Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
April 18,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on April 19, 2012
Cresent Fine Furniture's longtime president, Charles R. (Tommy) Tomkins, III, has announced his retirement. He remains chairman of the board of directors for the company.
Tomkins has spent 47 years at the Tennessee-based furniture manufacturer and importer, the past 27 as President.
At Cresent, Tomkins used his industry knowledge, contacts with quality retailers and selling skills to help propel the company to its current status as a family-owned, solid wood furniture resource. Over the last two decades, Tomkins has served on the board of directors of the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA), the Furniture Foundation as well as the chairman and board member of the International Woodworking Fair (IWF).
A 1964 graduate of N.C. State University, Tomkins joined Cresent as a sales intern and worked his way up through both sales and manufacturing roles. Tomkins attended his first High Point Market in April 1965 and has participated in every High Point market since. He was named president of Cresent in 1985.
"I feel so privileged to have led such a talented team at Cresent, and I have a deep appreciation for them and everything we've accomplished as a company," Tomkins said. "Frankly, I have been fortunate to work with such highly talented and dedicated people throughout my career. Additionally, I've enjoyed serving on the AHFA and IWF boards through unprecedented changes in the industry. It's been quite a ride!"
Cresent has named Dennis Condra, previously executive vice president, to succeed Tomkins as president and CEO.
Other members of the senior management team include Richard Tomkins, vice president of sales and marketing; Joseph Condra, vice president of development and design; and Taylor Condra, vice president of quality assurance and logistics.
"Tomkins' guidance, leadership and contributions to this organization have been invaluable," Dennis Condra said. "He brought integrity and dignity to our company."
Marketgoers who would like to wish Tomkins well in retirement are invited to attend Cresent's Spring Fling Party on Saturday, April 21 from 4-7pm in the Cresent Showroom at Hamilton Square #204.
April 18,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on April 19, 2012
Blandine Blox has joined high-end furniture retailer Clive Daniel Home to lead the search for a second location on Florida's East Coast.
Blox, whose title is East Coast director of business development and interior design, is a Boca Raton-based design and architecture professional who was a top-level designer at Robb & Stucky, where Clive Lubner, who leads Clive Daniel Home with his son, Daniel Lubner, was the creative force behind the iconic retail name, which was sold to Chinese furniture manufacturer Samuel Kuo and family early last year.
The Lubners opened their first Clive Daniel Home showroom, an 85,000-square-foot location in Naples, in November. The flagship store is the first in a careful, long-term plan of expansion throughout Florida and other markets.
The new region Blox will oversee spans the Atlantic coast from West Palm Beach to Miami's Biscayne Bay.
"Our first six months in business exceeded our expectations," said Clive Daniel president and CEO Daniel Lubner. "Our long-time friends in the community and colleagues in the industry have shown overwhelming support, and new business from both our residential and our commercial customers--some dating back three decades--reinforced our commitment to exceed their expectations as well.
"Meanwhile, we were overwhelmed with calls from past East Coast clients asking when we would open on their coast. We've worked hard to maintain our relationships with our past clients as well as designer and trade partners. Our East Coast clientele completely understand our new approach to total home solutions, and it gives us great pleasure to announce that we will once again be an active part of the community."
In addition to leading the efforts to secure our first location here, which will take several months, Lubner said Blox already is working directly with local residential clients and developers.
Blox's extensive portfolio includes award-winning architectural and interior design accomplishments, from modest homes and condominiums to the most luxurious oceanfront estates, private jets and yachts. Her commercial background covers a broad spectrum of spaces, including retail stores, clubhouses, medical facilities, offices and nightclubs.
"In her years as one of the most talented designers in our top level team, she consistently demonstrated an innate ability to interpret our clients vision and needs," said Clive Daniel Chairman Clive Lubner. "With her background in architecture and hands-on knowledge of the construction process, she brings to the table the skills of an accomplished project manager, taking the design project from budgeting and pre-construction to final installation. She embodies not just extraordinary professional design skills and sophisticated eye for detail, but also the level of service we demand of ourselves on behalf of our clients. We're delighted to have her back on board."
