July 21,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on July 22, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6873259063&z=1600249795
Fire crews battled a blaze at Tri State Furniture in Ft. Madison, Iowa, Sunday morning.
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July 19,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in on July 20, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6865226676&z=1600249512
The US home furnishings market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2% in 2010, a growth rate which increased to 3% in 2011 to reach a market value of US $107.6 billion. The market is currently experiencing a period of recovery having been hit hard by the current state of the economy, particularly between 2007 and 2009. Retail purchases of home furnishings are closely tied to consumer confidence, which was devastated by the financial crisis and the resulting economic turmoil. At the same time, the housing market - which is also closely tied to consumer spending
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July 19,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 20, 2012
What does running a transport and logistics service have to do with selling furniture? In the case of Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey, a lot.
Edward Massood, president of the six-store Fairfield, N.J.-based company, spent years at the head of furniture logistics specialist MGM Transport. Hes combined strong back-end experience with what he believes is a winning retail format, and is looking forward to adding stores in the next couple of years.
A high comfort level with Thomasville and a thoughtfully developed turnkey retail format struck Massood as a great opportunity when he started the retail operation in 2001 with three Thomasville stores in Virginia. He had a long relationship with the vendor.
Id worked with Thomasville retailers throughout the country for more than 20 years, Massood said in an interview last month. In the 80s, MGM started working with Thomasville to develop some of the programs theyre know for such as IMP, their inventory management program.
Thomasville wanted their retailers to focus not on inventory, but promoting at retail, and offering a delivery quote at the time of sale. Those sorts of programs enabled Thomasville to grow.
FAST TRACK
By 2000, Thomasville had focused its attention on its dedicated store business, and that opportunity to open more freestanding branded locations caught Massoods eye. After the Virginia stores, Massood opened three more Thomasville locations in New Jersey.
We opened six stores in two markets in less than two years, he said. I always felt that with what Thomasville was doing on their store programmerchandising these stores, developing blueprints and having someone like Patty (Forti, Thomasville of New Jerseys marketing director) on staffwe had the front end covered.
My experience in the back end and my brothers (CEO Michael Massood) experience in financehes a CPA and also runs a successful accounting businesswe had the operational aspect covered, too. And now, were celebrating our 10th anniversary this year.
By 2004, the company had a total of nine storesfive in New Jersey, four in Virginia. In 2007, the Massoods sold the Virginia stores back to Thomasville.
We were in two distinctive markets and wanted to focus our efforts in New Jersey, he said. We felt it was a good opportunity to grow our business in New Jersey.
The recession put those plans for expansion on hold, but Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey is back in a growth mentality.
Were positioning ourselves now for growth, Massood said. Were looking at two locations in New Jersey where were looking to expand, and were hopeful we can have some (store) openings in 2013.
In addition to the five dedicated locations, Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey operates The Back Room, a 13,000-square-foot multi-vendor store in Rockaway.
Its an avenue for us to clear off some samples and sell some non-Thomasville product we carry, Massood said.
LOCAL VISION
While Thomasville provided a basic foundation for furniture retailingthe store layout, the product line, the in-store signage, the Web presence the Massoods aimed to create what Edward called a more local vision of what we see as the future of retailing.
First, theres a strong sense of local involvement where Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey has locations.
Were very big in charities and very active in the local community, Massood said. Those charities include Wounded Warriors, Family Aid Society, womens shelters and more.
Thats where we evolved the concepta big, national brand name with Thomasville, but also a strong local presence, Massood said. Were connecting the people with the products. Thomasville gave us this good foundation, and weve tried over the last four years as the business climate changed, to adjust to our changing market, as people traded down in a hard economy.
Thomasvilles always been focused at the higher end of middle price pointspeople who were buying Thomasville were trading down, but the high-end was looking at Thomasville as a value. Weve had to convert from what Id call a commodity sale to providing an inspirational environment.
That means not only selling the dining room, but also completing the room with window treatments, rugseven the china.
