July 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 9, 2010
Morris Furniture Co. will open a 72,000-square-foot Morris Home Furnishings showroom in Cincinnati this fall, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday.
Fairborn, Ohio-based Morris Furniture Co. will invest around $3 million in the Cincinnati store, which will be located next to Morris' Ashley Furniture HomeStore near Tri-County Mall.
"We are excited to bring our Morris Home Furnishings store to the Cincinnati market," President and CEO Larry Klaben said in the report. "This new store, combined with our current Ashley Furniture HomeStore, will provide approximately 150,000 square feet of Home Furnishings display."
July 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on July 9, 2010
Contemporary home furnishings retailer
Design Within Reach (
OTC: DWRI.PK) has promoted four executives to strengthen its team.
The promotions will impact merchandising, marketing, sales and studio systems and processes.
Bethany Kemp has been named vice president of studio systems, process and procedures. Prior to her promotion, Kemp was director of studio operations. During her tenure with Design Within Reach, she has worked in the call center and IT systems manager.
In her new position, Kemp is responsible for implementing new policies, procedures and company initiatives to support the retailer's sales and service, as well as overseeing the call center and operations teams.
Kari Woldum has been named vice president of merchandising and leads a team of six buyers and assistant buyers. She works with John Edelman, president and CEO, to develop the retailer's product line and overall brand message for the company.
During her four years with the company, Woldum has worked as an assistant buyer and in an number of different product areas, including upholstery, bedroom, flooring, seating and dining.
She also co-developed the company's Tools For Living concept in 2009.
Sandra Hansel spent five years as DWR's regional director of sales for New York and the Northeast before taking on her new role as vice president of sales. In addition to her national responsibilities, she will continue to oversee the New York region. Prior, she was sales manager for Baker Furniture, and she has an extensive retail background, including work for Limited Brands.
Michael Sainato was Design Within Reach art director from 2005 to 2008, and after taking time off to teach at MFA Graphic Design Department at San Francisco's Academy of Art University, has rejoined the company as vice president of creative and marketing. Sainato's career in retail began at Esprit De Corp, and later as senior art director for the Smith & Hawken and J.Crew catalogs.
In his new role, Sainato is responsible for the look and feel of the company, including Studios, Web site, marketing and advertising.
"Each of these new appointees brings ability, knowledge, experience and enthusiasm to their respective roles," said John Edelman, president and CEO. "They have all contributed greatly to our past success and will be instrumental as we continue to build the brand and improve the profitability of the company."
July 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 9, 2010
Furniture Outlets USA will open a Furniture Mart store and Ashley Furniture Homestore in a 50,000-square-foot location in St. Cloud, Minn., that had been a Sportsman's Warehouse store, the St. Cloud Times reported Thursday.
Sioux Falls, S. Dak.-based Furniture Outlets USA has nearly 30 locations in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa under the Furniture Mart, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, Unclaimed Freight Furniture and Carpet One Floor & Home banners.
The St. Cloud stores should open by October 1.
July 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 9, 2010
Vermeulen's Furniture in Portage, Mich., will close this fall, the Kalamazoo Gazette reported Thursday. The retailer's Jackson store will remain in business.
Owner Lynn Vermeulen said in the report that sales have dropped 25 percent to 30 percent the last few years.
Last year, Vermeulen's Furniture closed an outlet store in Kalamazoo.
A closing sale began Thursday at the Portage store, and Vermeulen hopes to sell the building.
July 8,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on July 9, 2010
The U.S. national office of the Forest Stewardship Council has launched a revised FSC-US Forest Management Standard for forest operations in the contiguous United States. The revised standard has been approved by FSC International, which requires all accredited forest management standards to undergo a review and consider necessary revision every five years.
"The revised standard captures the on-the-ground practices that represent genuine forest stewardship and provide the foundation for FSC-certified forestry in the U.S.," said Corey Brinkema, president of FSC-US. "The completion of this effort, coupled with accelerating adoption by American retailers and manufacturers, provides a fantastic opportunity for promoting the values of forest stewardship and FSC with the American consumer."
The revised U.S. standard marks the end of a three-year review and revision process concentrating on the myriad environmental, social and economic values associated with forests and forest products. The revised standard harmonizes nine regional standards into one national standard to reduce complexity and improve efficiencies in the management and auditing process. Regional variation is maintained in key areas of forest management and conservation where local conditions, including forest types and ecological processes, warrant different management techniques.
The new standard retains key environmental, social, and economic concepts from the regional standards, but improves consistency and clarity in application. The distinguishing hallmarks of FSC certification remain intact in the revision, including old=growth protection, restrictions on conversion and clearcuts, restrictions on chemical use, and consultation with community groups, and protection of indigenous people's rights.
New features of the revised FSC-US Forest Management Standard include:
* Consistency of a single national standard. The new U.S. National Standard harmonizes the expiring nine regional standards into one national standard, while still maintaining regional variation in key areas of forest management and conservation. In the 2007 standards review, environmental, social, and economic chamber stakeholders, as well as the certifying bodies, all agreed that one national standard would eliminate unnecessary complexity and improve efficiencies in the auditing process. The new FSC-US Forest Management standard retains regional variation where necessary to address local environmental and social conditions.
* Assurance of on-the-ground results. The new standard comes with guidance statements that clarify the goals of the requirements and suggested tools for achieving them. These guidance statements are intended to encourage clear and consistent application of the standard. FSC-US is committed to further developing tools and providing guidance on existing tools to help land managers understand and implement requirements in the standard.
* Accessibility for family forests. FSC-US has developed a modified set of requirements that addresses challenges faced by small and low-intensity managed forests. This allows for family forests (and other ownerships qualifying as small or low intensity) to be evaluated for FSC certification using a standard that takes into account the scale and intensity of small-forest management operations.
The Family Forest Indicators are designed to reflect that certain FSC criteria (such as the capacity for forest management to affect local economies, larger social conditions and large scale ecological processes) may not apply to family forests individually. Additionally, the certification procedures take into account the potential cumulative impacts of multiple family forests in close proximity on these same issues. In some cases new indicators have been developed to address conditions unique to small ownerships.
The revised standard is available for use immediately and all forests seeking FSC-certification but not currently FSC-certified should be evaluated to this revised standard. Those forests that are currently FSC-certified will have until October 8, 2011, to be in conformance to this standard.
Visit the Forest Stewardship Council Web site for more information.