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December 30,
2009 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 31, 2009
Newman's Furniture will close its four-storefront operation in downtown Camden, S.C., and consolidate in a single building, WIS-TV reported Wednesday.
The new location also has one floor, which will make it easier for both the store and its customers, Owner Kenny Newman said in the report. With product upstairs and downstairs in the old location, it's harder for customers to see the entire selection and it's hard on elderly shoppers.
"Going to a one-level operation is certainly more efficient for the flow of goods, in and out, the flow of goods," Newman said. "So yeah, it should help us from a business standpoint, should help us to be a little bit more profitable."
Newman's Furniture has been a presence in downtown Camden for 62 years.
December 30,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 31, 2009
Gautier, a French manufacturer of contemporary case goods, will exhibit in the French Pavilion, booth 704 at Franchise Expo South, Jan. 15-17, in Miami.
Gautier opened its first U.S. concept store last year in Paramus, N.J, and is developing new projects in Manhattan, Miami, Orlando, Las Vegas and Texas. The company says it currently has more than 650 franchise partners worldwide with annual sales of $220 million.
The company's product line includes furniture for baby, junior and adult bedroom; storage/closet solutions; living room and dining room; and office.
To help franchise partners and consumers, Gautier provides a user-friendly 3D Planner in stores and online on its
Web site, where users can drag-and-drop different items to create their very own space.
Gautier, which has held ISO 9001 certification since 1994, subscribes to a voluntary procedure for environment preservation. In January 2004, the company obtained the top French NF Environment label, which is the official French ecological certification. It also received ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 in 2007.
December 30,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 31, 2009
HFBusiness Now!, the electronic newsletter of Home Furnishings Business, will not publish on Friday, Jan. 1.
We'll resume publishing Monday, Jan. 4.
We at Home Furnishings Business wish all our readers a safe and happy New Year.
December 29,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 30, 2009
New orders for furniture ended a dive in October that began more than two years ago.
For the first month since October 2007, new orders didn't fall from the same month a year ago, according to the latest Furniture Insights survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from the High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard.
"Admittedly, the October 2009 results compared to a 28 percent decline in October 2008 when comparing to October 2007," said Managing Partner Ken Smith in the report. "But at least, for one month, the bleeding appeared to stop. These results were pretty much what we had been hearing from our conversations."
October 2008 was the first month in 2008 where orders fell into the minus 20-plus percent range. Year-to-date, new orders were 16 percent lower than 2008 year-to-date, down from 18 percent in September and 19 percent in August.
October shipments fell 10 percent from October 2008 and were off 4 percent from September. This compared to a 14 percent drop last month. Shipments in October 2008 were off 20 percent from October 2007.
Year-to-date, shipments are off 18 percent from the same period a year ago. Backlogs grew 5 percent from last month with orders exceeding shipments. Backlogs were up 1 percent compared to October 2008, the first time backlogs have increased over the prior year in quite some time.
October 2009 receivables were down 20 percent from the prior-year month.
"This was down from a 24 percent decline last month, although these levels continue to compare favorably with shipments," Smith said. "With so many retailers hurting financially, these results are much better than many would expect."
Inventories in October were 26 percent below October 2008, the same as September to September.
"We hope this means that most of the excess inventories in warehouses have been moved out," Smith said. "Selling off discontinued and obsolete merchandise takes the place of selling goods with reasonable margins. The glut of sales of excess inventories has clearly hurt profitability among most manufacturers and distributors and likely hurt retail profitability by selling items with lower margin dollars."
Smith noted that October 2008 was the start of 20-plus percent drops in new orders and that further declines in October 2009 would have raised significant concerns.
"Yet, keep in mind that 59 percent of our participants continued to report declines, so we are not out of the woods yet," Smith said."But also, timing of market orders always has an impact on October results so we will see what combined October and November results bring. Overall, though, we're hearing more positive news out of conversations than we have heard in a long time. Not that anyone is overly excited, but business does seem to be improving, if ever so slightly. We hope that we are right in our thinking that much of the excess inventory is about gone. Not only have we lived with two years of reduced sales, but much of that has been at deep discounted selling prices, especially in case goods. Add to that, pressures to keep prices down, profitability has been hurt."
December 29,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 30, 2009
With the coming of the new year, Jeff Child, CEO of R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, Salt Lake City, Utah, takes office as 2010 president of the National Home Furnishings Association. He succeeds Michael B. Spiller, Spiller Furniture, Tuscaloosa, Ala., who becomes chairman of the executive committee.
Child is a long time association member and leader of both NHFA and its West Coast affiliate, Western Home Furnishings Association. Jeff, son of Sheldon Child, helped his father and uncle, Bill Child, with the family business working in the warehouse and later in merchandise display and the carpet department. After graduating from Brigham Young University, he worked as a sales associate and buyer, eventually becoming president.
As one of the top home furnishings retailers in the country, R.C. Willey attracted the attention of Warren Buffet, and in 1995, the company and Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., announced a merger agreement. In 2004 Child was selected NHFA's Retailer of the Year in the over $10 million category for his service to the industry, service to his community and creative leadership in his company.
Other officers are: Senior Vice President and Treasurer Dianne Ray, Garden City Furniture, Garden City Beach, S.C.; Senior Vice President Marc Schewel, Schewel Furniture, Lynchburg, Va.; and Senior Vice President Cherie Rose, The Rose Collection, Los Gatos, Calif.
New directors include: Brian D. Casey, High Point Market Authority, High Point, N. C.; Robert J. Maricich, World Market Center, Las Vegas; Thomas H. Olinde, Olinde's Furniture, Baton Rouge, La.; Sherry Sheely, Sheely's Furniture & Appliance, Inc., North Lima, Ohio; and John C. Stewart, Jr. Big Sandy Super Store, Franklin Furnace, Ohio.