Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
December 20,
2009 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 21, 2009
Coon Rapids, Minn.-based HOM Furniture has created a contract and commercial sales division to capitalize on its inventory strength and creative global buying team.
The retailer has named Judy Lucas commercial consultant to lead the new sales group. In her new position, Lucas will provide professional sales and design services to the resort, hotel, lodging, restaurant and food service, membership and country clubs and corporate business communities.
The new division has the capabilities to design and remodel a single-person business to a large resort or rapidly-growing company, and reach organizations in the Upper Midwest, as well as across the nation.
A team of ASID-certified designers will work with Lucas to assist with client needs and projects in key furniture categories like patio and outdoor, sofas and chairs, office furniture, indoor dining, pub tables and stools, area rugs and mattresses. The new division will also offer custom-designed contract furniture projects.
Prior to joining HOM, Lucas was in commercial product sales and sourcing and buying. Since 1993, she has focused on building relationships and working with commercial accounts.
Lucas brings to HOM significant experience and seasoned leadership in commercial product sales as well as in product sourcing and buying. Since 1993, Lucas has focused on building customer relationships and servicing commercial accountsgrowing commercial sales volume from year to year and consistently ranked as the top sales performer on her team.
December 20,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 21, 2009
For the holiday season-to-date, $24.8 billion has been spent online, showing a 4 percent increase versus the corresponding days last year, according to comScore (NASDAQ: SCOR), a company that measures e-commerce spending.
The most recent week began on a slightly disappointing note, with sales of $854 million on Green Monday (Dec. 14) down 1 percent versus year ago, but was followed by three strong spending days that each surpassed $800 million. Most notably, Tuesday, December 15 set an individual day spending record with $913 million, the first such day to surpass the $900 million threshold.
"Going into this most recent week, we had anticipated that Monday or Tuesday would post the highest online spending total of the season and perhaps be the first day on record to surpass $900 million," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore. "Despite a disappointing start to the week, with sales on Monday of $854 million down 1 percent versus 2008, we were encouraged to see spending continue strongly throughout the balance of the work week, led by Tuesday's record $913 million. In fact, each day through Thursday December 17the last day that many online retailers would guarantee free shipping in time for Christmassaw at least $800 million in spending, which suggests that savvy consumers may have been waiting for those last-minute deals."
With the heaviest online spending days of the season now likely behind us, Tuesday, Dec. 15 will rank as the heaviest online spending day of the year at $913 million, one of nine individual spending days to surpass $800 million. Cyber Monday (Monday, Nov. 30) currently stands in second place with $887 million, the highest it has ever ranked on the comScore list.
"In a typical year, Cyber Monday tends to be the eighth to tenth heaviest spending day, but this year it moved higher up the list than ever before," Fulgoni said. "In part, this is due to the fact that the day fell fairly late in the season, so that pent-up consumer demand likely boosted its performance, but also because of the increasing marketing hoopla and promotional activity that surround the day."
The third heaviest spending day of the year was Tuesday, Dec. 1 with $886 million in spending, followed by Wednesday, Dec. 16 with $874 million and Green Monday (Monday, Dec. 14) rounding out the top five with $854 million.
Green Monday occurs on the Monday with at least 10 days prior to Christmas and tends to be the heaviest online spending day of the season.
comScore's analysis of online transactions showed that free shipping remained an important driver of online shopping throughout the 2009 holiday season. During each week, at least 45 percent of all transactions included free shipping, outpacing the corresponding week in 2008. The peak occurred during the week ending Dec. 6, with 50 percent of all transactions including free shipping.
The average order value for online transactions peaked at $117 during the week ending Nov. 29 and week ending Dec. 6, also outpacing the corresponding weeks in 2008. For the week ending Nov. 29, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $124 while the average order for those without free shipping was $111. For the week ending Dec. 6, the average order value for transactions including free shipping was $134 while the average order for those without free shipping was a much lower $103. This suggests that free shipping offers can be used creatively by retailers to entice consumers to spend more per order.
