, Eco3Home products must use only paints, stains and finishes with low volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and only fabrics and foams with no PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers, key ingredients in some flame retardant chemicals).
* Environment: All Eco3Home products are made by companies that are engaged in ongoing efforts to conserve water and energy, reduce waste and increase recycling. They have taken specific measures to "green" their supply chain and are using raw materials and construction techniques designed to have a minimal impact on the environment.
Companies seeking the Eco3Home product registration must complete AHFA's EFEC environmental management program and its Sustainable by Design program, which extends sustainable business practices to global operations, including sourcing of raw materials and supply chain management.
"This reflects AHFA's core belief that a 'brown' company cannot produce a 'green; product," Counts noted.
Eco3Home takes the environmental requirement one step further to include product design and development. Companies must conduct an environmental inventory that calculates an individual product's impact on greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, energy consumption, waste- to-landfill and air emissions.
In addition, an individual product content inventory will list all major product components and their environmental attributes. This will include wood from certified sustainable sources, components from recycled/repurposed sources, and components from natural, bio-based or certified organic sources. Where applicable, third party certifications will be required for verification.
Although hangtags, in-store brochures and other point-of-sale signage are designed to communicate the three program promises clearly and succinctly, the backbone of the Eco3Home program will be the
Web site, where consumers will find a rich storehouse of data.
"If she chooses, a consumer will be able to research a manufacturer's documentation of each step taken to meet the three program promises," Counts said. "In addition, the Eco3Home Web site will be an easy one-stop source for information on any ongoing research or regulatory efforts pertaining to health, safety or environmental issues related to residential furnishings."
Following the Kincaid pilot, AHFA will begin reviewing additional Eco3Home registration applications in January 2011. Contact Bill Perdue at
bperdue@ahfa.us for additional information.
September 15,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on September 16, 2010
Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) reported second-quarter 2010 sales of $309.9 million, an 8.1 percent gain over the prior-year period.
The Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer also recorded its fourth consecutive profitable quarter, with second-quarter net income of $14.4 million, compared with a loss of $15.8 million in second quarter 2009.
"We are happy to report net income for our fourth consecutive quarter and second quarter operating income for the first time in six years," said Pier 1 President and CEO Alex W. Smith. "Our return to profitability and beyond is firmly on track--we are all extremely upbeat about short and long-term prospects for our company."
Through its fiscal first half, ended August 28, Pier reported net income of $22.1 million, versus net income of $13.5 million, for the same period last year, which included a $49.7 million gain on the repurchase of debt and a $10 million litigation recovery. Total sales for the first six months increased 8.5 percent to $616.1 million from $567.8 million in the year-ago period. Comparable store sales for the first six months increased 12.7 percent compared to a comparable store sales decline of 7.5 percent in the year-ago period.
September 15,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on September 16, 2010
Furniture retail giant Ikea has launched "The Life Improvement Project, a program designed to empower people to improve their lives, and their community.
The national program consists of the Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest, offering one person the opportunity to win a year-long sabbatical (worth $100,000) to improve the lives of others; a series of free Life Improvement Store Seminars for consumers, hosted in Ikea stores across the United States; and a Life Improvement Co-Worker Challenge, giving Ikea employees the opportunity to get further engaged in local community initiatives. The Life Improvement Project Web site has information on these programs.
The Life Improvement Project supports the company's new brand platform, The Life Improvement Store, an idea designed to communicate the Ikea's core vision and mission of creating a better everyday life for the many people. This concept is also being introduced to the public via a national ad campaign, "Made By," that commenced on national cable, online and print media, and local broadcast media at the end of August.
"As 'The Life Improvement Store,' we deepen our connection with consumers, and provide new opportunities--beyond just our products and services--to support them in life improvement projects at home and beyond," said Leontyne Green, marketing manager for Ikea North America. "We are excited to launch The Life Improvement Project--the Contest, Seminars and Co-Worker Challenge--to really bring this new initiative to life in a tangible way."
For more information on The Life Improvement Project, including the Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest and Life Improvement Store Seminars, visit thelifeimprovementproject.com.
September 15,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on September 16, 2010
The 15th Sustainable Forestry Initiative Annual Conference is set for Sept. 21-23 in Vancouver, British Columbia, at the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside.
This year's theme is the "Power of Partnerships." More than 175 international delegates expected to attend including forestry experts, conservation and community groups, academia and forest product customers.
The conference is set to explore the many ways collaboration leads to improved forest management, public education, and implementation of the SFI Standard for forest certification. Local and international speakers will discuss partnerships yielding benefits for the forest products marketplace, communities, First Nations and government agencies throughout North America and globally.
Expert panels will examine issues and topics such as: green building; international partnerships and procurement policies; conservation and community partnerships in action; and global forest certification trends.
For more information, contact Tom Vogel at 202.973.2937 or by e-mail.