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May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on May 20, 2013
Furniture and bedding components vendor HSM, formerly Hickory Springs, has named Gregg Greulich vice president of innovation and technology.
Responsible for developing a vision for the growing engineering and research and development team, Greulich will use his leadership and management skills to help ensure the execution of strategic goals, including the development of a portfolio of integrated products across the companys Transportation Solutions, Bedding Solutions, Furniture Solutions and Diversified Solutions business units.
Welcoming Gregg to our team is the next step in our efforts to build out our engineering and research and development capabilities, said Dwayne Welch, executive vice president, chief marketing and innovation officer. Last year, we opened the Corporate Innovation and Research Center, which provides a setting for customers and vendors to work collaboratively on new products, programs and services while enabling HSM to leverage its expertise and respond rapidly to changing customer and market demands.
Today, the outstanding qualities and experience Gregg brings to his position will further enhance that capability, contributing to growth at HSM by improving our ability to offer HSM customers the latest materials and manufacturing techniques, helping them achieve their design visions while supporting our transition from a components manufacturer to an integrated solutions provider.
Greulich comes to HSM with 12 years of management experience in the engineering and research and development arena. Prior to joining HSM, he held the position of senior director, engineering, tooling and program management at Evenflo Company Inc., Miamisburg, Ohio, and served on a global management team with direct organizational leadership responsibility for infant care durable product programs. His résumé also includes management positions with Sunbeam Products Inc., Maytag Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation.
Greulich earned a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Evansville, Evansville, Ind. He also holds a master of business administration degree, earned through work at the University of Evansville and the University of Transylvania, Xavier, Lexington, Ky.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on May 20, 2013
Furniture First Buying Group honored three of its vendor partners with Vendor of the Year Awards during its recent symposium in New Orleans.
Awards were presented in three categories - bedroom, mattresses, and motion. Winners were calculated through survey responses from Furniture First members. The survey included a popular vote and member evaluations of the vendors' performance in three areas including service, quality and sales. Only vendors with active programs with Furniture First in 2012 qualified for the awards.
Ron Page, Furniture First senior director of merchandising, presented the bedroom award to Ron Childress, sales manager with Liberty Furniture.
Andrew Kauffman, Furniture First director of mattresses, presented the mattress award to Marty Melcher, group vice president of Serta.
Tony Moretti, Furniture First vice president of merchandising, presented the motion award to Bob Phillips, strategic accounts director of Southern Motion.
Both Serta and Southern Motion participated in Furniture First's Symposium as sponsors of the event, joining more than 100 retailers and more than 40 vendors.
The board of directors authorized the creation of the awards at its 2013 long-range planning meeting.
"We wanted to recognize the quality relationships between our members and suppliers and acknowledge that it's our partnership that leads to our mutual success," said Bill Hartman, president of Furniture First. "We look forward to honoring more of our partners in the years ahead."
Furniture First suppliers represent a variety of rebate programs for member retailers, including more than 85 vendors in the upholstery, leather, case goods and accessories categories, 18 top of bed and mattress vendors, and 37 marketing and business services suppliers.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Obituaries on May 20, 2013
Calvin Coolidge Murrow, 88, died April 30, in his home in Southport, N.C.
He and his brothers, Bill Murrow and John Murrow, founded Murrow Transfer Co., which grew to have more than 200 employees and serviced 22 states. In 1957 he opened Country Furniture Co. and expanded his horizons with the sale of new and used furniture.
In 1979 he founded Murrow Furniture Galleries of Wilmington N.C. In the 1980s he opened The Furniture Patch in Calabash N.C. In the 1990s he expanded and built Southland Furniture in Little River S.C. He served as a Republican State Senator from Guilford County from 1969-1977.
A memorial service was held May 11, 2013 at Trinity United Methodist Church in Southport, N.C.
Memorial donations can still be made to: S.O.A.R., Southport Oak Island Animal Rescue, 3376 St.Charles Place SE. Southport N.C. 28461. Online memorials can be made here.