Born in Paris, Blox received her degree in architecture from the prestigious Ecole Supérieure d'Architecture. After moving to Boca Raton, she earned her degree in interior design and gained experience working in an architectural firm and smaller design firms before joining the elite design team at Robb & Stucky.
She is deeply involved in many community and charitable organizations, including AVDA, Habitat for Humanity, St. Jude's Childrens Hospital, and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce, among others.
She has traveled extensively throughout the world, from Indonesia and Australia to the capitals of Europe and North America.
"My exposure to many cultures definitely broadened my aesthetic sensibilities," she said.
Blox's work has been featured in some of North America's leading regional and national magazines, including Architectural Digest, Boca Design, Luxe Design and Boca Raton Magazine.
"Our long-time clients are already delighted with the fresh, dynamic look and feel of the new showroom. It's everything that theyve come to expect, with lots of pizzazz and wonderful surprises," she said. "Once again, the Lubners are taking the home furnishings concept to an unprecedented new level, and it is exhilarating to be a part of it."
Daniel Lubner says the company is currently talking with other local designers to joint the new venture.
April 18,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on April 19, 2012
Pedro Zapata has joined International Market Centers as chief operating officer, a new position at the world's largest home furnishings showroom owner.
Zapata is responsible for integrating multiple functions, people and processes across 18 home furnishings showroom properties in Las Vegas and High Point. With almost 20 years of large scale real estate and hospitality operational management expertise, Zapata's career has focused on providing exceptional customer experience, along with unique experience scaling operations in rapid growth environments.
"Pedro has a stellar background in the high-end hospitality industry guided by his early experiences at Ritz Carlton and the Four Seasons," said IMC CEO Bob Maricich. "He has broad-based experiences running a vast array of geographically diverse properties and is a proven and skilled operations and facilities management leader. He has also directed the successful implementation of key business intelligence technology initiatives, which will be a critical underpinning of our newly integrated organization. Throughout his entire career, the consistency of Pedro's efforts has always been with a focus on providing guests exceptional experience, and we are fortunate to have these strengths at IMC."
Zapata joins IMC from Prometheus Group, where he served as vice president of operations and was responsible for the financial, operational, and overall business results of the company's portfolio of high-end multifamily properties. He was tasked with focusing all customer channels to maximize customer service, retention, and loyalty. He was responsible for supporting a total of 18,000 units in 70 communities, with a total of 10,000 leases per year.
Prior to Prometheus Group, Zapata was the vice president of operations for Exclusive Resorts, which grew its portfolio from 60 properties to 400 luxury vacation homes around the world in just over five years. Charged with overseeing the operation and service standards across 37 destinations--and the customer experience of 3,500 Exclusive Resorts members--Zapata oversaw a 1,000-person ground staff and the leadership team of more than 300 managers and directors.
Earlier in his career, Zapata held operations and management positions at Trump International, Bentley Group, Four Seasons Hotels and Ritz-Carlton. He holds a Bachelors degree in business administration from Universidad Catolica in Lima, Peru.
"I am honored to join IMC and I am very much looking forward in working together with all the ladies and gentlemen who make up this great company," Zapata said. "I am confident we will strive to align our daily efforts to exceed our customer's expectations and achieve our Company's goals."
Zapata reports to Maricich and is based in Las Vegas. Michelle Monteferrante, vice president of operations of World Market Center Las Vegas; and Mike Snider, vice president of operations in High Point, report to Zapata.
April 18,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on April 19, 2012
Accent furniture vendor Stein World has launched a program to help brick-and-mortar furniture retailers grow their business via integrated Web strategies.
The Stein World iSales and iMarketing Strategy consists of multiple specific yet tightly aligned initiatives. These include appropriate, business-focused pricing policies, a significant investment in a new corporate Web presence designed to support their retailers through a consumer-centric design as well as better link-in benefits and a geocoded dealer locator, ROI focused strategies to leverage the broad social media landscape, properly managing the company's products and distribution via the Web, and even incorporating Web strategies into the design, development and packaging of their products.
