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Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
July 29,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on July 30, 2010
Three more companies have joined the furniture vendors sponsoring the September 2010 High Point Pre-Market retail product preview event.
Lane Home Furnishings, which will introduce new occasional, entertainment and upholstered furniture; and middle to high-end case goods and upholstery manufacturer Fine Furniture Design will participate for the first time as Pre-Market sponsors during this fall's Sept. 13-14 gathering.
Returning sponsor Wynwood Furniture will show its case goods and upholstery line.
"The addition of these three industry leaders to the present 22 manufacturing sponsors enhances and further strengthens the breadth of Pre-Market," said Kevin O'Connor, chairman. "Our March Pre-Market was the best attended since its 'rebirth' in August 2007. We continually strive to make the event efficient, as well as enjoyable for those attending."
Pre-Market runs each March and September in High Point, and affords invited dealers the opportunity to view upcoming Market introductions, and network with manufacturing key executives and peers in a more relaxed atmosphere.
Fall Pre-Market exhibiting sponsors are:
American Drew/Lea/Hammary
A.R.T. Furniture, Inc.
Aspenhome
Bernhardt Furniture
Broyhill Furniture
Casana Furniture
England, Inc., a La-Z-Boy Company
Fine Furniture Designs
Hekman
Hooker Furniture
Kincaid Furniture
Lane Home Furnishings
Leather Trend
Legacy Classic
Magnussen Home Furnishings
Natuzzi
Palliser
Pulaski Furniture
Riverside Furniture
Samuel Lawrence Furniture
Stanley Furniture
Universal Furniture
Vaughan-Bassett Furniture
Vaughan Furniture Company, Inc.
Wynwood
July 29,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 30, 2010
The Home Furnishings Independents Association, Dallas, Texas, has named Service Lamp Corp. its exclusive national lighting supplies resource.
This lighting program offers HFIA members national pricing on light bulbs, ballasts and fixtures.
Service Lamp Corp. is one of Philips Lighting Company's largest national lighting distributors, with a full line of products.
"We can quickly bring new Philips technology to furniture retailers without waiting behind other retail segments, and being able to put our customers in direct contact with Philips leadership is an important plus," said Service Lamp President Marc Kushner.
HFIA Board Chairman Stephen H. Kidder noted that a program that saves money on lighting will prove to be a valuable program for HFIA members.
"The merchandise we show to customers is best presented with proper lighting," he said. "We welcome Service Lamp to our list of valued suppliers."
July 29,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on July 30, 2010
Furniture manufacturer and retailer Ethan Allen (NYSE:ETH) has launched a contract furniture Web site, ethanallencontract.com, to support its contract business.
Modeled after Danbury, Conn.-based Ethan Allen's award-winning consumer Web site, ethanallen.com, the new Web site is designed for a seamless and efficient user experience.
"Ethan Allen offers the full advantages of our vertically integrated business structure to the contract market," said Chairman, President and CEO Farooq Kathwari. "We have developed ethanallencontract.com, along with a comprehensive 180-page printed catalog, as an amazing resource for our contract clients."
Ethan Allen Contract, headed by Vice President of Business Development Dan Grow, offers hospitality and commercial clients product design, interior design, product customization, sourcing, manufacturing, delivery, and installation, building on the foundation of the company's longstanding residential design and home furnishings business.
July 29,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 30, 2010
RTA furniture major Bush Inds. has deployed an online content delivery application for the new Christopher Lowell Office Collections of furniture.
Bush developed the line exclusively for office products and services retailer Office Depot (NYSE: ODP). The new application is designed to provide a more interactive and valuable shopping experience on Bush Furniture's core reseller Web sites. It also offers customers more relevant and timely information about Bush's furnishing solutions.
When Bush Industries partnered with Christopher Lowell and Office Depot earlier this year to design, manufacture and distribute three new modular office furniture collections, Bush recommended an online video format that not only introduced Christopher Lowell, an Emmy Award-winning designer, author and television personality, but also provided customers with insight into the inspiration and influences behind the collections' features and benefits, all of which are presented by Lowell himself.
"The furniture category suffers from a lot of generic selections offered in confusing and monotone formats. So, we developed a new approach that delivers a differentiated experience and is incorporated directly into our reseller's Web site, said Patrick Theimer, executive vice president of marketing and e-commerce at Bush Industries. "We want to be able to provide more than a simple list of product attributes and fixed images. Through a combination of creative videos and layouts, Christopher Lowell is assisting the sale in an extremely valuable way. This results in more informed buying decisions and increased customer sales and satisfaction."
In May, the three new collections by Christopher Lowell and Bush Industries were introduced at Office Depot. Videos, images and detailed descriptions of all three furniture collections can be found online at the Office Depot Web site.
"While other retail categories like electronics have been marketed using these types of applications, it is a fairly new concept for the furniture industry and one in which we see a great deal of opportunity," Theimer said. "We're seeing a lot of interest in this approach from our retail partners and it's been extremely popular with customers visiting the Christopher Lowell section of officedepot.com."
Bush's marketing partner, Illuminati Studios, created the technology application, produced the videos and packaged them so that Office Depot could incorporate the videos easily and seamlessly onto their site. In the future, Bush plans to integrate other services, including space planning and social media.
Bush, with Illuminati Studios, also has developed and is introducing its Furniture Finder, an online tool for retailer web sites designed to help customers quickly find the right furnishings for their home or office. It allows customers to search for Bush office furniture products online by room type, function, style and finish or color.
July 29,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 30, 2010
Fire officials have ruled a furniture store fire in Indiana, Pa., was arson, the Leader Vindicator reported Wednesday.
A July 1 fire at Rustic Acres Furniture had caused more than $1 million in damage.
The owners of Rustic Acres Furniture, which occupied a restored dairy barn before the fire, said they will rebuild.