Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on March 4, 2010
Pier 1 Imports Inc. (PIR), Fort Worth, Texas, announced fourth quarter sales of $396 million for the period ended Feb. 27, a 1.8 percent increase over fourth-quarter 2009.
Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter increased 6.5 percent. Total sales for the 2009 fiscal year decreased slightly from $1.32 million to $1.29 million, but comparable store sales for fiscal 2010 increased 1.5 percent.
The figures were released in anticipation of Pier 1's participation in the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference March 7-10 in Orlando, Fla. Alex W. Smith, president and CEO, and Cary Turner, executive vice president and CFO, will make a presentation at the conference next Wednesday during which they will provide a general update on the Pier 1's business.
For the fourth quarter, the Company anticipates that reported merchandise margins will be better than expected at approximately 55.7 percent, compared with 44.3 percent reported last year. Reported earnings per share are expected to be at least $0.29 per share compared with a loss of $0.33 last year.
"We are proud of our fourth quarter performance, which began with an extremely successful holiday selling season," Smith said. "We knew that the strength of December sales, the resulting seasonal sell-through, and the lower level of markdown inventory would shorten the Pier 1 sale. However, we were able to more than offset the pressure on sales in January with a very strong merchandise margin improvement. Our quarter ended with strong sales and margin in February, despite the extreme weather conditions experienced in many parts of the country. The increase in margin rate during the quarter is attributable not only to less clearance merchandise but also to our initial markups which remained strong."
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on March 4, 2010
Tom Liddell, a 29-year veteran on the wholesale side of the furniture industry, has joined Planned Furniture Promotions as vice president of sales and marketing.
At PFP, Liddell will be responsible for updating the company's marketing efforts, including advertising and the Web site; and for direct contact with retailers interested in the company's services.
Most recently, he was senior vice president of Chromcraft Revington's CR International. Prior to joining CR International with that division's launch last September, Liddell was senior vice president at Powell Co.
Of PFP, Liddell said in an e-mail, "I've worked with them for some time now (over 10 years) as a vendor, and I've seen first-hand what they can do for a retailer that's struggling. Their level of honesty and integrity is unsurpassed in their field. The company's best source of leads continues to be retailers that theyve handled sales for. I'm looking forward to the new challenges that this position will present."
March 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on March 4, 2010
Continents Apart, a national rep group specializing in drop shipping for home, gift, licensed sports and leisure lifestyle products has launched a new B2B Web site through a joint development project with WebSimplify.
"Being a unique drop ship sales rep group we wanted more than just a Web site built," said Continents Apart CEO Steven Husak. "We wanted a partner than can also work closely with us to make life easier for our vendors and customers. We call our customers 'modern day catalogers' and they include eCommerce sites, television shopping channels, and print catalogs. They need the information required to give their customers a great experience to be at their fingertips, and WebSimplify 'got it.' The site serves as an online catalog for our thousands of drop ship products in addition to having detailed information that a customer service agent can instantly access to answer their consumers questions without making them wait."
In addition, to having all of Continents Apart product descriptions and photos in the WebSimplify servers, current and prospective Continents Apart customers can learn more here.
March 2,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in sourcing/importing on March 3, 2010
The U.S. Department of Commerce has made a preliminary ruling that Chinese manufacturer Zhejiang Tianyi will pay no duties on wood bedroom furniture it shipped to the U.S. market during the first half of 2009.
Such reviews are follow-ups to an antidumping rule in effect on subject merchandise from China.
DOC will issue a final ruling on the new shipper review of Zhejiang Tianyi bedroom shipments for the period near the end of May.
For a full text of the preliminary ruling, click here to see the Federal Register entry.
Rise Furniture, another Chinese manufacturer under investigation in the original new shipper review, had "withdrawn" its "request" for a new shipper review, according to the register entry.
March 2,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Acquisition on March 3, 2010
The founding families of upholstery producer Stylus, Made to Order Sofas have completed the repurchase of the company's assets from Terravest Inds.
The reacquisition comes five years after Terravest purchased an 80 percent equity position in the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company.
We are extremely excited by the prospect of returning to our original structure," said Rick Ripoli, president. "We believe the agility provided by a closely held, private company will best allow Stylus to take advantage of the opportunities available. While Stylus involvement in Terravest has been mutually beneficial we feel a less structured atmosphere will allow Stylus management team to create a more collaborative environment. Further, the family values that have guided our business will once again return to the forefront.
The new parent company, Stylus Sofas Inc, is a wholly owned corporation by Styluss current senior executives, Rick Ripoli, Dennis Ripoli and Derek Barichello. This will allow for a nearly seamless exchange that will not interrupt Stylus business.
Stylus was established in 1959 and sells through a network of independent retailers in Canada and the United States. Stylus operates a 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and a 60,000-square-foot distribution center in Burnaby, British Columbia.