Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
June 5,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on June 2006
The Bombay Co. has named a former Blockbuster Video executive as its new chief executive officer.
David Stewart, 67, succeeds James Carreker in the position. Carreker ended his employment with the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer Saturday, which marked the end of his contract. Stewart will also serve as a member of the company’s board of directors.
Prior to joining Bombay, Stewart was president of Blockbuster Video Canada from 2000 until April 2006 where he led a turnaround followed by a growth in the company’s store network and profits. In addition, Stewart has more than 35 years of retail experience in key management and merchandising positions at a variety of specialty retailers and department stores in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are delighted to have Dave on board,” Nigel Travis, lead director of the board of directors, said. “He has great leadership skills and brings a wide range of successful experience in varied industries, including an understanding of the home space. He has strong merchandising and marketing background, but most of all, in our view, is a great leader of people. In his previous roles, Dave has demonstrated an ability to identify winning strategies and then to execute the plan, particularly at store level. His experience in the restructuring and stabilization of companies in a turnaround mode will be a great asset to the company.”
Prior to joining Blockbuster Canada, Stewart was president and chief executive officer of Marks & Spencer Canada, a subsidiary of Marks and Spencer Group, a retailer of mid-priced clothing, food and household items, where he led a repositioning and profit turnaround and ultimately the wind down of the 50 store Canadian operations. From 1993 to 1997, he was president and chief executive officer of UCS Group, a multi-concept national specialty retail chain with more than 500 stores in Canada, where he was credited with returning the company to profitability, developing a more streamlined organization and managing the company through a change of control to a European buyer.
“I am very energized about the opportunity here at Bombay,” Stewart said. “The company has a great brand and has established a unique niche in the specialty home furnishings arena. I recognize that there is much work to be done, and I look forward to being able to provide the leadership that will be required to lead the company to profitable growth through these difficult times. I will be very focused on the quality of our store execution and providing an exciting customer experience as we strive to quickly return Bombay to profitability.”
The retailer has 479 retail stores and a catalog, and also markets its home furnishings through its Web site.
June 5,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on June 2006
Quaker Fabric Corp. has amended its five-year, senior-secured credit facility, and the company has also hired a firm to advice in a proposed refinancing.
The amendments to the fabric supplier’s loan includes changes in financial convenants that will provide the company access to needed capital resources to support business operations and the company’s ongoing and repositioning initiatives, said Larry Liebenow, president and chief executive officer.
Alvarez & Marsal Securities, a part of Alvarez & Marsal, LLC, a New York-based global professional services firm, will advise the company in connection with a proposed refinancing, the proceeds of which would be used to provide the company with additional working capital and to repay all or a portion of the company’s existing indebtedness under its senior secured credit facility.
“We remain grateful for the ongoing support of our workforce, our suppliers and our customers, as we continue to pursue our business development objectives,” Liebenow said.
June 5,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on June 2006
Martha Stewart greeted retailers from between 60 and 70 Bernhardt accounts Monday at the vendor’s High Point showroom for a first look at Katonah, the fifth collection for her licensed furniture line, Martha Stewart Signature.
With about 70 case goods pieces predominantly in veneers of cherry and acoume, an African mahogany species, the new collection—inspired by Stewart’s 1925 farmhouse in Bedford, N.Y.—includes some of the line’s most formal settings to date, with a style theme of refreshed takes on traditional American styles.
Several accent finishes, including updated, atypical chinoiserie paint treatments, muted grays, and red and black lacquer, spice up the color palette.
Around 30 new upholstery frames utilize 35 new fabrics, including striking green velvet and bright corals, as well as earth tones.
In all, Martha Stewart Signature now has close to 400 wood pieces, 135 upholstery frames and 200 fabrics. The line, which debuted in October 2004 with a 6,000-square-foot presentation, has doubled its footprint in Bernhardt’s showroom.
“It’s always interesting to come to High Point in the off-season,” Stewart told the gathering. “We’re the only ones here right now, so you have to focus on us—we like that a lot.”
Stewart had just flown in from Atlanta, where she was visiting a new upscale housing development that’s part of Martha Stewart Omnimedia’s partnership with national builder KB Home that creates communities of Stewart-designed houses. In addition to Cary, N.C., and Atlanta, similar developments are in the works for Charlotte, N.C., Houston, Las Vegas, California and Orman Beach, Fla.
Those developments, Stewart said, represent a real opportunity for retailers carrying the furniture line in their respective regions.
“The first seven or eight show houses in each of these communities are completely furnished with our furniture,” she said.
When asked by a Florida retailer when to expect a KB/Stewart development in that state, Stewart said the Florida one is on the way for October.
“We’ll be back with a (furniture) collection with specific appeal to that area,” Stewart said.
June 5,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 2006
The National Resources Defense Council, a U.S.-based conservation group, along with two Peruvian groups, filed a suit yesterday with the U.S. Court of International Trade charging three federal agencies with allowing the importation of contraband Peruvian mahogany into the country.
The suit names the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Interior , the Department of Agriculture, as well as three U.S. lumber importers: Bozovich Timber Products of Evergreen, Ala.; T. Baird International Corp. of King of Prussia, Pa.; and TBM Hardwoods of Hanover, Pa.
The plaintiffs say most Peruvian mahogany is logged illegally, and that more than 80 percent of the contraband timber ends up in the United States.
“Millions of dollars worth of Peruvian mahogany enters U.S. ports every year in violation of U.S. and international law,” said Ari Hershowitz, NRC’s Latin America BioGems project director. “While U.S. border control agencies look the other way, the rainforest and the communities that depend on them to survive are being plundered.”
The lawsuit charges that importing the mahogany violates the U.S. Endangered Species Act and a major international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. It calls for the federal agencies to stop all illegally traded Peruvian mahogany from entering the United States, and for importers to forfeit illegally imported Peruvian mahogany already in the country.
June 5,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Leather Upholstery on June 2006
Leather producer Natuzzi Goup has named Ernesto Greco chief executive officer, succeeding company founder Pasquale Natuzzi in the position.
Natuzzi retains his title of chairman of the company’s board of directors.
Prior to joining Natuzzi, Greco was chief financial officer of Bulgari, an Italian jeweler known for its luxury goods and two hotels. He has also worked with companys like Montedison, Hewlett-Packard and Wang Laboratories.
“I am pleased with the appointment of Ernesto Greco, who thus joins our group after gaining long years of significant and international experience,” Natuzzi said. “I am sure he will be able to interpret at his best all the challenges our company is dealing with to strengthen its presence in Italy and abroad, through the implementation of effective brand, product development and retail expansion strategies.”
Greco said he was excited about his new post.
“We will have to work hard, with the aim of innovating, creating value for our customers and shareholders, and strengthening all the distinguishing and unique features that have made Natuzzi a symbol of Italian style worldwide,” he said.