Daily News Archive
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February 11,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on February 12, 2013
The International Textile Market Association, producers of Showtime, have changed the date for the December 2015 market.
The original dates of Dec. 13-16, 2015 have been changed to Dec. 6-9, 2015.
"We work hard to recognize all holidays surrounding December Showtime and are sensitive to their importance," said Catherine Morsell, ITMA executive director. "Upon consulting industry members, the ITMA Board of Directors voted to adjust the winter show dates. It's a rarity that we make such changes, but in this case we felt it necessary. Our show cycle is based on the furniture manufacturers who continue to be the largest group of attendees at Showtime."
In addition, the ITMA has set Showtime dates through 2020:
2016 - June 5-8 & Dec. 4-7
2017 - June 4-7 & Dec. 3-6
2018 - June 3-6 & Dec. 2-5
2019 - June 2-5 & Dec. 8-11
2020 - June 7-10 & Dec. 6-9
February 11,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Mattresses on February 12, 2013
Luxury bedding vendor Magniflex has opened a new Miami-area warehouse in Doral, Fla.
The facility will serve as the companys only U.S. location where mattresses and sleep accessories are housed and shipped to its North American dealer network; and will lower delivery costs and time by 50 percent. The company plans to begin shipping mattresses from the Doral warehouse in March.
The new warehouse is part of the Italian mattress manufacturer's continued expansion of U.S. operations. Last month, Magniflex hired home furnishings veteran Billy Curtright as U.S. national sales manager to cultivate more retail relationships in metropolitan markets throughout North America.
As we introduce our innovative product line to more North American retailers, we felt Miami was the logical place to set up shop, said Magniflex U.S. President Marco Magni. The citys vibrant design culture aligns well with our international sleep products. This location also allows us to offer our mattresses and accessories to specialty furniture stores with international clientele from Latin America cost-effectively in a faster amount of time and provide the excellent service our customers in 80 countries have come to expect.
February 11,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on February 12, 2013
Mike Herbert and Eric Sia won the popular vote in reclaimed-teak furniture vendor Groovystuff's latest student design challenge.
Herbert, from Columbia College; and Sia from Southern Illinois University won most votes at the recent Las Vegas Furniture Market for their environmentally friendly product designs and innovative contributions to the home furnishings industry.
Herbert and Sia competed against undergraduates from their respective schools to design an environmentally friendly product that reflects the celebrity Dick Idol Legends brand and can be produced using sustainable manufacturing practices. Students produced miniature models and product display boards for market attendees to vote on during the Las Vegas Market.
Herbert's Vail Chair and Sia's Savanna Magazine Rack were voted "most marketable and most likely to show a profit" by retailers, interior designers and trade professionals attending market.
Herbert is a junior majoring in product design Chicago's at Columbia College. For the Groovystuff by Design Challenge, he was inspired by art deco architecture and the glory days of the American past when he designed a rustic modern lounge chair that "James Bond would feel comfortable in."
Sia is a senior majoring in industrial design at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill.
"The design brief was to develop a home decor product that will enhance the modern rustic design life style," Sia said of his submission.
Each student will receive a $250 cash prize along with permanent royalties for life.
"The challenge was a very productive learning experience that opened a new horizon in the design world for me," Sia said. "I enjoyed working with the materials but it was tough, however it expanded my knowledge, which I'm thankful for. I would like to thank Groovystuff for giving me the opportunity to be part of the design challenge."
"I'm very thankful and so encouraged that my chair won the Popular Vote at Market for the Groovystuff Challenge," Herbert said. "When my professor of my furniture design class, Mark Klein, announced the project last fall, my class and I were extremely excited, and we all did so well in helping each other turn out an amazing level of quality and creativity. I'm so thankful for all of them and for the chance to be creative with reclaimed materials that really stretched our boundaries as urbanite design students in Chicago."
The University Hall of Innovation & Job Creation is an industry co-operative founded in 2011 by Groovystuff CEO Chris Bruning that seeks to bridge the gap between education and the residential home furnishings industry. The University Hall provides an opportunity for students and professors to network with retailers, designers, manufacturers, suppliers, journalists, and industry professionals.
To introduce graduates to the residential home furnishings industry, Bruning created the Groovystuff by Design: Connecting Education with Industry Challenge. In stage one of the contest, students compete for the "popular vote" and a cash prize at the High Point or Las Vegas wholesale furniture markets where Groovystuff maintains permanent showrooms.
Stage two of the process sees the winning innovative designs from stage one put into production and launched six months later at the following wholesale market. Those student prototypes then compete for the grand prize of "Most Orders Written at Market" and the winner rewarded with an additional cash prize, inclusion in the celebrity endorsed Dick Idol Legends Collection, permanent royalties for life, and motivation to join the residential home furnishings industry.
February 11,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on February 12, 2013
Bedding industry sales veteran Porter Hemingway has joined Englander Sleep Products to serve retailers in the state of Minnesota.
In his new post, Hemingway reports to Jeff Braun, sales manager of Englander Midwest, based in Chicago.
Before joining Englander, Olive Branch, Miss., Hemingway worked for five years as a sales rep for Richmond, Va.-based Symbol Mattress, where he served retailers in Minnesota and half of North and South Dakota. Before that he spent more than 26 years with Omaha Bedding, covering the states of Minnesota, northern Iowa, Wisconsin and the Dakotas.
Early in his career Hemingway also was a sales rep for the Spring Air, serving southeastern Minnesota and South Dakota.
Were very pleased to announce Porters appointment and to have the opportunity to tap his decades of bedding sales experience in the state of Minnesota, said Englander CEO and President Kevin Toman.
February 11,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on February 12, 2013
AmericasMart Atlanta has named Jill Brady Ford vice president of leasing for the outdoor/casual furnishings category.
Fords appointment to vice president follows a 12-year AmericasMart tenure dating to her original engagement as an intern in 1992 and subsequent appointment to gardens category leasing in 1993. She managed the grand opening of the Gardens in 1994 and continued in Gardens leasing through 2001. Ford returned to AmericasMart Building Two leasing in 2009 and assumed leasing and management of the Gardens in 2010.
Jill is a Gardens stalwart with a deep understanding of the categorys unique demands and dynamics, said Mary Sullivan Harper, senior vice president of leasing for AmericasMart Building Two. She has decisively led our outdoor and casual furnishings franchise expansion and continues to make huge contributions in the development of this huge and growing category.