"There is significant compelling evidence available that clearly shows the importance of the internet to our industry, particularly with regard to the consumer's willingness to purchase home furnishings online," said Jack Johnson, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Stein World, Memphis, Tenn. "Most retailers are aware of the need to address the channel but are receiving so many mixed messages that they find it difficult to act. In the past 12 months, we've seen a substantial increase in retailer requests for assistance in web integration support for their operations. To address this, we have studied all aspects of the Web in terms of how it impacts our business and have launched these initiatives in order to offer our retailers the proper support so that they can better align their individual companies with the realities of the market."
The primary focus of the overall initiative is on assisting Stein World's retail partners in developing and executing their own effective Web strategies including local-focused ecommerce.
"As we look across the industry at the various tactics being used today by both retailers and manufacturers, it's clear that often times we miss the mark,: said Johnson. "The reality is that this is not just a channel opportunity. Rather, it is a paradigm shift of significant proportion and anyone that treats it otherwise simply doesnt speak to the broad-based opportunity as it really exists."
The strategy reacts to how the Web has fundamentally changed how people live, how they shop and how they interact. Many of their life cues now come from some kind of Web-based medium.
"In the process that brought us here, we have learned that consumers have broadly accepted, and now almost require, that their businesses offer a first-class Web 'location,' as well as the option to purchase products online," said Johnson.
Stein World believes that while most retailers know it's time to act, it's very difficult to navigate the process due partly to the fact that there is too much "Web noise" in the industry, leading to confusion and ultimately inaction.
"No matter where you look, you hear about social media strategies, web development strategies, low costs, high costs, management challenges and more," Johnson said. "Because this is so important, we wanted to help cut through this noise and present our retailers with clear options that they can deploy in their businesses and in a way that maintains their goal of organic growth inside their local markets."
Stein World will introduce its new strategy to retailers during the upcoming High Point Furniture Market.
"Because our plan is new, we believe that meeting with our retailers to communicate our efforts will allow us to help them become more engaged and involved," Johnson said. "Once they see our fresh and well thought out approach, we're confident that the true opportunity provided by a genuine commitment to the web will be apparent."
The entire management staff will be speaking to retailers and sharing significant information related to the Web opportunity, including facts about growth, consumer desire, social media, and ROI.
April 18,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Retail Technology on April 19, 2012
Technology vendor Furniture Wizard has added new mobile features to its iPad-based point-of-sale system.
Enhancements include new increased search capabilities that make it quicker to find the products customers are looking for. Incorporation of swipe gestures takes advantage of native iPad features making for a more intuitive user experience. A new merchandising feature allows creation of item relationships directly on the iPad to make up-selling easier.
Enhancements to Furniture Wizard's growing Web presence include a new Room Builder feature that allows customers to build packages on the fly with controlled options.
"Allowing people to design their own packages has always interested us," said Martin Fischbein, founder and president of Furniture Wizard. "Finding a way to let people build and purchase the rooms is the easy part, the challenge that we overcame with this feature was creating a simple intuitive way for retailers to administer the website function."
Included in Furniture Wizard's latest Web sites is the integration of full social media support, also including the new sharing forum Pinterest.
"Furniture Wizard has undergone one of its largest updates ever to support the new web and mobile technology," said Evan Faller, business development officer at Furniture Wizard.
Advanced features include a delivery system that centralizes the delivery process including a calendar and map view of the deliveries, printable delivery slips, picks lists, and manifests. A simplified delivery processing procedure with one click posting saves time and eliminates errors. A new partnership with ChargeItPro, a leading payment processing provider, gives retailers access to integrated credit card processing that will match or outperform current fee structures.
Furniture Wizard serves more than 2,000 retail stores. Furniture Wizard will show at High Point Furniture Market in the Retailer Resource Center at the Plaza Suites, first floor, booth 42.