Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
August 13,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on August 2007
Bassett Furniture, Bassett, Va., is teaming up with baby products maker Babylicious Gear Ltd. to create a line of bedding and other products under the Bassettbaby brand name. The companies plan to unveil new Bassettbaby products at the ABC Kids Expo in Las Vegas next month.
“Our new relationship with Babylicious is outstanding from a product and conceptual standpoint of branding,” said Lex Bendall, vice president of Bassett Juvenile. “We will work with Babylicious in creating exciting designs in infant bedding and essentials. Bassett has one of the most trusted and recognizable names in the infant furniture business, and this partnership is a major step in leveraging that trust and brand recognition to other infant product categories.”
Bassettbaby’s partners in branded products include Babylicious for infant bedding and accessories, and Kids Preferred for plush. Bendall said the brand plans to add more product categories in the near future.
“This new partnership is a perfect marriage between our burgeoning baby bedding company and a well-established baby furniture manufacturer,’’ said Tina Barkley, president of Vancouver, B.C.-based Babylicious Gear Ltd., whose products are available in more than 350 boutiques across the country, as well as Target.com and FAO Schwartz.
Bassettbaby cribs and case goods are sold through specialty stores and mass merchants.
August 13,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2007
Furniture Brands International, one of the nation’s largest furniture manufacturers and importers, announced Friday that it has closed on a long-term, $550 million credit agreement. As a result, Standard & Poors has removed the company from its credit watch list.
The St. Louis-based company, which announced its intention to enter into a new debt facility earlier this year, said it reached agreement on the deal with several financial institutions, with JPMorgan Chase Bank serving as administrative agent.
Chairman and CEO Mickey Holliman, who is retiring next year, said, “We made the decision several months ago to change our long-term debt structure to more closely match our long-term strategy and financial goals. Our new facility was well over-subscribed by our participating financial institutions, and we are pleased to have brought it to conclusion. We expect this new facility to give us the capital structure and the flexibility we need to respond to market conditions and to accommodate our growth initiatives.’’
The revolving credit facility with a commitment of $550 million is subject to a borrowing base of certain eligible accounts receivable and inventory. The facility allows for the issuance of letters of credit of up to $100 million and cash borrowings.
The company borrowed funds under the new credit agreement to pay in full the existing indebtedness of $150 million owed pursuant to the terms of its previous credit agreement from April 2006. FBI also repaid in full $150 million in senior notes issued under a note purchase agreement from May 2006. Along with that repayment, the company paid a make-whole premium of approximately $17 million and accrued interest of approximately $2.5 million, terminating the note purchase agreement. Partially offsetting those amounts, the company received payment of $2.8 million on an interest rate hedge.
Standard & Poors, New York, on Monday removed FBI from its credit watch list. The company’s credit rating is set at BB-. The company was placed on S&P’s watch list in late February as a result of the housing slump that has prouced lower sales for the manufacturer of Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville and other brands.
August 13,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2007
Driven by back-to-school spending on electronics, apparel and other necessities, July retail sales rebounded from a slow start to the summer, rising an unadjusted 4 percent from July 2006, and 0.5 percent, seasonally adjusted from June, according to the National Retail Federation.
June retail sales were also revised up from 3.4 percent to 3.8 percent.
NRF accounts for retail sales by removing non-general merchandise categories such as automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants from the Department “Back-to-school shopping sprees and summer clearance promotions drove consumers to department and specialty stores in July,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. “While concerns of a housing market slump and high gas prices still weigh heavily on consumers’ minds, many people still hit the stores last month, giving retailers a nice rebound from earlier this summer.”
While apparel sales were expected to remain flat this summer during the essential back-to-school shopping season, seasonally adjusted month-to-month sales show clothing and clothing accessories increased 1.3 percent from June and 4.1 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
Electronics and appliance stores sales increased 1.0 percent seasonally adjusted from last month and 2.5 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
Health and personal care stores did surprisingly well, increasing 0.7 percent seasonally adjusted month-to-month and 6.3 percent unadjusted over last July. General merchandise stores sales increased 0.9 percent seasonally adjusted from June and 4.7 percent unadjusted year-over-year. Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores sales increased 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from June and a solid 5.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year.
August 13,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2007
Chromcraft Revington Inc., West Lafayette, Ind., reported second-quarter 2007 sales of $32.8 million, a 19 percent drop from the same period last year. Year-to-date sales of $66.6 million are 23 percent below the first six months of 2006.
For 2007’s second quarter, ended June 30, Chromcraft Revington had a loss of $3.3 million, compared to income of $700,000 in the prior-year period. Through six months this year, the company has lost $4.5 million, compared to earnings of $1.8 million during the first half of 2006.
While commercial furniture shipments were up, residential shipments through the first half were lower due to an industry-wide slow down at the retail level, competitive pressure from imports and the impact of restructuring the company’s residential sales force to exclusive sales representation of its furniture brands. Consolidated shipments in the second quarter of 2007 included $3.3 million of backlog reduction.
Chromcraft Revington attributed the second-quarter net loss primarily to the lower sales volume, which impacted fixed cost absorption and manufacturing efficiencies, non-cash charges for inventory write-downs and asset impairments, an unfavorable product sales mix and higher product development, marketing and selling costs.
“Over the last several months we have made significant progress in transforming our business model,” said Chairman and CEO Ben Anderson-Ray. We continue to shift the business toward use of the global supply chain by outsourcing products and reducing reliance on U.S.-based manufacturing. Simultaneously, we are moving our organization from autonomous operating divisions to a unified organization.”
Chromcraft Revington wholesales its residential furniture products under the CR Home banner with Chromcraft, Peters-Revington, Silver Furniture, Cochrane Furniture and Sumter brand names. It sells commercial furniture under the Chromcraft brand name.
August 12,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2007
Pummeled by housing woes, increasing gas prices and interest rates stagnation, three of the most-widely watched stock market indices ended last week substantially off from the high numbers they recorded just a few weeks ago.
Furniture stock prices slid in parallel with the indices, with only three companies—Havertys, Tempur-Pedic and Sealy—finishing the week with stock prices higher than their close a month earlier. Friday stock prices for Havertys, Tempur-Pedic and Sealy were $12.51, $29.33 and $15.70, respectively, up from their month-earlier prices of $12.31, $27.54 and $15.40.
Scant weeks ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) set a record high of 14,121, and stock market analysts debated how much higher it would go before reaching a plateau. At the close of the business day on Friday, the DJIA finished the week at 13,239.54, a drop of nearly 900 points, or 6.2 percent, from its peak.
The Nasdaq composite fell from 2,651.79 on July 10 to 2,544.89 on Friday, a decline of 4 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 slipped 4.3 percent to 1,453.64.
Adding to analyst angst is the decision by the Federal Reserve Board to hold rates steady last week on its Fed Funds rate, the interest rate charged to banks. Noting the steady rise in home foreclosures, Wall Street pundits pushed for a lower interbank rate, hoping banks would use the lowered interest rate to offset, or cushion, the substantial, and sometimes staggering, mortgage increases holders of Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) are facing.
Stock market analysts are bracing for a volatile week due to the scheduled release of monthly data on inflation, retail sales and housing starts.