June 3,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Accessories on June 2008
Besa Lighting, Blacklick, Ohio, a leading designer and manufacturer of decorative glass lighting, will open a new state-of-the-art showroom in the World Market Center in Las Vegas for the Summer 2008 Market, July 28–August 1. The new showroom will be on the 10th floor of WMC’s new Building C in space C-1088.
Besa Lighting’s Rick Cash said in a release, “We are looking forward to the grand opening of our Las Vegas showroom. The new space will enable us to showcase a broad range of lighting products. The new venue will allow us to reach out to a broader audience. We welcome all current and new customers, and invite them to visit us.”
The company will host a kickoff party and ribbon cutting ceremony during the early part of the Summer Market.
Utilizing fine handcrafted glass, Besa Lighting offers a myriad of unique luminaire styles, colors, metal finishes and lamping options. The product line includes 12-volt and 120-volt pendants; flush-mount ceiling lights; wall sconces for indoor, outdoor and ADA-compliant applications; wall/post lanterns; monorail kits; and unique decorative-accent table/floor lamps.
June 2,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2008
San Francisco’s Design Within Reach, which has Internet, catalog and store operations, has selected the Retail.net solution from Tomax Corporation, Salt Lake City, to support its cross-channel operations, including the Web, call center, design studios and future retail storefronts.
The retailer, which operates 68 stores, has announced plans for two new stores this year in a new format called Design Within Reach Tools For Living.
“Tomax understood the vision of our brand, which dictates the requirement for an extraordinary customer experience and the need to provide a streamlined, elegant process to support our clientle in the store, online and through the catalog,” said DWR CEO Ray Brunner. “Retail.net provides the flexibility and the single foundation we need for our operations going forward.”
June 2,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2008
The 100-store Restoration Hardware chain, Corte Madera, Calif., announced Tuesday that two independent proxy advisory firms have recommended that stockholders vote in favor of a merger agreement in which private equity firm Catterton Partners would pay $4.50 per share. The vote is set for a June 12 shareholders meeting.
The news release said the recommendations of the two proxy advisory firms, Risk Metrics and Glass Lewis, are relied upon on by hundreds of major institutional investment funds, mutual funds and other investor groups. According to published reports, Sears Holdings had offered $4.55 per share, but Restoration Hardware officials had said that higher offer was subject to more uncertainties than the bid by Catterton. The retailer’s stock has ranged from $2.56 to $7.30 over the past year and closed at $3.93 Monday.
In RiskMetrics’ recommendation, analysts stated, “Given that the Catterton deal contains firm financing, we believe the this bid serves to maximize the highest value with certainty for Restoration shareholders.”
June 2,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Home Office on June 2008
Reflecting Dorel’s growing strength in baby products, furniture and bicycles, the Montreal-based company announced a new management structure last week that has a segment president overseeing each area.
The trio, including a president of home furnishings who has not yet been named, will report to an executive committee made up of CEO Martin Schwartz, CFO Jeffrey Schwartz and two executive vice presidents, Alan Schwartz and Jeff Segal.
Until a president of home furnishings is named, Norman Braunstein is overseeing the segment as COO. He has been involved in the company’s furniture operations, which include the Altra and Cosco Home & Office RTA brands, since 2003.
Camillo Liso, who has been with Dorel since 2004, has been named president of Dorel Juvenile, a $1 billion business. She will also oversee the company’s shared services group.
Robert P. Baird Jr. has been hired as president of the fast-growing recreational leisure segment. He was formerly a senior executive with Philips Electronics and will be relinquishing a seat he held on Dorel’s board. The group includes the company’s Schwinn, Cannondale and Mongoose bicycle brands.
June 2,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2008
New orders for furniture in March fell 11 percent compared to the same month last year, reflecting ongoing sluggishness in the furniture industry. That’s according to Furniture Insights, the monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from the High Point accounting firm and consultant Smith Leonard.
That was on top of poor performance in March 2007, when orders were 4 percent lower than March 2006. New orders for March 2008 were 2 percent higher than February. This increase was somewhat lower than normal as March is typically higher than February.
Year-to-date, new orders were reported to be 8 percent lower than the first quarter of 2007. The first quarter of 2007 was 5 percent lower than the same quarter in 2006, resulting in a 12 percent decline over the two year period. For the month, 83 percent of the participants reported lower orders compared to last year. With only a few exceptions, those reporting increases were only up very slightly. For the quarter, just over 80 percent of the participants have reported declines in orders compared to the previous year first quarter.
March 2008 shipments fell 9 percent compared to March 2007, when shipments declined 6 percent from March 2006. Similar to orders, 83 percent of the participants reported lower shipments. Shipments were 5 percent higher than February 2008.
Year-to-date, shipments are now 7 percent lower than the first quarter of 2007, when they were down 6 percent from 2006. Some 78 percent of the participants reported lower shipments in the first quarter. With orders down more than shipments so far this year, Smith Leonard does not expect shipments to improve significantly in April.
With shipments exceeding orders, backlogs fell again in March, down 2 percent from February, but down 10 percent from March 2007.
Receivable levels fell 6 percent from March 2007 and were down 4 percent compared to February, even though shipments were higher in March than they were in February. With shipments down 7 percent year-to-date, the 6 percent decline in receivables appears to be in line after being somewhat out of line in January.
Inventory levels fell 7 percent in March compared to March 2007, in line with the decline in shipments. While the decline appears in line with shipments, the survey report questioned, with so many of the shipments now direct from Asia to retailers, why inventories are as much in line as they appear to be.
The number of factory employees fell 1 percent from February and 7 percent from last March. In February 2008, the number of factory employees was down 8 percent from February 2007. Factory payrolls fell 13 percent compared to March 2007, when payrolls were down 11 percent from March 2006.
While factory payrolls were 9 percent higher than February, that was likely the result of more days in the month. Year-to-date, factory payrolls are down 10 percent from last year.
On an unadjusted basis, sales at furniture and home furnishings stores were down 3.4 percent from March and down 2.7 percent from April a year ago. For the first four months of the year, sales were reported 4.3 percent lower than the same period a year ago.
Smith Leonard hopes that April High Point Market orders will help to improve results over the next few months, but with few reports of good business and with orders down so much, believes it will take some time for shipments to catch up.
“Our hopes that we had somewhat bottomed out last year and might be somewhat flat in 2008 while waiting on economic conditions to improve, have not been realized so far this year,” the report read. “It is pretty obvious that inflation in so many staple areas is hurting retail. ... We believe it is just going to take time to get through all of this. The housing/ mortgage situation is bad enough, but adding to that are the problems that oil prices are creating with not only gas prices but also so many other products increasing as well, as freight costs are adding to most everything. Consumers’ disposable income is being chewed up.”