Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on March 18, 2010
The International Casual Furnishings Association is offering member companies a new group discount on less-than-container-load shipments through Worldwide Logistics.
Members soon will be able to go to a dedicated ICFA website page, where they will be able to get a quote as well as track shipments. Worldwide Logistics also is offering ICFA members a $1,000 credit line to facilitate their enrollment in the program.
Worldwide Logistics is an AHFA Supplier Division Member. For more information, click here.
March 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Recliners on March 18, 2010
Massage chair and recliner vendor Human Touch will showcase a new application and wellness solution, HT-Connect for iPhone and iPod touch, at High Point Market, April 17-22. The Human Touch showroom is IHFC- H517.
Available this June as a free download from the Apple App Store, the company says HT-Connect is the first wellness solution allowing users to personalize the robotic massage chair to their individual wellness needs. HT-Connect will interface with Human Touch's newest, most state-of-the-art massage chair, the AcuTouch 9500. By seamlessly interfacing with HT-Connect, the new AcuTouch 9500 massage chair will offer a fully customized massage and wellness experience by providing instant access to a wealth of massage programs, expertise, and user-friendly applications via Bluetooth wireless connection on an iPhone or iPod touch.
While responding to the personalized settings and preferences of the user, the HT-Connect interface also provides users with access to education and expertise from Human Touch Wellness Council members about how to live better through regular massage, relaxation, and a healthy lifestyle. The Wellness Council comprises a group of renowned experts in their fields, ranging from PGA Golf Pro Tim Clark and former Olympian and professional runner Jeff Galloway, to well-known doctors of naturopathy and chiropractic.
Key features of the new HT-Connect app include: 16 auto-programmed massages connected to your iPhone or iPod touch; instant connectivity to valuable wellness resources; and personalized, real-time massage and wellness experience at the touch of a button.
March 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on March 18, 2010
Joseph Cilio of Alfresco Home, King of Prussia, Pa.; Jim Schultz, Patios Plus, Rancho Mirage, Calif.; and Greg Johnson, JDG Sales Inc., Tampa, Fla. have been elected to on-year terms on the Board of the International Casual Furnishings Association.
In addition, ICFA has adopted several updates to its existing awards programs and added a new award to its annual lineup. The new award is Sales Representative of the Year, to be conferred for the first time in 2010. The program is designed to recognize and honor a sales representative who is a member of ICFA and an active partner with both retailers and manufacturers. Persons considered will be those who serve as an inspiration or model within the industry and whose service is considered both exceptional and innovative.
All ICFA members will be invited to nominate individuals for Sales Representative of the Year. Nominations will include a short biography and explanation of why the individual is deserving of the honor. Each nomination also must be accompanied by the names of two additional industry members who support the nomination. Voting will be conducted online, and the winner will be honored at the International Casual Furniture and Accessories Market in Chicago this fall.
In addition to adding Sales Representative of the Year, ICFA will reintroduce its Manufacturer Leadership Award this year. One manufacturer will be honored in each of 10 categories, including: cast metal, wrought iron/wrought aluminum, rattan/wicker/woven materials, wood, tubular materials, resin/fiberglass, shade products, outdoor lighting, outdoor rugs/ carpeting/flooring and complementary casual products. Manufacturers will be rated on the design and quality of their products, along with merchandising, customer service, ethics, communications and trade relations. From the category winners, an overall Manufacturer of the Year will be named.
These two awards will be presented at a new awards event to be held this year on Wednesday, Sept. 22. The event also will include recognition of the Design Excellence category winners and the Lillian B. Winchester "Best of Show" recipient. As part of its award updates, the ICFA agreed to conduct the Best of Show voting online.
Recognition of the Apollo Award finalists and winners, as well as the ICFA Lifetime Achievement Award winners, will continue to be reserved for a separate awards dinner event. This year that event will be Thursday, Sept. 23, at Chicago's Field Museum. A new online ballot is being developed for the Apollo Awards to make the voting a more inclusive process for ICFA's growing membership.
March 16,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 17, 2010
Home furnishings retailing giant Ikea announced Tuesday that it has selected a site and hired contractors for its future Denver-area store in Centennial, Col.
The store is scheduled for a Fall 2011 grand opening. Ikea has retained Centennial-based Saunders Construction as the construction management firm. Other firms involved with the new store include: CLC Associates for civil design; Kimley Horn Associates as traffic consultants during the approval process; Ground Engineering providing environmental analysis and geotechnical services; Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti serving as local counsel; real estate brokerage firm Legend Retail Group assisting Ikea in the site selection process; Geothermal Systems of Colorado installing the geothermal component, and Miller Global selling the land. Atlanta-based GreenbergFarrow is architect responsible for store design, site planning and construction documents.
"With our land purchased, team selected and site-work permit pending, we now can schedule IKEA Centennial to open Fall 2011," said Doug Greenholz, Ikea real estate director, in a release. "Construction crews soon will begin clearing and grading the site, and we look forward to breaking ground officially in a couple of months."
The 415,000 square-foot future Ikea Centennial store, with approximately 1,500 parking spaces, will be built on 13.5 acres along the western side of Interstate 25 in the Park Meadows area, accessible from connections to Dry Creek Road and County Line Road exits, and will employ approximately 400 coworkers when the new store opens.
Ikea currently has more than 300 IKEA stores in 38 countries, including 37 in the United States.
March 16,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 17, 2010
A New York dentist who moved to Pinellas County in Florida's Tampa Bay area has opened a furniture store, the St. Petersburg Times reported.
Drama Home Furnishings will specialize in high-end, coastal-living style furniture.
Waldow, a pediatric dentist, also has been designing and renovating homes for 25 years. He still has his dental practice and renovation business in New York.
Vendors include wicker and rattan specialist Braxton Culler; tables and chairs from Three Coins Cast Aluminum Co.; accent and furniture vendor Guildmaster; and Dash and Albert's rugs.
March 16,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on March 17, 2010
Whitewood Inds., Thomasville, N.C., has added 10,000 square feet to its High Point showroom at 215 S. Main St.
The company, which has occupied the South Main Street building's 10,000-square-foot first floor for 10 years, will expand its exhibition area to include the building's third floor. Jorge Mata, Whitewood Inds. CEO, said the expansion will afford designated showroom space to its Whitewood Ready-To-Finish and International Concepts divisions, as well present its John Thomas Select program more deeply.
"John Thomas Furniture has become well known in the Casual Dining segment of the industry, but Whitewood Inds. is a much broader home furnishings company," Mata said. "This expansion will allow us the needed space to fully exhibit our ready-to-finish division, Whitewood Ready-To-Finish, and specialty retailer supplier division, International Concepts."
The expansion will allow the John Thomas Furniture exhibition, specifically, to expand by 3,500 square feet, while the third floor expansion will be divided between the company's other two divisions. The second floor of the building is occupied by Golden Chair of Mississippi.
Whitewood Inds. Inc.'s divisions include, Whitewood Ready-To-Finish (unfinished furniture), John Thomas (casual dining and custom finish programs), and International Concepts (supplier to specialty retailers).
March 16,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on March 17, 2010
SmarTrend, a subscription service that analyzes more than 5,000 securities, has highlighted an upward trend for shares of Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN), St. Louis.
In three months since Dec. 23, FBI's share price has risen 40.1 percent to $6.99; and is currently above its 50-day moving average of $5.30 and above its 200-day moving average of $4.68.
SmarTrend anticipates those moving averages will climb and confirm FBI's upward momentum.