Daily News Archive
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May 20,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on May 21, 2010
Where 2 Get It, Inc., a provider of local search solutions for national brands, has introduced its first business locator seamlessly integrated into
Facebook.
Currently
Chick-fil-A,
Carhartt, and
Cooper Tire have live Facebook locators available to their fans on the social networking site.
This is an example of our leadership in this industry; being aware of what our clients need. We will continue to push the envelope to help our clients get found where users search, said CEO Manish Patel. We are definitely excited about the Facebook Locator. We like that our fans can stay within the Facebook environment and still have easy access to find our locations nationwide
Chick-fil-A is one of the first customers to go live with the Facebook Locator which is found as a tab on the fan page. Currently, Chick-fil-A has more than 1.5 million fans on its Facebook page. After one month, the locator has been used almost 5,000 times.
We are definitely excited about the Facebook Locator. We like that our fans can stay within the Facebook environment and still have easy access to find our locations nationwide, said Michael McCathren, Chick-fil-A marketing representative.
By giving Facebook fans direct access to store location information it turns social networking into a tangible ROI-driven business and sales tool. Customers can add this new locator application to their profile and share it with friends. Also, each locator has targeted analytics that track user behavior, number of times it is downloaded and customer engagement with the locators features.
Where 2 Get It offers comprehensive search, Web and mobile-based locators including search engine marketingGoogle AdWords Authorized Co., search engine optimization, local submission, business locators, mobile locators and
iPhone locators.
May 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 20, 2010
Simmons Bedding Co. has signed a licensing and distribution agreement with Intercoil International, a leader in orthopedic sleep products in the Middle East.
Under the agreement,
Intercoil will be the exclusive licensee of Simmons products across the Middle East, and plans to open eight dedicated Simmons retail locations by the end of 2011. Four of the stores will be in Dubai and the others will be across the region. The first Simmons exclusive showroom in the region will open soon.
As part of the deal, Intercoil is importing high-end machinery and technology intelligence from Simmons and will manufacture the Simmons sleep products out of Intercoil's main factory in the United Arab Emirates. The manufacturing is scheduled to begin next month. In addition, Intercoil will distribute Simmons products through its established retail network in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon.
"We believe that our partnership with Simmons is an important milestone in the history of the company, and it will definitely support us in realizing our vision to become the market leader in the Middle East region," said Hassan Abbas Al Hazeem, managing director of Intercoil. "This partnership will bring more value, quality and choice for our customers.
"We have outlined a proactive strategic growth plan for the region," he said. "In addition to continuing to enhance our retail points, we are focusing on enhancing our manufacturing setup. We plan to open three more manufacturing facilities in the region."
The partnership gives Simmons a larger presence in the Middle East retail and hospitality arena, said Todd Merker, director of global licensing for Simmons.
"While Simmons has been present in the Middle East for some time now, we have identified greater opportunities with Intercoil aimed at further accelerating our growth in the coming months," he said.
May 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 20, 2010
Furniture Liquidators of America is moving forward with its plans to open short-term furniture store in Charlotte, N.C.
The retail operation, owned by Jeff Davis, also president and owner of Innovision Retail, will be reopening at its original location at 7201 Smith Corners Blvd., along with a second location in Mooresville, N.C. at 598-C River Highway.
The stores offer consumers the opportunity to buy select brand name home furnishings at a fraction of the cost of traditional retailers by maintaining low overhead and using prime real estate locations through short-term leases.
"I've been in the home furnishings industry for a long time, and more than ever shoppers are looking to names they can trust, from a retailer they trust, but at a price they can afford," Davis said.
The Smith Corners store opened in January and is having a grand re-opening because of the consumer response to the concept was strong. The real estate for the second location was available and allowed the company to expand into the attractive Lake Norman area.
"The Mooresville and Lake Norman area suburbs of Charlotte fit perfectly into our company's middle market demographic profile," Davis said. "Linen's n Things vacated a 30,000-square-foot store adjacent to a Super Target last year, and we were fortunate to secure that space with a flexible lease. The space will establish us in that marketplace through August of 2010."
May 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on May 20, 2010
Industry veteran Jim Telleysh has been named vice president and general manager of upholstery operations for Lexington Home Brands.
In his role, Telleysh is responsible for all aspects of the companys upholstery business. Telleysh reports to Phil Haney, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands.
With 15 years experience in managing upholstery operations, leading successful sales organizations, and developing both dealer and supplier partnerships, we are delighted to have an individual of Jims caliber as a part of our executive team, Haney said. His dynamic leadership style and broad understanding of the business will be great assets as we capitalize on the dramatic increases we have experienced in our upholstery business over the last 18 months.
Telleysh was most recently vice president of sales at Archetype Furniture. Prior to that, he held executive management positions at Southern Furniture and Clayton Marcus.
Over the last two years, I have watched with considerable interest the transformation that has taken place at Lexington Home Brands, Telleysh said. Their passion for product development, innovative marketing and great showroom presentation has placed them in the forefront of lifestyle design. The opportunity to join a talented and proven management team in continuing to grow one of the most powerful brands in the industry was a real honor. I couldnt be more excited.
Telleysh will be based out of the Lexington upholstery operations center in Hildebran, N.C.
Privately held Lexington Home Brands is an affiliate of Boca Raton, Fla.-based Sun Capital Partners.
The companys product line encompasses a range of medium to upper-end case goods and upholstered furniture, with brand names that include Lexington, Tommy Bahama Home, Trump Home, Palmer Home and Bob Timberlake.
May 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Leather Upholstery on May 20, 2010
Leather producer Leather Italia USA plans to introduce a campaign at
October High Point Market that benefits the
N.C. Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill, N.C., as well as other charities in which its retail partners operate.
The campaign, "We Promise to Make a Difference", will include specific products from the company's line.
The N.C. Children's Hospital holds a special place with Mike Campbell, president of Leather Italia. When his daughter Taylor was 8 months old she was badly burned by scalding hot oil and given less than a 20 percent chance of survival. Baby Taylor was treated at the children's hospital for three months and made it home to Wilmington, N.C., in time to celebrate her first birthday.
Taylor is now 6 and has routine follow-up care at the Children's Hospital, including plastic surgery, and she still has several more procedures ahead of her. Since that time, Campbell and his wife Teressa have committed themselves to raising awareness and support for the hospital, which provides care regardless of a family's ability to pay.
My message to parents is that you never know when youll need North Carolina Childrens Hospital, Campbell said. In our case, it was an unexpected household injury. For other families it may be a disease diagnosis or surgery that brings them to the hospital, but it can happen to any family at anytime.
Campbell will be sharing his family's story next week at the hospital's third annual Wilmington, N.C.-area Pinwheels and Promises luncheon at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort in Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
The purpose of the event is to raise awareness of the Childrens Hospitals specialty programs and services and money for initiatives left unfunded by clinical revenues. Past luncheons have helped fund things like a camp for pediatric burn victims and the hospitals specialized pediatric ambulance, which transports children from counties across the state to the Childrens Hospital.
Each year, N.C. Childrens Hospital provides specialty care to more than 70,000 children from all 100 counties throughout North Carolina. The Childrens Hospitals clinical faculty is particularly active in Wilmington, where they treat children in Wilmington-based clinics in several specialty areas, including cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology-oncology, pulmonology, rheumatology, and surgery.