Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on June 22, 2010
The Furniture Training Co. has been selected by RetailSystem.com as the online training provider for its United Kingdom, Australian and New Zealand based home furnishings retailers.
We couldn't be more excited to partner with the FTC and begin to offer their furniture training to our client retailers, said Stephen Smith, founder of RetailSystem.com. RetailSystem.com was conceived from the retailers viewpoint and focuses on putting customer service first. With this focus, we have been incredibly impressed with how easy the FTC training is for busy retailers to implement and track progress, the quality of their ever-growing library of furniture training lessons, and the low-cost of the training. Even more impressive is that over 90 percent of the many thousands of furniture salespeople they train on their furniture training Web site increase their furniture sales."
RetailSystem.com is an Internet company offering fully integrated back-end management systems for furniture retailers worldwide.¨¨"Since RetailSystem.com is a premier provider of online management services to furniture retailers in Europe and Eurasia, its a natural partnership opportunity for us," said Mike Petersen, vice president of marketing for Furniture Training Co. "We look forward to bringing the Internet-delivered furniture training lessons we currently provide to hundreds of U.S. and Canadian retailers to their home furnishings clients in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. Helping RetailSystem.com to better train their clients salespeople in furniture product knowledge, furniture selling techniques, and room design skills will be the focus of our contribution to their success."
Furniture Training Co. provides a subscription-based training Web site to the retail furniture industry. Since 2001, the company has provided training to hundreds of furniture retailers worldwide, from small single-store independents to large retail furniture chains and department stores.
June 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Customer Service on June 22, 2010
Home furnishings supply chain specialist Zenith Global Logistics, Conover, N.C., has opened a regional freight hub in Atlanta dedicated to its expanding home delivery service as well as its growing split container program.
"Increased demand for our home-delivery service in the Atlanta area was a key factor in establishing our latest hub in that region," said Jack Hawn, president and CEO. "We're also keenly aware that furniture retailers are facing fluctuating inventory and storage capacity needs in this challenging economy. They are relying on our split container program more than ever to help them maintain changing inventory needs."
The Atlanta hub is Zenith Global's third domestic expansion within the last year, and it brings the company's network of facilities to six throughout the United States. Zenith Global opened a regional freight hub in Tupelo, Miss., last November, three months after it established a 204,000-square-foot, multi-tenant warehousing and distribution center in Claremont, N.C. Future network expansions include facilities in Seattle, Chicago, Orlando and Elizabethtown, N.J.
"Especially in our tough economy, retailers are looking for ways to stand out," said David Alioto, who joined Zenith in March as executive vice president of home delivery services. "Zenith Global's carefully developed in-home delivery program is exactly the type of service offering a retailer can leverage to give their business a competitive edge."
Zenith Global Logistics is a total supply chain logistics provider specializing in international and domestic home furnishings warehousing, overseas transportation and domestic distribution, covering all of North America and the Caribbean. Zenith currently operates more than 4.5 million square feet of warehouse domestically, including facilities in Southern California, Dallas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia.
June 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 22, 2010
The Home Furnishings Independents Association, Dallas, Texas, and its members recently gave testimony that helped prevent a code change that would have mandated that retail buildings showing or warehousing upholstery/mattresses would have to add sprinkler systems even if they had been grandfathered by their local code agencies.
Numerous HFIA members from Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Indiana, along with a consultant from the American Home Furnishings Alliance, testified in person and in writing against a proposed code recommendation. The hearings lasted two days and HFIA's testimony was vital in preventing the potential code change.
"Several members I spoke to said that having to add a sprinkler system to their buildings would potentially put them out of business," said HFIA President Mary Frye.
"This is outstanding news and a huge accomplishment for all retailers, especially those of us in historic buildings," said Carol Johnson of Johnson Furniture Co.
Andy Counts, CEO of the AHFA, said although he believes the safety of these properties a top priority, installing sprinkler systems retroactively is an expensive investment.
"Part of our successful argument [against sprinkler systems] was that retailers have a tremendously vested interest in their buildings, contents and communities being safe and so there are policies and procedures to ensure that they are," Counts said.
To ensure the community's safety, retailers currently implement effective practices such as inspections by fire officials so they know about the layout of buildings, no smoking policies, proper trash disposal and building inspections by store personnel to spot potential problems. In addition, the industry supported a recent code change that requires sprinklers in all future retail establishments.
"Nonetheless, with these effective safety measures in play, we will likely see this effort again next year and the year after that," Counts said.
June 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on June 22, 2010
Bedroom, dining, occasional and accessory furniture vendor Zuo Modern has set a July 15 opening for its new 120,000-square-foot headquarters/warehouse in San Leandro, Calif.
The facility's 100,000 square feet of warehouse will make more than $3 million dollars of inventory available on the West Coast, and triple the amount of inventory previously stocked in the United States for year-round availabity.
Zuo Modern's Miami warehouse and office will expand later this year.
The latest state of art technology will be implemented in the warehouse, with bar code scans and computer generated packing lists/invoices for faster and more accurate shipping to facilitate both less-than-truckload, small-package and drop shipping.
The new facility also includes a 10,000-square-foot showroom to show the company's entire product line and serve as workspace for developing new designs. All of U.S. customer service, operations, accounting, and product development staff will be based in San Leandro.
June 21,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on June 22, 2010
One of New York City's premier museum retailers, the Store at MAD (Museum of Arts and Design), will install a retail "pop-up" location at the summer 2010 edition of the New York International Gift Fair, August 14-19 at New York City's Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
The MAD pop-up store will feature a range of products which celebrate the artist, material use and design. Product categories range from jewelry, glass, ceramics, wood, home design and fashion accessories, to a highly-curated selection of children's products and books.
"This exciting new feature at NYIGF will give participants direct access to MAD's exclusive products, as well as one more avenue to showcase--and celebrate--quality artisanal craft at NYIGF," said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president.
"Because of the Museum of Arts and Design's mission to explore how craft, art and design intersect, The Store at MAD is in a unique position to present product that crosses over into many diverse categories," said Franci Sagar, MAD vice president and director of retail and brand development. "Our product selection appeals to a sophisticated customer who appreciates workmanship and design. NYIGF buyers fit this profile, making the Fair an ideal platform for MAD to have a pop up store."
For nearly half a century, the Museum of Arts and Design, formerly the American Craft Museum, has served as the country's premier institution dedicated to the collection and exhibition of contemporary objects created in media such as clay, glass, wood, metal, and fiber. The Store at MAD has become a premier shopping destination, with a cohesive presentation of well-designed craft and design objects.