Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 9,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 10, 2010
Albany, N.Y., furniture store Moose Creek Ltd. will close Saturday after the 18-year-old furniture retailer and design studio completes a going-out of business sale, the Times-Union reported yesterday.
Co-owner Stephen Momrow cited a slow economy and customers gravitating toward less expensive goods as reasons for the decision to close.
"With the turn in the economy, even our customers, who were a little more well-heeled, were feeling the pinch," he said in the report.
June 9,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 10, 2010
Albany, N.Y., furniture store Moose Creek Ltd. will close Saturday after the 18-year-old furniture retailer and design studio completes a going-out of business sale, the Times-Union reported yesterday.
Co-owner Stephen Momrow cited a slow economy and customers gravitating toward less expensive goods as reasons for the decision to close.
"With the turn in the economy, even our customers, who were a little more well-heeled, were feeling the pinch," he said in the report.
June 9,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Rugs on June 10, 2010
The Rug Market America, Los Angeles, has partnered with three new rep groups to sustain and build business relationships in the Southeast, Midwest and Westcoast territories.
Hinsdale, Ill.-based sales agency Casa Bella will represent Rug Market America in a nine-state Midwest territory that includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Atlanta-based Southern Accessories Today, with 34 years of experience in home decor, will be represent the Southeast territory. That region includes Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Mississippi, Florida, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
West Coast sales agency Bassman Blaine, Costa Mesa, Calif., will represent Rug Market America in California, Nevada and Arizona.
"We are pleased to have Casa Bella, SAT and Bassman Blaine as part of our growing sales force," said Rug Market America President Mike Shabtai. "Their experience and dedication will be an asset to The Rug Market. We will do whatever it takes to support their needs and achieve our goals."
The Rug Market carries an extensive line of highly decorative handmade rugs for every room.
June 9,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on June 10, 2010
Sev Ritchie has joined The Kaleidoscope Partnership, a social media agency for the home furnishings and related industries, as business partner and chief operating officer.
Ritchie, formerly executive vice president of furniture, accessories, appliance and electronics retail Web site provider ayr1.com, will be responsible for new business development, client relations and operations.
"I am excited Sev has accepted my offer to become my business partner," said Leslie Carothers, founder and CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership, Minneapolis. "He is the acknowledged furniture industry expert in Internet marketing, search engine optimization, e-commerce and e-mail marketing. With Sev on board, our company is now poised to offer our current and future social media clients an array of services and new insights that can drive their profits in powerful new ways."
Prior to ayr1, Ritchie was president of FurnitureFan.com--a leading online directory of furniture Web sites with, at one time, more 10 million unique visitors a month--from 2002 through 2007.
"From my earliest days with autobytel.com, through my presidency of FurnitureFan.com all the way through my recent tenure with ayr1.com, I have always known one thing: using leverage well is the key to profits," Ritchie said. "My decision to become Leslie's business partner and COO will give our clients a unique value proposition as we can now help them leverage their websites, their e-commerce capabilities and their e-mail marketing across social media marketing channels--where real consumers are engaging in two way conversations-in order to create maximum profit opportunities for them that are sustainable over time."
Carothers established The Kaleidoscope Partnership--a social media agency for the furniture and related industries--in July 2002. Prior to that, she was involved in furniture retailing in various capacities for 20 years.
June 9,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 10, 2010
Online home furniture retailer FurnitureBlue, Delray Beach, Fla., has launched a new Web site and improved merchandising strategy.
The new face of FurnitureBlue is designed to be a significant step toward a more fashion and style-oriented business model.
"As we announced a few months ago, we believe that a sustainable home fashion web presence should be predicated on the lifestyle desires of our target consumer," said Johne Albanese, executive vice president of merchandising and operations. "Re-positioning the company's voice is a remarkably involved process and we believe that this new look is an enormously significant step in that direction."
The entire site has also been completely re-merchandised and features a more fashion-forward point of view. The updated site features a much softer, more feminine point of view and includes several revolving images that help set the overall tone of the new FurnitureBlue.
"The most important part of that process was soliciting the help of world class home furniture interior designers and merchandisers to help ensure that the products we offer are in fact the aspirational yet affordable products our customers want," Albanese said. "Our goal in undertaking this project remains to build the FurnitureBlue brand through a more emotional connection with our consumers while featuring great products at great values. And more importantly building a great communication channel with our core customers. We will continue to diversify our line ups to ensure that the products consumers really want can be found here."
In addition to all of the new merchandising, the company has overhauled the site navigation process for easier shopping. Home furniture is segmented by rooms, including Living Room Furniture, Dining Room Furniture, Bedroom Furniture, Kids Furniture, Home Theater Furniture and our Designers' Top Picks.
"The design we've initiated is far more intuitive and consumers will find that they're able to easily and quickly narrow down their options to better reflect their own personal sense of style," Albanese said. "We have also vastly improved the photography we are using and have launched a new zoom features making it easier view the detailing of our products."
CEO Brad Feuer said FurnitureBlue intends to continue over the next months to refine its strategy of "More Style. More Savings" and adjust the business model in that direction.
"We are fully committed to this direction and we're already beginning to see it bear fruit," Feuer said. "Even in the short time since we launched the new site, we have seen marked improvements in conversion rates, increased visitor retention, and overall customer satisfaction."