Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
January 22,
2007 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on January 2007
The Accessories Resource Team (ART) and the Dallas Market Center presented the 18th Annual Arts Awards Saturday at an event attended by more than 700 retailers, manufacturers, sales representatives and designers.
Awards were presented in 25 categories, and Domain Home Fashions Founder Judy George was the group’s Academy of Achievement honoree. In addition to heading the Norwood, Mass.-based retailer, George is CEO of the Aga Home Group.
Winners in the furniture store category included Boyles Distinctive Furniture (East/Atlantic Division), HW Home (Midwest/Southwest) and Homescapes Carmel (West).
Manufacturers receiving awards included Four Hands (accent furniture), Company C (area rugs), Arteriors Home (decorative accessories), Ann Gish (home textiles), Visual Comfort & Co. (lighting fixtures), Seasonal Living Trading Ltd. (outdoor living), Hedges (permanent floral); Currey & Company (portable lamps), Vietri (tabletop) and Kinder-Harris (wall decor). J. Mike Sandel of Guildmaster tied as a winner in the designer category with Jodell Clarke of Global Views, and Daniel Stuart Studio was named the rising star manufacturer.
January 22,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on January 2007
The Sustainable Furniture Council will hold its next general organizing meeting during the Winter Las Vegas Market. The event is scheduled for 7 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 30 at the Four Hands showroom, space B270 on the second floor of World Market Center’s Building B.
The SFC is an alliance of companies and individuals committed to sustainable business practices in the home furnishings industry, emphasizing the selection of eco-friendly wood choices certified as either reclaimed or sourced from managed forests. The alliance is the brainchild of Gerry Cooklin, owner of South Cone, who has long advocated sustainable practices through his company and in numerous speeches and public commentary.
The SFC held its first organizing meeting at the 2005 October High Point Market, and met again at High Point in October 2006, extending invitations to a wide variety of interests associated with the home furnishings industry, including manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and the trade press.
The group now counts among its members more than 40 different companies and individuals, including ABC Carpet & Home, Room & Board, and the Rainforest Alliance.
The SFC seeks to incorporate as a non-profit organization by the end of the year. By-laws have been drafted, and governance committees have been appointed, including an initial board of directors.
Currently, the SFC functions in an advisory capacity to its members and the industry overall, with immediate goals of raising awareness of the sustainability issue within the industry; encouraging and assisting companies in adopting sustainable practices; serving as an information clearing house for members; and promoting sustainable products.
Longer term, the group is working to develop participation guidelines that would allow members to use the SFC logo in their own communications and promotional activity as a symbol of compliance with specified sustainability standards.
SFC will partner with existing organizations in the adoption of their wood harvesting and other sourcing protocols. Certified chain of custody letters documenting the sourcing of raw materials, with a strong and increasing commitment to the use of sustainable materials would be mandatory.
Interested parties can contact Jeff Hiller at HYPERLINK “
mailto:jhiller@fourhands.com” jhiller@fourhands.com for more details.
January 22,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Leather Upholstery on January 2007
A lengthy, 5-year legal battle between leather specialists DeCoro and Natuzzi has ended with a Hong Kong court dismissing the case “in its entirety.”
The ruling was handed down last week.
In 2001, Natuzzi had applied for an injunction to prevent competitor DeCoro from hiring three former Natuzzi employees—two prototypists and a designer—while those people were under a non-compete agreement. Natuzzi had also sought relief against DeCoro for allegedly enticing the three individuals to breach their employment contracts.
The injunctions on the hiring of the two prototypists were set aside because the non-compete agreements did not extend to Asia. The court cleared DeCoro of wrongdoing in the case of the deisgner, finding the agreement to be unenforceable as in unreasonable restraint of trade.
Natuzzi had also alleged that DeCoro had knocked off eight Natuzzi sofa designs. During the trial, the claim was reduced to include five, but the Hong Kong Court dismissed each of the claims as groundless.
“We are delighted with the outdcome, which totally vindicates our business practices,” said Luca Ricci, president and chief executive officer of DeCoro. “The court decision clears us of any wrongdoing and incidates that we are flourishing internationally because of our committment to superior craftsmanship and our ability to meet customers’ needs, not for any other reason.”
Ricci said the company will donate 10 percent of the legal costs recovered from Natuzzi to charity.
January 21,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on January 2007
Bassett Furniture Inds. announced sales of $76.5 million in the fourth quarter, and $328.2 million for fiscal 2006, respective decreases of 13 percent and 2 percent from prior-year performance.
Fourth-quarter net income of $400,000 was off 81 percent from the same period in 2005. For fiscal 2006, which ended Nov. 25, Bassett made $5.4 million, down 44.9 percent.
“The fourth quarter was tough for our industry and Bassett was no exception,” said Robert H. Spilman Jr., president and chief executive officer in a release reporting Bassett’s results. “Although retail conditions continue to be challenging, we are committed to investing in the future of the Bassett store program and the Bassett brand. Examples are the ongoing addition of new retail talent and a commitment to increased distribution of our consumer catalog. Furthermore, we are in the process of preparing to unveil a new store prototype later in 2007. We will, however, continue to examine our cost structure in light of the cost of our new initiatives and the current retail environment.” Two unusual items impacted 2006 earnings: a fourth quarter goodwill impairment charge of $1.4 million and the receipt during 2006 of $1.5 million in duties on wood bedroom furniture from China.
The decline in sales along with retail segment operating losses among company-owned Bassett Furniture Direct stores were the primary factors in the quarter over quarter and year over year decrease in earnings from 2005 to 2006.
In Bassett’s retail segment, fourth-quarter sales of $21.5 million fell 10 percent from the prior year; but were up 19.7 percent for the entire year to $84.4 million due to the acquisition of of additional BFD stores from retail licensees. Bassett now has 27 company-owned stores.
As of the end of fiscal 2006, BFD store count stood at 134 (107 licensed). In the fourth quarter, Bassett opened one store and closed two licensed locations. Soft retail conditions and the development of a new store prototype have temporarily slowed store-count growth. Bassett expects to open between four and six BFD stores in fiscal 2007.
Net wholesale sales were down 14 percent in the fourth quarter to $65.9 million, while for the year, net wholesale sales of $284.4 million were off 5 percent compared to 2005. BFD stores’ share of shipments rose from 67 percent in 2005 to 72 percent in 2006. The wholesale segment’s gross margin increased a percentage point in 2006, primarily from the upholstery division’s performance; and an improved mix of imported goods, which represented 44 percent of shipments in fourth-quarter 2006 compared to 35 percent in the prior-year period.
January 18,
2007 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on January 2007
Kornmeyers HomeSmart, Baton Rouge, La., recently converted its business operations to the Storis Vision R8 Server Business Solution in an implementation that took less than 45 days, according to an announcement by Storis, which supplies more than 300 retailers.
In addition, Kornmeyers HomeSmart went live on a radio frequency bar code system a week after its server upgrade.
“Storis’ Vision R8 system has been able to handle all of our business needs in a very efficient manner,” said Rose Mary Williams, president of Kornmeyers HomeSmart. “We are pleased that we have found a business partner like Storis to help us continue our long history of success serving our marketplace.”
The 127-year-old retailer recently completed a renovation that expanded its showroom to 90,000 square feet and added a design center, cafe and other amenities.