Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
November 4,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on November 2007
More than 60 High Point designer showrooms have expanded this month’s First Wednesday Designer Day Event into a two-day, first-time trade-only market sample sale this week.
On Wednesday, 5-7 p.m., the International Home Furnishings Center will host a cocktail reception for all designers and participating exhibitors in the newly renovated Designer Resource Center on the first floor of IHFC’s Hamilton and Design Center wings. Entrance is through the Commerce wing at Mendenhall Station.
Exhibitors are placing clearance prices on discontinued and over-stocked items as well as additional discounts on current floor samples. In addition, some showrooms will also be offering special pricing on their showroom accessories.
All of the member showrooms have designer-friendly policies and are opened year-round to the trade, some daily and some by appointment basis.
The creation of a monthly designer day, the first Wednesday of each month, gives designers the security to know that at least one given day per month showrooms will be open and promotional events will be held.
November 4,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Home Theater on November 2007
Elite Screens Inc., a Cerritos, Calif.-based manufacturer of custom-installed theater seating, has created SolaraHome, a subsidiary specializing in residential home theater and motion seating products. SolaraHome will make its debut to the residential home furnishings trade at the January 2008 Las Vegas Furniture Market.
“Launching SolaraHome into retail is a logical next step for us,” said Tiffany Wu, new business development director for SolaraHome. “With so many consumers converting their living rooms into home cinema settings, home theater remains one of the fastest growing categories in the furniture market. Our success in custom home-theater seating demonstrates the expertise necessary to bring this product to the retail market.”
The SolaraHome line includes a wide selection of products in leather, leatherette and microfiber offered in stock at the company’s California warehouse. Orders are drop-shipped within three to four days.
Elite also established SolaraSound, the speaker division of SolaraHome, which offers power dynamic speaker systems to complement any home theater setting.
November 4,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2007
Schou USA, Greensboro, N.C., the U.S. subsidiary of Danish teakwood furnishings vendor Schou Co., has announced the establishment of the Schou Learning Centre in Semporna, Borneo. The Schou-financed facility was created in cooperation with the Borneo Child Aid Society to promote better living conditions for children whose families live and work on Indonesian plantations.
Children at the new school will be given an education similar to that of Western society. The Schou Learning Centre will enroll 50 students, fully paid, every year for the next 50 years.
“The activities of the Schou Learning Centre help ensure that these children receive a basic education and the chance for a better life,” says Christopher Curran, President of Schou USA. “We can help by making the right decisions on a local basis to help them achieve those goals, and part of that is opening up schools for them.”
Schou’s insistence on maintaining the highest social and ethical standards has a direct impact on the way it chooses to run its business. For example, SCHOU uses only plantation timbers from Indonesia in its hardwood teak furniture. The company’s chain-of-custody certification verifies that any piece of teak used to manufacture Schou furniture can be traced to the number of a seedling planted on a government-approved and monitored plantation in Indonesia.
November 1,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on November 2007
Source Global LLC has launched a new creative center for home furnishings products worldwide with the goal of connecting the home furnishings supply chain from creative through distribution year-round. The 12,000-square-foot center is set to open in High Point’s Market Square this January.
Unlike the majority of exhibition space at the High Point Market, which is dedicated to selling fully developed product lines to retail stores and the design trade, the Source Global’s creative center will cater specifically to the needs of producers and distributors looking to develop outsourced manufacturing relationships. It will present all categories of home furnishings, including dining room, bedroom, decorative and occasional furniture, accessories, lighting, rugs, and specialty items.
The center will provide focused exhibitions that showcase the factory capabilities of companies from around the world. The modular space of each creative partner will feature two-to-three samples, supported by visual displays and marketing materials, rather than full collections and lifestyle displays.
November 1,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on November 2007
Vietnam, an important source country for furniture, won’t get investigated for dumping goods in another industry that’s seen manufacturing declines—apparel.
The National Retail Federation welcomed the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision not to initiate its own anti-dumping investigation against apparel from Vietnam.
DOC had been monitoring data on a variety of apparel products from Vietnam since the beginning of the year, but announced Oct. 26 that a fair and objective analysis of the first six months of information found insufficient evidence of dumping in the U.S. market to warrant a full investigation.
“The import monitoring program targeting apparel imports from Vietnam for possible antidumping investigations is an ill-conceived fishing expedition created entirely as a result of political pressure from a U.S. textile industry that still clings to unnecessary protection from imports,” said Erik Autor, NRF vice president and international trade counsel in a release Tuesday. “There has never been any evidence these imports are harming U.S. production and workers.”