December 20,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 21, 2009
HomeFurnishings.com, the National Home Furnishings Association's new consumer Web portal, has added a color visualizer to its "plan" section.
Created by Swatchbox, the new tool is designed to help users easily decorate and redecorate their homes with confidence.
The interactive color visualizer offers 50 virtual room scenes--from kitchen and bath to bedroom, living and dining rooms--where viewers can easily change the color and materials of walls, floors, ceilings and more the click of a button. The tool offers a palette of 600 paint colors, and it also includes other virtual material choices such as countertops, hardwood and laminate flooring, tile, carpeting and area rugs selections.
"Color is one of the easiest ways to add personality and energize a room," said Trisha McBride Ferguson, editor in chief of HomeFurnishings.com. "Now instead of trying to match paint swatches with bulky carpet and tile samples, or getting frustrated with expensive mistakes, users can virtually decorate and redecorate room scenes. For instance, they can create a bedroom using vibrant reds and deep browns, then with just a few clicks see the same room in subtle shades of blue and graythen save it, print it or email their design to family and friends."
"This Color Visualizer tool is one more step towards our goal of making HomeFurnishings.com the complete home decorating Web site," said Steve DeHaan, executive vice president of the non-profit National Home Furnishings Association. "At HomeFurnishings.com consumers are inspired, educated and can find a retailer to help them explore their design options and make home furnishings selections, all on one site."
December 20,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 21, 2009
World Market Center Las Vegas and Surfaces, trade show for the flooring industry, have formed a strategic partnership in order to provide a more compelling event for their respective audiences.
Las Vegas Market, February 1-5 at World Market Center Las Vegas, will feature more than 1,500 manufacturers of floor coverings, home furnishings accessories and more. The same week, Feb. 1-4, Surfaces 2010 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, will bring together the flooring industry to look at what consumers want in every floor covering product, including carpet, rugs, laminates, hardwood, tile, stone, marble, specialty flooring and much, much more.
"Synergies between the shows will be a great service to exhibitors and attendees alike," said Philip McKay, senior vice president at World Market Center. "We are excited to further offer a great market experience for these audiences. This new joint platform will offer the largest and most compelling combination of home furnishings and floor coverings in one co-located event in the U.S."
"We're extremely excited about this strategic partnership and the numerous opportunities it brings," states Dana Teague, director, Surfaces. "We view Las Vegas Market as a complementary event to ours. We feel by joining forces we are providing our attendees the opportunity to experience two shows in one week saving on expenses, which is essential right now."
Highlights of the joint platform include acceptance of each show's registration credentials, transportation vouchers and discounts on education.
In addition to a strong display of new products, Las Vegas February Market will be a meaningful exchange of the latest trends, research, business strategies and inspiration to benefit all facets of the trade retailers, designers and suppliers. Las Vegas Market hosts an array of seminar series that focus on design trends and business strategies.
As part of its on-going efforts to attract interior designers, Surfaces 2010 will host a Designer Day, Wednesday, Feb. 3, that includes a behind-the-scenes tour of Encore, the brand new sister property of Wynn Las Vegas, a "Speed Trending" tour of the show floor and luncheon featuring Kim Myles of HGTV's "Myles of Style." Las Vegas Market attendees will receive a 25 percent discount on Designer Day events.
The partnership will continue in 2011 with both events taking place in Las Vegas. In addition, StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas will co-locate with Surfaces at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The addition of natural stone and other surface materials further offers attendees a more comprehensive buying, education and networking experience, while also broadening the buyer base and distribution channels for World Market Centers exhibiting companies.
For more information about Surfaces, click
here.
The official sponsor of Surfaces is the World Floor Covering Association, the floor covering industry's largest advocacy organization representing floor covering retailers, contractors and allied service providers throughout North America.
December 20,
2009 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 21, 2009
Furniture Warehouse & Design Gallery in Beaufort, S.C., hopes to gather 3,000 coats, sweaters or jackets to help needy families in Beaufort County, the Island Packet reported Sunday.
The retailer's 19th annual Coat Drive will run through Dec. 31.
Donations can be dropped off at various locations; call 843.524.8695 for details.