Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
August 13,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2006
Gage Furniture has opened studiorowe galleries at its stores in Austin and Round Rock, Texas. They are the first studiorowe installations in both cities.
Gage dedicated 3,000 square feet in its 15,000-square-foot Austin showroom and 18,000-square-foot Round Rock showroom to display the store-within-a-store lifestyle setting showcasing Rowe Furniture.
The program features more than 400 fabrics to choose from. Customers can also interact with Rowe’s PreVue computer system that quickly gives illustrated examples of any Rowe Furniture sofa, chair, sectional or ottoman in several fabric selections.
Rowe Furniture promotes delivery custom orders of upholstered furniture within eight weeks, enabled by domestic production in Virginia and Missouri.
Gage Furniture, established in 1941, is a fourth-generation family-owned business, and its Austin store is the oldest furniture store in continual operation in the city.
Gage Furniture became a Rowe retailer in 1992 and represents the 104th and 105th studiorowe to be installed since the inception of the program in 2003.
August 10,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on August 2006
According to a report by Anthony Cronin in Newsday, Gorin’s Furniture in Norwich, CT, is creating a new “furniture bank” with the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut. The bank will supply what Gorin calls “gently used” furniture to a family in need of a couch for the living room, or a table on which to share meals.
According to United Way officials, the people who will benefit are women and children fleeing domestic violence, families struggling to pay the bills or those who are transitioning to more permanent housing.
“This is just an incredibly generous program,”Sharon McCombs, United Way’s vice president of resource development, told Newsday.
The Gales Ferry-based agency is partnering with Gorin on the new project. The program is likely the first or second partnership of its kind in the country, she said to Newsday reporter Cronin.
Along with staffing the database for the furniture bank, The United Way will oversee the screening of individuals and families in the region by various social-service agencies, then match a donor’s furniture with the individual’s needs.
Gorin will supply furniture from trade-in sales at the Norwich store, donations from the community are encouraged. Donations are tax deductible.
United Way officials say they prefer that such donations be dropped off at Gorin’s store on the New London Turnpike. After a match is made between the furniture and someone in need, United Way will give a tax receipt to the donor. McComb says that items that are donated to the new furniture bank should be in good condition: no rips, tears, or stains.
Since Gorin’s start in 1936, the retailer has gone through five expansions and will soon start work on its sixth, including adding a second floor to its flagship store.
August 9,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2006
August traffic at the nation’s major retail container ports is on track to possibly tie October as the busiest month of the year, according to the August Port Tracker report released Tuesday by the National Retail Federation and Global Insight.
The report indicates, however, that the ports and the transportation systems they feed are operating efficiently enough to prevent major hold-ups.
“The ports are already in peak season,” Global Insight Economist Paul Bingham said. “Nationally, August volumes are expected to be as high as the peak projected for October, and we’re going to see the record numbers continue into fall. The increase in volume is going to challenge everyone’s ability to perform, but the ports themselves and the truck and rail systems are all operating OK so far. We expect shippers will make it through peak season without significant congestion.”
Port Tracker covers the ports of 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. All those locations are currently rated “low” for congestion, the same as last month.
Nationwide, the ports surveyed handled 1.36 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container traffic in June, the most recent month for which actual numbers are available. The figure was up 3.5 percent from May and 8.6 percent from June 2005.
June’s number was just under 2005’s year-long peak of 1.37 million TEU set last October, and numbers well above the 2005 peak are expected to be hit through the remainder of this summer and fall: July is forecast at 1.42 million (up 10.3 percent from July 2005), August at 1.46 million (up 9.9 percent from August 2005), September at 1.42 million (up 5.7 percent from September 2005) and October at 1.46 million (up 6.5 percent from October 2005). As in past years, numbers are expected to fall off after October, dropping to 1.35 million in November (up 7.1 percent from November 2005) and 1.3 million in December (up 8.6 percent from December 2005). One TEU is a 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent.
Port Tracker, which is produced by the economic research, forecasting and analysis firm Global Insight for the NRF, looks at inbound container volume, the availability of trucks and railroad cars to move cargo out of the ports, labor conditions and other factors that affect cargo movement and congestion.
August 9,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 2006
Full-line vendor Broyhill Furniture Inds. has named Brady Helton as sales manager for the 14-state Midwest region.
Helton joined Broyhill from Silver Furniture, where he served eight-and-a-half years as vice president of sales and marketing.
Prior to that, he spent several years as an inventory controller and buyer with Hank’s Furniture in Little Rock, Ark.
“Brady will be instrumental in working with our Midwest sales representatives in developing new retail relationships while providing superior service to our existing customers,” said Dave Pinamonti, vice president of sales for Broyhill.
August 9,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2006
The Brick Group Income Fund, parent company of Canada’s largest furniture retailer, The Brick, based in Toronto, reported second quarter 2006 sales of $313.1 million, a 6.8 percent increase over the same period last year.
A retail sales increase of $17.1 million drove the growth. Same-store sales were up 4.1 percent overall in the second quarter. The Brick, The Brick Superstore and The Brick Mattress Store units increased same-store sales sales 3 percent, 5 percent overall. Same-sales at United Furniture stores were up 18.1 percent, 22.3 percent overall.
Franchised locations were up 55 percent in sales, driven primarily by the addition of seven new stores that have opened since second-quarter 2005.
Earnings before taxes, amortization and depreciation in the second quarter of this year stood at $16.4 million, compared to $15.8 million the prior year.
Year-to-date, sales are up 11.6 percent compared to the first six months of 2005.
“For the first half of 2006, we have grown same store sales by 7.9 percent and reported EBITDA by $5.1 million, or 24 percent over the same period last year,”
said President and Chief Executive Officer Kim Yost in a release discussing results.
“We are pleased with our results to the end of June 30, 2006,” Yost said. “We’ve accomplished much in these first six months of 2006, and we believe we are well-positioned for the balance of 2006 to deliver strong results.”