Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 8,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Las Vegas on June 2006
The Las Vegas Market has been given the thumbs up by the city to move forward with Phase 3 of the growing market.
The Las Vegas City Council approved the project, which includes 2.1 million square feet in 16 stories and a nine-story parking garage. Construction cost for this portion of the project is estimated in excess of $500 million. Overall plans for the market call for a 12-million-square-foot complex of showrooms over 57 acres at the World Market Center.
Officials plan to begin construction in the fourth quarter of this year and estimate the project will take 18 months to complete. Building 3 will give the complex a total of 5 million square feet of permanent showroom space. Temporary venues offer just over a million square feet in exhibition space.
Leasing of the new building is underway, and market officials say 15 percent of the space is already leased.
“We are bringing the best of each market segment to this building and under one roof,” said Jack Kashani, managing partner of World Market Center. “Such diversification allows manufacturers to cross-sell and cross-merchandise in a whole new way, and will expand business opportunities for them to reach new buyers across all industry segments.”
Phase 2 of the market is currently under construction with completion and grand opening scheduled for the January market.
June 8,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2006
Palliser is set to open another EQ3 store with its latest location going into a 20,000-square-foot space in a mall in Hampton Roads, Va.
The space marks a larger footprint than is typical of the stores that range from 7,000 square feet to the current largest in San Francisco with 13,000 square feet. The new store—the second in Virginia—will include a design center.
The company opened its first stores in 2001 and currently has 20 storefronts in the U.S. and Canada.
June 7,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2006
Retailers and suppliers have hope of relief this summer and fall for the peak-season congestion that has plagued major U.S. container ports in recent years.
That’s according to the June Port Tracker report released Monday from the National Retail Federation and Global Insights. Analyst Global Insights produces the report, which examines volume intermodal transport availability and other factors affecting shipping, for the NRF.
The report covers Los Angeles/Long Beach; Oakland, Calif.; Tacoma, Wash.; and Seattle on the West Coast; and New York/New Jersey; Hampton Roads, Va.; Savannah, Ga.; and Charleston, S.C., on the East Coast. All those ports currently rate “low” for congestion, the same as May.
“The ramp-up into peak season is now underway, with monthly container volume building through October,” said Paul Bingham, economist for Global Insight. “There is no congestion at ports now, and the truck and rail systems are operating fluidly. A number of challenges with continued growth in volume remain, and there are concerns with port trucking for later this year, but the backlog of ships without reservations at the Panama Canal has been reduced compared with last month. The bottom line is that we expect the industry to get through the 2006 peak season without serious port congestion.”
It’s good news for retailers awaiting new goods and gearing up for the fall season.
“This is a relief compared with the labor shortages and port shutdowns we’ve seen in recent summers,” said Erik Autor, NRF vice president and international trade counsel. “Congestion isn’t in the forecast, but that doesn’t mean we stop watching. Port Tracker will continue to monitor port conditions and will be prepared to alert shippers to any change.”
June 7,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2006
Furniture Brands International has reaffirmed its guidance for the company’s second quarter earnings.
Mickey Holliman, chairman and chief executive officer, said Wednesday that the company expects business conditions to remain as expected from early May when the conglomerate last commented on trends.
“We are currently in a seasonally challenging period for furniture retailing, nevertheless, net sales are slightly positive versus the year-ago period,” he said.
FBI’s guidance in early May offered expectations of net earnings per common share of 29 cents to 33 cents, including the effect of 3 cents of previously disclosed restructuring, asset impairment and severance charges along with the effect of 3 cents in increased interest expense.
The company will report its results for the quarter July 26.
June 7,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2006
Kirschman’s, a 92-year-old Louisiana furniture retailer, has agreed to be acquired by Rooms To Go, according to a report in The Times-Picayune.
Kirschman’s closed the doors to five stores Wednesday evening.
According to the newspaper, the five stores included in the deal will close for two weeks for an inventory assessment. They will then reopen under the Kirschman’s name for a liquidation sale. Once the sale is completed, the stores will close again for remodeling. The first store is set to open in the fall in Metarie, La.
Stores included in the deal are located in Metarie, Baton Rouge, Gretna, Covington and Gulfport. Four Kirschman’s stores that have closed recently were not included in the deal. Three Ethan Allen franchises operated by the Kirschman family were also excluded from the deal.
Arnold Kirschman, president and chief executive officer of the retailer, said he was not looking for a buyer when Rooms To Go made an unsolicited offer. The Kirschman family is retaining rights to the its name and is not ruling out opening another business.