November 17,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on November 2008
Star Furniture and The Furniture Bank of Houston are working together to support victims of Hurricane Ike, the Greater Houston Weekly reported Monday.
Star will collect furniture donations at its six Houston-area locations for distribution to affected families through The Furniture Bank, which will work with local human service agencies and charities.
“We are happy to do whatever we can to help our community,” Star Furniture Advertising Director Mike Galloway said in the report. “Having been in Houston since 1912, we’re all family in that regard.”
Hurricane victims especially need beds, dining room tables with chairs, and dressers, said Ali Mohammed, founder and executive director of The Furniture Bank.
November 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on November 2008
Atlanta-based Simmons, which delayed its earnings announcement last week to engage with talks with its lenders, said Friday it is reducing its salaried workforce by 20 percent in response to challenging economic environment.
The voluntary and involuntary layoffs affect all levels and divisions of the company.
“The decision to move forward with a workforce reduction is never easy, but we determined that it was necessary in order for Simmons to weather the economic downturn and be properly positioned when the economy recovers,” said Simmons President and CEO Larry Rogers. “This past year has been very difficult for the entire bedding industry, which, in turn, has affected our retail customers and our company. Notwithstanding these reductions, Simmons will continue to provide our customers with the superior quality, service and support for which Simmons is known in the industry.”
Last week, the company stated it is “seeking a forbearance agreement related to a senior credit facility in order to have more time to negotiate an amendment” that will provide revised financial covenants into 2010.
On Oct. 21, Simmons Co., the holding company for Simmons Bedding, released an announcement stating that it was seeking the consent of its senior lenders to amend its senior credit facility after falling out of compliance with a “maximum leverage ratio covenant.” The senior credit facility provides for a $75 million revolving loan facility and a $465 million tranche D term loan facility.
In the Oct. 11 announcement, Simmons Bedding officials also said the company expected that its net sales for the third quarter would be down 10 percent to 13 percent from the same period in 2007. It reported that cash on hand on Sept. 27 was $62 million to $64 million and the company’s $75 million revolving credit facility was fully drawn.
November 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2008
• Furniture store sales plummeted in September according to the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). On an annualized basis, sales for the month were $55.3 billion, down 10.8 percent from August. Measured against September 2007, sales in furniture stores were down 11.2 percent.
Sales in home furnishings stores, which exclude furniture store sales, were $47.9 billion in September, a decline of 6.7 percent from August. Compared with September of last year, home furnishings store sales fell 8.3 percent.
Year-to-date sales in both stores are off from the comparable 2007 period. For the first nine months of 2008, furniture store sales were $44.5 billion, down 5.1 percent from last year. Home furnishings store sales declined 7.6 percent to $37 billion for the first three-quarters of the year.
DOC also announced advance estimates for overall retail and food services sales for October, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, were $363.7 billion, a decrease of 2.8 percent from September and 4.1 percent below October 2007. On an annualized basis, sales were $4.36 trillion.
The DOC advance estimate for combined furniture and home furnishings store sales for the first 10 months of 2008 is $90 billion, down 7 percent from the comparable 2007 period.
• Home values fell for the seventh quarter in a row, according to real estate Web site Zillow.com . According to Zillow.com, home values declined 9.7 percent year-over-year in the third quarter to a Zillow Home Value Index of $202,966, based on 163 metropolitan areas.
Home values have dropped a total 12.8 percent since the market peaked in 2006, according to Zillow.
“It’s clear we are at a unique point in history; we’ve had seven consecutive quarters of decline, and we expect that to continue until at least the middle of next year,” said Stan Humphries, Zillow vice president of data and analytics.
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 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on November 2008
Comfort Zone, a three-store, Santa Fe, N.M.-based furniture retailer will close two stores in Santa Fe and one in Albuquerque, the New Mexico Business Weekly reported on Friday.
Owner Darrell Kress said the stores will close by the end of the year, but did not discuss reasons for closing Comfort Zone, a family-owned operation in business for 22 years.
November 16,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2008
Long-time executive director of the American Society of Furniture Designers Christine Evans is back in her old post at the association.
Evans, who retired earlier this year, is succeeding her replacement. Jane Matteson, who took over the position after Evans retired, left this month to pursue other business opportunities.
“We are very grateful to Jane for the hard work and vision she brought to our organization and wish her the best in her industry endeavors,” said Steve Hodges, incoming ASFD president. “We are very fortunate that Christine was in a position to step in at this critical time for ASFD. The skills and experience she brings to the position should make for a seamless transition.”
Evans can be reached at info@asfd.com or (910) 576-1273.