Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
January 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 20, 2010
High Point's WGHP-TV Fox affiliate has invited HomeFurnishings.com Editor-In-Chief Trisha Ferguson to present home decorating segments for the station's morning news programming.
Ferguson's first segment of "Budget-Friendly Decorating Solutions" will be broadcast live from National Home Furnishings Association member retailer La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries Winston-Salem, N.C., location Thursday morning between 6:15 and 8:15 a.m.
HomeFurnishings.com is the consumer Web portal NHFA launched last October. Ferguson's segment this week will offer consumers tips on how to refresh their home's interior at a reasonable cost. She will discuss a variety of inexpensive ways to update a room, such as how to save with multi-functional pieces, free design tools available, and what's hot in home furnishings.
"We are really excited to have this opportunity to work with Shannon Smith of Fox 8 along with the wonderful staff at the Winston-Salem La-Z-Boy Furniture galleries as we share decorating tips for consumers looking to update their homes without spending a lot of money," Ferguson said.
January 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 20, 2010
Contemporary case goods vendor Excelsior Designs, N. Amityville, N.Y., will relocate its permanent Las Vegas Market Showroom to space C184 in World Market Center in time for Winter Market, Feb. 1-5.
Excelsior, which manufacturers in Italy, also announced that it's leaving the High Point Market for the time being.
Excelsior's previous WMC space was on third floor of Building C, which is now the location for the hospitality exhibitors of the new INSPIREDESIGN event running in conjunction with the furniture market.
The new 4,000-square-foot showroom, although slightly smaller than the previous space, allows for improved product display and traffic flow. It is situated in a high traffic area on the first floor and is surrounded by other high-end furniture companies.
"We are very pleased with our new showroom location and the synergy of being in an area of upper end casegoods and upholstery lines," said Excelsior Designs President Steven Kayne. "We are committed to growing our western market and are excited to see what the future brings at the World Market Center Las Vegas."
Excelsior is closing its current High Point space in the International Home Furnishings Center to concentrate on several new initiatives that are underway.
"Our decision to exit High Point is not permanent but allows us time to focus on some strategic growth plans to be announced later," Kayne said, noting that the management team and sales force will continue to provide the same high level of service to all their retailers as in the past.
Excelsior Designs is known for fine craftsmanship, exotic veneers, and exquisite finishes. The company produces Italian-made contemporary and transitional casegoods under the
Excelsior Designs brand and leather upholstery by
Casa Novalia, as well as the licensed
Nicole Miller Collection.
January 19,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 20, 2010
Millspaugh Furniture, Walden, N.Y., will open its third upstate location in Warwick by Feb. 1, the Hudson Valley Times Herald-Record reported Tuesday.
"We've been running two stores since '98, so we're familiar with multiple locations," Owner and President Keith Millspaugh, told the paper. Millspaugh has existing stores in Walden and Poughkeepsie.
The two-story, 8,000-square-foot Warwick location has been the previous site of three furniture stores.
January 18,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 19, 2010
Consumer spending in January promises to be flat or up only slightly as a result of several factors that raise concern about economic recovery anytime soon, according to the findings of the latest Consumer Mind Reader survey by America's Research Group (ARG) and UBS.
"Shoppers are going into January with less money, having already spent their gift cards in late December, and having to pay off the flat panel TV sets they bought at pre-Christmas sales," said Britt Beemer, CEO and founder of ARG. Based on these numbers and other factors, Beemers prediction for January retail sales is "flat" or up 0.5 percent.
"The latest survey findings just confirm my prediction that consumers will hold off spending again until Presidents' Day weekend in mid-February," Beemer said.
The gift card spending rate in December was much higher than usual with 71.1 percent of consumers using them right after Christmas, compared to 54.2 percent last year and 41.3 percent in 2007.
In general, there were more shoppers between Christmas and the New Year this year with 44.6 percent of consumers saying they shopped in the period, compared to 37.8 percent in 2008 and 36 percent in 2007. These consumers were still focused on getting good deals with 74.09 percent saying they only bought items on sale, essentially the same number as in 2008 at 74.6 percent.
The survey found other reasons that consumers are holding back their spending as well:
* 18.9 percent of Americans feel pressured by gas and home heating bills, compared with 8.2 percent last year.
* 12 percent of shoppers see little in the stores they want to buy, a significant increase from last year (9.1 percent).
* 24.9 percent of consumers are buying only when items are marked down by 40 percent to 50 percent, just slightly fewer then the bargain hunters last year (28.8 percent).
The ARG/UBS Consumer Mind Reader Survey consisted of 1,000 telephone interviews conducted Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Jan. 8-11, at ARG headquarters in Charleston, S.C. The error factor is plus or minus 3.8 percent.
January 18,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 19, 2010
The Specialty Sleep Association will unveil what it called "first-of-its-kind research" on consumer needs in green bedding products at February Las Vegas Market.
SSA will present "Environmental Claims: What Marketers and Retailers Need to Know--Terminology, Definitions, Standards and Trends for the Bedding Industry" on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2-3:30 p.m., in the SSA conference area, space 1350 in World Market Center's Building C.
A panel of industry leaders including David Farley, chairman of the Green Initiative Board and CEO of Anatomic Global; Vicki Worden, founder/president of Worden Associates and a noted strategic counselor on the development and launching of products and services with green labels; Dale Read, president of the SSA; and Ken Morgan, director of market analysis for Simmons Bedding Co. are scheduled to highlight the state-of-the art green movement occurring in the bedding industry.
In conjunction with the release of these findings from a "Green Initiative" consumer survey, the organization also will release a set of definitions and terms based on research conducted over the past nine months. Open to the public, the Mattress/Bedding Green Initiative is working to better define common terms being used in the industry in order to achieve transparency for clear terminology based on consumer and retail sales research.
"While some studies have focused on what manufacturers think are common terms in environmentally friendly bedding, this is the first time that anyone has spoken directly to the consumer to report those vital findings," said Dale Read, president of the SSA. "We are excited about sharing this information and are pleased to present, for the first time. the suggested guidelines for the mattress/bedding industry on how certain green and environmental terminology is used and what those words and definitions actually mean."
The Green Initiative's first phase outlines results of research coupled with recommendations for terminology. Key findings will include the concern consumers have about the environmental impact of the bedding products purchased and the environmental attributes that would affect consumer shopping for bedding.
The SSA panel is part of a larger "Bedding Bowl" to be held at World Market Center Las Vegas.
"An event-within-an-event, we look forward to hosting those in the mattress category to give a better understanding of issues pertaining to our industry," said World Market Center Las Vegas Director of Programming Margaret Casey.