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September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on September 7, 2010
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z3128367071&z=1000247453
BusinessWire - Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. ('Ethan Allen' or the 'Company') (NYSE:ETH) announced that M. Farooq Kathwari, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer will host the Company's annual investor conference at its headquarters in Danbury, Connecticut on September 13, 2010.
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September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on September 7, 2010
The buying group Furniture First has partnered with
Impact Consulting to provide its 180 members access to
the industry portal FurnitureCore.com. "Furniture First is committed to keeping our members in the most competitive position and that includes having the best market intelligence," said Bill Hartman, president of Furniture First.
The agreement grants Furniture First members access to ongoing measures of their market share at a product category level. The information, in addition to other details of market profiles, allow retailers to identify areas of opportunity.
We are delighted to expand our program with Furniture First in the area of business intelligence," said Bob George, president of Impact. "This will only enhance the process begun within their Performance Groups that we manage. We look forward to working with Furniture First to continue the process of creating high performance retailers."
Impact will showcase the service during the Furniture First Annual Symposium next weekend, Sept. 10-12, in Greensboro, N.C. The meeting is being held at the Greensboro Airport Embassy Suites, just prior to the kickoff to
High Point Premarket, Monday, Sept. 13.
The symposium includes a kick-off golf tournament at
Grandover Golf Club Friday. Saturday and Sunday offers a variety of general sessions and seminars under the meeting's theme of "Develop Your Powers: Transform into a Retail Superhero."
Information on mattress advertising and promotions, signage strategies, consumer trends, expanding market share, effective use of private labeling, using operations and warehouse software to improve productivity and produce cost savings, and selling more top-of-the-bed products that increase mattress sales.
Speakers include: James Dion,
Dionco; Eugene Alletto, GuardMaster; Bob George and Tom Zollar,
Impact Consulting; Steven McLendon and Dan Standering,
MicroD, Inc.; Ed Borowsky,
Monarch Advertising; John McCloskey,
Profitability Consulting Group; Rick Segel,
Rick Segel & Associates; and Martin Roberts,
Martin Roberts Design.
September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Acquisition on September 7, 2010
Industry veterans Johne Albanese and partner Charles Schlaeppi have online furniture retailer FurnitureBlue for an undisclosed amount.
Albanese, previously executive vice president of merchandising for 6-year-old, Delray Beach, Fla.-based FurnitureBlue, is now president and CEO. Schlaeppi, an executive based in Thailand, will serve as an adviser but will not be active in the day-to-day management of the company.
Two of the previous owners, David Haut and Brian Levine, have committed to serving during a transition period, and negotiations are underway with both for a possible permanent relationship.
"Several years ago, Charles and I had worked together to create a web-centric business model for home furnishings but the economy at that time made such a launch prohibitive," Albanese said. "However, after joining FurnitureBlue in March and having an opportunity to see such a model in a very practical sense, it was clear to me that it was time to revisit our partnership. At the same time, it was obvious that acquiring an ongoing enterprise made far more sense than starting one from scratch."
During discussions with the previous owners, Albanese realized that there was an opportunity to acquire the company.
"We were able to close the share purchase in record time and because of the significant industry knowledge and expertise we possess, we have already begun to initiate changes in the operation that we feel will generate significant performance improvements while at the same time make us a 'rose among thorns' in terms of being an attractive partner for industry suppliers," Albanese said.
Albanese also stated that once FurnitureBlue is properly situated, he and Schlaeppi would be willing to consider other possible acquisitions of existing etailers within the industry.
"We are most certainly interested in speaking with other home furnishings e-tailers who might be interested in being acquired," he said.
September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on September 7, 2010
Craftmaster Furniture's Taylorsville, N.C., upholstery operation has implemented the home furnishings industry's EFEC environmental management system.
EFEC, or "Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture," is a voluntary program created for the residential furniture industry by the American Home Furnishings Alliance. To achieve registration, companies must: improve management of resources and raw materials; reduce energy and water consumption; reduce waste disposal and associated costs; and increase recycling efforts.
Craftmaster President and CEO Roy Calcagne commended the Taylorsville team, lead by Vice President of Operations Kevin Mann, on completing the work necessary to achieve registration in the company's two Taylorsville plants.
"I am very proud of the seven-person team we put in place at Craftmaster over eleven months ago to start this process," he said. "Kevin has done a great job coordinating and executing the stringent requirements needed to attain the EFEC registration. This is the second step Craftmaster has taken in reducing our environmental footprint. The first was implementing the Earthcare Inside program from Hickory Springs, which applies to the sustainable materials used in our products. The high standards set by the AHFA in attaining the EFEC registration makes this especially important to our company as we move forward with our environmental initiatives."
Since initiating implementation of the EFEC program in August 2009, the Taylorsville plant has reduced its energy consumption by about 10 percent. This is expected to reduce energy expenses by about $25,000 annually.
As a result of implementing EFEC, an exterior dock was constructed at one of the plants to facilitate bailing and loading of materials for recycling. The upholstery plant has reduced its landfill waste by over 50 percent, creating an annual savings of $40,000 in waste removal fees.
"When we began this process, Craftmaster had eight trash dumpsters at our facilities. We now have one," said Kevin Mann. "(Most of) what we were discarding in the trash is now being recycled and sold. The trash removal expense was turned into revenue with the recycling of those waste materials."
Additional actions are planned to continue reducing the company's environmental impact: "We will further reduce our air emissions from our finishing department by 30 percent by upgrading our equipment and chemicals used in the finishing process," Mann said.
Craftmaster is owned by Samson Holdings and produces more than 120 different styles of upholstered furniture in over 1,100 fabrics and leathers. The company also produces the Paula Deen and Better Homes & Gardens upholstery licensed collections under the Universal Furniture label.
EFEC, which requires participants to make continual improvements in order to retain their registration, was implemented at 26 different furniture manufacturing locations in 2009 and has been implemented at three additional locations so far in 2010. Franklin Furniture is expected to complete the program this fall in 1.1 million square feet of manufacturing space at three plants, plus its corporate headquarters.
September 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on September 7, 2010
Simmons Furniture will open a third furniture store in Pittsfield, Mass., the Bennington Banner reported Sunday.
The new location, a 25,000-square-foot showroom in Allendale Shopping Center, should open by mid-October.
Simmons Furniture, which currently operates stores in Adams and in the Pittsfield Plaza on West Housatonic Street, hopes to open its new showroom in Allendale by mid-October.
"It's a really good opportunity for us," said Donna Riley, Simmons general manager, in the report. "Fortunately, we had a better year this year than last year. So we feel that our market is going in the right direction, regardless of the world markets."
Donna Riley told the paper that current economic conditions have created opportunities for companies looking to expand.
"We really feel that with the way things are economically in the world that there are some wonderful deals that you can do," she said. "And this is the greatest time to do that. Its kind of like buying a house in this market."
The Allendale showroom will be known as Simmons Lifestyle Furniture, and sell handmade custom furniture, imports and accessories by local artists.