Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 4,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in licensing on March 5, 2010
Acacia Home & Garden, Conover, N.C., and actress, artist and author Jane Seymour for a collection of co-branded Jane Seymour outdoor furniture.
The new line will be previewed at the upcoming High Point Market in April.
Seymour will collaborate with Acacia Home & Garden on design of the products whose collection will consist of wicker deep seating, faux stone accent tables and outdoor dining and occasional pieces handcrafted in North Carolina from cypress wood, featuring hand-wrought aluminum details inspired by the English country garden gates and include an interpretation of Seymour's iconic "Open Heart"
design.
"I love the eclectic style, it brings a timeless, peaceful feeling to the outdoor room," Seymour said.
Acacia Home & Garden has produced indoor and outdoor casual furniture for more than 20 years.
"Jane has a remarkable eye, and her genuine warmth and caring are reflected in the product," said Alex Te, president of Acacia Home & Garden. "She enjoys and understands the elements of style that will be meaningful to our customer."
March 4,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on March 5, 2010
The fourth annual Midwest Furniture Show has set August 11-12 for its 2010 edition at the Renaissance Convention Center in Schaumberg, Ill.
The Midwest Furniture Club, which sponsors the annual show, has expanded the amount of show space to allow more manufacturers and furniture service providers to show. This year's show will cover more than 66,000 square feet of show space.
"Our founding exhibitors are reserving their show space as we speak," said Michael More, coordinator of the Midwest Furniture Show.
"Once the exhibitors that have shown in past years make their commitments and send in deposits, we'll open up the rest of the space to new exhibitors."
More than 25 new vendors are on the waiting list for 2010.
Geoff Weed, co-founder of the Midwest Furniture Show and current President of the Midwest Furniture Club said the new Las Vegas summer market dates will affect this year's Midwest show.
"This year's show will be better than ever," he said. "Coming the week after the Las Vegas market is a blessing for our attendees. Our retailers will have the opportunity to see all the new introductions and manufacturer initiatives fresh from Las Vegas and begin planning for the all-important fourth quarter."
Since beginning in a shuttered furniture store in 2007, the Midwest Furniture Show has grown each year. Last year, more than 700 retailers attended the event, including retailers from as far away as Florida, Vermont and Toronto. Most attendees came from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. The show serves a broad spectrum of furniture retailers across the Midwest, especially in Chicago, the third-largest furniture market in the country.
The Midwest Furniture Club is an IHFRA chapter centered in Chicago and includes members from Wisconsin to Indiana. The MFC was named IHFRA's Chapter of the Year award in both 2008 and 2009.
For complete information please visit the show's
Web site and click on the Midwest Furniture Show link; or contact Michael More at 708.642.4235 for information.
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on March 4, 2010
The U.S. Department of Commerce has initiated an administrative review of an antidumping order on wood bedroom furniture from China that will investigate shipments of subject merchandise to the U.S. market in 2009.
DOC named more than 170 Chinese manufacturers as respondents to the 2009 review. For a list of those companies and the complete Federal Register entry, click here.
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on March 4, 2010
Design Resources Inc. has filed a lawsuit for damages against Ashley Furniture Industries Inc.; Todd Wanek, president and CEO of Ashley; Leather Industries of America; and Dr. Nicholas Cory, a leather chemist and director of the non-profit Leather Industry of America's Leather Research Laboratory at the University of Cincinnati.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in Greensboro, N.C., charges the furniture maker and retailer, jointly with the LIA and Cory, with false advertising, defamation, product disparagement and public condemnation of the labeling, advertising and sale of DRI's NextLeather products as purposefully unfair and deceptive under the Federal Lanham Act.
DRI said it introduced its new niche of "bonded leather" upholstery, NextLeather in January 2007. The company hired the foremost leather research laboratory in the U.S to conduct a series of tests to accurately provide the consumer naming and labeling as required by the Federal Trade Commission's Guidelines for Select Leather and Imitation Leather Products; and that Cory advised DRI on Dec. 11, 2006, that its NextLeather product needed to be labeled as "bonded leather," which was confirmed by analysis testing in February 2007.
The lawsuit referred to an Ashley ad published in March 2007 headlined "Caveat Emptor Buyer Beware ¦ Is It REALLY LEATHER?" that warned buyers to beware of upholstery suppliers "using leather scraps that are misrepresented as leather"; and featuring photos of Ron Wanek and Todd Wanek next to a small reproduction of a letter implying that a cease and desist order had been issued by a federal agency.
The letter featured in the ad is dated July 26, 2006--prior to the introduction of NextLeather, nearly one year before the product was even available to consumers, and actually addresses an unrelated mattress fabric safety issue.
"When Ashley ran the ad, DRI was the only supplier marketing bonded leather," said Alan Naness, president of DRI. "The ad clearly attacked our NextLeather bonded leather and the statements regarding misrepresentation and poor quality were simply false. In effect, Ashleys ad created doubt in the minds of buyers and caused us many problems in the market."
In 2007, Cory was quoted in an article calling bonded leather products "outright deception, outright fraud."
DRI said the LIA used confidential DRI photography and testing information in its written submission in support of requested revisions to the FTC Guides, arguing that products like NextLeather should not be labeled, advertised or sold as "bonded leather. On May 30, 2008, by a unanimous 4-0 vote, the FTC agreed with DRI that the existing guides "effectively prevents deception which could be caused by the term 'bonded leather' and that the truthful content information gives consumers the facts they need to make an informed decision regarding bonded leather and similar materials." The report also cited a lack of consumer complaints.
DRI noted that, in January 2008, Ashley introduced UltraHide, its own "bonded leather" product.
"From the start, we recognized our public obligation to accurately label and advertise our NextLeather products," Naness said. "We took the step to verify our labeling to be absolutely certain that we were in full compliance with the law. We hired the best in the field to conduct a series of tests necessary to ensure accurate labeling and clearly disclosed consumer information. We sought out additional testing to determine our products strength, abrasion and sunlight resistance to ensure that our bonded leather products performed satisfactorily and to determine the compositional breakdown of the product for labeling purposes.
"Ashley's false advertising deprived DRI of a unique opportunity to properly position our novel product and create a new, emerging market niche in the furniture industry," he continued.
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on March 4, 2010
Sofitalia International, the new leather upholstery division of Samson International Enterprises, a Lacquercraft Company, has appointed Lance Foster to the position of General Manager.
Foster reports to Lacquercraft President Mohamad Amini, and be responsible for all sales and marketing for the U. S. and Canada.
With more than 18 years experience in the furniture industry, Foster spent most of his career with Benchcraft/Berkline in various sales and marketing managerial positions involving both domestic and imported leather/fabric upholstered products.
"We are very fortunate to have someone of Lance's background join our company and head up the new U.S. operations," Amini said. "He is a high-energy guy with the kind of background and upholstery knowledge to help us launch and grow this new venture."
Sofitalia International debuted at the October 2009 High Point Market, and offers a full line of leather upholstery retailing from $899 to $1,499. The product line currently is manufactured at Lacquercraft's upholstery factory in Jiashan China.
Sofitalia International will open a new showroom at the upcoming April High Point Market, with a newly expanded product line in the Club Level of the Plaza Suites Building, adjacent to sister company Legacy Classic Furniture. Offices are located in the Samson Marketing headquarters in High Point.