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 20, 2013
A mattress recycling legislation has passed its first hurdle with a 28-8 vote by the Connecticut Senate.
The bill now to goes to Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy for his consideration; he has approximately 15 days to decide whether to sign the bill into law.
The International Sleep Products Association (ISPA) had lobbied for the bill's passage and will continue to lobby for similar bills in other states.
The legislation authorizes an industry-led, non-profit organization to create and run a mattress recycling council that has the authority to set and collect a consumer fee to fund recycling operations. The bill establishes a recycling program with a sustainable funding mechanism that will not harm the mattress industry.
"We thank environment committee chairman Sen. Edward Meyer for his leadership in crafting legislation that will promote mattress recycling and create jobs," said ISPA President, Ryan Trainer. "This legislation serves as a model for solving the problem of mattress disposal without negatively impacting our industry."
May 19,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on May 20, 2013
Tempur-Pedic International (NYSE: TPX) has completed the repricing and reduction of its existing $870 million senior secured loan.
The repricing replaces the company's existing term B loan with a new senior secured term loan with an outstanding principal balance of $867.8 million. Immediately following the repricing, Tempur-Pedic made a prepayment of $125 million, lowering the principal amount outstanding on the loan to $742.8 million.
The prepayment was funded from a drawing made under the company's revolving credit line and from cash on hand obtained from the release of previously escrowed funds from the Sealy acquisition.
"This repricing further improves the company's capital structure and is expected to reduce our annual cash interest costs by more than $10 million," said Dale Williams, executive vice president and CFO. "We are committed to reducing our debt and this repricing will provide the Company with additional cash flow flexibility to do so."
May 18,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Legal on May 19, 2013
from http://www.freep.com/article/20130519/NEWS02/305190121/1001/news
A man accused of throwing a firebomb into the Grosse Pointe Park home of the president of Art Van Furniture has been charged with second-degree arson.
Charles P. Kay, 20, of Grosse Pointe Park was arraigned today in Grosse Pointe Park Municipal Court on three felony charges. Bond was set at $35,000 cash or surety bond with a tether, Wayne County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Maria Miller said.
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May 16,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Casual Furniture on May 17, 2013
The International Casual Furnishings Association has named Ken Burrows its 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
Burrows is the general manager of Pasadena Patio in Pasadena, Calif. In the furniture industry since his high school days, his career has taken him from the factory floor to the executive suite and now to a retail store.
Burrows began his career lacing outdoor furniture and grinding frames at Brown Jordan in Pasadena, Calif., as a high school student in the mid 1950s. He worked his way up to national sales manager in 1962 and became general sales manager for all five Brown Jordan furniture divisions in 1969.
In 1972, he and Gary Stafford purchased Terra Furniture in City of Industry, Calif. Burrows served as president in charge of sales and marketing, and together he and Stafford guided design of the companys quality aluminum and synthetic woven casual furniture for the residential and commercial markets.
In his later years at Terra, Burrows also served as a sales representative in Southern California for Triconfort and Allibert. In 2010 he turned over his interest in Terra to Stafford, and has been with Pasadena Patio for the last two years.
Burrows was a member of the ICFA Board of Directors from 2008 to 2009; and prior to that served on the board of the Summer and Casual Furniture Manufacturers Association, including serving as second vice president in 2005 and 2006 and first vice president in 2006 and 2007.
For the past 40 years, Burrows has been a member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association and was named a life director in 2000. He was elected to the Tournaments Executive Committee in 1992 and served as the 111th Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game president in 2000.
In addition to his volunteer service with the Tournament of Roses Association, Burrows has served on the Green Valley Mutual Water Company Board since 1980. He also has served as a board member for the LA Mart Design Center and as a member of the National Home Fashions League. He also served many years on the Resources Council, a home furnishings trade organization, and was elected president in 1980.
Burrows will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the ICFA Awards Gala on Sept. 19, during the International Casual Furnishings & Accessories Market in Chicago.