April 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on April 2, 2012
High-end home furnishings vendor Alinea is returning to the High Point Furniture Market.
At the upcoming April 21-26 show, Alinea will exhibit in a new 1,000-square-foot showroom in space 430 of the International Home Furnishings Center's Design Center.
Introductions include the spring collection of Venusia Marfianty, the company's creative director. The new collection includes about 40 mirrors, as well as tables and accent furniture, upholstered pieces, decorative accessories and wall decor. Pieces are handcrafted from renewable mahogany and finished using old-world techniques.
According to Marfianty, the collection mixes elements of European, Asian and primitive designs. The look is bold and simple, enhanced by high-gloss finishes and jewelry-like gilded accents. And the color palette, which features a number of contrasting finishes, is "delicate and smoky, with shimmering luminance."
Alinea sells its product through design centers and high-end furniture stores in major cities throughout the world. The company distributes to North and South America from its High Point and Los Angeles warehouses; to Europe, Russia, North Africa and the Middle East from its Brussels, Belgium warehouse; and to China, North, Central and Southeast Asia from its Jakarta, Indonesia warehouse.
Alinea produces its line in company-owned facilities in Semarang, Indonesia, a rural city in central Java.
Alinea last showed at the April 2011 High Point Market in the SALON area of the Suites at Market Square.
April 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on April 2, 2012
New furniture orders from retailers rose 13 percent in January compared with a year ago, according to the latest Furniture Insights survey.
January 2012 shipments also were up 8 percent compared with January 2011. High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard conducts the monthly poll of furniture manufacturers and distributors.
The improvement is significant, as January 2011 orders and shipments were down 1 percent and up 2 percent, respectively, compared with the same month in 2010.
While new orders fell 4 percent from December, that seasonal drop is normal. Shipments also fell 17 percent from December in January, but that also is fairly normal.
Despite January 2012's increase in shipments over last year, receivable levels were 8 percent lower than January 2011 levels but only 4 percent lower than December.
"We will see if this month's results were just a timing issue," noted Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith.
Inventories were up 4 percent over last January and increased 3 percent over December levels.
"With the increase in orders over the last few months, the increases in inventories appear to be in line and would be expected," Smith said.
Factory and warehouse payrolls rose 11 percent in January 2012 compared with the prior-year month, reflecting the increase in business. The 13 percent reduction from December is typical as December payrolls usually include year-end bonus and vacation pay.
The number of factory and warehouse employees was up 4 percent over last January so the increase in payrolls not only reflected more people, but appears to include more hours worked.
"The January results of our survey seemed to indicate that we are starting 2012 off in a very good way, with orders up 13 percent over last year," Smith said in summary. "Shipments were up 8 percent and backlogs were up 26 percent over last year. Each of these results were favorable considering that last years January results were not too bad either.
"Overall, we continue to hear more and more positive comments from the people we talk with. Apparently premarket was well attended and most people we talked to were very pleased with the results."
Smith noted that consumer confidence appears to have not reacted too negatively to rising gas prices.
"It is clear that the economy is improving, though not as much as we would like," he said. "We hope that the continued increases in oil prices do not set us back. As we have said before, increase in oil prices affect so many things causing not only prices at the pump to go up, but also causing inflation for many other products, including many that go into making furniture."
April 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in on April 2, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6218102054&z=1250249027
Here is the sign in the window at 703 Caroline. A home furnishings and decor business called Emporio is opening at 703 Caroline St. in downtown Fredericksburg. The new business is a joint venture of Fredericksburg-area women Pam VanCuren and Carmelita Scholes. They will hunt for unique new and old furniture and decorations from the U.S. and abroad to sell at the store, which they hope to open by the end of April. Emporio is going into the former home of Du Jardin, which moved last year to a larger storefront at 822 Caroline St. VanCuren and Scholes said
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April 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Store Openings on April 2, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6217225558&z=1250249030
Christian Street Furniture, a Baton Rouge-based retailer of quality home furnishings, will open a third location in Lafayette, La., this July.
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March 31,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in on April 1, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6212047709&z=1250249032
For years, the giant black-and-white cow painted on the side of the old Flagstaff Armory has been an unofficial landmark here in Flagstaff. The massive Holstein isn't the only thing about the Furniture Barn that has welcomed residents home after trips. A generation of Flagstaff residents has been sleeping on mattresses sold by the Flagstaff business. Next month, the cow will be still be on the building but the two men behind the Flagstaff institution will move their business out to Fourth Street after spending 24 years on the corner of Milton Road and Butler Avenue. Co-owner Ken Beekman
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