Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 3,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on March 4, 2012
Home Meridian International has created a new division named Sourcing Solutions Group that will work with select retail partners to create custom product.
Greg Noe, former president of Samuel Lawrence Furniture, will head up Sourcing Solutions.
Lee Boone succeeds Noe as president of Samuel Lawrence Furniture. Prior to joining Samuel Lawrence, Boone was president of Legacy Classic. He has also held management positions with Universal Furniture and Lea Inds.
In his new position, Boone directs all product development and sales activities.
"We have experienced dramatic growth during the last three years," said George Revington, CEO of Home Meridian International. "The formation of Sourcing Solutions Group and the addition of Lee provide opportunities to continue to service our retail partners in the most efficient and innovative ways."
Revington said Noe had been instrumental in the growth of Samuel Lawrence and in developing key retail partnerships.
"The formation of Sourcing Solutions provides a business unit that supports this strategy, utilizing our efficiencies of scale, and leveraging the HMI global information and operating system," he said. "Many companies in the U.S.m and especially our industry have had to adjust downward. Our commitment to a lean, global and wired organization provides growth for both our company and our retail partners. It is exciting to add talented people and reorganize our business to continue to adapt to our customers in new and innovative ways."
Home Meridian International is the parent corporation for Pulaski Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Furniture, Samuel Lawrence Hospitality, Creations Baby, Prime Resources International and Sourcing Solutions Group.
HMI is privately held, and headquartered in High Point, N.C. The company has distribution centers on both coasts and international locations including Dongguan and Shanghai China; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
March 3,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on March 4, 2012
The Furniture Buying Index rose two points this month to a reading of 72 bringing the index back to its level at the end of last year, according to America's Research Group.
"Many consumers have money from income tax refunds arriving this month," said Britt Beemer, chairman of
America's Research Group. "These consumers feel better about spending money on big ticket items like furniture."
Beemer said consumers remain concerned about the economy and their bills and debts, so decisions about where to spend the refunds weigh heavily. "Retailers must offer great sales to entice these consumers to shop their stores," he said.
The Furniture Buying Index is compiled each month by America's Research Group from interviews with 5,000 to 8,000 consumers across the country. In a typical month, 80 percent of the consumers interviewed can name a specific furniture item they intend to buy. The Index's mark signifies what percent of the benchmark 80 percent actually have a particular item in mind.
March 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on March 2, 2012
A new custom case goods and lighting resource will show in High Point at next month's market.
Astele, a partnership between Natalie Dunagan and Didier Curvat, is targeting interior designers and architects with a variety of contemporary designs. Tables are made in the U.S.A. from white oak, walnut, antique and exotic woods with a variety of custom options. The lighting is European sourced.
The company will show in the SALON area of the Suites at Market Square, SMS G-6007 during the
High Point Market.
Dunagan and Curvat are familiar with home home furnishings. The couple owns
Circa Antiques in Westport, Conn., where they sell antiques, decorative objects, furniture and modern lighting. From the shop, the couple began producing custom tables six years ago and became a destination resource for celebrity designers including
Victoria Hagan,
Darryl Carter and
Thom Filicia, top architects, and their clients.
"We're ready to reach a wider audience with the launch of Astele, which grew out of the need we saw that designers have for custom size tables of all kinds" Dunagan said. "We also saw a large void in the lighting market. Our aesthetic is clean-lined shapes, along with antique elements modernized for today's market."
March 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on March 2, 2012
Ethan Allen (NYSE: ETH) held a grand opening fundraiser last week for its new Princeton, N.J., Design Center.
Ethan Allen Chairman, President and CEO Farooq Kathwari, joined the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce to host a ribbon-cutting ceremony and benefit for the Arts Council of Princeton in celebration of the new interactive Ethan Allen Design Center in Princeton. The interior of the 13,000-square-foot facility at 3524 Route One North has been fully renovated.
"The new Design Center allows us to better showcase products from our Five Signature Lifestyles," Katwari said. "The majority of these products are new designs that we have launched since September of 2011and with more to be released over the next few months, for a total of 60 percent of new products."
Design Center clients now can use innovative design tools at the Design Center or at online at ethanallen.com/my projects, where they can design online and collaborate with design professionals from the comfort of home.
Guests at the grand opening included Mayor Shing-Fu Hseuh of West Windsor Township; Mayor Yina Moore of Princeton Borough; Congressman Rush Holt; Princeton Chamber of Commerce President Peter Crowley; and Executive Director of the Arts Council of Princeton Jeff Nathanson.
Items up for silent auction included custom jewelry, original works of art, gift certificates for fine dining and spa services, and furnishings from the company's own 5 Signature Lifestyles. All proceeds from the auction went to the Arts Council of Princeton in support of its mission to build community through the arts.
March 1,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Social Media on March 2, 2012
Drop-ship home furnishings specialty rep group Continents Apart has launched a new branding campaign coinciding with the debut of Facebook's new brand Page format
Facebook, which announced the new format at its first Facebook Marketing Conference in New York, wants the layout to help retailers and brand manufacturers better personalize their Facebook Pages for individual consumers.
Continents Apart and Macy's are among the first to move to the new format. Continents Apart timed the kickoff of its new campaign featuring a fresh, updated version of its logo to coincide with the new release by Facebook.
The revamped, more visual Facebook Page for brands and retailers features a large "cover photo" that spans the width of the page, bigger tabs than the previous format, a Friend Activity section that highlights what consumers are saying about a brand or retailer, as well as a timeline that highlights key moments in a brand's history. Brands can also "anchor" particularly important posts, which ensures they are prominently displayed for up to seven days. The format will become mandatory on March 30.
The new format offers consumers a more personalized experience because they can see how their friends have interacted with a brand, according to Facebook. For instance, if someone tags a brand in one of his posts or checks in at a bricks-and-mortar location, the people he originally shared that content with will see those interactions on the Page's timeline.
The pages mirror the Timelines that Facebook began offering consumers last month. Timelines replaces a consumer's wall and profile with a virtual scrapbook that features a graphical and chronological timeline of life events on the social network, and other interests the user chooses to share, such as concerts attended and clothes bought.
Sarasota, Fla.-based Continents Apart CEO Steven Husak said, "We decided to take advantage of the roll-out by moving up the release of our new look logo that will be the start of the company's overhaul of our website and the company's story--that we are 'The Lifestyles Drop Ship Reps.'"