June 7,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 8, 2010
Two managers at Smart Buy Home Furnishings in Springfield, Mo., prevented a burglary at the furniture store Saturday, the Springfield News-Leader reported Monday.
Marlene Woodman runs Smart Buy Home Furnishings with her daughter Angela Mallard. Police responding to a call found Mallard holding two men at gunpoint.
Mallard, who'd earlier arrived at the store with lunch, had found a man her mother had been waiting on in the back room of the store while Woodman was helping another customer--who turned out to be the first man's accomplice. The women detained both men.
Police arrested the two men, who are brothers, ages 58 and 45, who were not named in the report since they weren't listed as charged on Sunday.
June 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on June 7, 2010
Case goods vendor Stanley Furniture Company, Stanleytown, Va., (NASDAQ: STLY) has made several key personnel changes designed to strengthen the organization's sales, marketing and product development efforts.
Ward O'Quinn has been named product manager for the company's nursery and youth product line, Young America, reporting to President and CEO Glenn Prillaman. OʼQuinn joined Stanley Furniture in 1996 as a sales representative for the company's Southern California territory. In 2001, he transferred to Northern California as one of Stanley Furniture's most knowledgeable and well-respected sales representatives.
Relocating to North Carolina, O'Quinn now oversees the product development process, product line profitability, quality specifications and service to customers for Young America.
"Ward brings a comprehensive perspective to what is now a totally reinvented Young America," Prillaman said. "His day-to-day experience in the field will be invaluable as we forge a powerful relationship between the Young America brand, our Signature Shop retailers and today's consumer."
In May, Neil MacKenzie joined Stanley director of marketing, also reporting to Prillaman. For the past six years, he has served as the key account manager for The Burris Agency Inc., leading all aspects of client service including strategy development and implementation. He also has experience
managing several well-known brands outside the furniture industry.
For the last two years, MacKenzie has been the day-to-day client contact for Stanley Furniture and Young America. In this role, he has managed marketing initiatives such as Web site development, the introduction of the company's licensed furniture collection, Coastal Living, and the launch of the new Young America juvenile and youth furniture brand. In his new role, MacKenzie is responsible for setting the strategic direction of marketing initiatives, managing all marketing services at the execution level and assisting product and sales managers in overseeing changes in the marketplace.
"The director of marketing position is one that will afford us the ability to structure, initiate and execute the companyʼs marketing goals in an ever-changing marketplace," said Prillaman. "Neil's unique third-party perspective combined with first-hand experience of the Stanley Furniture and Young America brands make him the best candidate for this multi-faceted position."
Stanley also announced that Kevin Bowman has assumed the role of senior vice president of sales & customer service, reporting to Prillaman. Bowman's broadened responsibilities include managing the companyʼs independent sales force and overseeing customer service and all sales-related functions. Bowman joined Stanley Furniture in 2006 as the vice president of sales after an 18-year career in retail, most recently at Thomasville Furniture Industries.
"During a time of great uncertainty for anyone in our industry in sales, Kevin has been our only sales manager for several years now," said Prillaman. "Our company has been planning its operational transformation for some time. This effort has hindered our ability to travel and be in front of our customers face-to-face as we would like and as we traditionally have at Stanley. Kevin is aware of this and excited to build a more customer-centric sales service team in his expanded role."
Finally, independent sales representatives Matt O'Hearn and Ted Mischkot now serve as field sales consultants for the eastern and western U.S. territories, respectively. Both report to Bowman.
O'Hearn began representing Stanley Furnitureʼs New England territory in April 2006. The following year, he was the recipient of the companyʼs Championʼs Award, which honors the top performing representative and his/her territory. In March 2003 Mischkot took over as Stanley Furniture's Northwest territory. Prior to that his experience included a sales management role within the company. He has also received a number of awards recognizing his exemplary work as a sales representative.
