Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
September 24,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on September 2008
California Attorney General Jerry Brown Wednesday sued five baby furniture manufacturers for failing to warn consumers about what he calls dangerous levels of formaldehyde gas emitted by their products, including cribs and changing tables.
“We’re suing these companies because parents deserve to know if there’s a dangerous chemical in products for children,” Brown said, according to a press release. “Over the past two years, we’ve brought other actions to ensure the safety of children’s products, such as lead in toys and (toxins) in baby bibs. Increasingly, the wood and other materials in consumer products are produced globally, and the lack of tough safeguards and strict enforcement can lead to dangerous levels of exposure.”
The state’s lawsuit alleges that Child Craft, Delta Enterprise Corp., Stork Craft, South Shore Industries and Jardine Enterprises manufactured baby furniture, such as cribs and changing tables, that emit formaldehyde—a chemical known to cause cancer—and failed to provide any warning about this risk, according to Brown’s statement. In addition to being a carcinogen, formaldehyde has been shown to contribute to respiratory problems like asthma.
The Environmental California Research and Policy Center, an organization that evaluates products for carcinogens, tested the companies’ baby furniture. Based on that testing and on his own test results, Brown’s office calculated that the furniture exposes children to formaldehyde gas at levels well above the Proposition 65 limit of 40 micrograms per day.
A press release by Brown’s office said the lawsuit seeks to remedy past violations and to prompt manufacturers and retailers to prevent baby furniture containing formaldehyde from being sold without warning consumers about the risks of exposure.
September 24,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Technology on September 2008
Kincaid Furniture, Hudson, N.C., has launched a new Web site (www.kincaidfurniture.com) that offers users additional product details, easier navigation and more interaction within the site.
Atlantic Webworks, Greensboro, N.C., designed and developed the site following a study of consumer usage of the previous site. The design will also become the foundation for a retail-based tool Kincaid plans to launch on retail floors later this year.
Updates include providing more information to the consumer on the history of the company, how the products are made, and how to care for the furniture. Consumers can find Kincaid dealers with a locator, and the update allows shoppers to identify the Kincaid products a local dealer carries. Consumers are also invited to join a mailing list to receive information that is specific to their individual needs, and will have the ability to email any item from the product catalog with its information to any email address without interrupting their shopping experience to do so.
Max Dyer, vice president of sales for Kincaid, said, “We set out with a few key goals in mind for the new site. We wanted to make it more intuitive, to better showcase the breadth of our selection, and to keep it fresh. We’ve also made it easier and more efficient for those who know what they want, to connect with it and find a retailer who has it.”
September 24,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on September 2008
The High Point Market Authority’s Fall 2008 Trends Forecast is available now for download at the organization’s Web site, www.highpointmarket.org
The new report features insights from leading trend-trackers, manufacturers and retailers; identifies and explores the season’s important product, color, lifestyle and demographic trends; and offers recommendations from leading industry experts on connecting with today’s consumer in the coming months.
The report details numerous trends including:
• Sanctuary
Home is perhaps the most natural place to create a sanctuary from the outside world, and home furnishings manufacturers are also seeing consumers trending toward simplicity.
• Function
Functional features such as charging stations for cell phones and iPods, flexible styling, pieces that can serve multiple purposes, and storage are all trends that fit consumers’ lifestyles today.
• Color: Pantone’s View
The Pantone home palette is included in the Fall Trends Report with a characterization of each palette label, “Wine Country,” “Honesty,” “Discerning Tastes,” “Reveries,” “Wanderings,” “Solar Energy,” “Breathe Easy,” and “Animate.”
• Pattern: Simply Complex
More decorative complexity is complementing the streamlined forms of furnishings.
• Tuning Into Style
Technology continues to drive spectacular growth in home entertainment furnishings.
• GenX Takes Over
The prevailing myth that the Baby Boomers are the largest of the three generations is busted by the U.S. Census Bureau’s population estimates. The Boomers are actually the smallest of the groups, with just under 77 million people. Generation X will contain approximately 84 million people, and Generation Y will come in with just under 82 million. To maximize this opportunity, our industry will need to respond to the Xer’s different worldviews and home lives.
“This report comes at an ideal time for buyers across the country and around the world, many of whom are preparing to attend the High Point Market next month,” said Brian D. Casey, president and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority. “With some 2,000 exhibitors set to introduce product here, it’s important for buyers to learn as much as they can about what’s on trend in advance of their arrival here at Market. And, in an environment in which many professionals in the home furnishings business are challenged to do more with less, we’re pleased to be able to offer the Fall Trends Forecast as one of the many unique and useful resources available only on our Web site, www.highpointmarket.org .”
September 24,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on September 2008
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has accepted the application of Signature Home Furnishings, Cerritos, Calif., for a utility patent for the case goods vendor’s premium dresser mirror.
Signature’s dresser and mirror has accommodates home entertainment function with a motorized mirror that sinks into the dresser, revealing a mounted flat-screen television as the mirror lowers.
The piece also features hidden storage for electronic components. The unit comes with a built-in electronic sensor the size of a dime. This device redirects remote control beams inside the center door of the dresser, where components await the remote control signal. The sensor eliminates the need to have glass doors in order for the remote control to communicate with components.
September 24,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on September 2008
Great Priced Furniture, a North Carolina Internet retailer, has been named to
Inc. Magazine’s ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing companies. The Wilmington, N.C.-based retailer had revenue growth of 88.4 percent, and sales reached $5.6 million in 2007.
The magazine’s lists and profiles the nation’s fastest-growing privately held companies. Great Priced Furniture also made the list last year.
President Fred Rose attributes the company’s growth rate to a number of factors including overseas sales.
“Despite a sluggish economy, our domestic sales have remained strong and we have also created significant extra sales volume with international sales,” Rose said. “The weak dollar exchange rate is proving very attractive to overseas customers and it has spurred our overall sales.”
Great Priced Furniture (www.greatpricedfurniture.com) specializes in selling brands such as American Drew, Lexington, AICO, Hooker and Stanley. The company, which has 23 employees, fulfills most customer orders in four weeks or less, which it claims is faster than ordering from a traditional furniture store. The company offers a 30-day, full satisfaction, money back guarantee, which it says is a first for Internet furniture sellers.