Were working to fulfill their dream, their expectations for the room theyre working on, Massood said.
Merchandising is consistent for the most part throughout the five Thomasville locations in terms of core product.
Its very important to be consistent from a marketing standpoint, making sure the core of our business is in every store, and then put in a local flavor, Massood said. Princeton customers might have different tastes than the people we see in our Paramus store.
Beyond Thomasville, some locations include goods from the Furniture Brands International sister company Drexel Heritage.
We carry Drexel Heritage in three of our five locations, Massood noted. These are predominantly our larger stores where we could put in a Drexel gallery.
TELLING THE STORY
Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey concentrates more on service than price in telling its story to consumers in the markets it serves.
Direct mail remains the companys most effective form of advertising.
Its not so much about sale, sale, saleits about bringing the service aspect in, Massood noted. We talk about design assistance, excellent quality and value, window treatments and completing the room with accessories. Accessories are the jewelry for the furniture.
In addition to traditional advertising, social media play an increasing, if more subjective, role in reaching out to consumers.
We are into social media, and especially for the community aspectsay, when we have a designer night, or one of our designers has completed a big installation, Massood said. Social media is a great way for our design consultants to sell the work theyve done. Were prodding them to show our Thomasville customers what they can accomplish.
Theres no direct link to a cash register with social media, but you can show an empty room turned into a completed room, with all the stages. Its all about awareness, how we can help customers to fulfill their dreams.
ADJUSTING TO CHANGE
Its no surprise that Thomasville Home Furnishings of New Jersey has felt the effects of a tough economic environment for retailers in general and home furnishings in particular, but the companys adapting to new rules in the market.
A lot obviously has changed, and our customers continue to evolve, first, in how they shop; and second, the economy and how comfortable they feel, Massood said. The housing market here still is not robust, and our business depends a lot on that.
The stores dont see as many customers as before, but Massood sees some shifts that play well to Thomasvilles accessibly upscale line.
The foot traffic has continued to decrease, but because of the Internet, people are doing more research online, and they come into the store with, say, five top collections in mind, he said. Theres less foot traffic, but we see a more educated consumer coming in.
He believes Thomasvilles strength lay in the lines ability to customize and its breadth of upholstery fabric selections, scales and product styles.
The fact that its something that takes a sofa and makes it theirs through the fabrics, the trim they put on itthat develops relationship selling, Massood said. In our price point, customers are looking for the help, and they want to be the most important job on the designers plate.
All the above has Massood in an optimistic overall mood, and as noted above, in the mood to open new locations.
Business has not rebounded since 2009, when we saw the biggest drop, he said. But Im optimistic that as the housing market turns, we should begin a steady correction. HFB
July 19,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 2012
The OMara household is filled with readers. Readers of all levels, mind you, but truly avid readers. Its not unusual for several novels to be devoured in a week by the older readers, and the younger two are constantly dragging books here, yonder and everywhere.
The youngest of our clanthe newly annointed 6 year oldis also a geography fan. Evan digs maps and globes, and the way that each gives him a view of the world with its varied topographythe oceans, the continents and how the world fits together in one neat ball. (This one is a neatness fanatic; a skill the other four of us are still trying to obtain.)
He can name the continents and the oceans, along with several larger countries. These days hes focused on the continent of Asia. He knows I have industry friends who live in Vietnam, as well as many others that travel to Asia for work. Hes heard stories of my trips to China, and he loves our local Asian-fusion restaurant. A classmates family is from China, and she speaks Mandarin just as easily as she does English. The kid is hooked.
Couple his fascination with the Asian continent with his reading ability, and Evan can pretty much tell you where every item that comes into our house is made. Toys, clothing, electronics, decorative items, rugs, lamps ... and the list could go on and on. The guy reads everything, and his little face lights up with fascination when he gets to announce Look! This was made in China.
