Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
August 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Acquisition on August 9, 2010
Harden Furniture has teamed with John and Michael Scarsella to launch the Cambridge Mills furniture brand.
Harden will produce the Cambridge Mills line in its McConnellsville, N.Y., plant. The brand will focus on solid wood bedroom and target the middle to upper-middle price point segments of the market. All products will be 100 percent U.S.-made. Cambridge Mills will introduce three solid cherry bedroom collections in October with additional introductions planned for the winter market in Las Vegas.
The launch of Cambridge Mills will offer retailers an opportunity to merchandise some outstanding and proven designs that include brand qualities that consumers seek," said Harden Furniture CEO Greg Harden. "Made in America, sustainable manufacturing and dependable quality are proven winners that promise to establish Cambridge Mills as a category leader. In addition, recent market research conducted by Strategic Decisions confirms that the products will be enthusiastically supported by the consumer."
The Scarsellas will lead the sales, marketing, and product development for the new company with Harden providing manufacturing, customer service, and delivery. John Scarsella is a long time industry leader. In 1983, following 15 years as the owner of a multi-store retail operation in Ohio, he began his career in the solid wood manufacturing segment of the industry. He spent seven years with Jamestown Sterling as vice president of sales before leading all sales, marketing, and product design for Durham Furniture from 1994 through 2005. During his tenure with Durham, the company grew from C$6 million to more than C$80 million in sales.
Michael Scarsella began his career as a marketing and sales representative for Henredon. He later served as Director of Marketing and Product Development for Durham Furniture and oversaw the company's successful launch of the Mount Vernon license. Most recently, Michael was president of domestic solid wood furniture resource Virginia Sterling, which succumbed to the credit crisis and ceased operations earlier this year despite significant strategic growth.
"We couldn't be more thrilled to be working with Greg Harden and his team at Harden Furniture," said John Scarsella. "Their reputation in our industry is unmatched and will serve as the foundation for Cambridge Mills."
"Albeit at a lower price point, we saw Virginia Sterling emerge as a formidable competitor in solid wood bedroom," Harden noted. "Their collections were performing at retail, their revenue track was impressive despite the deepening recession, but as we are all aware lending institutions were unwilling to finance anyone in our industry, regardless of their potential. We are excited to partner with John and Michael and build upon what they began at Virginia Sterling. The Cambridge Mills partnership will not only provide dealers with great looking, high value product but allow us to maximize our extensive manufacturing capabilities and benefit from efficiencies that are not independently available."
August 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in sourcing/importing on August 9, 2010
New York-based furniture importer Primex announced last week will expand its furniture sourcing capabilities' reach under the new name of Primex Worldwide.
The newly incorporated Primex Worldwide, with offices in New York, Florida and California, will operate throughout the United States as a sourcing agency for products in the furniture, decorative home furnishings, textiles, pets, gifts and housewares industries.
Primex Worldwide will broaden its efforts of sourcing with factory partners located in Latin America, as well as Vietnam, India, the Far East and Europe, which considerably expands the scope of the company with the addition of the countries outside of Latin America. The emphasis of providing superior service continues while offering a unique breadth of products and including handicrafts from each of these countries.
Primex Worldwide will focus on the core strength of sourcing and supplying for its current catalog specialty retailers while exploring new opportunities within the channels of furniture distributors, furniture consortiums and the full line furniture store businesses.
The Primex Worldwide High Point showroom will remain at IHFC-M1412.
August 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on August 9, 2010
Five finalists have been announced in the third annual One Good Chair competition, sponsored by World Market Center Las Vegas and the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
The chairs, which utilized materials including broomsticks and honeycomb, were celebrated and discussed during a ceremony at the biannual Las Vegas Market. "Minimum-Maximum" was this year's theme, and designers both professional and amateur were invited to create a chair that managed to preserve natural resources while also amplifying human delight. In other words, they were tasked to "celebrate abundance" while "doing more with less," two catch phrases often associated with green design, but rarely coupled together. The goals of the competition also included minimizing material, production, shipping and assembly while maximizing comfort, utility, durability and beauty.
Fifteen judges selected the finalists, which include:
* Helena Bueno, Brazil, Broom Chair: a simple yet whimsical chair made from nine sticks of birch wood that fit easily into a bright plastic seat. All of the sticks can be removed and require no glue, nails, screws or metal components.
