Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
May 7,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 8, 2012
Software vendor
FurnServe is introducing an EDI program it developed with
Ashley Furniture to other retailers.
FurnServe, Chandler, Ariz., is promoting the interface, which is in beta with two retail clients, at this weeks
Home Furnishings Industry Conference in Palm Springs, Calif.
The electronic data interchange package handles purchase orders, acknowledgments, shipping notices and invoices, shows real-time product availability, and updates catalogs automatically.
The Furnserve product also tracks the actual direct cost of the goods in the transactions it handles--versus last-in-first-out or first-in-first-out accounting--and the actual freight costs involved.
"So, our gross profit report shoes the actual gross profit based on the merchandise sold," said Tom Rhea, FurnServe president.
May 7,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 8, 2012
Eric Geiger has joined furniture and bedding component vendor
Hickory Springs as corporate director of foam research and development.
He joins the flexible polyurethane foam research and development team at Hickory Springs's foam plant in Conover, N.C., where his direct responsibilities are the internal growth of new foam products and new process development. He joins a dedicated team of researchers that introduced the foam industry to PIPA polyol technology, melamine fire retardant, acetone as an auxiliary blowing agent and, more recently, Preserve first bio-based foam, and the new bio-viscoelastic foam PreserveVG.
Geiger has more than 21 years of experience in polyurethane foam. He spent the past three years as global R&D Manager with fire retardant producer Albemarle Corporation. Previously he was director of R&D with Urethane Soy Systems in South Dakota; and spent 10 years in research with Stepan Company, which specializes in polyester polyols.
"Hickory Springs has a long history as a pioneer in the development of new types of polyurethane foam," said Bobby Bush, senior vice-president of foam and environmental technology at Hickory Springs. "We look forward to seeing how Eric and his 21 years of R&D experience will help lead Hickory Springs' foam division into a new era of innovation and diversification."
May 7,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on May 8, 2012
Furniture carrier Watkins & Shepard Trucking Inc. will begin to provide regularly scheduled transportation services from its Conover, N.C., terminal pick-up area to furniture dealers located in the Canadian province of Manitoba and the northwest portion of Ontario.
The service is scheduled to begin June 1. Shipments will be consolidated in Conover for direct delivery to Winnipeg Warehouse & Distribution in Winnipeg. Dealers throughout Manitoba and northwest Ontario will then have the option of picking up in Winnipeg themselves or utilizing their established regional carrier to complete the delivery process.
"Expanding our service into Manitoba is just good business; it is not only important to the furniture dealers located in Manitoba and northwest Ontario, it is also important to the furniture manufacturers and distributors in the southeastern United States who are constantly looking for opportunities to extend their reach into new markets," said Patrick Smith, national sales manager. "In this new lane Watkins & Shepard will provide on-time, damage free and cost effective transportation services."
Ray Kuntz, Watkins & Shepard CEO, said adding Manitoba and northwest Ontario advances the company's expansion into markets that have been typically underserved by a specialized furniture carrier.
"This change will complete the link between the important Carolinas furniture manufacturing and distribution center with all of the Canadian western provinces," he said.
May 7,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 8, 2012
Furniture Brands International has named Vance Johnston senior vice president and CFO.
Effective May 18, Johnston will assume responsibilities from Steven Rolls, Furniture Brands' current CFO, who is resigning.
Johnston joined Furniture Brands in March 2010 and has since served as senior vice president, growth and transformation. He started his career at KPMG Peat Marwick and held corporate strategy roles at Burger King, OfficeMax and Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Prior to joining Furniture Brands he was CFO at Miami Jewish Health Systems.
"Vance has been instrumental in driving the operational improvements at the Company since he joined us over two years ago. His demonstrable contributions on the strategy front, as well in the real estate and financial planning and analysis areas have helped make us a more efficient organization," said FBI Chairman and CEO Ralph Scozzafava. "I am confident his track record of success will continue as he takes on this new role at Furniture Brands."
May 6,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Mattresses on May 7, 2012
The International Sleep Products Assn. has commended the Connecticut Senate for reaching a compromise on legislation creating a used mattress recycling program.
The body passed a solution that takes into account fundamental practical issues involved with designing and implementing an entirely new statewide recycling.
ISPA has been working for a number of years to encourage responsible recycling of used mattresses and supports the development of legitimate recycling operations.
We were able to reach a compromise with the Connecticut legislature on the mattress recycling bill," said Ryan Trainer, ISPA president. "However, ISPA firmly believes that the best approach to efficient and legitimate mattress recycling lies in federal legislation. A federal recycling program would permit efficiencies and economies of scale that are not possible at a state or local level, applying consistent collection and processing practices across the country, that would benefit all parties concerned by driving down recycling costs for both consumers and manufacturers while also increasing recycling rates."
Currently, ISPA is leading the push for a federal mattress recycling program. The association is continuing to advocate for federal legislation with the goal to build a mattress recycling solution that is efficient for both consumers and businesses. To create a program that operates most efficiently, ISPA believes that this can be best achieved through a national program that addresses the needs of consumers, retailers and manufacturers under a single unified, consistent program.