Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 2007
Harlem Furniture executives will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday in Mishawaka, Ind., to open the first The RoomPlace store outside the Chicagoland area. The 31,000-square-foot store at the corner of Grape Road and Douglas Road is the company’s 18th location.
Based in Lombard, Ill., the company has 14 locations in surburban Chicago, including Merrillville, Ind., and three in metropolitan Chicago. A news release called The Roomplace the first furniture retailer in the region specializing in the room group concept.
According to Harlem’s Web site, the company plans to open a new The RoomPlace location in Algonquin, Ill., this spring.
March 15,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Accessories on March 2007
The High Point Market Authority will host a panel discussion of top designers—including B. Smith, Vladimir Kagan, Raymond Waites and William W. Stubbs—at an event called “The Future of Design” at the High Point Theatre on Wed., March 28, beginning at 7 p.m.
The free event that includes a question-and-answer session will be moderated by Ellen Gefen.
“Market-goers won’t want to miss the opportunity to hear their ideas and forecasts about where we’re all headed in terms of design,” Gefen said. “If you want to know what’s now and what’s next, this event, which thanks to the Market Authority is free and open to all, is not to be missed.”
B. Smith has hosted the television show “B. Smith with Style” for nine years, and her Style Home Collection of bedding, tabletop and other products is available exclusively at Bed Bath & Beyond. She is introducing her first furniture collection with Clayton Marcus during the March 26-April 1 market.
Vladimir Kagan, whose design career started in 1946, is active in the hotel, furniture, textiles and home furnishings fields. He’s developed collections for Bassett Furniture, Weiman Preview Furniture, American Leather and Directional.
Raymond Waites designed coordinated collections across a wide range of home fashions disciplines and has had a signature collection with Laneventure since 1995.
William W. Stubbs leads his own Houston-based design firm and was named to Architectural Digest’s AD 100 list of top designers and architects.
March 15,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2007
Hooker Furniture Corp. reported sales of $49.1 million and a loss of $18.4 million for a two-month transition period ending Jan. 28.
Hooker’s short reporting period was the result of the company’s switch to a fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to Jan. 31 each year. Hooker’s current fiscal year began Jan. 29, 2007 and ends Feb. 3, 2008.
The loss during the period, which the company anticipated, was due to two large special charges, according to a release Thursday: an $18.4 million non-cash, non-tax deductible charge related to the termination of Hooker’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan effective Jan. 26; and $3 million in restructuring charges, mostly for severance and termination benefits related to the closure of its last domestic wood plant by the end of this month.
March 15,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2007
Hooker Furniture has created a new senior management position, naming Bruce Cohenour to the role of senior vice president of national accounts and business development.
For the last 12 years, Cohenour has been a sales representative for Hooker in Northern Texas and Oklahoma. Prior to joining Martinsville, Va.-based Hooker, he was a regional sales manager for La-Z-Boy, responsible for the central region of the United States. He began his career in retail management, serving as general manager of a La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery store for 12 years.
“Bruce’s retail and sales experience and the insights he can offer in the changing furniture retailing environment will be a tremendous asset to the company and our retail partners,” said Ray Harm, senior vice president of sales. “As Hooker transitions to a sales and marketing-driven company, we want to offer additional support to our key retailers and enhance the value we can bring to them as we deepen our partnerships.”
Cohenour will work closely with the merchandising team in developing proprietary product for key national and regional dealers.
March 15,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on March 2007
Rooms To Go and the non-profit National Furniture Bank Association will hold an event Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of the New Orleans Furniture Bank.
Saturday morning, Rooms To Go will deliver a houseful of new furniture to a Veronica Smith, a single mother of four, whose home in Kenner, La., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
At 4 p.m., Cindy Crawford will make an appearance for a celebration of the new furniture bank at the Rooms To Go store in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Also in attendance will be executives from Rooms To Go, the National Furniture Bank Association, the New Orleans Furniture Bank, and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans.
The purpose of the event is to explain the assistance Rooms To Go is providing to families in need; the ongoing efforts of the National Furniture Bank Association; and the mission of the New Orleans Furniture Bank.
The NFBA administers Help1Up, the completely free, socially responsible and environmentally friendly used furniture removal service for the general public. Made possible through a network of dozens of furniture banks across the country, people wishing to dispose of their gently used furniture make an appointment for a pick up, and are given a tax-deductible receipt. The furniture bank then directly provides the furniture to families in need.
Furniture banks in America provide used furniture to over 100,000 families each year. Typical clients of furniture banks are victims of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, mothers and children escaping domestic violence, and working families living below the poverty line.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Rooms To Go has donated 4,000 complete rooms of furniture to the National Furniture Bank Association. The furniture was shipped free of charge to furniture banks serving Hurricane evacuees in Atlanta, Houston and Dallas, Texas; Orlando Fla., and Augusta Ga.
Rooms To Go is devoting a portion of sales on Saturday, March 17, to the New Orleans Furniture Bank, which quietly opened its doors in February.