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Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
September 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on September 12, 2012
Boston-based home furnishings retailer Wayfair has partnered with shelter magazine Coastal Living to create an online boutique of curated products chosen by the magazine's editors.
This partnership brings Coastal Living readers one step closer to the images seen each month in the magazine and offers the opportunity to explore Wayfair's selection of home products through the lens of coastal style.
"The launch of Coastal Living at Wayfair is a major milestone on our path to building the best content-driven shopping experience for the home," said Niraj Shah, CEO of Wayfair. "Coastal Living is an exceptional brand with a loyal and enthusiastic following that is passionate about home design. We are thrilled to embark on a partnership that provides shoppers an expertly curated vantage point for exploring and discovering our zillions of options for the home."
The Coastal Living boutique offers fresh content every week thematically tied to the most current issue of Coastal Living magazine, encompassing various aspects of coastal style, travel and food. With 5 million products from 5,000 brands spanning every style and price point, Wayfair is positioned to offer the range of home furnishings and décor items necessary to extend any design aesthetic to e-commerce. Coastal décor enthusiasts will be able to capture and create the looks they love by purchasing items curated by the editors of their favorite shelter magazine.
"The Coastal Living boutique simplifies the path from inspiration to realization by offering shoppers tons of options in great home decor and coastal style," said Antonia van der Meer, editor in chief, Coastal Living. "We are able to better serve our readers by bringing the design aesthetics we love to one trusted retail destination for the seamless extension of our brand into their homes and lives."
Coastal Living at Wayfair delivers a natural extension of magazine content with four main feature areas; House Tour, Get The Look, Life+Style and Things We Love. In addition to presenting hand-selected products, Coastal Living at Wayfair also offers the largest collection of Coastal Living brand licensed products in one place, including furnishings from Stanley, Jaipur and Lloyd/Flanders.
"Our partnership with Wayfair enables us to broadly leverage the Coastal Living brand equity to drive product sales in the ecommerce space," added Charlie Kammerer, group publisher, Coastal Living and This Old House. "We are excited to work with the team at Wayfair to raise the bar on what constitutes a well-executed connection between media content and e-commerce."
September 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on September 12, 2012
Upholstery and case goods supplier Flexsteel Inds. has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, payable Oct. 4 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 20.
The company said it has paid cash dividends on its common stock each year since 1938. This is the company's 283rd consecutive quarterly cash dividend.
September 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on September 12, 2012
The National Retail Federation is poised to go to court to block the proposed $7.25 billion settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit over credit card swipe fees.
A resolution approved by the NRF Board authorizes NRF to take steps including intervention in pending actions in order to reach a solution equitable to the broad merchant community. NRF is exploring what form the legal action might take. NRF is not a party to the lawsuit, and U.S. District Court Judge John Gleeson has not yet fully outlined how outside groups will be allowed to intervene, or if the case qualifies as a class action.
The National Retail Federation categorically opposes the proposed settlement, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. It does nothing to curb the anticompetitive behavior of Visa and MasterCard, and instead ensures that swipe fees paid by retailers and their customers will continue to rise while barring any future legal challenges. The proposal is a lose-lose-lose for merchants, consumers and competition. NRF will take any and all steps necessary to oppose the settlement as it is currently proposed and will work toward real reform of the swipe fee system.
Shay announced the Boards decision at the Annual Summit being held in Denver by NRFs Shop.org division. While swipe fees affect all merchants, online retailers are particularly impacted because most of their sales are paid for by plastic and the card not present rates Visa and MasterCard charge for online transactions can be a third higher than those paid by other merchants.
Swipe fees are a hidden charge banks collect each time a Visa or MasterCard is swiped to pay for a purchase. Combined credit and debit card swipe fees tripled over the past decade to about $50 billion a year--driving up prices an estimated $427 for the average household--before debit swipe was capped by the Federal Reserve last year. Credit card swipe averages about 2 percent of each transaction, and amounts to about $30 billion a year, or $250 per household. Swipe fees are the second or third-highest expense for most retailers, behind employee salaries and health care benefits.
While other trade associations representing big box retailers, convenience stores and grocers have spoken out against the settlement, NRF is the only trade association representing the full range of merchants who could be included in a class action.
A key question for the judge is whether this settlement is fair to the nations retailers, Shay said. From what we have heard, it unequivocally is not. NRFs membership reflects the vast majority of retailers from Main Street small businesses to some of the nations best-known brands. Short of a company-by-company poll, a vote by the NRF Board is the clearest test of what merchants think.
NRF is concerned by a number of provisions of the proposed settlement:
* The $7.25 billion amounts to pennies on the dollar. If the case went to trial, a verdict in favor of retailers could result in a judgment totaling hundreds of billions of dollars given the eight-year time period of the case and rules allowing for antitrust damages to be tripled.
* Nothing is done to block future increases in swipe fees. Without competitive restrictions, the card industry would quickly recoup the cost of the settlement from the very retailers who have been harmed, and increases that have averaged 16 percent a year over the past decade could continue indefinitely.
