October 29,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2008
An auction has been scheduled for Nov. 15 to sell the building and contents of the Moosehead Manufacturing Co. plant in Dover-Foxcroft, Me., according to a report on the mainebiz.biz Web site.
Moosehead closed last year, but reopened under new ownership, which is producing furniture at the a second plant in Monson, Me.
The 85,000-square-foot Dover-Foxcroft facility has a biomass boiler that burns wood waste and is located along a river and nearby hydropower dam.
October 28,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on October 2008
Atlanta-based Aaron Rents, which operates a network of nearly 1,500 furniture and electronics locations, announced Tuesday that revenues increased 16 percent to $388 million in its third quarter, and net earnings rose 32 percent to $21.1 million.
Same-store sales increased 5.7 percent during the third quarter in company-owned stores. Aaron’s portfolio includes 983 company stores, 502 franchises and 38 RIMCO wheel rental stores, eight of which are franchised. Its Corporate Furnishings Unit, which is being sold, has 47 locations, and there are also 13 Aaron’s Office stores.
“We are very pleased with the third-quarter results from both our company- operated and franchised stores,” said Robert C. Loudermilk, Jr., president and CEO. “Even though economic times are tough and our stores in the Southern and Central United States were affected in September by business disruption and property damage as a result of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, we still managed to have an outstanding quarter as customers continue to come into our stores seeking basic home furnishings,” he said, adding that more than 100 stores were impacted by hurricanes. “We feel we are in an outstanding position to continue the growth of our business during the remainder of 2008 and on into 2009.”
As previously announced, the company is selling its Corporate Furnishings Division to CORT Furniture. Aaron Rents expects to receive approximately $72 million when the deal closes in November.
Company officials said the company expects to add about 17 stores by the end of the year and continue to grow its store base by 10 percent to 12 percent over the next several years.
October 28,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on October 2008
Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Serta and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Tuesday that about 6,100 of the company’s mattresses are being recalled due to not meeting federal open-flame standards.
The Zipper-Covered Foam Core mattresses were sold from December 2007 to May 2008 at stores nationwide for prices of up to $2,500, and the products includes twin, full, queen, king and California king sizes.
Consumers should immediately contact Serta to determine whether their mattress is included in the recall. Owners of qualifying mattresses will receive a free replacement mattress cover that consumers can either install themselves or make a request to have a certified repair technican perform the task.
More information is available at Serta’s hotline (866) 675-3853.
October 28,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2008
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index set a record low in October, plummeting to 38 from 61.4 in September (1985=100). The Present Situation Index fell to 41.9 from 61.1 last month, and the Expectations Index declined to 35.5 points in October from September’s 61.5 points.
Consumers’ appraisal of current business conditions was equally dismal, with 38.3 percent saying conditions were “bad,” up from 33.4 in September. Just 9.2 percent of consumers said business conditions were “good,” down from 12.8 percent last month. The balance of consumers said business conditions were “normal.”
More than 91 percent of consumers said jobs were either “not so plentiful” or “hard to get,” up from 87.4 percent a month ago.
Consumers were also gloomy about business conditions in six months, with 36.6 percent expecting conditions would be worse, up from 21 percent in September.
Short-term (six months) buying plans for big-ticket items offered mixed results, with 4.4 percent of consumers planning on buying an automobile, down from 4.9 percent last month and 25.9 percent expecting to purchase a major appliance, measured against 29 percent in September.
The one bright spot was six-month buying plans for homes, with 2.7 percent of October consumers anticipating a purchase, up from 2.3 percent in September.
Regional results were down across the board, with the largest drop posted in the East South Central region, down 36.9 points from September to October.
“The impact of the financial crisis over the last several weeks has clearly taken a toll on consumers’ confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “The decline in the Index, 23.4 points, is the third-largest in the history of the series, and the lowest reading on record. ... In assessing current conditions, consumers rated the labor market and business conditions much less favorably, suggesting that the fourth quarter is off to a weaker start than the third quarter.
“Looking ahead, consumers are extremely pessimistic, and a significantly larger proportion than last month foresees business and labor market conditions worsening. Their earnings outlook, as well as inflation outlook, is also more pessimistic, and this news does not bode well for retailers who are already bracing for what is shaping up to be a very challenging holiday season,” said Franco.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The cutoff date for October’s preliminary results was Oct. 21.
October 28,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2008
Case goods, occasional and leather vendor Aspenhome, Phoenix, Ariz., announced on Monday the launch of “Ask Watson,” the new name of its customer service department, and a new approach to getting information to its retail customers quickly and accurately.
“Many times dealers need an answer and they need it quickly,” said Yvonne Aranda, aspenhome’s recently promoted director of customer services. “Ask Watson is our solution to that problem. We have added new Watson specialists and each member of our customer service team has been trained in the Watson Techniques to find, locate and solve.”
“We created a recognizable icon that dealers can easily spot on our Web site to immediately get their information,” said Renee Loper, director of marketing and communications. “Symbolic communications are very effective in our fast paced Internet world. Our Watson character personalizes this very important process while making information available 24/7.”
The new Ask Watson on-line service will be available to dealers by logging on to
www.aspenhome.net and clicking on the Dealers menu. Watson will not only answer dealer questions but also allow them to access on-line order information seven-days-a-week around-the-clock as well as check order status and inventory levels. Dealers will be able to track orders as well as receive estimated ship dates so they can let their customers know when their furniture will be arriving.