Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
October 14,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 2008
As Norwalk Custom Order Furniture moves to re-establish itself in a new form, top executives will be at the High Point Market next week and will host receptions on Tuesday and Wednesday with retailers and vendors.
The receptions will take place 4-8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the President’s Room on the Ballroom level of the International Home Furnishings Center. The new executive team also will hold retailer and vendor meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 8 p.m.
With new investors, the leadership team of the 106-year-old company expressed optimism in a news release Tuesday. Norwalk Custom Order Furniture purchased assets of the former Norwalk Furniture, which filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this month.
“In many ways, we are better off than many companies because we don’t need credit,” said Dan White, an investor serving as interim president with a background in finance and venture capital. “We have a radically different balance sheet than our predecessor, are well capitalized with virtually no debt and are already back in production with sufficient assets to offer assured delivery of previous Norwalk product lines.”
News accounts Tuesday from Toledo reported on a federal judge’s order for machinery to be seized at a Norwalk factory. A spokesman Tuesday said the order covers only property belonging to Norwalk Furniture and doesn’t affect Norwalk Custom Furniture.
In Tuesday’s press release, White said, “We have received positive feedback from our customers and our vendors. We want them to meet our investors and see familiar faces with a new Norwalk vision of quality, informed communications and guaranteed commitment to our retail partners.”
The new executive team includes many Norwalk veterans. Ten of the company’s 13 sales representatives have joined Norwalk Custom Order Furniture. White has operated Next Generation, a venture capital firm, and Geotrac, a provider of information to the finance industry. He will serve as president for the next 12 months as a search is conducted for a permanent president.
October 14,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on October 2008
Copeland Furniture, Bradford, Vt., has been awarded Silver Exemplary Membership Status by the Sustainable Furnishings Council. The manufacturer of natural hardwood furniture already is Forest Stewardship Council=certified, making it one of a few American furniture
manufacturers that has met that organization’s stringent requirements, the highest standards in the world.
“Copeland Furniture’s continued commitment to sustainability serves to strengthen the sustainability movement and the furniture marketplace,” said SFC Executive Director Susan Inglis. “I am excited to welcome Copeland Furniture as our newest Silver Exemplary Member and am particularly impressed by Copeland’s commitment to use FSC-certified North American wood and other responsibly sourced materials for the health of consumers, communities, and the environment.”
Copeland Furniture actually exceeds requirements for SFC Silver status, using between 15 and 25 percent FSC-certified or equivalent wood; between 1 and 25 percent non-wood products made from recycled or bio-based materials; and has completed a Carbon Footprint Report that includes detailed analysis of its operation’s energy output; and is showing a positive impact on supply chain improvements as a result of sustainability efforts.
“Stewardship runs deep in rural New England, and Copeland Furniture’s manufacturing processes reflect our ingrained respect for our local forests and communities,” said Tim Copeland, CEO of Copeland Furniture. For 35 years, the company has sourced 90 percent of its lumber from forests in a 500-mile radius of the manufacturing plant, effectively reducing the fossil fuel required by trucking and contributing to local economies. SFC and FSC certifications are important to the company in that they indicate Copeland’s commitment and assist it in consumer-education and awareness.
At High Point Market next week, Copeland will introduce Newport, its sixth FSC-certified bedroom collection. Newport is constructed of FSC-certified solid maple and combines minimalist style with functionality. The group includes a queen or king-sized bed, one-, five-, six- and seven-drawer cases, and a wall-hung mirror. Pieces are available in natural, cocoa, chocolate or graphite finishes.
“In our search for eco-friendly home furnishings that combine quality and consumer demands for exceptional new designs, Copeland Furniture is one of the few manufacturers we’ve found that exceeds all our expectations,” noted retailer Shawn Olsen of Skandinavia in Austin, Texas. “They don’t sacrifice on sustainability or design, and their products are made right here in the USA.”
October 14,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 2008
Value City Furniture of New Jersey went live Tuesday on its a newly redesigned website, www.valuecitynj.com . Web site and Internet marketing services provider FurnitureDealer.net developed the second-generation site, which displays more than 12,000 products from 33 leading manufacturers of case goods and upholstered furniture, and a full line of mattresses.
In addition to relevant content, Dayton, N.J.-based Value City wanted a more contemporary look and feel for its Web site, said Manager Mitch Keller in a release.
“To be relevant to our target audience of style-conscious women, our website has to be fashionable. So we updated the look and feel, using trendy colors,” Keller said. Contemporary lifestyle photos and promotional events feature more prominently on the redesigned site.
