Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
April 12,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on April 2007
Merchandise Mart Properties, Chicago, announced Thursday that its Canadian division has acquired Design Vancouver (dv – Internior Design & Urban Living Expo), a design show for upscale consumers and design professionals on the West Coast.
Design Vancouver’s third annual event will be held May 4 to 6 at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. Jason Heard, show founder and president, will joing the Merchandise Mart management team in Canada and continue to run the event.
“We are proud to add Design Vancouver to our portfolio of great shows and events that are leading the way in design, creativity and innovation in the residential and built environments,” said Steven Levy, senior vice president, MMPI. “Design Vancouver is a highly respected and distinct show that is unmatched in its ability to reach consumers looking for great design trends, style and functionality for their homes.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Toronto-based Merchandise Mart Properties Canada produces The Interior Design Show and IIDEX/NeoCon Canada, which attracts more than 325,000 visitors and 1,800 exhibitors annually. MMPI produces more than 300 trade shows, market events and conferences each year. It also manages Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, properties in High Point, N.C. that include Market Square and design centers and showroom buildings in New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
April 12,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on April 2007
Home furnishings retail sales are getting hit by slow housing sales, according to a report Thursday from MarketWatch, which listed monthly sales from a number of retailers, many of who blamed declines in housing starts and slowing existing-home sales for poor sales of furniture and accessories.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has had slow home-related product sales for almost a year, the report said, despite better than expected same-store sales. BJ’s Wholesale Club also said residential furniture sales were poor.
Federated missed Wall Street’s projections for same-store sales, and Chief Executive Terry Lundren blamed weakness in home-related merchandise for most of that disappointment.
J.C. Penney which recruited designer Chris Madden to create an exclusive home collection, said Thursday that overall sales were robust but “home continued to experience some weakness.”
“Our poorest performing businesses were home and furniture,” said Anthony Buccina, president of merchandising at Bon-Ton Stores.
Tuesday Morning, a leading closeout retailer of upscale, decorative home accessories, saw same-store sales for the quarter dropped 5.4 percent.
April 12,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on April 2007
InterHall, the upper-end, high-style section of the International Home Furnishings Center, is undergoing a renovation and facelift.
Construction, which will nearly double the size of InterHall, is expected to be completed in time for the fall High Point Market. The renovation will net an additional 21 showroom space and will take the area from three aisles to six. Spaces will range from 350 square feet to 1,400 square feet. Once complete, InterHall will be home to about 60 exhibitors.
“This exciting project is a continuation of our progress in remaking IHFC,” said Tom Lindh, president. “It makes ense to put our best foot forward in InterHall, and that’s what we’re going to do. The new InterHall reinforces High Point’s role as the industry’s introduction market.”
The project follows—and extends—last year’s renovation of the Commerce lobby that transformed IHFC’s main entrance into a modern, upscale environment. While the new design preserves InterHall’s open, engaging appeal, spaces will have permanent walls for the first time. Aisles will feature scored, stained concrete, and the ambience will be enhanced with halogen track lighting. Many of the design details are still under review.
InterHall will also feature a limited number of “showcase rooms,” a new concept at the market, according to Gaye Outlaw, who is managing the project Selected IHFC exhibitors will spotlight vignettes of major new collections in these spaces scattered throughout InterHall, directing visitors to their showrooms.
April 12,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on April 2007
Bedding retailer 1800mattress.com announced yesterday that it is using this month’s Earth Day celebration to roll-out Vivetique, a premier organic mattress brand based in Los Angeles.
1800mattress.com said in a release that it is the first New York City-based retailer to carry an organic mattress. It is introducing Vivetique’s EcoDream bed at its showrooms in Manhattan and Scarsdale, and also will sell the product by phone and online for worldwide shipping.
Vivetique’s mattresses, pillows and top of bed items use only the cleanest and purest natural fibers of the highest quality, and its trademark line of Pure Grow Wool products follows organic agricultural practices. Unlike some “green” cotton, which is not grown under any certified standards, Vivetique’s cotton products are made only from unbleached, un-dyed and certified organic cotton fibers.
The EcoDream mattress combines two types of natural latex for support and comfort. The EcoDream is wrapped in all organic cotton and comes with an eco-friendly wood foundation. The mattress and box spring set will retail for $4,999 in queen size.
April 11,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on April 2007
Pier 1 Imports, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas, today announced it lost $58.7 million on fourth-quarter sales of $473.7 million, down 6.4 percent from prior-year performance.
For the 2007 fiscal year, which ended March 3, Pier 1 lost $227.2 million on sales of $1.62 billion, which were off 8.6 percent from last year’s revenue. Results for both the fourth quarter and the fiscal year included $114.1 million in unusual charges and the effects of adopting a new accounting pronouncement. Excluding these charges, the Company’s net loss from continuing operations on a non-GAAP basis for the quarter would have been $12.9 million or $0.14 per share and $113.1 million, or $1.28 per share for the fiscal year.
Same-store sales declined 11 percent in the fourth quarter, and 11.3 percent for the year. Merchandise margins decreased 610 basis points for the quarter, 230 for the entire year.
Going forward, Pier 1 will no longer release sales information on a monthly basis and will shift to a quarterly reporting schedule. The company cited more meaningful information and reduced confusion in comparative reporting caused this year by the shift in the fiscal calendar.
Pier 1’s annual meeting for shareholders of record as of April 30, 2007, will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, on June 28.