Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
January 3,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on January 4, 2012
Luxury furniture retailer Robb & Stucky is reopening in Fort Myers, Fla.
After closing last year, the venerable name in high-end furniture retailing was acquired by the family of Chinese manufacturer Samuel Kuo, founder and CEO of Samson Holding, owner of Universal Furniture and Legacy Classic.
A Jan. 12 grand opening is set for a new 60,000-square-foot design studio and retail showroom under the leadership of Steven Lush, president of Robb & Stucky International.
"This is a new beginning for a great retail brand," Lush said in a release. Since the acquisition of the Robb & Stucky name and intellectual properties in March 2011, Lush said the focus has been on restoring the brand equities inherent in the Robb & Stucky name.
"We are reinventing Robb & Stucky, with a great team and smart strategies that are relevant for today's consumers," he said. "We have hired many of the employees that made a significant contribution to the previous Robb & Stucky, and have also brought in several key executives from outside the former company to bring a fresh perspective. We look forward to creating many more jobs as our growth continues."
He added that as the recovery continues, consumers will expect more value, more style, more selection and more authenticity in the shopping experience.
"We believe our Fort Myers showroom is unlike anything else in Florida," Lush said. "We've created a store that is friendly, welcoming and easy to shop. Our buyers have chosen the very best products from America, Canada, Europe and around the world. The merchandise is displayed in seven unique lifestyle shops--each one is an adventure into a design perspective. And our selection is not just about style--we offer a variety of prices as well. We believe great style doesn't have to be expensive."
The store will offer expert interior design assistance, a longtime staple of the Robb & Stucky experience, but with a new twist.
"Our customers are passionate about their homes, but their furniture and service needs may vary," Lush said. "In our new model, design services are right-sized for the customer, so whether the object of desire is a great lamp or a new home makeover, Robb & Stucky designers are ready, willing and able to assist."
January 2,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on January 3, 2012
Canadian home furnishings supplier
Gus* Design Group has kicked off its fourth annual Keep On Giving! event, a promotion that offers consumers a discount on modern furniture when they donate to local food banks.
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 31, consumers who make a donation to local food banks through a Gus* retailer will receive 15 percent off the MSRP on Gus* Modern upholstery, dining, storage, lighting and accessories. Collected food and donations will be distributed by the participating retailers to local food banks in their communities.
The Gus* Keep On Giving Event has a positive effect in our store and in our community, said John Allison, co-owner of
NEST Modern in Austin, Texas. Our customers and staff are helping families in need, and were giving our customers a great deal on Gus* Modern furniture.
January 2,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on January 3, 2012
New orders from furniture retailers rose 11 percent in October 2011 compared with the same month in '10, according to the latest Furniture Insights survey.
High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard conducts the monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors. While the 11 percent increase was good, it compared with poor performance in October 2010, when orders were down 5 percent from October 2009. The 2011 order rate still was 6 percent higher than October 2009.
New orders were 5 percent lower than September 2011 orders.
Through October, new orders for 2011 are up 7 percent, up from a 6 percent increase through September. Through October 2010, new orders were up 5 percent over the first ten months of 2009.
October shipments rose 6 percent over October 2010, when they were 3 percent above October 2009, but fell 6 percent from September levels. Year-to-date, shipments were 3 percent ahead of 2010, when they were 8 percent ahead of the first ten months of 2009.
Backlogs were up 16 percent over October 2010 as orders exceeded shipments again (up from an increase of 13 percent reported last month).
Despite increased shipments compared with last October, receivable levels fell 1 percent from October 2010. Receivables were even with September levels though shipments were down 6 percent from September.
"Overall though receivables have seemed to be in pretty good shape, though from month to month, there can be timing issues," Smith Leonard Managing Director Ken Smith said in the survey report. "Inventories were up 1 percent from September, making them 3 percent higher than last year at this time. With orders up pretty nicely, the increase in inventories seems reasonable."
Factory and warehouse employment was even with September levels and up 1 percent from October 2010. September employment fell 1 percent from last September. Factory and warehouse payrolls, on the other hand, rose 10 percent over October 2010.
"It appears that employees were getting more hours this year than last," Smith said. "Last year at this time, we had begun to see business slowing down again, so we suspect hours were cut in many cases. We have also heard about some minor increases in wages per hour after several years of either flat or cut pay rates."
In summary, Smith said October results were positive overall.
"The 11 percent increase in orders versus October 2010 was a bit affected by the decline in orders reported last year of 5 percent versus 2009," he said. "Still, the October levels were almost 6 percent higher than 2009."
Smith noted that High Point Market dates typically have some impact on monthly order statistics, and that the 2011 fall market was a week later than 2010.
"That would typically mean that many market orders were not written until November," he said. "But as we have noted before, we heard much more about order writing at market than we have heard in a long time. So we may not see the lag in order writing that we have seen at some recent markets.
"Still, year-to-date orders are up 7 percent over the first ten months of 2010. This compares to a 5 percent increase reported for the year-to-date last year. We have mentioned before that some of the increase probably reflects price increases put in over late spring and summer. And some could be reflective of ordering before price increases. Yet, the increase in October was the 7 of the last 8 months where orders were up over the same month a year ago (May orders were flat). We believe this is a good trend."
He added that some national reports are encouraging.
"Consumer confidence has continued to inch up in spite of the negative political news we hear every day, along with the bad news we hear about the U.S. economy and the economic troubles around the world," he said. "Housing is also starting to show promise. While prices are still down, sales and construction is improving. According to the NAR, if the tightness in lending would ease somewhat, we would see even more improvement.
"Jobs are still a major issue, but if we can see housing construction continue to improve, the job market would be helped tremendously. We guess it really all depends on what news you read or hear about on a daily basis. But we do feel that the furniture industry as a whole is improving, admittedly slower than we would like."
January 2,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on January 3, 2012
The Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library in High Point has named 10 new members of its board of directors.
Those board members include: Danny Davis, Davis Furniture; Stephanie Lowder, Rare Bird Creative Marketing; Kern Maass, Appalachian State University; Dudley Moore, Jr., Otto and Moore Inc.; Jay Reardon, Hickory Chair Co.; Cheminne Taylor-Smith, High Point Market Authority; Ed Tashjian, Tashjian Marketing; Jeff Williams, Aldermann Company; Penn Wood, Wood Foundation; and Chip Wright, Leggett & Platt.
"The Furniture Library is dedicated to being a center for design, research, collaboration and innovation for the furniture and design industries," said Curator Karla Webb." With the addition of these individuals to our Board of Directors, the Library can continue to fulfill founder Sandy Bienenstocks passion for education in the home furnishings industry."
The Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library was founded in 1970 and encompasses a collection of more than 5,000 volumes on furniture and design history, interior design, architecture, art, textiles and construction. Since 1984, the Library has awarded in excess of $350,000 in scholarships to hundreds of students at 17 colleges and universities throughout the United States.
The rare book collection contains significant volumes published since 1640 and includes a complete collection of the original works of 18th-century furniture masters Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite, as well as a complete set of Diderot's Encyclopedia.
January 2,
2012 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on January 3, 2012
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z5691773354&z=1250249029
Two members of the family that operated Boyles Furniture before it went bankrupt during the recession plan to revive the name when they open a furniture line Feb. 1.
The new store will be in a 60,000-square-foot space in the old Burlington Industries complex on South Main Street in Mooresville, N.C. Conover-based Hendricks Furniture Group filed for bankruptcy in 2009, citing the poor housing market and a decline in home-furnishing purchases. The company once operated 34 stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, many under names other than Boyles. Hendricks had retail sales of more than $270 million a year.
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