Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 1,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 2, 2010
Havertys Furniture Cos.' (NYSE: HVT and HVT.A) net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 was $9.2 million, compared to a net loss of $9.3 million for the same quarter in 2008.
Sales for the quarter were $162.4 million, a 0.4 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2008. Same-store sales were up 2 percent.
For the fiscal year, the Atlanta-based retailer recorded a net loss of $4.2 million, compared to a net loss of $12.1 million for fiscal 2008. Annual sales were $588.3 million, a 14.9 percent decrease from 2008. Same-store sales for the year fell 14.2 percent.
"We are pleased with the earnings leverage that we achieved on a small increase in sales," said Clarence Smith, president and chief executive officer. "The return to positive comparable store sales in the fourth quarter was a good sign since it historically is the strongest period for furniture retailers. We believe by carefully highlighting great merchandise values in our advertising we are stimulating sales and protecting our brand."
Looking forward, Smith said plans for 2010 include strategies to increase comparable store sales and sales per square foot. The retailer also plans to spend about $15 million for new and remodeled stores, as well as upgrading certain computer hardware.
Havertys operates 119 showrooms in 17 states in the South and Midwest.
March 1,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on March 2, 2010
Top staff from the American Home Furnishings Alliance spent two days in Washington, D.C., last week, working to keep regulators and legislators aware of key issues impacting the home furnishings industry.
Crib safety, furniture tip-over, proposed flammability regulations for upholstered furniture and compliance challenges created by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act were topics of discussion on Tuesday, Feb. 23, with members of the Consumer Product Safety Commission and their staffs.
"We were able to bring the commissioners up to date on AHFA's extensive efforts to provide furniture tip-over safety information to consumers through our consumer website," said AHFA CEO Andy Counts. "We also had the opportunity to discuss two of AHFA's top regulatory issues for 2010: CPSIA and a federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture."
AHFA Vice President Bill Perdue joined Counts in his meetings with the commissioners and their staff members.
On the topic of CPSIA, AHFA requested that the CPSC consider exempting composite wood products from the regulation's lead certification requirements. Unfinished solid wood is already exempt. The commissioners expressed concern over the glues and resins used in engineered wood but said they would consider the exemption if the industry could prove that lead "is not and never could be" added to the manufacturing process.
Counts told the commissioners that he believed the industry could supply the information necessary and that AHFA would begin work immediately on gathering the data to file a petition for the exemption.
On Feb. 24, Counts and Perdue visited with Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC), Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC), along with staff members for four additional legislators, including Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA) and Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA).
"The first quarter of 2010 has been crammed with legislative and regulatory activity impacting the residential furniture industry," Counts said, noting that a federal formaldehyde emission standard and other Environmental Protection Agency initiatives were high on their list of priorities to discuss with legislators. "Our ability to influence the outcome on these issues requires us to remain visible and vocal."
AHFA's Board of Directors will be in Washington again later this spring, when those industry executives will fan out on Capitol Hill, meeting with legislators face-to-face to continue the dialog on important furniture industry issues.
March 1,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on March 2, 2010
With two weeks still to go until the actual event, buyer registration for Spring Premarket 2010 has already surpassed all prior events since Premarket was re-envisioned nearly three years ago, according to the High Point Market Authority.
With 161 leading buyers representing 70 companies already signed on for Spring Premarket set for March 15-16, anticipation is building and attitudes are upbeat.
"Buyers continue to pre-register to attend Premarket almost daily," said Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority, who acts as spokesperson for the special event's sponsors. "Yet the buyer response to date has already made it clear that the economy, and our industry, is turning a corner."
"The response we have received from retailers this season is energizing for all of the companies involved in the Premarket movement," says Kevin OConnor, chief executive of Samson Marketing, parent company of Legacy Classic and Universal Furniture. "While the past 18 months have been difficult for everyone in the industry, all indications are that we're finally on the road to recovery. At the same time, the challenges many companies experienced during this time have driven home the importance of close collaboration between manufacturers and retailers. Those of us involved in Premarket believe that one of the best ways to move our industry ahead, to meet the needs of today's consumers, and in fact to excite consumers about what we do as an industry is to work together to reform inefficient product development processes. Premarket is enabling buyers and sellers to move forward together, confident in a product's eventual success on retail floors."
Casey added that retailers' positive response to Premarket bodes well for Spring Market one month later.
"Buyers are confirming what analysts and forecasters had already anticipated," he said. "Store floors have been largely starved for new merchandise and retailers now are on the hunt: They are looking for fresh and exciting products to lure consumers back through their doors and they are looking to High Point for the most important introductions, and the products that have never been seen anywhere previously. Those buyers who have committed to attending Premarket will simply have had the extra advantage of seeing it all first."
March 1,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Closings on March 2, 2010
Berry's Furniture in Rock Hill, S.C., will close this spring after completing a clearance sale, The Herald of Rock Hill reported Tuesday.
Owner Tony Berry worked in his family's store in Lancaster, and brought Berry's Furniture to Rock Hill in 1991.
"You can go back and look at our sales, and in October 2008, it's like somebody unplugged the electricity and stopped the music," Berry said in the report. "It's like the wheels came off the bus."
Berry said the store hasn't made a profit in 16 months.
"I can't tell you when it will make any money," he said. "I can't say the next 12 months is going to be any better than what I see right now."
Jackson Furniture Co. and Tinsley's Furniture are other furniture stores that closed recently in Rock Hill.
February 28,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on March 1, 2010
Fourth quarter profit for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway jumped on recovery of derivatives tied to the world's stock markets.
Net income for the company rose $3.06 billion, or $1,969 per share, from $117 million, or $76 per share, in the same period last year, according to the company's annual report released Saturday.
The profit increase was the company's third in a row.
"We've put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years," Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders. "It's been an ideal period for investors: A climate of fear is their best friend."
Since 2007 Buffett has invested in financial companies harmed by the recession. These companies, including Goldman Sachs Group, that looked to Buffett for money are paying Berkshire interest of 10 percent or more.
For fiscal 2009, Berkshire reported net income of $8.06 billion, a 61 percent increase from the previous year.
In his 19-page letter to shareholders Buffett mentions nine of chief executives at a number of his holdings, including Ron and Irv Blumkin from Omaha-based Nebraska Furniture Mart and Bill Kimbrell from Houston-based Star Furniture.
Other furniture-related companies Berkshire owns are Jordan's Furniture, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, Shaw Inds. and Cort Business Rental.
Click here to see the company's annual report in full.