Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
October 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on October 2008
High-end home furnishings
vendor Marge Carson Inc., Rosemead, Calif., has filed a patent lawsuit against Schnadig Corp., Des Plaines, Ill., that alleges infringement of at least one of the patented design elements found in Marge Carson’s Chantelle sofa.
“Marge Carson prides itself in elegant and original designs, created exclusively for us by some of our industry’s top designers,” said
Will Sharp, president of Marge Carson. “We will aggressively protect our intellectual properties and the design integrity of our collections in order to ensure our retailers that they will not be subjected to design knock-offs.”
In-house designer Michael Gohman created the Chantelle sofa, which has become one of Marge Carson’s best sellers.
Many of Marge Carson’s designs and brands are protected by the laws governing design patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade dress.
The federal court complaint identifies Schnadig’s Compositions collection as containing the allegedly infringing sofa. Marge Carson seeks an injunction to stop all U.S. sales, manufacture or importation of the infringing product and payment to Marge Carson for damages incurred from such sales.
Discovery in the lawsuit may uncover additional design infringements that will require amendments to the complaint.
October 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2008
High-end case goods and upholstery vendor Habersham, Toccoa, Ga., filed suit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against G&J Styles Inc. and Halo Styles LLC for infringement of several of Habersham’s copyrighted furniture designs.
The complaint accuses the defendants of distributing unauthorized copies of several of Habersham’s most successful furniture pieces.
“We simply cannot allow our original and distinctive designs to be copied and let others unjustly profit from Habersham’s goodwill and reputation,” said Habersham President Matt Eddy. “Consumers should not have to associate our high-end brand with lower quality knock-offs.”
The lawsuit is the latest move in Habersham’s ongoing efforts to protect its copyrighted works and brand identity. Habersham’s efforts to date have included federal registration of its copyrighted ornamental designs for furniture to enable court enforcement, and the removal of unauthorized copies of its products from the listings of online auction website eBay.
October 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on October 2008
On Wednesday, Sealy, the nation’s largest mattress maker, announced the opening of a new 130,000-square-foot factory near Toronto.
The facility in Scarborough, which is 50 percent larger than the plant it replaces, is designed to accommodate the company’s sales growth in Canada.
“The new Toronto facility shows that Sealy continues to invest in our Canadian business and support its growth,” said Larry Rogers, CEO, Sealy. “Sealy Canada has always performed well and is an important part of our overall business. We will continue to invest the resources to foster its growth.”
The facility includes a 5,000-square-foot showroom and training room that allows Sealy Canada to showcase its entire line inside the Toronto facility. The showroom can quickly be converted to a training center large enough to host retail partners for sales and product training.
The new, leased location was built exclusively for Sealy and is located just one mile from the major shipping artery in Toronto. It has 125 factory employees and 37 office and sales associates.
October 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Youth, Juvenile Furniture on October 2008
Kevin Walker has joined Stanley Furniture Co. Inc., Stanleytown, Va., in the new position of vice president of product and sales management for Young America. He reports to Glenn Prillaman, executive vice president of marketing and sales.
Walker’s responsibilities include developing and managing the Young America product line and opening additional Young America Signature Shops. He also will assist Kevin Bowman, Stanley Furniture vice president of sales, with managing the company’s independent sales representatives.
With seven years of management experience in the industry, Walker formerly managed North American sales, marketing and product development for Pali, a juvenile furniture company.
“Kevin brings an extremely diverse set of experiences and relationships within the infant and children’s furniture industry,” Prillaman said. “He shares our passion for the industry and our commitment to the independent retailer in delivering superior product and sales performance.”
October 15,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Technology on October 2008
Impact Consulting Services Inc. has launched www.furniturecore.com, a Web-based knowledge center designed expressly for the home furnishings industry.
The new site’s goal is to provide subscribers with up-to-date information about the industry and their position in it. Users can access their company’s facts and figures as well as make use of exceptional data-gathering services, consumer research, organizational tools, and up-to-date industry news, and insights in a unique virtual environment.
FurnitureCore.com builds upon Atlanta-based Impact Consulting’s long history of delivering highly reliable information to its clients in the home furnishings industry.