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July 5,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on July 6, 2010
Virginia Business magazine has given Larry Ryder, chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance and administration for Hooker Furniture Corp., Martinsville, Va., the publication's 2010 CFO Award for publicly traded companies.
The award recognized Ryder's contributions over a 33-year career at Hooker Furniture (NASDAQ-GS: HOFT).
Ryder received the award during a July 1 black-tie event at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. CFO Awards for the state of Virginia were given by Virginia Business in five categories. Besides the publicly-traded category, others included large private companies, small private companies, large and small nonprofit organizations.
The winners were chosen by a panel of five judges, all of whom were previous CFO Award winners. The contest attracted 47 nominees this year.
"This tribute to Larry is a very fitting recognition of all the positive contributions he has made at Hooker Furniture," said Paul Toms, chairman and chief executive officer. "He is a tremendous asset to the company and a great person to work with. This honor is highly deserved. We are proud of him, but not surprised that he would be recognized for his professional and personal excellence by his peers and the Virginia financial community."
"A leader is only as good as the people surrounding him," Ryder said. "I've been fortunate to be surrounded all these years by great people at Hooker Furniture, which is a wonderful place to work, and to have excellent advisors outside the company with our banking, accounting, legal and insurance partners."
July 5,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Customer Service on July 6, 2010
Imperial Rugs has teamed with Continents Apart LLC, a rep group specializing in drop shipping for home, gift and garden products, as the rug vendor's exclusive drop ship reps.
"As a long established brand in the marketplace we needed to be certain that the quality of our representation matches the quality of our product," said Imperial Rugs President Lalla Maurya. "We feel that in making this major commitment to the e-commerce and catalog channels we wanted to be working with a company of high integrity that shares our vision of the present and future for Imperial Rugs. That is why we have chosen to work with the team at Continents Apart."
Imperial will begin its drop-shipping program with with 414 items from five collections. The rugs are all 100 percent wool, hand-knotted or hand-tufted in India and come with a three-year warranty. Imperial will look for opportunities to expand the drop ship offering.
"We actually interviewed several major rug importers that wanted to work with e-commerce retailers in particular," said Continents Apart CEO Steven Husak. "We felt that none of them showed the commitment to inventory and service that we require for our customers. Imperial Rugs meets those high standards. All of our testing shows 100 percent shipping within two business days."
Imperial Rugs, Tucker, Ga., has a showroom at America's Mart in Atlanta. In the past three decades Imperial Rugs has grown beyond the role of a traditional manufacturer to creating solution-oriented services and products, including hand-tufted rugs, hand-knotted rugs and home accessories.
Based in Sarasota, Fla., Continents Apart is a nationwide sales and marketing organization specializing in the home and garden furnishings, gift and licensed sports products space, with a focus is on direct-to-consumer, or drop-ship, service.
July 5,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 6, 2010
A Brockton, Mass. furniture store was destroyed by a fire that began Friday night, the Enterprise of Brockton reported Saturday.
The fire at Malu's Place Furniture was caused by wiring in the walls, according to a fire department investigation.
No injuries were reported. The owner, who rented the building, lost more than $200,000 in merchandise.
July 5,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Advertising on July 6, 2010
Laura Mathisen has joined Spokane, Wash.-based integrated marketing and advertising firm Banner Marketing as marketing manager. Additionally, Banner promoted Regina Dinning to director of new business development and is seeking to hire additional sales executive.
"As Banner Marketing moves out of the tough economic times into a growth mode, we are pleased to hire and promote new key staff members," said president and CEO John Dresel. "We are thrilled to welcome Laura Mathisen, whose expertise will be invaluable for the companys focus on marketing, and recognize Regina Dinning, who has proven an effective leader worthy of promotion."
Mathisen has more than 25 years of sales and marketing experience. She spent 10 years in Japan where she served as a contract marketing consultant on product launches in overseas markets, copy writing and materials development, product development, diversification and positioning. She has spent the past 10 years working for various organizations in Spokane, including Gonzaga University's School of Law.
Dinning has been promoted to director of new business development after two years in an outside sales role. Dinning's primary responsibility in her new role is to prospect and cultivate new business opportunities. In the development of strategic marketing programs for new business, Dinning will be supported by the addition of new hire Mathisen.
Earlier this year, Banner Marketing partnered with the Western Home Furnishings Association to enhance marketing services for the trade group's almost 800 home furnishings retail members.
July 1,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on July 2, 2010
The International Sleep Products Association reported Thursday that mattress units shipped and wholesale revenues are up 11 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively, through May compared with the same point in 2009.
For May alone, mattress and foundation units shipped and sales revenues for these companies increased by 10.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively, over May 2009 levels.
That's according to ISPA's Bedding Barometer survey, which reports U.S. sales activity (including Puerto Rico) for 20 U.S. mattress manufacturers. The participating companies accounted for nearly 64 percent of the mattress units shipped and nearly 73 percent of the wholesale market revenue for mattresses sold in 2009.
"Experience shows that mattress sales are influenced strongly by trends in the national economy, especially by changes in consumers' disposable income, sales of new and existing homes, and changes in consumers' wealth," said ISPA President Ryan Trainer. "So far this year, the industry is performing significantly better than it did at this time in 2009, but we're not out of the woods yet. Unemployment remains high, consumer confidence fell in June, and many consumers and businesses are anxious about when and how quickly the economy will improve. Our current mattress industry forecast, which we issued in March 2010, projects that mattress units and sales will increase in 2010 by 4.5 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively, compared to 2009. As of May, we are set to meet or exceed those forecasts, but we still have more than half of the year ahead of us."
ISPA notes that the experience of survey participants as a group does not necessarily reflect that of the entire mattress manufacturing industry. Furthermore, comparisons of Bedding Barometer results for different time periods can be affected by a number of factors, including differences in the number of workdays and holiday promotions in a given month, weather conditions and other variables.
To subscribe to the Bedding Barometer and other ISPA reports, visit the ISPA Web site; or contact Jane Oseth at 703.683.8371, extension 1130, or by e-mail.