Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2008
Havertys, which operates 124 stores in 17 states, said sales during May decreased 3.9 percent to $61.6 million. On a same-store basis, the Atlanta-based chain saw a decrease of 6.3 percent.
For the first five months of the year, sales decreased 2.6 percent to $300.8 million. Same-store sales declined 5.7 percent over the five-month period.
“With the exception of Memorial Day weekend, our written business was weaker than expected for most of the month and was down 13 percent in total compared to May of Last year,” said CEO Clarence Smith.
He said June sales are hard to predict, but the company expects total delivered sales in the full second quarter to be down by a high single-digit percentage compared to last year.
June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on June 2008
Broyhill Home Furnishings, Lenoir, N.C., announced Tuesday that it has partnered with “Your Place or Mine?”, a new family game show hosted by soap star and television personality Cameron Mathison. Broyhill is the exclusive furniture partner for all 13 episodes, and will be providing prizes for up to four rooms of furniture per episode including dining rooms, living rooms, master bedrooms, youth bedrooms, game rooms and home offices.
“Your Place or Mine?” premieres Sunday, June 8 at 8 p.m. on TLC television. TLC’s first-ever game show offers a unique format that combines trivia and friendly competition with home decorating. The studio-based family game show pits two families against each other for a chance to win brand-new rooms of furniture for their homes. The twist: Movers are already at each of their homes, so when a family wins a room of furniture, they watch along with TLC viewers as the new room is actually moved into their house right then and there.
A family who wins a room of furniture also then has the ability to take a new room or steal rooms from their competitors. If a room is stolen, the family will watch as their brand new room of furniture is taken back out of their home, their old furniture moved back in, and the stolen room moved into their competitors’ home, all on-camera.
The families compete for four rooms in each episode. In the end, the family that has the most points advances to the final round to play for a brand-new car.
“Broyhill has been a longtime participant on game shows, so participating in a game show with a primary focus on furniture and home make-overs made perfect sense for us,” said Scott Reid, chief marketing officer at Broyhill. “We are very excited about our partnership with TLC’s ‘Your Place or Mine?’. TLC’s demos attract an upscale audience and their home-focused programs are very targeted to their viewers. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase our products on this exciting new game show.”
Broyhill is a subsidiary of Furniture Brands International, St. Louis.
June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2008
Nine students were recently selected to receive the Celia Moh Scholarship for the 2008–2009 academic year. Students from selected universities around the country with home furnishings programs were eligible to apply.
This year’s recipients are: Nicholas Blair and Lillian Stoltz, Kendall College of Art and Design; Emma Neidert and Ashley Albrecht, High Point University; Irina Skalova and Anne Michener, East Carolina University; and Hugh Owings, Joel Valente and Katherine Watts, Appalachian State University.
The Celia Moh Scholarship was established in October 2001 by furniture industry entrepreneur Laurence Moh to honor his wife, Celia. The scholarship program, funded by Moh’s initial gift of $3 million, was established to provide full-tuition scholarships for students whose academic endeavors would logically lead to careers in the home furnishings industry.
The application process requires candidates to complete an extensive questionnaire, write a personal essay, obtain instructors’ recommendations and provide a college transcript illustrating exceptional academic achievement. A scholarship committee comprised of notable home furnishings industry executives selected the students. The nine scholarship recipients join five returning students selected as Celia Moh scholars in previous years. Forty-eight full scholarships have been awarded in the program’s seven-year existence.
For more information about the Celia Moh Scholarship program, visit www.mohscholarship.org
June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on June 2008
Award-winning furniture designer Vladimir Kagan has signed on with the Sustainable Furniture Council (SFC), which promotes eco-friendly practices.
“We are thrilled to have someone of Vladimir Kagan’s stature join our organization,” said Susan Inglis, SFC’s executive director. “His work has been an inspiration to many for years, and it is further confirmation of just how important the sustainability issue is becoming in our industry.”
Kagan’s designs from the 40s through the 60s have become Mid-Century Modern icons, and his work is collected by connoisseurs and museums around the world, including The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the Metropolitan Museum, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and The Petit Palais in Geneva.
Founded a year and a half ago, the fast-growing SFC now has nearly 250 members including retailers such as Room & Board and ABC Home, manufacturers such as Kathy Ireland Home and American Leather, and designers such as Kagan and Tucker Robbins. The organization established Standards for the industry in October 2007 that are a crucial first step in leading the industry toward legitimate sustainability practices. The organization added or renewed 24 members in May.
June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2008
The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) has made award criteria and the complete entry form for the 2008 Sage Award available online at www.sustainablebydesign.us
The Sage Award was created to recognize excellence in the home furnishings and bedding industries in the areas of sustainable business practices, social responsibility and profitable growth. Sponsored by Cargill’s BiOH polyols, the Sage Award will honor its first recipient at AHFA’s Sustainability Summit on Nov. 13, in Greensboro, N.C. Cargill’s BiOH polyols also will sponsor the two-day Sustainability Summit.
The Sage Award will recognize a manufacturer or designer of finished home furnishings or bedding products or a retailer in the home furnishings or bedding industry. Nominees must demonstrate leadership in reducing the industry’s environmental footprint and expanding its positive social impact while running a profitable business.
The deadline for submitting an entry for the 2008 Award is Sept. 5.
An independent panel of judges from the home furnishings and bedding industries, as well as from environmental and social organizations, will conduct a blind evaluation of each entry. Company names will be removed from all applications and will not be shared with the judges at any time during the judging process. Applicants need not be AHFA members nor users of Cargill’s BiOH polyols to enter.
Criteria for the award include:
•
Sustainable Business Practices: The nominee’s organizational policies and procedures related to environmental stewardship will be assessed. Environmental impact programs and initiatives will be taken into account, including responsible raw materials sourcing, recycling efforts, employee education and reducing energy usage, water consumption and waste. Additional considerations will include product design and merchandising that promotes sustainability or extends product lifecycle; shipping, manufacturing and warehousing operations that reduce use of non-renewable energy in transportation; and support of organizations focused on addressing environmental challenges.
•
Social Practices: The applicant’s leadership in supporting community involvement and social equity will be taken into account. Items considered might include supplier management practices or codes of conduct and recognition or reward of employee and supplier social stewardship efforts.
•
Profitable Growth: Applicants must demonstrate how their sustainable business practices have translated into business growth and success. Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. Its BiOH brand polyols were the first commercially successful bio-based industrial polyols used in flexible foams. Derived from natural vegetable oils such as soybean oil, BiOH polyols help flexible polyurethane manufacturers reduce their environmental footprint and market their choice to downstream customers.
AHFA represents more than 400 leading manufacturers and suppliers in the home furnishings industry. AHFA’s Sustainable by Design is a certification program that provides a roadmap for home furnishings companies to create a corporate culture of conservation and environmental stewardship by implementing sustainable business practices.