* Nothing is done to reform the anti-competitive, cartel-like system by which Visa and MasterCard each set fee schedules that all banks issuing their respective cards agree to follow. NRF has testified before Congress that the system is a violation of federal antitrust law.
* Nothing is done to require the card industry to disclose the fees on the cards or otherwise create the transparency needed to bring about competition to lower fees.
* A highly publicized provision allowing merchants to surcharge customers who pay by credit card is pointless because merchants are seeking to reduce prices for customers, not increase them. It also includes myriad restrictions that would make it difficult to surcharge even if someone wanted to.
Visa and MasterCard have promised to recognize merchant bargaining groups, but no requirement is made for the card companies to negotiate in good faith.
NRF is particularly concerned by a provision barring all merchants--including those that do not yet exist--from ever again suing Visa and MasterCard over swipe fees.
We represent the nations retailers and that means not just todays retailers but tomorrows as well, Shay said. It is our duty to foster an environment that is supportive of young, new entrepreneurs who will create the Walmarts and Amazons and Main Street shops of the future. We cant stand by and allow their rights to be stripped away before theyve even had a chance to start their businesses.
September 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on September 12, 2012
Kathi Cunningham has joined furniture, rugs, bedding and pillow vendor Classic Concepts as a senior account manager.
Cunningham is based out of the companys Atlanta showroom and will cover the Southeast territory, where she has spent years developing relationships with hundreds of dealers. Prior to joining Classic Concepts, Cunningham served as senior account executive at lifestyle home furnishings vendor Four Hands, where she developed more than 500 accounts and worked to expand key accounts among Top 100 retailers. She also spent 12 years working retail for Cunningham Furniture, where she became CEO and drove sales to $3 million annually.
Were thrilled to have Kathi join the company, said Thomas Andonian, general manager of Classic Concepts, Los Angeles. She has incredible experience in the home furnishings industry. The fact that she has spent 25 years in wholesale and retail environments makes her an ideal salesperson. That, coupled with her genuine appreciation and understanding of the products we sell, makes Kathi a perfect fit for our company.
Cunningham also has served on the board of directors for both the National Home Furnishings Association and the Georgia Home Furnishings Association. She has been recognized for her dedication to the field being awarded a WOW Mentoring Award in 2006 as well as being asked to speak at industry events, including as a keynote Speaker for the American Home Furnishings Alliance.
Im so thrilled to be joining the Classic Concepts team, said Cunningham. I will not only be offering beautiful solid-wood furniture, but also have the opportunity to offer key accounts design-driven pillows, bedding and rugs. By offering such an awesome variety of products I can provide my key accounts with a unique opportunity to create a full lifestyle story in their stores. I am excited to offer my customers this experience.
Classic Concepts distributes reclaimed and eco-friendly solid wood furniture, decorative pillows, bedding and natural fiber rugs under the brand names Classic Home Furnishings, Classic Home Rugs and Villa Home Collection. The brands are distributed to thousands of independent stores as well as many of the top 100 home accent retailers throughout the country. Its primary warehouse is a 130,000-square-foot facility near Los Angeles. Classic Concepts has major showrooms in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, High Point and Los Angeles.
September 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on September 12, 2012
Former furniture retailer Angela Edwards has joined liquidation and furniture sales event specialist Planned Furniture Promotions as senior account consultant.
Edwards comes to PFP from Wahlquist Management Corp., where she was vice president of sales and marketing. Previously, Edwards owned and operated two furniture stores in the middle Georgia area for nearly 17 years. She also has served as a marketing consultant with U.S. Broadcasting and stockbroker with Wachovia Securities, now known as Wells Fargo Securities.
In her new role with PFP, Edwards will work closely with retailers to determine their promotional needs and develop the most effective, profitable, high-impact solutions, said Tom Liddell, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Enfield, Conn.-based PFP. Angela comes to us with a wealth of retail and promotional experience. Shes well known and respected within the industry and has a high level of personal integrity and a creative, problem-solving approach. She will fit in well with our company, since those are qualities that PFP is known for as well.
Edwards, who will report to the partners of the company, is the first woman to serve as an account executive on the Planned Furniture Promotions team.
Edwards opened the first of her two stores in 1995. Over the years, the store was featured in national industry publications for its unique and eclectic product mix. The company received awards from Norwalk Furniture for ranking among its Top 5 stores in the nation and received Norwalks prestigious Cornerstone Award in 2008 for supporting and reflecting the ideals and principles of the company.
An active contributor to the industry, Edwards has served on the board of directors for the Georgia Home Furnishings Association for the past 15 years. In 2008, she served as president--only the second female president of the organization since its inception in 1954.
Edwards also is active in her community, serving as an executive board member of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, executive board member and chairperson of the Better Business Bureau, board member of the Macon Downtown Rotary Club and Paul Harris Fellow in Rotary.
Edwards earned a bachelors degree from Georgia College and State University.