May 23,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Motion Upholstery on May 24, 2010
Motion upholstery producer Southern Motion plans to expand its production in Pontotoc, Miss., and create at least 200 new jobs over the next two years according to a report by
The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.The company will invest $7 million to construct a new 180,000-square-foot facility adjacent to its current operation.
Southern Motion President Roger Bland said the expansion will allow the company to continue its "commitment to manufacturing quality, American-made motion furniture."
Southern Motion currently employs 701 workers and was founded in 1996 by Guy Lipscomb and Larry
Todd.
May 23,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on May 24, 2010
Celebrating the 15th year of the award,
ASFD is accepting submissions for the 2010 Pinnacle Design Achievement Awards competition, and the deadline for submitting entries is Tuesday, June 1.
The Pinnacle Awards are the home furnishings industry equivalent of the Academy Awards honoring excellence in design. Award finalists and winners are recognized industry wide for their stylish and innovative designs.
The Pinnacle Awards are not only a way of recognizing the work of talented designers, but are a way for all of us to honor companies which support and encourage originality of thought, and design innovation. The addition this year of the Green Leaf Award takes the Pinnacles to another level, in which sustainable design becomes synonymous with good design. For all these reasons, the Pinnacle¢ Design Awards truly do represent what is best about our industry said Dudley Moore Jr., furniture designer and ASFD Pinnacle Awards Chair.
The 2010 Panel of Judges will include Dr. Richard Bennington,
High Point University; Gary Evans,
Furniture/Today; Ellen Gefen,
Gefen Productions; Jim Hering,
HW Home, Boulder, Colo.; Jackie Hirschhaut,
AHFA; Sheila Long OMara,
Home Furnishings Business; Linda Longo,
Home Lighting & Accessories; Chuck Portaro,
Furnitureland South, Jamestown, N.C.; Dianne Ray,
Garden City Furniture, Garden City, S.C.; Max Shangle,
Ferris State University, KCAD; Julie Smith Vincenti,
Nine Muses Media; and Ron Werner, HW Home.
A list of all Pinnacle Finalists will be released to the Media and posted to the ASFD Web site following the judging in mid-June. The Pinnacle Award Winners will be presented during the Fall High Point Market on Monday evening, Oct. 18, during the 15th annual awards banquet in the IHFC Ballroom.
Furniture/Today is the major underwriter of the Pinnacle Awards. The 2010 Pinnacle sponsors are Continental Brass,
EarthCare Inside,
Furniture Design Studios,
High Point Market Authority,
Home Lighting and Accessories, Hickory Springs Mfg. Co.,
Home Furnishings Business,
IHFC,
Leggett & Platt Inc.,
Market Square & Suites and the
Sustainable Furnishings Council.
Detailed Pinnacle entry categories, eligibility criteria, entry requirements, including entry and payment forms are available for downloading. To receive a free 2010 Pinnacle poster/entry form by mail,
e-mail Christine Evans, ASFD executive director, or call 910.576.1273.
May 23,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on May 24, 2010
Managing people is often the toughest part of any job.
This week, our blogger extraordinaire Phyllis Bosco Zaepfel addresses how we treat our employees to ensure our companies are fit from top to bottom. Check out her latest insight and offer a comment for fun.
Zaepfel is is vice president of PROFITgroups.
May 20,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Las Vegas on May 21, 2010
World Market Center Las Vegas has launched five Web sites as the cornerstone of an integrated online platform to provide information and tools to its customers.
The Web sites include a
newly designed corporate address and four event sites tailored around the center's four differing markets
Las Vegas Market;
Gift+Home;
Vegas Kids; and
INSPIREDESIGN.
The portfolio of sites includes the
integration of Las Vegas Design Center, which was introduced last year to the design community and consumers to support the market center's year-round design business. Collectively, the interactive experience aims to build customized market planning tools, rich resources essential to serving every segment of the home furnishings business, and to connect communities across WMCLVs home furnishings, gift, juvenile and hospitality markets.
Our network of new websites represents a logical extension of our on-site Market experience, delivering critical information and resources to all of our various constituents in the most efficient, most productive manner possible, said World Market Center Las Vegas President and CEO Robert Maricich. Easy to navigate and populated with everything visitors need to enjoy a more vibrant and seamless view of World Market Center Las Vegas and our shows, this new digital platform will empower industry professionals around the globe to identify new potential business partners and lay the groundwork for agreements that drive bottom-line results.
The new platform offers registered buyers, designers, exhibitors and media a personalized experience throughout all of the WMC brands. Users can create a username and password and navigate based on preference, create an event schedule, view unique content and more. Additional features to come online later include: a streamlined registration process; ability to manage profiles and share information; create calendars; view and rank product; access a message center; manage a portfolio of favorite exhibitors; and have easy access to the market center's social media feeds and content.
The roll out of the new sites provides each of the center's manufacturing partners a complimentary microsite for reaching new and existing customers.
Our partners can truly take ownership of these microsites and build them out with content that creates a customized marketing platform before, during and after a show, said Dana Andrew, vice president of marketing and public relations. The addition of this feature adds a digital dimension to the process of buying and selling that will dramatically increase the value of a business partnership with World Market Center Las Vegas.
To promote the sites and encourage online registration within the community, World Market Center is giving away
10 Apple iPadsone per week leading up to the Summer Market in August. People must be present at the Las Vegas Market to win.
The sites were developed in conjunction with
Defero, a marketing communication digital agency based in Phoenix.
May 20,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on May 21, 2010
Cost Plus World Market (NASDAQ: CPWM) reported a net loss of $10.3 million for the first quarter ended May 1, that's a $31.3 million improvement from the $41.6 million loss posted in the same quarter last year.
Net sales for the first quarter were $189.2 million, a 2.7 percent increase compared to $184.3 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2009. Same store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2010 increased 5.6 percent compared to an 8.9 percent decrease during the same period last year. The comparable store sales figure exceeded the high-end of the company's guidance previously reported of 3 percent to 5 percent.
"I am pleased with our first quarter results," said Barry Feld, president and chief executive officer. "During the quarter, we made significant progress towards restoring gross margin by securing pricing concessions with our vendors that allowed for lower retail price points and reduced the need for promotional markdowns. Additionally, we continue to expand the use of alternate layered media and our loyalty program to drive new customer acquisition and shopping frequency which is delivering the necessary results."
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects net sales in the range of $189 million to $192 million, based on a same-store sales increase in the range of 5 percent to 7 percent. The company is projecting a loss form continuing operations before interest and taxes in the range of $7 million to $9 million compared to a loss of $16.8 million for the second quarter of last year.
The company has 263 stores in 30 states.