The second goal of the new design was to increase usability.
“The only negative comments we heard from customers about our old Web site was information overload. The new design is less cluttered, more streamlined. All the information is still there, just not all at once,” said Keller.
Andy Bernstein, president of FurnitureDealer.net, said the new Web site includes a clean layout to reduce confusion and innovative, two-stage menus to help users get quickly from whatever page they’re on to any other page on the website.
“Intuitive navigation controls are important because 55 percent of visitors to Value City’s Web site enter from search engines to pages other than the home page,” Bernstein said.
Growing Internet usage, especially among Value City’s target audience of women between 30- and 50-years-old, while usage of newspapers, make the retailer’s Web site a valuable advertising tool.
“Shifting advertising dollars from traditional media to the Web makes sense in this down economy,” said Keller. “Our Web site is very search-engine friendly, so our site is usually found by furniture shoppers in the markets we serve who use search engines to find the products and brands we carry. Since we generate so much site traffic without having to pay for online advertising, our Web site has become our primary branding vehicle.”
Value City has seven stores that feature a wide variety of name brand furniture at affordable prices serving the entire state of New Jersey, Staten Island and parts of Pennsylvania, offering interior design and floor planning assistance.
FurnitureDealer.net has 40 clients, including 15 of the 150 largest independent furniture retailers in North America. The company helps implement multi-channel strategies for furniture retailers and manufacturers that promote sales through retail stores and salespeople; builds Web sites and provides product content management, search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, sales training and in-store integration.
October 14,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 2008
The Kaleidoscope Partnership and ayr1.com are have formed a strategic alliance to further both business’ objectives of providing cutting edge Internet solutions to retailers and manufacturers in the home industries.
Ayr1 is a leading provider of Internet solutions to the furniture, appliance and electronics industries, specializing in Web site development, e-mail marketing and AdSense campaigns for their retail clients and e-catalog and shared revenue e-commerce solutions for their manufacturing clients.
The Kaleidoscope Partnership specializes in helping home industries retailers and manufacturers drive revenue through social networking, online reputation enhancement services, data mining of Web site analytics, e-content writing for Web sites and Web-related materials and training of sales teams to convert e-based inquires into sales.
By partnering to provide this comprehensive range of services to their clients, both companies seek to add maximum value to their clients’ ability to drive revenue from their Internet strategies.
“By partnering with ayr1.com, we are now able to offer our clients a total Internet solution on a turnkey basis,” said Leslie Carothers, The Kaleidoscope Partnership’s principal. “I selected ayr1.com based on their affordability, their expertise in running over 1,200 furniture Web sites and the quality of the team they have in place to manage and grow their business.”
Ron Goswell, CEO of ayr1.com said, “We selected The Kaleidoscope Partnership as our channel integration partner as we believe their experience and knowledge of all segments of the home furnishings industry along with their deep understanding of the Internet will add tremendous value to our clients as they seek new ways to drive revenue from their Web strategies.”
October 14,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Technology on October 2008
Frank DeFalco has joined San Diego-based Myriad Software as account executive, and James Smith has come on board as director of development at the furniture retail automation vendor.
DeFalco has a 35-year career in retail, the last 11 working with another vendor of furniture retail software solutions.
“Frank has the perfect background and experience that will immediately benefit our company and our clients,” says Carolyn Crowley, president and co-founder of Myriad Software. “His knowledge, his sales-management expertise and his in-depth furniture industry experience are essential to communicating and guiding our potential clients and existing client base, as well as to contributing to Myriad’s ongoing success.”
Smith is a 20-year Fortune 500 technology veteran, developing software technologies for companies such as State Farm Insurance and Sony. He also redesigned hardware, including that for Toshiba International. His understanding and use of technology, management techniques and quality processes have resulted in successful developments for e-commerce and “software as a service.”
“James is our strategic choice,” Crowley said. “Our plan is to grow by continuing to offer affordable and quality solutions to the retailers who have come to rely on us. James will be pivotal to our ongoing development of a robust software solution with more options that appeal to our clients and their customers.”
As director of development, Smith will be instrumental in guiding the growth and future development of Eclicktic, Myriad’s furniture retail-management software tool for point-of-sale, inventory management, merchandising, accounting and more. He will oversee the company’s technical side, focusing on development tools, emerging technologies and management of Myriad’s development team. Smith will also supervise the company’s continual quality-assurance process.