Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Special Events on May 20, 2013
The American Home Furnishings Alliance's second manufacturing summit will focus on health-care reform's impact on the furniture industry.
The event is scheduled for August 22 at the Embassy Suites Airport in Greensboro, N.C., and will concentrate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Greg Stancil, director of healthcare reform at Scott Insurance, Roanoke, Va., will help executives navigate the maze of reform measures to determine both short-term and long-term implications for business. Stancils pragmatic approach to deciphering the Affordable Care Act will lead participants toward realistic strategies that take into account the long-term expectations for reform.
Following lunch, the agenda turns to a menu of regulatory and compliance topics including:
* CARB Phase 2 Board Study Results, presented by Dan Seale, PhD, a professor in Mississippi State Universitys Department of Forest Products.
* Ongoing Challenges of Californias Proposition 65, presented by Todd Roessler, an attorney from the Raleigh, N.C., office of Kilpatrick Townsend who specializes in matters related to environmental transactions, regulatory counseling and litigation.
* Update on ASTM Product Standards, presented by Gene Barrow, product engineering manager for Bassett Furniture Industries.
* Regulatory Assessment Program, presented by Anita Goehringer, president and ergonomics consultant with Actual Ergonomics Inc., Tall Timbers, Md.
Registration is $119 for AHFA members and $159 for non-members and includes light morning refreshments and lunch. Registration is available at ahfa.us on the EVENTS page.
Attendees requiring overnight accommodations should contact the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel directly at 336.688.4535.
AHFAs first 2013 Manufacturing Summit was held in March at the Franklin Furniture Institute on the campus of Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on May 20, 2013
Furniture and bedding components vendor HSM, formerly Hickory Springs, has named Gregg Greulich vice president of innovation and technology.
Responsible for developing a vision for the growing engineering and research and development team, Greulich will use his leadership and management skills to help ensure the execution of strategic goals, including the development of a portfolio of integrated products across the companys Transportation Solutions, Bedding Solutions, Furniture Solutions and Diversified Solutions business units.
Welcoming Gregg to our team is the next step in our efforts to build out our engineering and research and development capabilities, said Dwayne Welch, executive vice president, chief marketing and innovation officer. Last year, we opened the Corporate Innovation and Research Center, which provides a setting for customers and vendors to work collaboratively on new products, programs and services while enabling HSM to leverage its expertise and respond rapidly to changing customer and market demands.
Today, the outstanding qualities and experience Gregg brings to his position will further enhance that capability, contributing to growth at HSM by improving our ability to offer HSM customers the latest materials and manufacturing techniques, helping them achieve their design visions while supporting our transition from a components manufacturer to an integrated solutions provider.
Greulich comes to HSM with 12 years of management experience in the engineering and research and development arena. Prior to joining HSM, he held the position of senior director, engineering, tooling and program management at Evenflo Company Inc., Miamisburg, Ohio, and served on a global management team with direct organizational leadership responsibility for infant care durable product programs. His résumé also includes management positions with Sunbeam Products Inc., Maytag Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation.
Greulich earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Evansville, Evansville, Ind. He also holds a master of business administration degree, earned through work at the University of Evansville and the University of Transylvania, Xavier, Lexington, Ky.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 20, 2013
Furniture First Buying Group honored three of its vendor partners with Vendor of the Year Awards during its recent symposium in New Orleans.
Awards were presented in three categories - bedroom, mattresses, and motion. Winners were calculated through survey responses from Furniture First members. The survey included a popular vote and member evaluations of the vendors' performance in three areas including service, quality and sales. Only vendors with active programs with Furniture First in 2012 qualified for the awards.
Ron Page, Furniture First senior director of merchandising, presented the bedroom award to Ron Childress, sales manager with Liberty Furniture.
Andrew Kauffman, Furniture First director of mattresses, presented the mattress award to Marty Melcher, group vice president of Serta.
Tony Moretti, Furniture First vice president of merchandising, presented the motion award to Bob Phillips, strategic accounts director of Southern Motion.
Both Serta and Southern Motion participated in Furniture First's Symposium as sponsors of the event, joining more than 100 retailers and more than 40 vendors.
The board of directors authorized the creation of the awards at its 2013 long-range planning meeting.
"We wanted to recognize the quality relationships between our members and suppliers and acknowledge that it's our partnership that leads to our mutual success," said Bill Hartman, president of Furniture First. "We look forward to honoring more of our partners in the years ahead."
Furniture First suppliers represent a variety of rebate programs for member retailers, including more than 85 vendors in the upholstery, leather, case goods and accessories categories, 18 top of bed and mattress vendors, and 37 marketing and business services suppliers.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Obituaries on May 20, 2013
Calvin Coolidge Murrow, 88, died April 30, in his home in Southport, N.C.
He and his brothers, Bill Murrow and John Murrow, founded Murrow Transfer Co., which grew to have more than 200 employees and serviced 22 states. In 1957 he opened Country Furniture Co. and expanded his horizons with the sale of new and used furniture.
In 1979 he founded Murrow Furniture Galleries of Wilmington N.C. In the 1980s he opened The Furniture Patch in Calabash N.C. In the 1990s he expanded and built Southland Furniture in Little River S.C. He served as a Republican State Senator from Guilford County from 1969-1977.
A memorial service was held May 11, 2013 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Southport, N.C.
Memorial donations can still be made to: S.O.A.R., Southport Oak Island Animal Rescue, 3376 St.Charles Place SE. Southport N.C. 28461. Online memorials can be made here.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 20, 2013
A mattress recycling legislation has passed its first hurdle with a 28-8 vote by the Connecticut Senate.
The bill now to goes to Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy for his consideration; he has approximately 15 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law.
The International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) had lobbied for the bill's passage and will continue to lobby for similar bills in other states.
The legislation authorizes an industry-led, non-profit organization to create and run a mattress recycling council that has the authority to set and collect a consumer fee to fund recycling operations. The bill establishes a recycling program with a sustainable funding mechanism that will not harm the mattress industry.
"We thank environment committee chairman Sen. Edward Meyer for his leadership in crafting legislation that will promote mattress recycling and create jobs," said ISPA President, Ryan Trainer. "This legislation serves as a model for solving the problem of mattress disposal without negatively impacting our industry."