Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
July 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 2007
Lexington Home Brands has made it official: it’s going to the Las Vegas Market in January.
The company will make its Vegas debut at this winter’s market in a temporary showroom in Building A, and in July 2008, the company will move into its permanent showroom in Building C for its grand opening.
“Lexington’s new showroom at the Las Vegas Market will emphasize our commitment to our West Coast retailers,” said Phil Haney, Lexington president and chief executive officer. “The Las Vegas Market is vibrant and has an amazing energy. We plan to add to that excitement with our upscale style and design, coupled with our top-notch and well-recognized stable of consumer brands such as Tommy Bahama Home, Trump Home, Nautica and Liz Claiborne Home.”
The company will take part in the celebration of the new building opening by introducing a new collection to Trump Home, Haney said, adding that with the 2008 opening of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas “perhaps we might be able to persuade a special guest to join us.”
Harvey Dondero, chief executive officer of World Market Center, said Lexington’s presence at the market will bring “a strong emphasis on design and branding to our market. The excitement of the consumer brands will help to attract high-end dealers to the Las Vegas Market.”
Building C will boast 2.1 million square feet, bringing market’s total of permanent and temporary space to 6 million square feet.
At the January market, Lexington will host a special event for its customers.
“We’ll be in a short-term space in Building A just for that winter market, but we’ll ensure an exciting launch for what I know will be a blockbuster Tommy Bahama group,” Haney said.
The showroom at World Market Center will not impact Lexington’s Thomasville, N.C., showroom and corporate headquarters. Haney said Las Vegas will expand the company’s reach to West Coast retailers.
“This is not an either/or decision for Lexington,” Haney said. “The smart money is to be wherever the buyers are and to make it as easy as possible for them to see our new products.”
July 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on July 2007
Rezon8 living, Los Angeles, is about to get discovered on the hit television series ”CSI: Miami.”
The contemporary home furnishings retailer, which has a store in Van Nuys and an active e-retail Web site,
www.rezon8living.com, will provide an assortment of furnishings that will appear on the show in the fall season.
“The room sets of ‘CSI: Miami’ exemplify what great interior design is all about,” said Paul Reitzin. “All of us at rezon8 living are very excited that select models of our high fashion, contemporary furniture will appear on ‘CSI: Miami’ during the upcoming season.”
The photo accompanying this article depicts a setting that ran on the giant message board in New York’s Times Square to promote the series next season. That alone has generated a lot of inquiries to the rezon8 Web site, which includes a section outlining products that viewers will see on “CSI: Miami.”
July 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on July 2007
Contemporary case goods and upholstery importer Global Furniture USA, East Brunswick, N.J., has launched a bedding division called Sleep Solution that CEO Alex Vaysman hopes to build into a Top 10 bedding brand.
Sleep Solution will offer an extensive inner-spring mattress collection with a full selection of SKU’s at price points ranging from extreme promotional to luxurious upscale.
Currently in-stock at Global’s U.S. headquarters in East Brunswick, Sleep Solutions will be available at the company’s other warehouses in Florida, Texas, and California within a month or two. Mattresses are available by container as well as by individual order, ready for pick-up or delivery by Global.
“Global’s goal is to under-price the major U.S. and Chinese bedding manufacturers, providing comparable quality at a significantly lower wholesale price,” Vaysman said. “We will achieve this objective by taking advantage of our highly efficient manufacturing and supply chain systems developed over years of experience. We have an on-time delivery track record that is among the most accurate in the industry.”
Global Furniture USA is a global importer and distributor of contemporary furniture, including bedroom, dining room, case goods, occasional, and upholstery. The company is exhibiting at this week’s Las Vegas Market in space 612 of World Market Center’s Building B.
July 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 2007
Julian Doerr Mutter, president of Doerr Furniture in New Orleans, has been named chairman for 2007-2009 of Home Furnishings Independents Association, Dallas, Texas, for a term succeeds outgoing Chairman Bill Castleberry of Castleberry’s Ethan Allen Home Interiors.
HFIA recently changed its name to better reflect its service to independent retailers and the vendors and representatives who sell to those businesses.
According to Doerr Mutter, “When we use the term ‘independent,’ we’re talking about the decision-maker, the business owner, and the action-taker--the player/coach, so to speak,” said Doerr Mutter. “The independents in our industry can join HFIA and find services expressly designed to serve their businesses. And when they partner with the new HFIA, they have the opportunity to directly influence not only the Association but the industry, too.”
Other members of the HFIA executive committee are: Communication Committee Chairman Serena Cole, Duxiana; Program Development Committee Chairman Steve Kidder, Vermont Furniture Galleries; Member Recruitment Chairman Tom McMinn, McMinn Furniture; PR Committee Chairman Verona Mair, The Emporium; Secretary/Treasurer Stan Pickett, Quality Furniture and Appliance; and Annual Meeting Chairman Bill Castleberry, Castleberry’s Ethan Allen.
Serving with the Board officers are board members Sam Boeke, Henry Simon Furniture Co.; Bob Bolton, Ashley HomeStore; Karen Craig, Manufacturers’ Representative; Dale Dodd, Dodd Home Furnishings; Lynn Harrison Dyer, Sales Representative; Robert Gilbreth, FurnitureKidz Gifts & Accessories; David Lively, R & A Marketing; and Dick Winter, Winter Furniture Co.
July 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on July 2007
In what’s described as a landmark study, High Point officials released a report Thursday that found the economic impact of the home furnishings industry to be $8.25 billion and 69,000 jobs in a four-county region surrounding High Point.
“Although we knew going into this study that the home furnishings industry in this region was huge, we were surprised to discover the true magnitude of its impact,” said Nido Qubein, president of High Point University, which conducted the research. “This study proves that High Point is the Furniture Capital of the World.”
The study measured the industry’s output and employment in the four-county Triad Region that includes High Point, Winston-Salem and Greensboro. It include the $1.12 billion impact of the twice-annual High Point Market, furniture manufacturing, supporting industries and wholesale and retail sales.
City officials said the study will be used as a tool to recruit more home furnishings companies to locate in the region and to bolster their arguments that state and local government officials should do more to support the High Point Market and home furnishings companies that are drawn to the region. While the region has been stung by a series of furniture factory closings in recent years, the report’s authors found the impact of furniture manufacturing across the region is $4.8 billion and 34,000 jobs, which represents 17 percent of total manufacturing jobs in the area. The study was commissioned by the city of High Point and was conducted by three High Point University staff members, including Gerald Fox and Richard Hargrove, who, are both professors, and David Bryden.
As evidence of the growing impact of the furniture sector in the area, High Point Mayor Becky Smothers pointed to plans by Legacy Classic to build a large distribution center in the city. Also, several companies have recently located their headquarters in the city, including Home Meridian International, Master Design. In addition, La-Z-Boy recently moved a divisional office into High Point.
Furniture and home furnishings manufacturing in the area continues to support 17,323 jobs, but the study’s authors found a much larger collective jobs impact in related fields ranging from suppliers that provide everything from trucking (6,825 jobs) to commercial printing (5,400 jobs) to furniture showrooms (4,154 jobs).
In the region, the study’s researchers counted 494 furniture manufacturers, 399 commercial photographers and printers, 139 materials suppliers, 61 design firms and 120 suppliers of fabrics, finishes and hardware.