Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
September 26,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on September 2006
Bob’s Discount Furniture will celebrate grand openings Oct. 7 at two new stores located in Warwick, R.I., its first in that state; and Woodbridge, N.J., the Manchester, Conn.-based retailer’s third Garden State location.
Grand opening events will be held during the following weekend at both new stores as well.
“We have been looking for a while now for the right location and the best time to enter the Rhode Island market and the shopping-friendly area of Woodbridge, N.J.,” said Bob Kaufman, president. “We believe we have found it as we open both locations next week and look forward to serving the people with the best furniture values in the region.”
Bob’s has 24 locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. All stores have complimentary cafés featuring gourmet coffee, fresh baked cookies, cany and many have home theaters and video arcades.
Kaufman and his fellow personality on Bob’s Discount Furniture’s television ads, Cathy Poulin will make appearances at both location during the grand opening and weekend events.
September 25,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on September 2006
A variety of entertainment is on tap for the upcoming market with a number of concerts and themed events sponsored by the High Point Market Authority.
The nightly “Stars Under The Stars” event series at Showplace kicks off in sizzling style Monday evening, Oct. 16, with multi-Grammy and Emmy-Award-winning Latin jazz musician Arturo Sandoval. A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval is one of the world’s most revered guardians of jazz trumpet and flugel horn, renowned for his ability to burn through an Afro-Cuban groove as proficiently as he tears up a bebop tune, soars over a Mozart concerto and soothes with a luscious ballad.
Born in a small town in the outskirts of Havana Cuba, Sandoval’s life story was recently immortalized in the HBO movie, “For Love or Country,” starring Andy Garcia. A tenured professor at Florida International University, he has performed and recorded with the best and brightest of modern music and his virtuosic playing can be heard on recordings featuring stars as diverse as Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keyes, Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra.
Tuesday night, the jazz track changes to a NASCAR track for a “Night with Childress Vineyards” featuring The Rolling Thunder Speedway, NASCAR show car, contemporary bluegrass artists The Carter Brothers and a complimentary barbeque buffet.
“A Southern Style Evening” is the theme for Wednesday night, with North Carolina native and world-renowned jazz and blues artist Melva Houston, and a complimentary buffet with a distinctly Southern flavor.
Thursday night, high-energy dance band and market-goer favorite, The Cookie Band, takes the main stage, and Friday, it’s dinner and music with Wally West and his Jazz Quartet. Skeeter Brandon & The Prime Rib Blues Band wrap up the week-long party under the tent on Saturday night. All “Stars Under the Stars” concerts take place in the Showplace Parking area across from the transportation terminal and doors open nightly at 7 p.m.
New this market, the success of the “Stars Under the Stars” series has led the High Point Market Authority to sponsor another series of centrally located entertainment events called “Concerts in the Courtyard.”
“Concerts in the Courtyard” will take place each night at the Suites at Market Square and Market Square, where local breweries Liberty Steakhouse, Natty Green’s and Foothills Brewing Company will be serving up their seasonal specialties to the funky sounds of the Sol Creech Band on Wednesday, Oct. 18, the beach music of The Embers on Thursday, Oct. 19, Cravin’ Melon and Athenaeum on Friday, Oct. 20, and the Cookie Band on Saturday, Oct. 21. Food and beverages will be served each night at 6 p.m. with bands taking the stage at 7 p.m.
“We’re continually working to improve the quality of events here at market,” said Brian Casey, president of the Market Authority. “With ‘Stars Under the Stars,’ and ‘Concerts in the Courtyard,’ we’ve planned two event series that pair an eclectic mix of musical styles with exciting menus, and staged them in two locations that are easily accessible for all. We think these events are the perfect way to wind up a productive day of business in High Point and we’re looking forward to relaxing with our guests, welcoming new people and catching up with old friends this fall.”
September 25,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on September 2006
Michael Pitman has been named president and chief executive officer of solid wood case goods maker Durham Furniture.
Pitman, a 25-year industry veteran, will succeed current CEO Keith McSpurren on Oct. 2.
Most recently, Pitman was vice president of the sales division for Schnadig Corp. He has also held senior sales and marketing positions with Lexington Home Brands.
“His primary focus has been on driving sales results for both of these significant case goods producers,” McSpurren said of Pitman. “He possesses a strong understanding of the Canadian and U.S. markets coupled with a reputation for integrity and strategic thinking. He consistently demonstrates an ability to bring together all functional areas of the business (sales, marketing, product development, manufacturing, finance and human resources) to deliver superior results.”
“This is an exciting time to join Durham in a leadership position and to continue growing the legacy of North America’s premier solid wood bedroom manufacturer,” Pitman said. “We will continue to provide our retail partners with fashion-forward, high quality furniture of unparalleled value supported by manufacturing excellence, superior service and supply chain stability. These strengths aid them to profitably grow their businesses.”
