March 14,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 15, 2012
Home furnishings leadership network
WithIt will focus on furniture industry leadership training with a one-day institute in May.
Sara N. King, principal of
Optimum Insights Inc., a private firm devoted to developing executive leadership skills and increasing executives' performance, is building and facilitating the program for the WithIt Leadership Development Institute. The Institute is slated for Thursday, May 17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Ashford Suites Hotel, High Point. Registration is $325 per person and is open to male and female executives.
With more than 25 years experience in leadership training and development--including 23 years at the Center for Creative Leadership, a top-ranked, global provider of leadership education and research--King has served thousands of executives in Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations. She is the author of "Discovering the Leader in You," a book she revised last year that highlights the importance of a conscious decision to lead and offers a framework for developing leadership vision, values and skills.
King's full-day program for the furniture industry will be divided into two parts, each a high-level learning experience focused on honing specific skills. The first segment will help mid-level executives learn to maximize influence within their organization. Through an assessment tool completed in advance of the Institute, participants will learn their current style of influence and how it might be perceived by others. Then, by engaging in experiential exercises, they will be able to link their influencing style to leadership effectiveness. Participants will take home practical tools for determining how and when to adjust their style to maximize influence.
The second part will provide relevant and timely instruction for leading a department, division or organization through change. This section will improve the participants readiness to deal with and influence during change. With a new understanding of their individual approach to handling change, Institute graduates will be better able to motivate a team, revise work processes and deliver more satisfactory results during challenging times.
"The goal of the one-day Institute is to produce stronger, more effective executives within the participating companies,"
said WithIt President Julia Rosien of SocialNorth.com. "But the long-term goal of the Institute concept is to elevate executive-level leadership training within the home furnishings industry and to begin to foster a community of inspired executive leaders who have the ability to take their companies to new heights."
Registration is available online here.
March 14,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Business Strategy on March 15, 2012
from http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120315/BIZ/203150526/-1/special/Art-Van-Furniture-plans-expand-Michigan-via-franchises
Michigan's largest furniture retailer Art Van Furniture Inc. is looking to become more dominant in the state. The Warren-based company plans to approach existing furniture stores in about 20 smaller outstate markets such as Gaylord, Mount Pleasant and the Upper Peninsula about converting to Art Van franchises, Art Van spokeswoman Diane Charles said Thursday.
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March 14,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in on March 15, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6109179609&z=1250249030
Jake Aubry moves furniture for shipping at an Art Van warehouse in Warren. The Warren-based company plans to approach existing furniture stores in about 20 smaller outstate markets. (Clarence Tabb, Jr./The Detroit News) Michigan's largest furniture retailer Art Van Furniture Inc. is looking to become more dominant in the state. The Warren-based company plans to approach existing furniture stores in about 20 smaller outstate markets such as Gaylord, Mount Pleasant and the Upper Peninsula about converting to Art Van franchises, Art Van spokeswoman Diane Charles said Thursday. The company is drawing a 250-mile radius from its Warren warehouse
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March 13,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in economic news on March 14, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z6100990719&z=1250249029
A rise in furniture sales could mean a better outlook for the economy at large.
Marketplace reporter David Brancaccio sat down and discussed the upward trend in furniture sales with Bloomberg News business writer Anna-Louise Jackson. We thought you'd be interested in seeing her insight into our industry.
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March 13,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 14, 2012
Variér Furniture, a supplier of contemporary and ergonomically designed seating, will be showing at the upcoming
High Point Market for the first time.
The company's showroom is in space 302 in 220 Elm.
The high end line of task, office, lounge, and dining chairs is designed and manufactured in Norway, where Variér, formerly Stokke, has invested in ergonomy, the applied science of product design for the workplace and other work/life environments.
Variér products give retailers and interior designers highly specialized seating features to sell to their customers and clients, said Ed Miano, president, Variér USA. The health and comfort benefits are real because they positively impact peoples lives and daily activities. Our goal is to help buyers capitalize on the very unique value our products can deliver in a segment of the industry that is growing.
In its 220 Elm showroom, Variér USA will exhibit best-sellers and new items from two collections: Human Design and Human Instruments. The first group, Human Design, includes contemporary and ultra-modern lounge, dining, and bar seats. A special limited edition of the curvaceous lounge chair Planet, designed by Sven Ivar Dysthe and introduced in Europe in 1965, will be shown in its original retro fabrics and seen for the first time in the U.S. at High Point Market. Pause Club is a new lounge chair style worth noting, with its space age-like angles and minimalist frame.
The Human Instruments collection is anchored by Variable balans, the first kneeling chair for natural spine alignment, conceived in the late 1970s by Scandinavian designer Peter Opsvik. The original backless task chair pioneered the entire ergonomic seating movement. The silhouette of new desk chair Active allows the user a full back and chest cavity stretch during periodic work breaks.
Move, another new item, is a task stool that adjusts for seat height and accommodates 360-degree movements while engaging the users core muscles. Move is ideal for standing workstations, which are gaining popularity in both home and work settings, as well as among anyone seeking improvement in mental functions while working. Variér has received recognition and national media coverage for its role in a comprehensive 2011 study of ADD/ADHD children which determined that movement while sitting aids in concentration and cognitive ability.