December 1,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on December 2008
Buying giant MEGA Group is embarking on a new $4.8 million Internet initiative designed to bolster members’ marketing and sales-building strategies.
The group has partnered with ayr1.com, an Internet solutions provider, to offer member stores the ability to choose from more than 2,000 ayr1 product catalogs.
“We have looked at numerous Web solutions providers over the past years and we are satisfied that ayr1 brings the best combination of services,” said Jerry Honea, chief operating officer of MEGA Group USA.
Internet search engines operated by Google, Yahoo and MSN recognize Web site content as a major component of ranking retailers when they are searched by product or category. Honea said the ayr1 product catalogs will enhance search results for MEGA members.
Honea said the catalog addition will give MEGA retailers a competitive edge in consumer searches online by keeping consumer eyes on the retailer’s Web site as opposed to linking over to a manufacturer’s site and possibly being directed to other retailers.
“At a time of extreme pressures on our retail members, we felt that we must show leadership in helping our members cope with the challenging and changing media landscape,” Honea said. “Ayr1 brings a world-class level of experience in our four business categories of furniture, mattress, electronics and appliances. Ayr1 is the only organization that can provide all of the necessary content required by our retailers.”
Based in Germantown, Tenn., MEGA has more than 1,300 retail members.
December 1,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 2008
Industry designer Richard Frinier and his wife Catherine Frinier have announced a $10,000 contribution to the City of Hope Research Center in California.
“It has always been important for us to focus on what can be done to make things better,” said Catherine Frinier. “We continue to do this in our work and it is a natural carryover to philanthropic causes. Our contribution to the City of Hope is to support research that will help find answers that will ultimately lead to improved treatments and cures in our lifetime and for the future.”
The Friniers made the donation in the names of its industry partners and affiliates, including Century Furniture, Dedon, Sunbrella and Currey & Co.
November 30,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on December 2008
Jennifer Convertibles, which operates a chain of more than 170 stores, announced last week that revenue in its fourth quarter decreased 16.3 percent to $30.8 million and had a net loss of $867,000 after posting net income of $1.74 million in the same period of 2007.
For the year, revenue at the Woodbury, N.Y.-based company decreased 9.7 percent to $120.9 million, and the company had a loss of $3.32 million versus net income of $3.79 million in fiscal 2007.
The company, which operates a network of 172 stores (including 148 corporate Jennifer locations and two Ashley HomeStores), said it closed 10 stores during 2008.
In a statement, CEO Harley Greenfield said, “Although I am certainly not pleased with the results achieved during fiscal 2008, I believe we have the right strategy in place, even in this unprecedented economy, to provide customers merchandise at incredible values while maintaining good margins.”
He said the company is continuing to cut costs, including reaching a warehousing and management agreement with the Related Companies that, with 2008’s volume, would have cut costs by up to $1.4 million.
Greenfield said he is “pleased with the progress of our Ashley division.” The two stores now account for about 10 percent of the company’s revenues, and Jennifer is pursuing the opening of a third Ashley store in 2009.
November 30,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on December 2008
• Consumer spending on all home furnishings, including furniture and bedding, continued its downward slide in October. Home furnishings spending in October was $398.9 billion, down 1.2 percent from September spending. Measured against October 2007 spending, total home furnishings spending decreased 3.9 percent.
Spending on furniture and bedding plummeted in October, down 8.7 percent from this time last year to $76.8 billion. Compared with September spending, consumers spent 1.7 percent less on furniture and bedding in October.
The sole bright spot in consumer spending on both home furnishings and furniture is that decreases in these categories were significantly less than overall spending declines on durable goods, which fell 4 percent in October versus September and plummeted 12.5 percent measured against October of last year.
Consumer spending on furniture and bedding this year is shaping up to be the lowest since 2005’s $76.8 billion. On an annualized basis for the first 10 months of this year, furniture spending is $82 billion, down 3.4 percent from last year.
Also based on the first 10 months of this year, consumer spending on all home furnishings is $414.5 billion, off 0.2 percent from 2007, and up 2.7 percent from 2006.
The U.S. Department of Commerce tracks consumer spending. Included in home furnishings is virtually everything in consumer homes, including home textiles, consumer electronics, home accents and major appliances. Antiques and valuable art are not included.
• Compared with September results, sales of new houses slipped again in October, down 5.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted 433,000, compared with a revised September figure of 457,000, based on a joint report issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Compared with October of last year, new house sales fell 40.1 percent.
The Northeast and the Midwest regions posted gains, up 22.6 percent and 6 percent, respectively, in sales, compared with September figures, with sales in the South off 6 percent and the West falling 18 percent.
Measured against year-earlier sales, all four regions recorded significant drops. Sales in the Northeast fell 41.5 percent, the Midwest skidded 44.5 percent, the South slid 38.5 percent, and the West was down 39.7 percent.
Weekly Review of Economic News (WREN) reports are summaries of recently released economic statistical data that affect the home furnishings industry. WREN reports are compiled by
HFB Research Editor Janice Chamberlain.
November 30,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on December 2008
Las Vegas furniture retailer Flexa is collecting pajamas for children at Child Haven, according to a report Friday from KTNV-TV. Child Haven is a local center devoted to temporarily housing children who’ve been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.
Through Dec. 21, Flexa, which sells environmentally friendly youth furniture, will collect pajamas for kids ranging from infants through teens. Those donating pajamas will receive a free plush toy for their own children.