Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
December 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on December 17, 2008
Leggett & Platt, Carthage, Mo., announced Tuesday that it expects a loss of 3 cents to 18 cents per share in its fourth quarter due to slow demand. The company had previously said it would earn between 15 cents and 30 cents in the quarter that ends this month, according to published reports. Sales are expected to come in at around $865 million, down 17 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008.
The company, which makes mattress components, carpet cushion and other products, said the lower estimate reflects restructuring costs and other items, as well as extremely low market demand.
Leggett & Platt officials also cut its full-year forecast for earnings per share to between 55 cents and 70 cents per share from 75 cents to 95 cents.
December 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 17, 2008
Custom Playhouses, a Shelley, Idaho-based maker of play beds, commercial play structures, children's furniture and accessories, announced a campaign to raise $100,000 by March 31 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The manufacturer will donate 15 percent of proceeds from every item sold to the organization, which helps children with life-threatening medical conditions attain their wishes.
"Friends tell me now is the time to scale back and not the time to be donating such large amounts to charities," said Brook Langston, president of Custom Playhouses. "Even as we begin to tighten the belt like the rest of the nation, I cannot in my heart of hearts go back on my word of helping these children. Anyone who has kids can understand. You hear about so many kids who have these debilitating life-threatening conditions and your heart goes out to them. I don’t believe in telling these kids they have to wait on what could be their dying wishes, because the economy isn't strong right now. Business is one thing, but life is another."
Custom Playhouses designs and builds outdoor playhouses representing anything from forest cottages to log cabins, fairytale castles, New England-style ranches and much more. Custom Playhouses also creates special theme beds ranging from pirate ships to space rockets to surf shacks.
Langston also runs R-Kadia, which specializes in high quality, hand-crafted furniture. Recently relocated from Minnesota to Shelley, Idaho, along with Custom Playhouses, Langston's companies have helped bring in $4 million worth of revenue and nearly 30 jobs to this small-town location in southeastern Idaho. R-Kadia also will donate 15 percent of proceeds from sales to Make-A-Wish.
"Brook's goal of raising $100,000 by the end of March is really quite remarkable," said Torene Bonner, CEO and president of the Idaho Chapter of The Make-A-Wish Foundation. "Now more than ever, we could use more people like Brook to lend a helping hand with such generous donations."
For more information, visit www.wish.org, www.customplayouses/customdesign.com and www.rkadia.com
December 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 17, 2008
Icovia, a Londonderry, N.H.-based provider of online interior design solutions for the home furnishings industry, announced on Wednesday that four flagship companies of Furniture Brands International—Broyhill, Drexel Heritage, Lane and Thomasville—have adopted Icovia as their exclusive online interior design and space planning solution.
Broyhill Furniture and Drexel Heritage are the latest FBI companies to license Icovia 2D Business Edition, a private-labeled room planner that will launch directly from the furniture retailers' Web sites. Lane Furniture and Thomasville, both longtime Icovia customers, have integrated their product catalogs with Icovia, and also are upgrading to Icovia version 5. Thomasville completed the upgrade in June 2008, and Lane Furniture will deploy version 5 in the first quarter of 2009.
"Icovia delivers state-of-the-art technologies that help the FBI companies market and sell home furnishings," said Eric Tessau, FBI's director of e-commerce information technology. "We consider Icovia a strategic partner and are excited about the evolution their room planners are undergoing."
December 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Technology on December 16, 2008
The International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) has joined Fix Housing First, a coalition of 600 home-related organizations urging lawmakers to adopt a housing recovery plan similar to one that helped pull the nation's economy out of a recession in the mid-70s.
"The decline in housing sales and overall home values led the global economy into our current recession (and) we need to do all we can to turn this around by stimulating home sales," said ISPA President and CEO Dick Doyle. "Further, ISPA is proud to be leading a parallel effort to stimulate the purchasing of home furnishings as an important aspect of the economic recovery plan," he said, referring to a a credit of up to $5,000 that would be granted to consumers who purchase new home furnishings when buying a house.
The Fix Housing First coalition, which includes home building companies and manufacturers, is pressing for a major stimulus package to stem the decline in home values, stabilize financial markets and reignite consumer demand for homes and home furnishings. It's urging Congress to support enhancements to the home buyer tax credit and provide below-market mortgages for home purchases.
The group says a similar plan worked during a recession in 1975 when Congress passed a short-term $2,000 tax credit for all new homes, which would be $12,000 in today's dollars, along with subsidized mortgage rates. The measures boosted the depressed economy and the effects continued long after the stimulus expired.
The coalition is calling for a tax credit of up to $22,000, or up to 10 percent of the price of a home. Repayment would only be required if the home were sold within three years. The credit would be available at the time of closing, making it easier to use it as a down payment. The credits would be available through Dec. 31, 2009.
The second component would provide qualified home buyers with 30-year fixed rate mortgages at 2.99 percent on contracts closed until June 30, 2009, and 3.99 percent until Dec. 31, 2009.
December 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on December 16, 2008
Christian Nils Schwab will join leather upholstery manufacturer Natuzzi as senior vice president for BRI (Brazil-Russia-India); and Silvia di Rosa will come on board as vice president of investor relations and financial marketing. Both join Bari, Italy-based Natuzzi in late January.
Schwab, 43, will develop Natuzzi's entry strategy for penetrating growing markets in Brazil, Russia and India. The Swiss native recently worked at Nestlé, where in 2006 he became assistant vice president and head of the Nestlé Professional Beverage Center; and where he was involved in innovation, development of global solutions and their application in local markets relative to the beverage sector.
Prior to Nestlé, Schwab gained significant experience in multinational companies such as Tetra Pak, where he undertook increasingly important roles in the Budapest, Nairobi and St. Petersburg offices until becoming regional director for Europe of the Food Service Business Unit in London.
"I’ve had the opportunity of working with Christian at Nestlé where I witnessed his managerial skills and his ability to
innovate and adopt a multicultural approach, two essential qualities required to penetrate the Brazilian, Russian and Indian markets with the adequate pace," said Aldo Uva, CEO of Natuzzi Group. "Together with the entire current management, Christian has accepted to devote his efforts to the ambitious and challenging revitalisation plan we have recently launched."
Di Rosa will develop and maintain relations with analysts and investors, mostly foreign, and report to Uva in her new role at Natuzzi. Most recently, she worked for Beni Stabili SpA, where from 1999 to 2008 she headed the Investor and Media Relations Department and reported to the CEO. Following the company's listing on the stock market, she managed relations with Italian and international shareholders, analysts and investors.
"We are very pleased to welcome Silvia in our team as we believe her contribution will be fundamental to reaching the objectives of our new, ambitious plan to revitalise the company," Uva said. "The focus on all the aspects required to support our current investors and any potential investors approaching our company as a target for their investments, is vital in itself and essential to our company's success."