Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 25,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on May 26, 2010
Gift for Life, the gift, stationery and home décor industries' charitable organization, has a new fundraising initiativeChange for Life.
The national donation program begins with a select group of 12 industry-leading companies setting aside a pre-determined, per-order amount to Gift for Life for each order placed at major trade events across the United States for the remainder of this year. Change for Life will kick off in Dallas in June and will continue through October in High Point.
The program was initiated by Gift For Life in connection with industry icon Randy Ellers summer 2010 receipt of Gift for Lifes Industry Achievement Award.
Creating a new national program not only helps Gift for Life but unifies the industry for a single important cause, Eller said. When we contacted a select group of leading companies they were quick to embrace the idea.
Currently 12 companies serve as founding partners:
Alexas Angels,
Appleman Schauben,
CR Gibson,
Evergreen,
Global Views,
IMAX,
Lazy Susan,
Lindsey Phillips,
Mudpie,
OneCoast,
Twos Company and
Uttermost.
This is a meaningful partnership for all of us, said John Keiser, CEO of OneCoast. As we service tens of thousands of customers we can offer an efficient way to support a worthy cause. Its business with heart.
These generous companies recognize that commerce and charity can work together and in turn create a better world, said Jenny Hammons, chair of the Gift for Life board. We are thrilled to have strong partners as we launch this nationwide program.
Following the 2010 launch, Change for Life will be rolled out across the industry and additional companies will be invited to participate.
Gift for Life presents its annual Industry Achievement Award each August as part of the Gifts & Decorative Accessories Retailer Excellence Awards. In addition, Gift for Life hosts regional events throughout the United States and a national fundraiser each winter in New York City during the New York International Gift Fair. Funds benefit
DIFFADesign Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. Gift for Life was founded in 1992, and since then, the organization has raised nearly $4 million through special events, cause-related marketing, promotions, and from corporate and individual donations.
DIFFA is one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS service and education programs in the U.S. Since its founding in 1984, DIFFA has mobilized the resources of the design communities to provide more than $38 million to hundreds of AIDS organizations nationwide.
May 25,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on May 26, 2010
Multi-channel,
contemporary retailer Design Within Reach has expanded its hospitality and contract sales division.
The retailer gives hospitality executives, interior designers, hotel owners, architects, restaurateurs and other trade purchasers a single source for authentic modern furniture, with competitive pricing on contract-quality products.
Matt Buckley has been named vice president of architect and designer sales and is responsible for the strategy and success of the hospitality and contract sales objectives. Buckley also oversees a new team of regionally based sales consultants who are dedicated to serving the needs of large-scale clients.
"We took the overwhelmingly positive response to our first booth at HD Expo in Las Vegas last week to mean that there is a huge need for modern furnishings in the hospitality industry," said John Edelman, CEO and president. "I am pleased to launch our expanded A&D Division with my long-time Edelman Leather colleague, Matt Buckley, at the helm."
"Our relationship with design-focused manufacturers
Stua,
Skitsch,
Verner Panton and others is why we hope to be a key supplier to the world's best design firms," Buckley said. "We've partnered with the industry's leading designers to create new and exclusive products to help our clients set themselves apart from the competition. We also have our own product development team called DWR Design Studio, which gives us worldwide sourcing and buying power to bring innovative products to market."
Design Within Reach products have been installed in restaurants, guest suites, wineries, museums and other places around the world.
The company, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 1998. The retailer markets and sells its furniture and accessories to both residential and contract customers. The company has retail Studios in the U.S. and Canada, an e-commerce Web site and a phone sales service.
May 25,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on May 26, 2010
Furniture Brands International (NYSE: FBN) has named a new chief marketing officer to fill the position left vacant last year when Alex Hodges left the company for personal reasons.
Jim Brenner was named chief marketing officer for the company earlier this month. Brenner, a veteran marketer of consumer products, was senior vice president of marketing for
Schwans Home Service, a division of
The Schwans Food Co. most recently. Brenner was also chief marketing officer of
LCA Vision/Lasik Plus and before that he was vice president of marketing for
Nautilus.
Brenner started his career as an engineer with
The Quaker Oats Co. and later moved to the marketing department. From there, he joined
The Coca-Cola Co. where he held a number of positions, including global marketing, acquisitions, strategic planning and new product development.
From Coca-Cola, he moved to Nautilus.
Hodges had joined Furniture Brands in January, 2008, as chief marketing officer.
May 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 25, 2010
WithIt has announced the WOW Awards finalists for 2010.
The annual program honors individuals and/or corporations in the home and furnishings industries.
Julie Phillips, vice president of
The Phillips Collection, has earned the 2010 Legacy Award. This
top honor recognizes the professional achievements of a woman who has made significant lifetime contributions to the home and furnishings industries.
In addition to naming the Legacy Award recipient, nominees for education, mentoring and future
leader awards have been released.
They are: Margaret Casey, director of programming,
World Market Center-Las Vegas; F. Jay Reardon, president,
Hickory Chair; and Lauren West, director of education and development,
Natuzzi Americas for the education award.
For the mentoring award: Gat Caperton, president and CEO,
Gat Creek; Deborah Klein, DK Inside Designer Inc.; and Kathy Wall, president,
The Media Matters.
For the future leader award: Rene Crosby, senior account executive,
Four Hands; Kristin Hawkins, new product development stage gate manager,
Broyhill Furniture Inds., a subsidiary of
Furniture Brands International; Vanessa Northrop, marketing director,
City Furniture; and Kaci Prunty, retail market manager,
Tempur-Pedic North America.
The recipient of each WOW Award will be announced Aug. 18 during an evening banquet being held during the annual WithIt Professional Conference, Aug. 17-19. In addition, the Legacy Award will be presented to Phillips. Both the WOW Awards dinner and conference will be held at the
Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel in Charlotte, N.C. For more information and t
o register for the
conference and the WOW Awards banquet, visit WithIt.
May 24,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 25, 2010
Continents Apart has become the exclusive representative of
Leisure Solutions product by Tradeworks Group.
Previously, Leisure Solutions' in-house sales team marketed and sold via e-commerce, catalog and television home shopping accounts. That business is now being transitioned to sell bricks-and-mortar accounts.
We realized in the third quarter last year that we were missing out on opportunities with e-commerce and catalogue retailers," said Stuart Flaumenbaum, president of Tradeworks. "After conferring with our executive committee and consultants we determined this was because it was simply not part of our core competencies. This move will result in our in-house sales team focusing on traditional bricks and mortar business, and leaving the rest to experts."
Leisure Solutions is a division of Tradeworks Group Ltd.of Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. They have additional warehousing and distribution in Ottawa, Illinois for U.S. customers. The company supplies home and garden products, including outdoor furniture, home and office storage and pet furnishings.
The common thread to all of the Tradeworks companies is the idea of building a better mousetrap," said Steven Husak, CEO of Continents Apart. "We observed their commitment to product research and development and constant search for better ways to make products of only the highest quality. These qualities will allow a seamless integration of their products with our other lines."
Continents Apart is a nationwide sales and marketing representative organization specializing in the home and garden furnishings.