* Eric Tong, Great Britain, Zpine Lounge Chair: Honeycomb not only has a magnificent strength-to-weight ratio--it also looks beautiful in this flexible and easy-to-assemble Zpine Lounge Chair, and it's economical, sustainable and biodegradable. The piece converts between a chair and a chaise and collapses with ease.
* Tom Fereday, Australia, Allt Chair: This linear-framed chair is reminiscent of classic handcrafted Danish furniture, with a mesh and fastening system that is 100 percent contemporary. Made from recyclable birch plywood and stainless steel components, the chair uses non-permanent fasteners and can easily be disassembled, reducing its environmental footprint on a number of levels, from beginning to end.
* Klaus Peter Berkemeyer, Germany, ELXE: The backrest and seat are made of two molded wooden shelves, which merge with two wooden legs that also form the armrests. With two light front legs of stainless steel, ELXE can be dismantled into just four components for easy moving or storage.
* Juan Mercado, United States, RE_flex: Is it a desk chair, a rocking chair, a sleek chair fit for a bachelor pad? The answer is all of the above with RE_flex. The chair consists of two different parts that are repeated 19 times.
The competition drew more than 360 entries from around the world, and included hammocks, scoop chairs, cushioned benches and more.
Susan Inglis, executive director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, described the program as a useful tool for the industry: It's an opportunity for designers to manufacture and market fabulous new designs," going on to thank World Market Center, a founding member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, for its role in the One Good Chair program.
"I couldnt be more excited," said Robert Maricich, president and CEO of World Market Center Las Vegas. "What a blend of great design and creativity."
According to an applause meter at the finalist ceremony, Tom Fereday won the "People's Choice" designation.
August 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on August 9, 2010
Dale Mason has joined contemporary furniture manufacturer BDI as product development manager.
Mason reports to Bill Becker, CEO and design director of BDI, Chantilly, Va.
Most recently, Mason was product development manager for workplace furnishings vendor Knoll Inc.(http://www.knoll.com/knoll_home.jsp) During his nine-year tenure there, he was team manager for program management, launching many successful office furniture products.
He also served as senior development manager of First Source Furniture Group, where he directed a cross-functional product development team and helped guide internal and external designers in product creation. Other notable positions include engineering manager for both Gollin & Co. Inc. and Vogel Peterson companies.
"With BDIs reputation for high performance home furnishings, we sought out a product development manager who would further support our strategy of offering innovative, well designed home furnishings that integrate technology into the home," Becker said. "It was imperative to bring in someone with a specific knowledge of planning and coordination in the development field, as well as someone who shares the same core values that have driven BDI for over 25 years. Dale's qualifications are ideal for this position and we will look forward to seeing his leadership throughout the product development process."
August 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on August 9, 2010
Edward Carey has joined high-end furniture manufacturer Theodore Alexander as president of Vietnam operations.
Carey, who has relocated to Theodore Alexander's Ho Chi Minh City headquarters, will be responsible for all manufacturing including the wood, upholstery, and foundry plants, as well as supply chain functions, quality and human resources. He reports to CEO Harvey Dondero.
Additionally, Antony Maitland Smith has been named vice president of foundry operations and will be responsible for Theodore Alexander's own foundry as well as management of metal subcontractors. Maitland Smith reports to Carey.
Carey comes to Theodore Alexander from a successful 20-year career heading up manufacturing and operations at the Cebu, Philippines and Semerang, Indonesia manufacturing facilities for luxury furniture vendor Maitland-Smith Inc. Most recently he was the vice president of Asian operations for Flexsteel/DMI, where he was based in Shenzhen, China.
"Theodore Alexander has world-class operations," Carey said. "The company's strategic initiatives and manufacturing capabilities provide avenues for exceptional design creativity, craftsmanship, and operational excellence and I am pleased to lead the efforts of such a visionary, driven organization."
CEO Harvey Dondero stated, "I had the pleasure of working with Ed previously, and I have complete confidence that he will bring to Theodore Alexander, through his experience, expertise, and professionalism, the necessary leadership to take us to the level we need to achieve to remain and grow as a world-class manufacturer of the highest quality," Dondero said.