Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 22,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2006
Furniture Row Shopping Center, a Denver-based company that operates 270 stores in 30 states, plans to open in Bismarck, N.D., next year.
The center will market the company’s first location in North Dakota.
The retailer, known for its row of specialty stores under the same roof, will likely begin construction at the site in early 2007. The 54,000-square-foot center will house the company’s Oak Express, Bedroom Expressions, Sofa Mart and the Denver Mattress Co. stores.
May 22,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2006
Lifestyle retailer Restoration Hardware plans to release its first quarter fiscal 2006 results on Thursday after the market closes.
Following the release via the wire services, the retailer will host a conference call beginning at 5 p.m. Eastern Time which can be accessed via a live web cast at
http://reports.visualwebcaster.com/Report.aspx?eventid=32996&pwd=JRTKY7. A playback of the conference call will be available through the Restoration Hardware Web site at
http://restorationhardware.com under the Investor Relations section.
In addition to its 103 retail stores and six outlets in 30 states and Canada, Restoration Hardward markets its products through its catalog and online.
May 21,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 2006
FurnishNet reported a significant industry downturn in purchasing for April in its index of month-to-month and year-over-year trends.
wAccording to the company, retailer purchases actually declined this past month with a steep 7.5 percent drop when compared to April of 2005. April was the first month in 2006 that registered less purchase volume than the corresponding month in the previous year. As a result, year-to date purchasing growth for 2006 dropped to 2.07 percent over 2005.
Additionally, the company reported that April 2006 retailer purchase volume dropped by 17 percent compared to the previous month, and reflected a near 7 percentage point drop compared to the March 2005 to April 2005 trend.
May 21,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 2006
Ernie Park has been named senior vice president and chief information officer effective May 30 for specialty bedding retailer Select Comfort.
Park joins Select Comfort from Maytag Corp. where he was corporate senior vice president and chief information officer. At Maytag, he led the transformation and realignment of the IT function, implementing LeanSigma and other strategic initiatives to leverage best practices, increase efficiencies and standardize technologies and tools to turn IT into a highly responsive business function at Maytag.
Prior to Maytag, Park was vice president and chief information officer of Global Business Services for Honeywell International, where he had primary responsibility for the company’s global shared service information technology business, supporting computing, network and corporate application services. He also has held various IT leadership positions at Avnet, including corporate vice president of technology services.
“Information systems are an important foundation for building a great company,” said Bill McLaughlin, chairman and chief executive officer of Select Comfort. “Though we’ve made important progress with our systems over the past years, a personal priority this year was to identify and attract a leader with large-scale systems experience, who has developed strong teams and partnerships, and delivered solutions to support growth, innovation and customer relationships around the world. We are excited to have Ernie join our team.”
Park succeeds Mike Thyken, former chief information officer, who was recently appointed vice president of process development. In this capacity, Thyken provides process design and expansion support for the company’s international and new channel development team.
May 21,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Display on May 2006
The familiar red and gold of the ol’ trusted Mickey D’s will soon get an overhaul softening to terra cotta and tossing in a bit of olive and sage green for a homey look.
The change to the 51-year-old fast McDonald’s is part of a redesign of its nearly 30,000 outlets worldwide to give them an updated look and feel. The makeover, which is already underway in some markets, is an attempt to bring the chain’s out-dated decor in line with its updated menu. The company said by the end of this year that more than half of the 13,720 restaurants in the U.S. will feature elements of the new design.
Plans call for comfortable arm chairs, Wi-Fi access, premium coffees and an overall hip look and feel. Also in the works, less plastic and more brick and wood teamed with modern hanging lights for a more sophisticated glow. The company wants to present a more contemporary, welcoming image, according to John Miologos, vice president of worldwide architecture, design and construction for McDonald’s.
The company is working with design firm Lippincott Mercer of New York. Other elements of the plan call for three distinct sections in the dining area—the linger zone geared toward young adults looking to hang out; the grab and go zone with counters, bar stools, plasma televisions for customers dining alone; and the flexible zone with booths targeting families.