Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
October 24,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on October 2007
Minneapolis-based Select Comfort cut its full-year outlook Wednesday while reporting that sales increased 3 percent in the company’s third quarter, but net income declined nearly 15 percent.
Net sales for the company that operates 470 stores totaled $213.1 million and net income was $11.9 million, which was down from $13.9 million. Earnings per diluted share increased by a penny to 26 cents from the same period last year.
“While we have not yet regained the revenue strength we are capable of, we have made progress and did deliver year-over-year earnings per share growth,” said Bill McLaughlin, chairman and CEO. “Operationally, we continue to perform well, with profitability and strong cash flow allowing us to continue to invest in sales growth and cost savings improvements to enhance performance in 2008.”
Sales benefited from 46 new company-owned stores opened during the past 12 months and the company’s e-commerce business jumped 30 percent. Same-store sales declined 3 percent.
The company lowered its full-year outlook for 2007 “in anticipation of a slower recovery in its retail sales.” The company now expects sales for the year to reach $820 million to $830 million—down from its previous forecast of $840 to $860 million.
In a separate announcement Wednesday, Select Comfort said it has struck a deal with a partner in Australia to begin manufacturing in the Sydney area to serve 32 stores there.
October 24,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on October 2007
As the Boston Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies 13-1 Wednesday, those cheering the loudest likely included Jordan’s Furniture shoppers, who will win big rebates if their team wins the World Series.
In a promotion called Jordan’s Monster Deal, customers who bought furniture at the start of the season (March 7 to April 16) will get full rebates on their purchases if the Red Sox take the World Series title. The deal applies to purchases of mattresses, dining tables, sofas and beds at the four-store chain based in Avon, Mass.
The World Series promotion by Jordan’s—the official furniture store of the Boston Red Sox—is reminiscent of giveaway last year that World Furniture Mall, Aurora, Ill., tied to the Chicago Bears shutting out their arch rivals, the Green Bay Packers. In that promotion, World Furniture Mall paid out more than $300,000 in refunds to shoppers who made purchases over Labor Day Weekend—and won headlines worldwide. Both World Furniture Mall and Jordan’s protected themselves by purchasing the same kind of insurance golf tournaments take advantage of when offering a big money prize to a player who scores a hole in one.
According to The Boston Globe, more than 30,000 people made purchases during the Jordan’s contest period, and the Red Sox fan who is cheering the loudest is almost certain to be a customer who placed a $40,000 order during the contest period to furnish his entire house.
August 28,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2007
Author and researcher Paco Underhill challenged furniture executives to step away from their computer screens and put on some rubber-soled shoes to spend more time in their own stores—and at competing retailers—to seek ways to fine-tune their operations for the 21st Century. Underhill, the author of “Why We Buy,” was the keynote speaker at the Future of Furniture forum at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory, N.C., which attracted a crowd of more than 300 executives for a program titled “High Definition Retailing.”
Underhill gained fame for research in which his firm, Envirosell, tracks shoppers through store surveillance cameras to gain insights on consumer behavior. Envirosell’s client base includes about half of the world’s 50 largest retailers, many of which use Underhill’s research to test new store concepts. At the forum presented by The Furniture Foundation, Home Furnishings Business and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Charles M. Snipes School of Business, Underhill said today’s furniture retailers need to realize that they’re no longer just competing against other home furnishings chains.
“If you’re in the furniture business, I want you to go out looking at (retailers) who are pitching the same market,” he said. “I could buy a new living room set or I could buy a new (Harley-Davidson). I could buy a new dining room or I could take the wife and kids on a fantastic vacation.”
Underhill said retailers need to update their selling techniques to appeal to today’s consumers, pointing out that just a quarter of U.S. households are made up of a husband and wife with children. He said retailers who aren’t equipped to serve non-English speakers are missing a key opportunity, as are stores that don’t reach out to older Americans since nearly one-fifth of the population is over 60.
At the close of the speech, he said the most successful furniture retailers will be those who made the effort to understand the changing needs of customers. In addition, he said progressive merchants that provide “good store” are constantly tuning the physical store, products and point-of-purchase information.
