Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Leather Upholstery on June 28, 2010
Earnest P. (Bud) Drum, 82, is celebrating 64 years of work with leather upholstered furniture manufacturer Classic Leather, Hickory, N.C.
Drum was first hired by Statesville Chair Company in 1946 at the age of 17 and has been on the job ever since.
Drum was the supervisor of Statesville Chair Company's machine room for 20 years and has worked for Classic Leather Inc. since it acquired Statesville Chair in 1986. Since Classic Leather was founded in 1966, Drum has actually worked for the company 20 years longer than it has been in business. He currently runs routers, profilers, carvers, planers for Classic Leathers case goods production facilities.¨
In his 64 years on the job, Drum has seen a world of change in the business, its facilities, the marketplace and society in general. So, after being a witness to so much history, what is Drum's favorite memory of his time at Statesville Chair Company and Classic Leather?
"When we finally got some indoor toilets," Drum responded.
When hes not running routers, profilers, carvers or planers for Classic Leather. Drum enjoys fishing, golf and Corvettes. He and his late wife, Millisent, have one son, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
June 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 25, 2010
Jamestown, N.C.-based
Furnitureland South is opening a new café next week that will feature casual dining and a family-friendly menu.
The Café, which will be located on the first floor of the retailer's showroom building, is replacing the current
Bear Rock Café. The restaurant will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. and will serve breakfast and lunch fare.
June 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Customer Service on June 25, 2010
Darcy Suchman was recently honored by
La-Z-Boy (NYSE: LZB) with its first Designer of the Year award, created to recognize in-home designers within the company-owned network of La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in North America.
Suchman is a designer in the
company's Annapolis, Md., store.
"La-Z-Boy in-home designers offer expert interior decorating assistance free of charge to our customers," said Mark Bacon, chief retail officer for La-Z-Boy. "This award recognizes Darcys outstanding creativity, acute attention to detail and knowledgeable customer service on a project she executed for clients in Ellicott City, Maryland."
In order to reward the best design execution, designers representing more than 70 company-owned stores submitted top makeover projects to La-Z-Boy. Entries were judged on a variety of criteria, including creativity, insightfulness, design expertise, customer service, final transformation and overall client satisfaction.
"We are very happy with the choices and the design support Darcy offered," wrote customer Mark Buehlman. "It provides the perfect combination of function, comfort, seating and eye appeal. We could not have done it without her help."
Suchman receives a vacation to the destination of her choice
"Being able to translate a clients ideas into a room that both realizes the full potential of the space and reflects a unique personality is a skill and a challenge," Suchman said. "It was a pleasure to work with the Buehlman family to create a comfortable and beautiful living room, filled with custom elements, on a budget. I know they will enjoy the new space for years to come."
Suchman started her career with La-Z-Boy in 2009 and has worked at both the Columbia, Md., store and the Annapolis, Md., store.
June 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on June 25, 2010
The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act, a bipartisan bill that incorporates aspects of the California formaldehyde standard. The bill cleared the Senate earlier this month and will now be sent to the President for his signature.
The regulation applies to hardwood plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard and all products made with these as component parts.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance, along with environmental, health and industry stakeholders, worked for more than seven years with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to establish lower limits for formaldehyde in composite wood products. AHFA continues to work directly with CARB staff to outline and define enforcement and testing methods as the various phases of the California rule are implemented.
AHFA also worked closely with Congress as the federal formaldehyde legislation was crafted. The bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency to establish implementation, testing and compliance provisions for the standard that can be implemented on a national level.
"While we have made steady, incremental achievements, compliance challenges remain with the California standard, and we will work with EPA to address those same challenges in the new federal standard," notes AHFA Vice President Bill Perdue. "AHFA has already begun to provide relevant input and data to the EPA, and we will continue working closely with agency staff in an effort to ensure that key industry concerns are addressed."
Chief among AHFA's challenges with the California rule was establishing adequate sell-through periods for non-compliant products as the lower emission limits were phased in.
"Establishing adequate sell-through provisions will be even more critical with the federal rule," Perdue said. "Unlike in California, where non-compliant inventories could be moved to other markets, there is no pragmatic solution to non-compliant inventories within the national marketplace."
The unprecedented economic conditions in the last few years have left manufacturers with higher than normal inventories, exacerbating the potential problem for companies with non-compliant products.
"AHFA has requested a sell-through period of 36 months for finished goods following the compliance deadline for composite wood products," Perdue said.
A second challenge with the federal formaldehyde standard will be establishing reasonable testing and compliance provisions, according to the AHFA.
"Initially, as part of its enforcement strategy, CARB proposed a finished product testing requirement," Perdue said. "This would have required furniture manufacturers to test and meet the emission requirements for all furniture sold into California--and that would have been a very costly proposition. There is no established test protocol for finished products, and the data collected could not be benchmarked against the proposed emissions requirements, since those pertain only to individual composite wood products."
AHFA successfully argued for elimination of the finished product testing requirement from the California rule.
"We have already discussed this issue with the EPA and have recommended that the federal compliance rules not contain any provisions for the testing of finished goods, such as furniture or cabinets," Perdue said. "If raw board component parts are properly regulated, downstream users of these products, including home furnishings manufacturers and retailers, eventually will have only compliant products in their inventories."
June 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 25, 2010
Lane Home Furnishings, Tupelo, Miss., has named Shocks' Home Comfort Store, Vacaville, Calif., the vendor's 2009 Bronze Showcase Gallery of the Year.
Shocks' experienced a 43 percent sales increase in Lane goods from 2008 to 2009.
"We are excited to present Shocks with this sales award and have them as one of our valued partners," said Jerry Wortham, director of dedicated distribution for Lane Home Furnishings. "Lane is dedicated to researching and manufacturing product that consumers want. Shocks' tremendous sales increase is an example of consumers preferring Lane over other brands."
Shocks' Home Comfort Store is a 20,000-square-foot showroom that has been in business since 1973. Shocks' has been voted the Best Furniture Store in Solano County for the last 3 consecutive years.
Lane Home Furnishings is a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International, St. Louis (NYSE:FBN).