Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 5,
2008 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2008
In response to the growing need for accountability in the home furnishings industry, Groovystuff, a Dallas, Texas-based vendor of furniture in reclaimed teakwood, has embarked on the Sustainable by Design and EFEC (Enhancing Furniture’s Environmental Culture) initiatives of the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA).
The Sustainable by Design program is intended to facilitate the core concepts of continuous improvement and environmental stewardship by implementing sustainable business practices. It guides companies through measurable steps to reduce their environmental footprint at the manufacturing level and throughout their entire supply chain.
The EFEC Program by the AHFA is designed to help its members develop and maintain strong, proactive environmental programs. EFEC provides a systematic approach for reviewing and improving a company’s operations for better environmental performance and improved profitability.
Groovystuff is celebrating 10 years in business in 2008.
May 5,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 2008
Leggett & Platt, based in Carthage, Mo., a major supplier of components for bedding and furniture, announced Monday the introduction of a new innerspring called Superlastic Pro.
Superlastic Pro is a three-turn, seven-inch tall alternating continuous coil innerspring designed to increase the vertical profile of the mattress while alleviating the need for the extra cost and raw materials associated with traditional foam, fibers and excessive comfort materials.
By using resilient, compressible steel instead of layers of foam to provide an extra inch of height, Superlastic Pro reduces the manufacturing and components cost for producers of high-profile mattresses.
“We believe that Superlastic PRO provides more value per vertical inch than any non-innerspring sleep surface on the market today,” said Tom Wells Jr., director of engineering strategy and technical support for Leggett & Platt. “We’re supporting an emerging trend of using completely new heights of helically laced innersprings in mattresses. Customers want the plush look and comfortable feel of a high-profile mattress, with the Active Support system and the affordable price point they’ve come to expect from innersprings.”
Not only does Superlastic Pro provide an increased vertical profile at reduced cost, but because it requires fewer raw materials than its upholstery counterpart, it is more economically friendly and eco-conscious, according to Leggett & Platt. Most comfort layers are petroleum-based, so they cost more and rely on a non-renewable resource. Superlastic Pro innersprings, on the other hand, are made from 95-percent recycled steel. By taking advantage of the longevity and strength of steel, Superlastic PRO alleviates the need for raw materials associated with foam fillers and requires fewer components to achieve the desired high vertical profile.
Superlastic Pro allows for a high coil count of 600 to provide more active support than a lower coil-count mattress, so the sleep surface instantaneously responds to every movement. An increased coil count provides superior surface coverage, so every inch of the sleeper’s body is properly supported.
The spring features also continuous coil support system so that a 600-coil -ount mattress is comprised of only 20 strands of wire and distributes weight evenly across adjoining coils, improving mattress stability and reducing non-vertical deflection. This ensures fewer pressure points during sleep and provides improved stability, support and comfort, as well as helping to maintain natural spinal alignment.
May 4,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Accessories on May 2008
Linens ‘n Things filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to shut 120 under-performing stores after failing to make a payment on a key loan last month as sales sagged due to the floundering housing market.
The Clifton, N.J., company, which operates 589 stores in North America, said it has secured $700 million in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Capital to continue to operate stores without interruption and said stores will remain well-stocked. The company’s 40 locations in Canada, which the company is reportedly trying to sell, are not affected by the filing in federal Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Linens ‘n Things had sales of $2.8 billion last year. The announcement said Chairman and CEO Robert DiNicola has taken on the title executive chairman, and financial restructuring expert Michael Gries has been appointed interim CEO and chief restructuring officer by the company’s board.
“The significant deterioration in the mortgage, housing and credit markets, and the resulting impact on the retail marketplace, particularly in the home sector, has overwhelmed the operating and merchandising improvements that we have made over the past two years,” DiNicola said. “We are making the strategic decision to use a Chapter 11 filing to proactively address our capital structure and ensure that our stores will remain well-stocked while we work through the steps to align the capital structure of the company with the realities of today’s business environment.”
He said closing nearly one quarter of the company’s stores will put Linens ‘n Things on a stronger financial footing.
News outlets and analysts had been predicting a Chapter 11 filing since Linens ‘n Things announced two weeks ago that it would “defer” making a $16.1 million quarterly interest payment and had entered talks with debt holders regarding the company’s capital structure. The retail chain has apparently struggled since it was taken private by Apollo Management in 2005 in a deal valued at $1.3 billion.
May 4,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2008
• The U.S. Federal Reserve Board has proposed new rules to prohibit unfair practices regarding credit cards and overdraft services that would, among other provisions, protect consumers from unexpected increases in the interest rate charged on preexisting credit card balances. The proposal addresses consumer complaints on a number of credit issues and, if adopted, should make it easier for consumers to better understand credit and how to use it wisely.
The rules, proposed for public comment, also would forbid banks from imposing interest charges using the “two-cycle” billing method, would require that consumers receive a reasonable amount of time to make their credit card payments, and also would ban the use of payment allocation methods that unfairly maximize interest charges. They also include protections for consumers who use overdraft services offered by their bank.
The proposed rules also prohibit banks from imposing a fee when the credit limit is exceeded solely because a hold was placed on available credit. These “holds” on credit and similar holds on debit cards, also to be prohibited, can occur when the final dollar amount of a transaction was not known in advance (for instance, when a consumer checks into a hotel, a hold is placed for the expected cost of the stay).
• The U.S. overall unemployment rate declined slightly in April, to 5 percent from 5.1 percent in March, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). BLS attributed the decline to job losses in construction, manufacturing and retail trade, partially offset by job gains in health care and in professional and technical services.
In the home furnishings industry, employment dipped 0.1 percent from March to April in furniture and home furnishings stores, while manufacturing jobs in the furnishings industry declined 0.8 percent, month-over-month.
Compared with April 2007, home furnishings store employment was off 2 percent and the number of home furnishings manufacturing jobs fell 5.9 percent.
• On the gasoline front, the average retail price per gallon of unleaded was off three-tenths of a cent at the end of the first week of May, measured against day-earlier prices, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Compared with last month, retail prices increased 9.4 percent per gallon and jumped 19.4 percent against May 2007 prices.
Weekly Review of Economic News (WREN) reports are summaries of recently-released economic statistical data that affect the home furnishings industry. WREN reports are compiled by
HFB Research Editor Janice Chamberlain.
May 4,
2008 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2008
The Sustainable Furniture Council (SFC) has announced that its member companies are now eligible to sell their products online at WorldofGood.com.
A collaboration between eBay and World of Good Inc., WorldofGood.com aims to be a trusted online multi-seller marketplace of sustainable products for socially conscious shopping where consumers can blend their personal values with their purchasing power to foster positive change around the world.
A wide range of products includes home furnishings, handcrafted jewelry, apparel, coffee, chocolate and more. Members are invited to check out www.worldofgood.com to learn more.