Its almost as if hes been transported to a magical, mysterious land when he finds that label sporting those three little words. Some of his awe comes from the intrigue and knowledge that Asia is on the other side of the globe from his neighborhood. Its a foreign land to him, and the 12-hour time change is unfathomable for such a youngster.
One recent day Evan was helping sort laundry when he pulled out a couple of pairs of jeans. For whatever reason, he opted to read the tag. Out of the blue I hear his excited little voice and see a huge grin spread across his chubby face. Mommy, mommy, mommy ... these pants are made in America!
Hed landed on an old pair of Lucky Brand jeans, and indeed, this particular pair was made in the good ol US of A. Granted, it was an old pair, but still a pair with many more years of wear.
That little exchange had me thinking. In his mind, and most consumers that pay attention to country of origin labels, a Made-in-America tag is quite an unusual item to see on consumer products these days. Imported goods have become the cornerstone of products sold in the U.S., including home furnishings.
While were seeing a movement with several manufacturers drifting back to domestic production in one form or another, American production of furniture isnt likely to take over in our industry.
Instead, suppliers are keeping their eyes open to new and varied frontiers for source countries. Where the next hot spot is remains to be seen, and it very well could be that folks opt to cherry pick among a variety of countriesincluding the U.S.as production companies. Only time will tell.
Inside this issue, youll find our comprehensive overview on the global market and what it means for the furniture industry.
Sit back and enjoy the read. Im sure youll learn something new.
July 19,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 2012
The neighborhood I live in is private and pretty rural. In fact, it is so rural, we just completed asphalting all the roads last year. They are narrow with barely enough room for two cars to pass when meeting. The county does not provide assistance for any of our road maintenance; it is left up to our landowners association to flip the bill for any maintenance matters.
We who live here like it this wayno traffic and no reason for others to be here unless they are visiting a resident. It keeps the bad people out.
Based upon our roads, the county does not offer door-to-door pick up of our garbage. The garbage trucks are just too large. So when it comes to this task, I have three options.
The first would be to take my trash to a county dumpster located more than three miles away. Nope, not happening. I think way too much of my vehicles to have them smell like last weeks dinner and our cats litter box. The second would be taking my trash container to the foot of the mountain 1.3 miles away and then picking it up once it is empty. Hey, call me lazy, but this is not an option; its just not going to happen.
The final method is having a county pick-up truck run by every Tuesday morning and a person will remove the garbage from my trash can as long as it all is in bags. For this service I happily pay a fee of $15 per month. To me its a no-brainer, and I will continue to use this service for as long as live here.
For the last four years when I received my first monthly invoice, I would write a check for the annual amount of $180 and drop it in the mail. I feel good knowing this is handled, and I wont receive another invoice for 12 months. Its easy for me; and writing a monthly check for $15 can become a pain that is easily overlooked in the big picture. I handled this exactly the same way this year.
Thirty days or so later and much to my surprise, I received another invoice with my check returned stating the county would no longer accept annual prepayments. I called to inquire about the change and was told they mailed a letter (one that I never received) explaining they could no longer take prepayment for this service.
I replied, Youre kidding me, right? and again was told, No, our new system is not set up for annual payments and they no longer could accept payment in advance.
Who has ever heard of a service provider that would not want to take advance payment for services?
My reply was, Well someone must have bought the wrong system! I went on explaining the benefits of having me prepayno collection issues, no one required to generate an invoice and stuff an envelope, and no postage costs just to name a few. I then asked about direct draft, online payments, credit card payments and each response was no. It almost seemed that the person was so proud of the new system they took benefit in the fact they would/could not help me. I just shook my head in amazement and thought, local government at its finest.
So why am I rambling on about trash collection in Roanoke, Va.? I want each of you to take an honest look at your operations and see what policies or procedures you might have in place that could make it difficult for the customer to do business with you. In most cases, consumers have a choice in where they spend money, so you better make it easy for them or those dollars might walk out your door.
In my particular case I only have two other options, so I guess I will be writing that monthly $15 check. However, I continue to tell my story of being an unhappy customer.