June 5,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on June 6, 2012
from http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120606/BIZ/206060323/-1/contest03/Robinson-Furniture-returns-Detroit
In another sign of downtown Detroit's resurgence, a familiar furniture retailer whose name vanished from storefronts almost a decade ago is setting up shop along Jefferson Avenue.
Robinson Furniture will open Monday at 3180 Jefferson Ave., just east of downtown in an attempt to fill Detroit's furniture void, said Scott Bradley, a former partner of the original Robinson Furniture Co. that was sold in 2003.
Although the 15,000-square-foot showroom in the former Powerhouse Gym hasn't officially opened, Bradley said he hasn't turned away people who have knocked on the door this week.
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June 5,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Bankruptcy on June 6, 2012
from http://www2.timesdispatch.com/business/2012/jun/06/tdbiz01-roomstore-studying-options-including-sale--ar-1968407/
The final chapter of the RoomStore Inc. chain might be near.
The financially troubled home furnishings retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December, is looking at its options, including putting its remaining 27 stores and one clearance center on the selling block or closing them all.
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June 5,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in on June 6, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6610782349&z=1250249030
Partner in defunct chain opens store on Jefferson Ave. The Detroit News Robinson Furniture is opening soon in a 15,000-square-foot space on Jefferson Avenue. The retailer, run by a former partner in the defunct Robinson Furniture Co., plans to cater to the flurry of people moving into downtown Detroit. (David Coates / The Detroit News) In another sign of downtown Detroit's resurgence, a familiar furniture retailer whose name vanished from storefronts almost a decade ago is setting up shop along Jefferson Avenue. Robinson Furniture will open Monday at 3180 Jefferson Ave., just east of downtown in an attempt to
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June 4,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on June 5, 2012
City Furniture has o
pened the first of five furniture stores in its tri-county expansion in South Florida.
That opening is a $3.5 million "extreme makeover" of its Dadeland showroom in the Miami market. With business on the upswing as the economy improves, City Furniture President Keith Koenig said City is launching construction of additional stores to dramatically increase sales in proven locations.
Construction begins this month for Cutler Bay and Oakland Park stores. The company added 25 permanent jobs in connection with the Dadeland store and will add about 60 more firm-wide by early 2013, Koenig said.
City Furniture's highest performing location per square foot, the Dadeland showroom is one of the nation's "greenest" furniture stores and brings City Furniture's upscale next-generation store design into sharp focus for consumers.
"Consumers' tastes and expectations are changing fast, and our next-generation design reflects that reality," Koenig said. "Today's customers want a shopping experience that inspires their imagination, delivers outstanding quality for the price -- and reflects a company's lasting values. They research first online and expect a 'wow' factor when they invest time to visit a store."
City Furniture is reinventing its store environments and introduced a new Web site this spring. The store design features a host of energy efficient features. Each store in the expansion is being built to achieve
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, as an extension of City Furniture's values and sustainable practices. Nationwide, only a handful of furniture stores have achieved LEED certification.
At each new South Florida location, the company builds on the success of its City Furniture/Ashley Furniture HomeStore superstore concept. City Furniture is the
Ashley Furniture HomeStore licensee in southeast and southwest Florida and has had strong results offering the two brands in adjoining stores.
Once the Cutler Bay store is completed, the site's existing City Furniture store will be transformed as an adjacent Ashley Furniture HomeStore. In the Fort Lauderdale market, an Ashley Furniture HomeStore will be built, and a fully renovated City Furniture store is a few doors north. Construction of a new Ashley Furniture HomeStore in West Palm Beach begins in August.
The retailer operates 14 City Furniture and nine Ashley Furniture HomeStore locations in Florida.
June 4,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on June 5, 2012
Hooker Furniture (NASDAQ: HOFT) almost doubled first-quarter 2013 net income despite lower sales.
Hooker, Martinsville, Va.,
reported sales of $51.7 million, 11.4 percent below first-quarter 2012; and net income of $1 million for the period ended April 29, compared with net income of 523,000 for the same period last year.
The higher net income was the result of decreased discounting, lower selling and administrative costs and a $760,000 bottom-line improvement in upholstery segment results.
The sales decrease was driven by out-of-stock positions on some key products, decreased discounting and, to a lesser extent and consistent with the company's fiscal 2012 fourth quarter, delayed shipments due to vendor shifts from China to other countries. Lower sales volume was partially offset by increased average selling prices for both segments, due primarily to lower discounting.
"This quarter's sales results are disappointing because stock-outs on key items and groups offset the progress we have made in so many other facets of our business," said Paul B. Toms Jr., chairman and chief executive officer. "We're extremely pleased to have recorded a small operating profit in the upholstery segment this quarter. In addition, we have successfully worked through the heavy product discounting that impacted the first three quarters of last year, and ocean freight rates have stabilized at more favorable levels. The freshening of our product line has been rewarded with strong retailer acceptance of recent product introductions."
In addition to reaping the benefits of more efficient domestic production at the
Bradington-Young upholstery division, improvements in upholstery results have also been accomplished by "purging the business of non-value added costs," said Michael Delgatti, president of Hooker Upholstery. "The introduction of creative and innovative programs and products at higher gross margins and our sales growth at Seven Seas Seating and Sam Moore have also been factors."
Sam Moore Furniture, the company's custom fabric upholstery line, grew sales approximately 9 percent this quarter compared to the same period a year ago, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year sales increases.
"We believe these improvements in upholstery profitability are sustainable and that our out-of-stock challenges in imported leather and case goods are manageable," Toms said. "We have already addressed these issues by strengthening our team in Asia, which we expect will result in improved vendor performance and alignment and improved quality and delivery times. We expect our best-selling and new product inventory availability to improve by the middle of the second quarter, which will position us to regain the momentum we've lost."
Looking ahead, Toms said Hooker hopes to build upon a very strong April
High Point Furniture Market.
"The spring furniture market was very strong for Hooker," Toms said. "Our attendance was up about 20 percent compared to a year ago, and there was a lot of excitement surrounding our new showroom. We had great reaction to many of our introductions, especially our Rhapsody case goods and upholstery collection and our new Sam Moore fabric sofa program. However, retailers reported a marked slowing of business in March and April, which was reflected in weaker incoming orders during our first quarter. In the second quarter, we'll still be working through the temporary impact of not being able to convert our backlog into shipments, although we expect to begin shipping key collections in June. As the usually slower summer selling season progresses, we expect our in-stock position will improve steadily. It will take a little longer to regain the floor space we've lost, but we are positioning ourselves to recapture it and fully expect to in time. We don't expect a significant improvement in demand until fall, but are gratified by encouraging developments in the economy such as improvements in the housing market, stable employment and the adjustment of consumers to a 'new normal.' We expect the consumer will continue to regain confidence to spend on larger ticket, deferrable purchases but also believe the recovery will be slow and choppy."