Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2007
Ikea’s 31st store in the United States will open next month in Portland, Ore., the company announced Wednesday. The 280,000-square-foot store is Ikea’s second location in the Northwest, including a store in Renton, Wash.
“Due to the progress made during the snowy and rainy winter, and the diligent work this spring, we are confident the remaining construction milestones and interior build-up process will be complete by late July,” said Ken Bodeen, the Portland location’s store manager. “Now, our primary objective is to continue hiring and training the nearly 400 local hires who will be joining the Ikea coworker family before we open.”
The store will feature 50 different room settings, three complete model homes, a supervised children’s play area and a 250-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries. Located in a pedestrian-friendly area near the Portland International airport, the 19-acre site has 1,200 parking spaces, 75 bicycle racks and is served by a light rail station. The store adds to the 250 Ikea stores the company operates in 35 countries. Additional stores are being planned for three sites in Florida as well as Brooklyn, N.Y.; Charlotte, N.C.; Somerville, Mass.; and West Chester, Ohio.
May 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2007
San Francisco-based Williams-Sonoma said Wednesday it is focused on “revitalizing” Pottery Barn after same-store sales at the chain declined 1.2 percent during the company’s first quarter.
Net revenues for the entire company during the quarter increased 2.7 percent to $816.1 million. Net income decreased to $18.2 million—or 16 cents per share--from $23.1 million.
Williams-Sonoma Chairman and CEO Howard Lester said, “Although the macro-environment in the home furnishings sector in the first quarter of 2007 continued to be very challenging, we aggressively managed the rapid changes in our business and delivered better than expected earnings for the quarter.” He added, “In our core brands, the home-centered retail environment continued to be difficult, but we remained focused on our most important initiative – the revitalization of the Pottery Barn brand.”
He said competitors coping with high inventory levels will create pressure for industry-wide markdowns at a time when raw materials costs are rising. As a result, the company reduced its guidance for diluted earnings per share in its current quarter by 2 cents to 14 cents to 18 cents per share.
Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, which saw same-store sales fall 3.8 percent, together have 289 stores and represent a large share of the 588-store Williams-Sonoma operation, which also includes Williams-Sonoma (254 stores), West Elm (22), Williams-Sonoma Home (7) and outlets (16).
May 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2007
Consumer confidence bounced back this month from April’s decrease, according to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index.
The index now stands at 108, up from 106.3 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 136.1 from 133.5 in April, and the Expectations Index edged up to 89.2 from 88.2.
Based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households, the monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. The cutoff date for May’s preliminary results was May 21.
“The bounce-back in Confidence was due primarily to a more upbeat assessment of present-day business conditions,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ view of the job market, both present and six months from now, was little changed and did not provide a boost in confidence. The short-term outlook remains cautious, and rising gasoline prices are having a negative impact on consumers’ inflation expectations. All in all, confidence levels continue to suggest growth, albeit at a slow pace.”
Consumers’ appraisal of current-day conditions was more upbeat in May. Those claiming conditions are “good” rose to 29.4 percent from 27.5 percent. Those saying conditions are “bad” was barely unchanged at 14.5 percent. Consumers were also more neutral about the labor market. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “hard to get” dipped to 19.9 percent from 20.3 percent. Those claiming jobs are “plentiful,” however, remained at 29 percent in May.
Consumers’ outlook for the next six months remains cautious. Those anticipating business conditions to improve increased to 15.1 percent from 13.8 percent. Consumers expecting business conditions to worsen, however, edged up to 10.1 percent from 9.7 percent.
May 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on May 2007
Fine Furniture Design and Marketing, High Point, announced the resignation of Chief Executive Officer Geoff Beaston who is leaving the company for another opportunity, Wednesday. Fine Furniture Chairman Michael Moh has promoted Ted Philpott to President and CEO.
Beaston joined FFDM when it was founded in 2000 as the sales and marketing company of Shanghai-based manufacturer Fine Furniture. Philpott joined the company in 2005 as president and chief operating officer.
“We greatly appreciate Geoff’s contributions to establish FFDM as a leader of high-quality furniture and designs,” Philpott said. “We look forward to continuing to build the success of the company by providing our customers with outstanding values.”
May 29,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2007
A report in the Daily Herald of Central Utah says area retailers are gearing up to compete with the IKEA store that opened May 23 in Draper, the Swedish retailer/manufacturer’s first location in the state.
The article cited aggressive campaigns among local furniture stores that range from alleged anti-IKEA television ads to hosting a Provo casting call for the reality television series “The Bachelor.”
“IKEA definitely means do-it-yourself. They’re the biggest peddler of junk besides Wal-Mart,” I.M. Home Founder Craig Knott told the newspaper. I.M. Home hosted a casting call for “The Bachelor” to boost foot traffic to his store. “My wife and I shopped at IKEA when we lived in Chicago. We got some furniture like dressers, beds. Not one piece survived the move back to Utah.”
“Once people realize they have to put everything together, and the furniture doesn’t last, the allure will pass.”
Joseph Roth, director of public affairs for IKEA North America, responded in the report that IKEA has good furniture at affordable prices, and a successful track record worldwide.
Recent adds by R.C. Willey depict a child resisting his father’s efforts to help assemble furniture, but President Jeff Child told the Daily Herald, the ads are not “anti-IKEA.”
“Our ad campaigns were planned long before IKEA arrived,” Child said in the report. “We don’t compete head-on with IKEA, other than in Sacramento, where we both have stores. Their furniture is fairly inexpensive and customers have to put it together. We don’t really do that kind of furniture.”