Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
October 8,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2008
The International Furnishings and Design Association Educational Foundation announced Wednesday that plans are underway for a new nationwide Raymond Waites Design Competition Scholarship. The program will invite college and university students to design a living area based on modern interpretations of classic themes, in keeping with the noted designer’s ideas about blending time periods and cultural influences in today’s furnishings and environments. The intention is to continue with design competitions for dining room and bedroom in following years.
Raymond Waites is known as an industry entrepreneur, creating unique eclectic designs in licensed lines of furniture, lamps, area rugs, accessories and accent items that reflect his vision of the “Remix Revolution.” He is also an icon, style pioneer and artist.
To help build the fund, Raymond Waites is hosting a Wine Tasting and Silent Art Auction at his New Vintage Gallery, 1313 N. Main St., on Sunday, Oct. 19, 6-8:30 p.m. Several pieces of his original works of art will be offered at auction, all proceeds going into the design competition scholarship fund.
During the coming months, the IFDA Educational Foundation will work with Waites in developing detailed scholarship criteria and application requirements which will be distributed to colleges and universities across the country and also be available on the Educational Foudation Web site, www.ifdaef.org where interested parties also may make a donation to the fund.
The Raymond Waites Design Competition Scholarship will be launched in the fall of 2009. The winner will be announced during the April Market of 2010 and highlight the 40th anniversary of the IFDA Foundation which now offers more annual scholarships and grants than any other industry association.
“Our idea is to offer this design competition early in the school year so it can be used as a class project and become a valuable learning tool,” Waites said. “Most design schools concentrate on contemporary styling but the marketplace continues to dictate a blend of past and present in furniture, accessories and interiors.”
The criteria will include the requirement of illustrating in detail a feature item of the design so it is applicable to “real life” production processes and marketing programs. Raymond Waites intends to select an item from the winning room design to adapt for one of his collections, the royalties going into the scholarship fund.
Current plans are to award a $5,000 scholarship to the winning entry.
The student also will have an opportunity to gain hands-on experience working as an intern with Raymond Waites, helping set up High Point Market showrooms. Plans include the involvement of a leading shelter magazine in the project.
October 7,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on October 2008
Sealy, the world’s largest mattress maker, said Tuesday that sales declined 9.3 percent to $405 million in its second quarter, and net income was nearly halved to $10.9 million from $21.5 million during the same period a year ago.
The Trinity, N.C.-based company said a 3.3 percent increase in average selling price was offset by a 15.5 percent decline in unit volume.
In a news release, Larry Rogers, Sealy’s president and CEO, said, “Sealy’s third-quarter performance once again demonstrated our ability to positively impact our results despite ongoing challenges in the retail environment and heightened cost inflation. We completed the rollout of our new Posturepedic line during the quarter, which continued to gain traction and was a key driver of our results. ... We also continued to make progress during the third quarter on reducing our cost structure and effectively managing working capital.”
Rogers said the company expects market weakness and cost pressures to continue in the near term, and he said the company will continue executing strategic operating initiatives to allow Sealy to emerge as a leaner organization with improved profit potential when the market turns in a more positive direction.
The news release stated that the company has reduced volume-driven variable expenses by $6.3 million and trimmed fixed expenses by $5.3 million through a variety of cost-savings initiatives.
October 7,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 2008
EQ3, the retailing arm of Palliser Furniture, plans to focus more on Asia in order to reduce dependence on slow sales in the U.S. market, according to a report Tuesday in the Bangkok Post.
Asia “is a very promising market and we see an opportunity to open about 40 to 50 new outlets over the next five years in this region excluding China,” said EQ3 President Peter Tielmann, who is in Bangkok this week for the opening of the retailer’s first Asian store.
The report said About 55 percent of EQ3’s business now comes from the United States, where business has fallen around 40 percent in the wake of financial turmoil, 25 percent from Canada and the remainder from international markets.
The 12,000-square-foot Bangkok store is licensed to Q Concept Co., a subsidiary of Decor Mart. EQ3 will renew distribution rights for Q Concept every five years.
EQ3 hopes that Asia will account for 20 percent to 25 percent of sales within five years. In addition to Thailand, where EQ3 could open 10 stores, the company is considering stores in South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan.
October 7,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2008
NFC Acquisition, an entity formed by two private investors that failed in an attempt to acquire Norwalk Furniture, has sued Comerica bank for complicating the negotiations, according to a
report Wednesday in The Sandusky (Ohio) Register.
IRG Capital Group and Blackbird Capital Partners withdrew their attempt to buy Norwalk after they said Comerica pulled Norwalk’s funding, forcing the company’s plant to shut down. NFC filed a lawsuit Friday in Huron County Common Pleas Court claiming that Comerica committed fraud, misconduct and tortuous interference with a contract.
NFC Acquisition seeks a full refund of its $1 million investment in its effort to acquire Norwalk, as well as legal fees and punitive damages.
October 7,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 2008
Consumers seeking bargains boosted Costco Wholesale’s fourth-quarter sales by 13 percent, and profits rose 7 percent, the Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer announced Tuesday.
Costco operates 544 warehouse stores nationwide, including two Costco Home stores that are focused on furniture.
Net sales totaled $22.63 billion during the 16-week period that ended Aug. 31, and same-store sales rose 9 percent over last year. For the year, Costco’s sales increased 13 percent to $70.98 billion as same-store sales increased 8 percent.