Finally, taking off a shoe and holding it above his head, he said, “I believe in rubber-soled shoes. In the 20th century, many of us fell in love with our Excel spreadsheets. We started making decisions staring into our computer screens,” he said. Reflecting on his work in testing new store concepts, he said, “I’ve watched the best of prototypes fail for the stupidest of reasons: No one got out there on the floor” to properly evaluate them. “If you’re operating (stores) and you’re spending every weekend on the golf course, you’re not doing your business or your customer justice. The only way we as merchants can operate effectively is by having some connection to the floors.”
The Future of Forum also included a panel discussion with top industry executives who included Robb & Stucky’s Clive Lubner and Thomasville’s Nancy Webster. Home Furnishings Business will report on that wide-ranging discussion Thursday.
August 28,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on August 2007
Veteran trade show leasing executive Walt B. Goldsby has joined the International Home Furnishings Center in High Point as vice president of leasing.
Goldsby joins IHFC Executive Vice President Tom Loney in leading an expanded leasing team. Both report to Tom Lindh, IHFC president and CEO.
Goldsby most recently worked with Chicago-based Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., where as vice president of sales he managed a staff of eight leasing managers for MMPI’s Market Square property in High Point. Prior to that, Goldsby, 39, served as group vice president at VNU Expositions, an Atlanta-area trade show producer.
“Walt’s impressive leadership and accomplishments will further strengthen IHFC’s management team with added depth and experience to accomplish our objectives,” Lindh said. “With Walt working with Tom (Loney), IHFC will be more a flexible, stronger business partner in many more ways that meet the exhibition needs of a dynamic industry. Walt’s fresh perspective and knack for creating and sustaining greater business opportunities for retailers and designers means greater value for our roster of important exhibitors.”
IHFC is the original showroom building in High Point, which organizers say now attracts more than 90,000 participants twice a year to the market’s 2,600 showrooms covering 12.5 million square feet. IHFC alone is home to 650 home-furnishings manufacturers and covers 3.5 million square feet.
August 28,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2007
InterContinental Hotels Group’s Candlewood Suites hotel brand has teamed up with the National Furniture Bank Association to provide enough box springs and linens for 4,300 needy families.
Candlewood Suites, IHG’s midscale extended-stay hotel group, renovated bedding at 55 hotels this summer, and diverted nearly 260 tons of material from landfills by partnering with the NFBA to direct the used goods from landfills, and also save more than $100,000 in disposal fees.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, during the past 35 years the amount of waste each person creates has almost doubled from 2.7 to 4.4 pounds per day. Reuse is one way to stop waste at the source as it delays or avoids that item’s entry in the waste collection and disposal system.
“We were delighted that 55 local affiliates of the NFBA were able to donate more than 3,200 mattresses and box springs and 4,000 linen sets from our hotels to families in need,” said Gina LaBarre, vice president, brand management, at Candlewood Suites. “Not only did the Candlewood Cares program help local families, but also it diverted waste from landfills and saved our hotel owners thousands in disposal fees.”
Candlewood Suites hotels located far from NFBA affiliates created their own reuse programs. The Candlewood Suites Tulsa donated 100 bedding sets and 120 new books to Tulsa’s Family & Children’s Services during the hotel’s “It’s Not Time for Bed until after You’ve Read!” event. The Candlewood Suites West Knoxville donated 98 bedding sets to Mission of Hope, a local charity that gives beds to those who otherwise slept on pallets.
“The Candlewood Suites partnership with NFBA supports IHG’s overall mission to sustain the environment and the communities in which we operate our hotels,” said Vicki Gordon, senior vice president, corporate affairs at IHG. “We conducted this pilot program with the Candlewood Suites bedding change initiative in order to document environmental, community and hotel operational impact. Our goal was to take the learnings and, assuming positive results, create a template that we could then offer all our brands when they conduct similar refresh activities.”
Based on the positive results at Candlewood, the template will be shared with all franchisees at IHG’s annual Investors Conference in October.