McSpurren will remain on Durham’s board of directors and return to playing a more active role with Flagstone Capital, the private equity fund he helped establish in 2001. The Toronto-based Flagstone also has an equity stake in Durham Furniture. He said his mandate as CEO was to lead the transition of Durham Furniture from being the hard-driving entrepreneurial company it was during most of the 1990s into a mature, stable, growing business.
“Although there are significant challenges ahead for all companies in our industry, Durham’s largest structural changes are behind us,” he said. “Now that the turnaround is complete, it’s time to execute the plan.”
Over the past 18 months under McSpurren’s leadership, Durham has moved to a lean manufacturing platform; assembled a new senior management team; helped lower retail-partner inventories with a just-in-time approach to production; reduced delivery times on virtually all orders to six weeks; expanded its sales network significantly; negotiated new arrangements with its financial partners; and launched a second brand, Orville & Mead.
“The last piece of the transition plan was to recruit a driven, open-minded leader with a significant track record in helping to build every business he has been involved in,” McSpurren said. “We needed to find someone willing to make a long term commitment to Durham that matches the loyalty and dedication of our own employees, sales representatives and retail partners.”
September 25,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on September 2006
Montana outdoorsman, artist, and outdoor lifestyle personality Dick Idol has a couple of irons in the fire at next month’s High Point Market, with a Dick Idol Legends line of furniture at new licensee Shadow Mountain, and the launch of a new collection at Klaussner, Idol’s original licensing partner for outdoors-inspired furniture five years ago.
The new line at Shadow Mountain complements the existing Klaussner program through targeting stepped-up pricing and a new consumer demographic.
“Our objective is to grow the overall Dick Idol brand by better segmenting the market with unique product and marketing strategies based on each of our licensee’s strength,” said Jim Williams, chief marketing officer of Dick Idol Ventures. “We are all working together as a team to ensure that all our lines are complementary and provide our different targeted customers with unique products that are most appropriate for their customer bases.”
Chad Turney, president and chief executive officer of Shadow Mountain said that an established brand like Dick Idol, in combination with Shadow Mountain’s unique products and one-stop shop sales strategy, will provide a significant value to smaller independent retailers.
“The DIV team and its long-standing licensing partners have done a great job building the brand, and we are excited to be a part of the family with the Dick Idol Legends branding,” Turney said.
Shadow Mountain will launch the initial Dick Idol Legends program in its newly expanded showroom in historic Market Square, Suite 392. Inspired by a visit to a friend’s Montana ranch and the unique antiques the rancher collected, Idol conceived the idea of the introductory High Plains Collection. The case goods collection offers distinctive yet understated styling through its tasteful blend of antiqued oak wood with hair on hide leather and nail head accents. Additional new designs and collections are expected to follow in early 2007 at the Las Vegas Market. Somewhat higher price points will target smaller independent furniture retailers and specialty furniture boutiques more focused on refined rustic styling and fashion-forward design.
Shadow Mountain will host a cocktail party in its showroom lobby Thursday, Oct. 19, to celebrate the opening of the new showroom.
Over at Klaussner, the Dick Idol organization will celebrate the fifth anniversary of its brand partnership with KFI through the launch of the southwestern-inspired Canyon Road collection. Santa Fe influences are combined with Indonesian mahogany to offer unique products that are still broad in appeal.
“We worked hard to include authentic southwestern design influences without limiting the collection’s appeal by being too in your face,” said Darren York, vice president of case goods merchandising. “We believe that the mahogany wood story is a major selling point, in addition to the great designs.”
September 24,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on September 2006
Ethan Allen is forecasting sales for the quarter ending Saturday to fall between $240 million to $245 million.
Farooq Kathwari, chairman and chief executive officer, issued a statement in advance of its investor conference the company is hosting Tuesday.
“As previously indicated, sales in recent months have slowed as consumer confidence has remained weak,” Kathwari said. “In addition, we find ourselves up against tough comparable results for the prior year quarter during which time we experienced a 9 percent increase in sales and a 15 percent increase in comparable retail written sales. The prior year quarter also marked the first phase of our initiative to reduce the lead time in filling customer orders. The faster backlog turnover afforded by this initiative reduces the forward visibility of delivered sales, subjecting our business to more volatility as demand levels fluctuate. We currently anticipate that revenues for the quarter ending September 30, 2006, will total $240 to $245 million.”
Kathwari said the continued implementation of its “Everyday Best Pricing” plan has consumers making purchases when its convenient for them. “We know that the summer months present numerous other actiivites adn commitments,” he said. “We have seen some positive trends in September and, should those trends continue, we could benefit in the second quarter.”
The company recently held its international convention with more than 800 of its associates attending. At the meeting, Ethan Allen introduced two collections—Modern Glamour and Horizons Studio. Both will arrive in stores in the spring.
Tomorrow’s investor conference begins at 10:15 a.m., and management’s presentations and the Q&A session will be webcast live at www.ethanallen.com/investors.