July 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on July 13, 2012
Online home furnishings retailer Wayfair has launched a global partnership with Habitat for Humanity International to help build and rehabilitate affordable homes.
Through the donation of building materials and household goods, as well as financial support and volunteer mobilization, Wayfair will help advance Habitat's work toward eliminating poverty housing and homelessness.
"At Wayfair, we spend every day helping people create the surroundings that make a house a home," said Niraj Shah, CEO and co-founder of Wayfair. "We understand the power and meaning of home and believe everyone deserves the opportunity to feel safe and secure in a place they can call home. Wayfair is proud to partner with Habitat for Humanity to make home a reality for more of the many people in need of safe, decent and affordable shelter."
Wayfair.com will celebrate the partnership launch today by inviting customers to participate in a promotion this month called "You Get, We Give." For every purchase of a lighting fixture or lamp greater than $75, Wayfair will make a $5 donation to Habitat for Humanity. Consumers can choose from a selection of more than 9,000 chandeliers, 15,000 pendants, 12,000 outdoor lights and 16,000 lamps. In addition to similar promotions and ongoing donations of building materials, furniture and appliances, Wayfair.com will feature a donation option at check-out to help raise consumer awareness and funds for the cause.
"We are delighted to welcome Wayfair to the Habitat family, and we're grateful for their partnership," said Kymberly Wolff, senior vice president of development at Habitat for Humanity International. "Wayfair employees have already spent three days building a Habitat home in Boston, and we look forward to strengthening our global reach and impact through Wayfair's ongoing support."
July 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Obituaries on July 13, 2012
Marvin S. Traub, the retailing impresario who transformed Bloomingdale's from a stodgy Upper East Side family department store into a trendsetting international showcase of style and showmanship in the 1970s and '80s, died on Wednesday at age 87.
The cause was bladder cancer, said Amy Hafkin, the general manager of Marvin Traub Associates, the consulting firm he founded in 1992 after retiring as chairman and chief executive of Bloomingdale's. Traub was born in Manhattan on April 14, 1925, the only child of Sam and Bea Traub. His father was a corset company executive, and his mother was a senior saleswoman at Bonwit Teller; her customers included Rose Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich and Mary Martin.
One of the most creative retailers of his era, Traub made Bloomingdale's synonymous with luxury, introduced many of the world's best-known clothing designers and created a national chain that acquired a reputation for status-conscious merchandising and chic interior moods that dazzled the eye.
He staged dazzling promotional events at his flagship store, at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan--a block-square emporium that stood hard by the rumble of Third Avenue elevated trains until 1955.
Traub saluted China, Italy, France, Portugal, Ireland and Israel with lavish productions that featured not only traditional furnishings, clothing and gourmet foods but also displays of artifacts from antiquity, glittering dinner parties and guest lists that included ambassadors, business titans, movie stars, presidents' wives and sometimes royalty.
Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson and Betty Ford were patrons. During America's Bicentennial celebrations in 1976, Traub escorted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip through crowds of shoppers as the royal couple took in Wedgwood china, winter sportswear reminiscent of Britain's hunting gear and reproductions of English antique furniture.
For "India: The Ultimate Fantasy," in 1978, Traub deployed life-size papier-mâché elephants and camels in primary colors, wooden temple carvings, silk banners waving from the ceilings, and kohl-eyed Indian women, who mingled in their saris and bangles with patrons in musk-scented halls overflowing with Indian jewelry, accessories, apparel and home furnishings.
When Traub decided to build a new restaurant in the flagship store in 1979, he created Le Train Bleu, a reproduction of the 70-foot dining car that once made the Lyons-Marseille-Monte Carlo run in style: mahogany paneling with green channel-quilted trim, beveled mirrors, Victorian lamps and brass luggage racks--holding shopping bags--all tucked into the sixth-floor housewares department.
In 1980, "Come to China at Bloomingdale's," a six-week pageant Traub negotiated in Beijing like a treaty, featured an entire Cantonese farmhouse, a Chinese garden pavilion and 20 exquisite robes from 1763 to 1908 that had never been seen outside the Forbidden City. He filled 14 branch stores in the Northeast with enough food, fashions and filigree for 11 million shoppers.
In 1984, his $20 million "Fête de France" was a cornucopia of chocolate by Mazet de Montargis; oils, herbs and pâtés from Provence; the fashion creations of 25 designers; replicas of silver from the liner Normandie; and sculptures from the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris. It began with a dinner for 1,600 people who paid $200 each to talk at one another above a crush of shoulders and satin.
"We are not only in competition with other stores, but with the Guggenheim and the Met," Traub once explained.
Grace Mirabella, Vogue's editor in chief in the 1970s and '80s, anointed him "the Sol Hurok of retailing," a reference to the great impresario who brought the Bolshoi Ballet to America.
July 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Social Media on July 13, 2012
Right On-No Bull Marketing, an interactive marketing agency for furniture retailers and manufacturers, will host a free webinar on Pinterest marketing best practices.
The session is set for Tuesday, July 31, at 2 p.m.(EDT). The 60-minute webinar, Pinterest Marketing for Furniture Industry Companies, will show furniture industry professionals how Pinterest can help companies get more customers and sell more. Those interested can register at here. While the session is free, registration is required.
The webinar is geared specifically for furniture companies and is taught by experts, who have helped furniture companies use Pinterest.
Right On-No Bull Marketing President Brian Offenberger and Vice President of Client Solutions Greg Donelson will lead the webinar. Both Offenberger and Donelson have been working with furniture companies to develop and execute successful Pinterest marketing strategies.
During the webinar, Offenberger and Donelson will show attendees:
* Why Pinterest is important for furniture companies.
* How to get started using Pinterest.
* The top Pinterest marketing best practices for furniture companies.
Pinterest is growing at a phenomenal rate, Offenberger said. Decorating and interior design are two of the top reasons that millions of people are joining this social network at a record rate. This is a prime opportunity for furniture companies to share their products with tons of customers. Our webinar will help you hit the ground running with Pinterest.
July 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on July 13, 2012
The International Sleep Products Association has moved its Oasis Lounge at the July 30-August 3 Las Vegas Furniture Market.
The new location is in World Market Center Las Vegas, space B-0960.
The idea for the lounge evolved several years ago as a place where members could relax, check their emails or hold private meetings with business associates in a neutral setting.
Located on floor nine of Building B, the Oasis Lounge is in the heart of one of the busiest bedding clusters at World Market Center. The new space will be outfitted with comfortable seating and meeting areas--similar to what the old Oasis had. Attendees can charge cell phones and laptops, enjoy refreshments, or unwind at a golf putting station.
The space also serves as a broader resource to the home furnishings industry as it is stocked with ISPA educational materials and brochures, and those of the Better Sleep Council.
We are very pleased that our members increasingly use this resource, which is designed to enhance their Las Vegas experience and help them be more productive, said ISPA President Ryan Trainer.
ISPA will host a house warming event, July 30, 4:30-6 p.m. in the Oasis Lounge, and encourages members and others to stop by to enjoy refreshments and a brief respite from the hectic pace of market. Members also can drop off business cards for a chance to win a free 2013 Industry Conference registration and two-night hotel stay at Disneys Grand Floridian Resort.
July 11,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Case Goods on July 12, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6817924367&z=1600249622
Case goods maker Linwood Furniture, Lexington, N.C., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, has requested permission to liquidate its assets at auction.
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