Daily News Archive
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April 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on April 13, 2012
The International Casual Furnishings Association has slated a series of webinars targeting sales representatives and management at ICFA-member retail stores.
The webinars begin Thursday, May 3, at 2 p.m. EST with "How to Motivate Your Sales Team with Productive Sales Meetings and Exciting Contests." The one-hour webinar, along with others in the series, will be presented by Greg Welsh, host and trainer for ICFA's sales training DVD series.
Welsh Sales Group is a California-based training company that has developed retail sales and management training programs for retail chains, manufacturers and buying groups. Welsh has personally trained over 15,000 sales professionals over the past 19 years in 48 states and in more than 12 countries.
Welsh's kick-off webcast will provide sales managers with the arsenal they need to:
* Build a meeting agenda.
* Keep a meeting "on track."
* Provide essential team building and motivation.
* Keep attendees from taking over a meeting.
* Provide motivation so associates want to attend meetings.
* Develop exciting and productive sales contests and promote them effectively.
* Avoid typical sales contest mistakes.
The webinar is free to ICFA members and available to non-members for $95. Registration is available on the ICFA Web site.
Additional dates and topics in the ICFA series include:
* Wednesday, May 30, "Day-to-Day Management Tips; Sales Coaching."
* Wednesday, June 13, "Keeping the Team Focused; Management Communication Tips."
* Thursday, September 6, "Handling Personal Disputes and Disciplinary Situations."
* Thursday, November 15, "Recruiting, Interviewing, Training Tips."
All are one-hour webcasts scheduled at 2 p.m. EST.
April 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Special Events on April 13, 2012
Furniture Brands International has awarded Broyhill Furniture's Vision One plant its new Chairman's Excellence in Safety Award.
The Lenoir, N.C., facility was recognized for its extraordinary safety record, which completed the entire year of 2011 with no OSHA recordable injuries in a plant employing more than 400 associates.
Vision One was recognized in having the best safety performance out of the companys 16 manufacturing facilities in 2011.
"You made it a priority to put people first," said Ray Johnson, senior vice president of Furniture Brands Global Supply Chain, at an award ceremony. "It takes tremendous teamwork to attain this level of outstanding performance in safety and each associate has to take ownership in creating a safe work environment."
The awards presentation recognized significant improvements made over the past two years in safety performance throughout Furniture Brands. The company's Thomasville Plant 9 associates were also in attendance for their outstanding year in safety, with only two recorded accidents in 2011.
Furniture Brands Chairman and CEO, Ralph Scozzafava, presented the engraved crystal safety award to Scott Shuford, Vision One plant manager, who accepted the award on behalf of all employees of the facility. Scozzafava praised the hard work of all facility associates and said,
"You made the difference by thinking safety first every day and making decisions not to take unnecessary risks in your job," Scozzafava said.
Following the award ceremony, associates of the Vision One campus, which includes Vision One, Lenoir Warehouses and Thomasville Plant 9 facilities, were invited to a company sponsored steak dinner banquet in appreciation of each individua's efforts to attain 2011's safety records.
April 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on April 13, 2012
Case goods producer American Drew is shifting a portion of its production back to the U.S.
The company said it is introducing three groups under its Heritage Home umbrella, and each of them will be produced in the United States. The groups will be showcased at the High Point Market.
In a release, the company said its "history has been built on getting the details right. America used to build things to last. Notions like 'quotas' and 'efficiencies' took a back seat to getting it right. The manufacture of furniture, especially, held to the time-honored traditions of workmanship and integrity. But somewhere along the way the world sped up, and too many lost sight of what truly matters."
The company said it believes craftsmanship should infuse each piece we design, that every product should feel genuine, honest and true. Following the traditions of the past helps ensure our furniture will last for generations to come, it said.
Those traditions are the basis for the three new collections. Each of these complete collections, featuring bedroom, dining room and occasional pieces, replicates the craftsmanship that was once the norm among domestic furniture manufacturers.
All of the bedroom pieces in the three collections are crafted in the U.S. and set the standard that the company will follow for the dining and occasional collections.
April 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on April 13, 2012
Case goods supplier Standard Furniture has expanded its High Point showroom by adding 6,000 square feet.
The additional space, which brings the total size of Standards showroom to just under 26,000 square feet, will be dedicated to a new gallery concept called Modern Fusion. The gallery will be accessed through the front entry to the current Standard space in in the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC), C700.
A portfolio of contemporary and modern designs for bedroom, casual dining and occasional, each Modern Fusion group features the use of mixed-media materials and designer finishes. Materials include smoked mirror, black glass and various metals, and finishes include glossy white, black, gray and vibrant crimson red tones, plus high- and low-sheen wood tones with exotic graining.
A line of fully upholstered beds is available that mix and match with the Modern Fusion groups.
According to Todd Evans, president of Standard Furniture, collections within the gallery are designed to offer individual choices for customized living spacesan important consideration for todays consumers.
Our new Modern Fusion gallery makes a dramatic style and value statement, Evans said. Our design and product engineering teams have been very aggressive in developing this new category, and we are excited to see how our customers respond.
Evans said two factors drove the companys decision to expand its IHFC showroom.
First, it is a solid show of faith in the vibrancy of the High Point Market, Evans said. Second, I believe it will redefine the longtime image of Standards product line in the marketplace, and appeal to a new customer base.
April 12,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on April 13, 2012
Full-line furniture manufacturer and retailer Ethan Allen recently held a grand opening of a new 11,000-square-foot Ethan Allen Design Center in Edmonton, Alberta.
Guests mingled, toured the new layout, and entered a raffle for the chance to win a gift basket that included a $500 Ethan Allen gift card. The store is operated by Barbara de Visser.
"Edmonton is a city of entrepreneurs, and we thank Ethan Allen and the de Vissers for choosing the downtown area for their location," said Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel at the grand opening. "We appreciate their commitment to commercial growth in this area."
"Our newest interior layout is very open, with great sightlines that allow you to see the diversity of our Lifestyles as soon as you walk in the door," said Barbara de Visser.
Each of the company's five Signature Lifestyles--Elegance, Vintage, Modern, Explorer, and Romance--has its own inspiration lab where clients can view several projections of each Lifestyle via interactive flat-screen monitors. Clients can use the room-planning software to see layout options and large touchscreens to explore the wide range of customization options available for many products.
"We are thrilled to introduce these new cutting-edge design tools to the Edmonton community as this new technology makes it easier than ever for our clients to collaborate with designers to create precisely the looks they want," de Visser said.
"The new Design Center showcases products from our five Signature Lifestyles--and about 60 percent of them are entirely new designs," said Ethan Allen Chairman, President and CEO Farooq Kathwari. "Our focus on providing not only diversity of style and good value but also complimentary design service and white-glove home delivery continues to be the hallmark of what sets us apart from other furniture retailers."
Ethan Allen currently has around 300 Design Centers in the United States and abroad. Ethan Allen owns and operates eight manufacturing facilities including five manufacturing plants and one sawmill in the United States plus two plants in Mexico and Honduras. Approximately seventy percent of its products are made in its United States plants.