Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 11,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on March 2007
Leggett & Platt, Carthage, Mo., announced two promotions Friday as part of a new innovation strategy designed to drive the company’s growth.
Niels Mossback was promoted to senior director of advanced technology, with responsibilities for developing new products and technologies across the corporation. He had been segment vice president of product development for the residential furnishings segment. Tom Wells has been named director of engineering strategy and technical support. Wells, who had been group vice president and director of R&D for the bedding group, will work closely with segment development directors to identify growth opportunities. He also will be responsible for the development of strategic partnerships.
“L&P’s future success in the global marketplace will depend heavily on our ability to leverage our broad and deep resources, especially in the critical area of product development,” said Vincent Lyons, vice president of engineering and product development and president of the Machinery and Technology Group.
The new strategy called Worldwide Innovation Network70/30 is based on the expectation that 70 percent of new innovations come from within the company, and the balance will come from external sources, including input from inventors and partnerships. One element of WIN 70/30 is link on the company’s Web site,
www.leggett.com, where individuals can submit ideas. The company also created a 12-person engineering council to evaluate innovative ideas and identify opportunities across the company that manufactures furniture and bedding components, retail store fixtures, automotive seating, carpet underlay and bedding industry machinery.
March 11,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2007
Outdoor lifestyle brand Woolrich Inc. has joined forces with floor covering vendor Mohawk Inds. to create a new licensed line of machine-made rugs designed to complement Woolrich’s existing collection of home furnishings.
Dennis Marxen, vice president of licensing for Woolrich, said in a release Monday, “We are extremely happy to have Mohawk on board as a brand partner. Mohawk’s collection of Woolrich rugs offer quality, durability, and function, and are the perfect choice for anyone who enjoys an active, outdoor lifestyle.”
Rocky Casteel, Mohawk’s vice president and general manager of area rugs, textiles, and floor mats, said, “We are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Woolrich on this endeavor. Consumers will find this collection not only beautiful but easy to care for, making these rugs an exceptional value overall.”
The rugs will be available through major U.S. retailers.
March 8,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on March 2007
La-Z-Boy, Monroe, Mich., announced a sweeping restructuring Thursday that will shut two upholstery factories and eliminate about 500 jobs. As part of the move, the company will also close a lumber mill in North Wilkesboro, N.C., and consolidate three operations into one at Kincaid’s Taylorsville, N.C., upholstery operation.
In a statement, President and CEO Kurt Darrow said the moves, which will produce annual savings of $11 million, are designed to “ align our company with the current business environment and strengthen our positioning going forward.”
La-Z-Boy’s recliner and occasional chair factory in Lincolnton, N.C., will close in July, eliminating 250 jobs. Work will be shifted to facilities in Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee. Another 150 jobs will be eliminated in Iuka, Miss., when a sofa and chair factory there is shut and production is shifted to other Bauhaus factories in Mississippi. The North Wilkesboro, N.C., lumber mill closing and consolidation in Taylorsville, N.C., will cut another 100 jobs.
“We regret the impact these actions will have on the families and lives of those employees affected and greatly appreciate the contribution of each employee and thank them for their years of dedicated service,” Darrow said, according to a company statement. “However, these moves are necessary for our company to remain competitive and we will provide outplacement assistance to these employees during this transition period. Collectively, these actions are expected to save the company $11 million per year when they are fully implemented, and, when coupled with our ongoing process improvement initiatives, will result in increased efficiencies in our remaining manufacturing facilities.”
After the closings and consolidations, La-Z-Boy will have more than 5.6 million square feet of upholstery manufacturing space in North America and 8,000 employees in those facilities.
La-Z-Boy will take a pre-tax charge of approximately $9 million to $10 million, or $0.11 to $0.12 per share. The charge mainly covers severance and other benefit costs and will also include the write-down of certain fixed assets and other associated costs. The majority of these charges will be incurred in the fourth quarter of the company’s 2007 fiscal year with the majority of the balance of the charge taken in the first fiscal quarter of 2008.
March 8,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on March 2007
A move to revitalize and reinvent premarket in High Point is underway with support from the High Point Market Authority and the backing by a number of heavy hitters in the manufacturing segment.
A new premarket concept will be held Aug. 22-25 as an invitation-only event created for the industry’s largest manufacturers and retailers. Brian Casey, president and chief executive officer of the market authority and spokesperson for the group pushing to legitimize the event, said shifts in the industry demand premarket’s purpose be adjusted “to meet the needs of leading retailers and exhibitors here in High Point.”
The news comes on the heels of a less-than-vibrant premarket last week.
“Our focus is to ensure that we continue to maintain the High Point Market’s core competency as the preeminent market for important product introductions, with the broadest array of new product available anywhere,” Casey said.
Previously, premarket was an informal, unsanctioned event in which retailers and manufacturers came to High Point for early product reviews. Neither the City of High Point nor any other organization ever emerged as a sponsor for premarket.
Moving forward, premarket will encompass two days twice a year. In addition to an opening reception the night before, each morning will begin with a breakfast and panel discussion, followed by showroom visits. The evenings’ social events will include a formal cocktail reception and dinner for principles and a second more informal reception and dinner for all attendees whether retailer, manufacturer, marketing executives or sales representatives.
“What you understood as premarket will no longer exist,” Casey said. “Our goal is to deliver the greatest value to the retailers in attendance, and that involves the preview of fully realized product introductions.”
The plan is that suppliers will present product in market-ready condition. No sketches; no partial collections.
“We’ve spoken to many of our customers and they’ve told us that if the event is executed as we envision, this new premarket would absolutely meet their needs. It’s a concept they will fully embrace,” said Kevin O’Connor, chief executive of Samson Marketing, a member of the organizing group.
Home Meridian International is also a participant.
“The feedback has been clear: The time has come for a more organized and structured model that involves retailers in a successful, valued and memorable experience,” said George Revington, president and chief executive of Home Meridian.
Each of the participating manufacturers will contribute to the cost of the semi-annual event in order to provide transportation, meals, entertainment and networking options.
Premarket will not be underwritten by the market authority. As a publicly funded group, its funds are specifically earmarked for the High Point Market.
“We will contribute resources to the coordination of the event, because a successful premarket ultimately supports and strengthens the High Point Market and its leadership role ...,” Casey said.
In addition to Samson and Home Meridian, the following companies are part of the organizing group:
Wynwood/DMI;
Vaughn Furniture;
Huntington;
Progressive/Royal Patina;
Schnadig Corp.;
Magnussen;
SLF/Pulaski;
La-Z-Boy;
Stanley;
Rivers Edge;
Primo International;
Legacy;
Bernhardt;
Hooker Furniture;
Universal;
Casana/Palliser;
Trade Masters;
Vaughn-Bassett;
Kincaid;
England;
Hammary;
Riverside;
The International Home Furnishings Center; and
Merchandise Mart Properties.
March 8,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2007
Traffic at the nation’s major retail container ports is beginning to climb out of the slow season and could top last year’s peak as early as July, according to the monthly Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight.
“The slow season is on its way out,” Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. “February was the slowest month of the year, as usual, but volume is starting to pick up now in March and we think July could top the peak for all of last year. We saw some weather disruptions in February, but U.S. ports are operating without congestion, and truck and rail performance has been sufficient.”
All U.S. ports covered by Port Tracker – Los Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Tacoma and Seattle on the West Coast, and New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast – are currently rated “low” for congestion, the same as last month.
Nationwide, the ports surveyed handled 1.26 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of container traffic in January, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. The figure was down 0.35 percent from December but up 3.4 percent from January 2006