January 31,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on February 1, 2010
Ashley Furniture HomeStores will open a location in a former Circuit City store in Brownsville, Texas, on March 6,
the Brownsville Herald reported Saturday.
The Ashley licensee, Hill Country Furniture Partners, has Ashley stores in McAllen, San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Washington State.
Ashley has more than 300 furniture stores in the U.S., both licensed and company-owned.
Ashley's corporate Ashley HomeStores retail division owns just under 200 of the locations, company spokeswoman Nicole Ivey told the paper.
January 31,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on February 1, 2010
Currey & Company was awarded the Visual Display Award "Best of Floor" during the January Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market. The winners were selected by an independent team of judges with decades of industry experience.
When reviewing the permanent showrooms and temporary booths, the judges focused on visual design showcasing product in an artistic and
eye-catching display within each category.
"Our new showroom reflects Currey & Company's commitment to the future and respect for the past," said Currey & Company Creative Director Cecil Adams. "The combination of repurposed flooring imported from the Philippines and the updated technology required to light over 300 lamps, wall sconces and chandeliers make for an inviting ambiance. Antique work tables are used to display collections of lamps and accessories along with the expanded accent table collection and the faux bois collection."
January 31,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on February 1, 2010
Home Furnishings Business is interested in your take on the Las Vegas Market this week.
We'll be conducting a question of the day to get an unscientific feel for what you, the attendees see, like and maybe don't like about the market.
Today's question: Still early in the Las Vegas Market, but what's the best thing you've seen?
We've even made it easy to participate for those of you on mobile devices.
Just visit our mobile Web site at m.hfbusiness.com, type in your response and click Submit.
Of course, if you have your laptop or desktop computer handy, you can also participate by going to that same url. Please note, there's no need to include "www" in front of the url. If you do, it won't work.
Tomorrow, we'll share the results on our newsletter.
As always, thanks for participating.
January 31,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bankruptcy on February 1, 2010
Classic Sleep Products, Jessup, Md., has received court approval for the sale of Classic Sleep to Classic Brands LLC, which was formed by the current management team and the company's Chinese manufacturing partner.
The approval from Judge Nancy V. Alquist came 25 days after Classic Sleep filed for protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows the management team led by CEO Mike Zippelli to increase its majority ownership stake in the business with funding provided by JMX Capital Partners and Classic's senior lender, CIT Commercial Services.
JMX is partially owned by Xiong Yu of Delandis Trading Corp. of Fujian, China, and Classic's long-time manufacturing partner. Together, the parties are contributing $10 million to recapitalize the company.
"Classic Brands creates a new paradigm in the mattress industry with this transaction; superior U.S. design, engineering, sales, logistics and marketing; and world-class, state-of-the-art Chinese manufacturing, all harnessed to deliver incredible value to our customers," Zippelli said. "We see this move as a very exciting opportunity to solidify Classic's position as one of the leading value brands in the United States. This strong infusion of capital will strengthen our current business and position the company for dynamic future growth."
Zippelli added that what makes this deal different than other Chinese-U.S. partnerships is that Classic is using all its manufacturing specifications and quality controls to produce its value-priced line-up in China, not like others who are just importing beds produced by Chinese manufacturers.
"This is not a license deal, but rather our own people working in China to produce a better made value-priced mattress," he said.
Zippelli said that several years ago he became convinced that Chinese manufactures such as Delandis, who were building state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities with the latest equipment and quality control procedures provided a real competitive advantage over domestically produced goods, especially quality memory foam mattresses. So instead of competing, he focused on how best to create a marriage between the companies.
"When you look at the traditional problems a Chinese manufacturer has in entering the U.S. market, the lack of a sales force, communication issues, poor customer service and logistics, this was something our domestic team excelled at. Meanwhile, they could make a fantastic product well below our domestic cost. Together, we have become quite a team," he said.
"Our relationship with Classic has enabled us to better understand and appreciate the U.S. home furnishings market," said Xiong "Sam" Yu, a partner in JMX. "Working with Mike and his team, we were able to foresee many of the problems other Chinese manufacturers have had in terms of navigating the U.S. market and it has made our relationship very successful for both parties. This deal will enable us to expand the depth of our relationship and we are quite excited about the opportunities for the future."
Classic Brands and Delandis are building a new mattress manufacturing facility in Fujian, China to meet increased customer demand. Construction should be completed in 2011.
The company said there will be no disruption of service to its customers, vendors or suppliers during the transition process. The deal is expected to close several weeks. Classic Sleep Products sells its bedding products and accessories under the Dormia, Space Age and Natural Expressions brands.
January 31,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on February 1, 2010
An American iconBloomingdale'shas opened a 200,000-square-foot store in Dubai.
The opening marks the 138-year-old retailer's first store outside the United States.
The three-story store sells apparel, furniture and accessories. Plans for the store, located in Dubai Mall, were put into place three years ago. The store employs more than 500 people from more than 40 nationalities.
For more on the store opening, including pictures,
click here.