In addition to serving as sales representatives in their respective territories, O'Hearn and Mischkot will provide strategic and tactical sales advice to Stanley Furniture Company and its representatives in the field. Each offers field leadership and support to the sales representatives and retailers in their regions, works directly with the company's retail partners on product development and customer service initiatives and assists in the development and analysis of strategic growth initiatives.
"I am confident that the talent, experience, and leadership both of these gentlemen possess will prove to be a tremendous asset to our sales force and to our retail partners across the country," said Kevin Bowman.
June 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 7, 2010
An employee who police say brought explosives to work at Zimmerman's Furniture in Minot, N.Dak., has been charged with terrorizing, the Grand Forks Herald reported Saturday.
Police say Chester Lint, 21, left the plastic explosive at Zimmerman's Furniture's Minot store Friday when his shift ended. had the plastic explosive with him at Zimmermans Furniture and left it there when his shift ended yesterday. Co-workers took the explosive outside, and a bomb squad detonated the explosive outside of town.
Lint may face other charges.
June 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 7, 2010
M.H. Alshaya Co. will open the first Pottery Barn home furnishings store in Kuwait on June 16, ameinfo.com reported Monday. A member of the Williams-Sonoma Inc. portfolio of brands, the 1,600-square-meter Pottery Barn store will be located in the Phase 1 area of the Avenues mall.
Pottery Barn made its Middle East debut earlier this year with a home furnishings store in Dubai that M.H. Alshaya opened in March. Franchise retailer M.H. Alshaya has more than 750 stores throughout the Middle East.
At the Kuwait store, two Design Studios, one located on each floor of the bi-level store, will provide destinations for customers to sit and discuss their furniture needs and plan their space with specially trained associates. Each Design Studio houses fabric, wood and leather swatches so customers can see all the choices available to them.
Furniture collection cards are also available to customers free of charge. These cards represent each Pottery Barn furniture collection and include product information such as measurements and all available finishes for the specific collection.
June 6,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on June 7, 2010
Furniture retail automation vendor and consultant Profitsystems Inc., Colorado Springs, Col., has launched "Passport-to-Profit," a new program designed primarily for new clients with the goal of getting them up to speed on their business' key metrics. The program is open to current clients as well.
Passport-to-Profit kicks off approximately three months after a client goes live on the software, or existing clients can participate any time they feel the desire for additional help. One of Profitsystems' customer satisfaction representatives works with the client to gather reports that provide baseline metrics on the business. The metrics include things such as GMROI, sales per square foot, and inventory to sales ratio. A senior consultant reviews the reports and metrics and formulates a plan specific to that particular business. The consultant and the client meet to review findings and provide the client a list of concerns and opportunities for the business. The consultant also makes recommendations as to where the owner and manager concentrate their efforts. After six months, the process is repeated to monitor results and offer new insights to keep the client's momentum going.
"We are in a unique situation where we not only have software to help manage a business, but a consulting department that can take a client to the next level, what ever that may be," said Profitsystems COO Shelley Parlin. "Many retailers come to use our software because they are either not able to make the profit that they should, or just can't grow their business with their current tools. Our new Passport-to-Profit project is exciting because from day one we can help them focus on the area where their business needs the most help, and we can provide them the expert advice that will get them there quickly."
In working with retailers to develop the program, Profitsystems found that many business owners know where their trouble spots are but just don't know the best way to overcome them. Others know that they have room for improvement but just can't step back far enough to see what they can change. Often, they have done things a certain way for so long that it doesn't even occur to them that it might not be the best way to do things now.
"Our mission is to make retailers more profitable and our software has incredible tools that do exactly that," said Profitsystems CEO Jeff Niskern. "We also know that owners and managers get pulled in so many directions by the day-to-day operations of their business that effectively tracking everything they have to do is extremely difficult. This new project gives us a great opportunity to step in and help executives look at their businesses with fresh eyes to see what opportunities they have to impact their bottom line."
For more information on Passport-to-Profit contact Wayne McMahon by e-mail.