November 3,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on November 4, 2011
Kansas City-area furniture store and online retailer Furniture Deals has donated furniture and accessories to assist ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition show.
The Overland Park, Kan., furniture retailer's donation will help out the Hill family of Ottawa, Kan.
"Our entire Furniture Deals family was excited to have the opportunity to be involved with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. When we were approached for the project, we knew nothing about the family and their situation. What we did know was that Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has a reputation for helping families in need since 2003 and Furniture Deals was ready to be a part of it," said Lance Barnes, who owns Furniture Deals with Eric Baker. "When we learned about the family's situation and Staff Sergeant Allen Hill, an Iraq War Veteran who was almost killed serving our country and now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and unable to reside with his family at their previous residence, we were pleased to know we would be furnishing the home of such a deserving family in their time of need."
Furniture Deals also supports causes such as The Children's Miracle Network, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Nation Multiple Sclerosis Society, ALS Association and many other local and national organizations.
November 3,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on November 4, 2011
Michael Lynch, managing director of NASCAR Green Innovation, will headline the American Home Furnishings Alliance 2012 Sustainability Summit.
Titled "Racing Beyond Expectations: Best Practices Fueling the Industrys Sustainability Successes," the 2012 Sustainability Summit will be held Feb. 22-23 in Raleigh, N.C., at the Renaissance Raleigh North Hills Hotel. The event will bring together a cross section of environmental, supply chain, manufacturing, marketing and retail executives for the home furnishings industrys premier sustainability program. Presenters are being assembled to help home furnishings companies move sustainability initiatives beyond expectations.
Lynch, who has more than 20 years experience in strategic management, product development and scientific research with a focus on environmental and health technology, joined the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing in 2008 to develop the organization's environmental strategy. In addition to launching initiatives to reduce NASCAR's environmental impact, Lynch faced the even bigger challenge of credibly conveying those initiatives to skeptical stakeholders.
With scores of business partners and an estimated audience of 75 million people, NASCAR presents huge opportunities for popularizing environmentally-friendly behavior, Lynch points out. His presentation for the 2012 Summit will include the successful strategies behind some of his top green initiatives, including:
* Building the largest recycling program in sports, on track this year to divert more than 1,000 tons of material from landfills, including more than 12 million beverage containers.
* Extending recycling efforts to specialty materials, including tires, oil and batteries.
* Launching a multi-year biofuels program with the organization's three major race series.
The 2012 Sustainability Summit is open to all manufacturers, retailers and suppliers interested in learning from successful sustainability initiatives.
"Many companies think they're already doing the best they can to save energy, conserve water, reduce waste and maximize recycling," said AHFA's Bill Perdue. "At this year's Summit, we're going to offer concrete examples of measures that really work and case histories of companies that powered past their goals."
Following a day of practical strategies for powering environmental initiatives beyond expectations, the Summit program will turn to regulatory issues that are related to environmental management. From CPSIA compliance to Lacey Act enforcement, presenters will tackle the range of tracking and chain of custody challenges that are common to many of today's regulatory requirements. In addition, AHFA will introduce its new Responsible Sourcing Manual for the residential furnishings industry--the industry's first guide to policies, procedures, practices and resources for responsible global sourcing.
In addition to spotlighting successful sustainability policies and practices within the home furnishings industry, the Summit will include a special reception honoring the finalists and winner of the 2011 Sage Award for environmental excellence.
Registration for the 2012 Sustainability Summit is available online under EVENTS. Early registration for AHFA members is $299 per person. This rate is available through Jan. 15. After that, AHFA member registration is $325. The AHFA rate also is being extended to members of the National Home Furnishings Association, Home Furnishings Independents Association and members of the Sustainable Furnishings Council.
Early registration for non-members is $399 per person. After Jan. 15, the non-member registration is $500 per person.
For hotel accommodations, contact the hotel directly at 866.236.2427 and request the AHFA meeting rate of $159 per night, or click here. Cutoff for reservations at the group rate is Feb. 3. Prospective attendees are urged to make reservations as soon as possible to ensure availability.
November 2,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on November 3, 2011
Havertys Furniture Cos. (NYSE: HVT) reported third-quarter 2011 net income of $118,000 on net sales of $155.4 million.
Sales were off 1.1 percent from third-quarter 2010, when the Atlanta-based furniture retail chain had net income of $1.2 million. Written sales for the third quarter of 2011 increased 2.6 percent over the same quarter of last year.
Through 2011's first nine months, net sales of $452.6 million were down 1.2 percent from the same time in 2010. Year to date, Haverty's lost $1.5 million, compared with net income of $2.9 million through 2010's third quarter.
"The retail home furniture business remains challenging but we are committed to connecting with our customers by having great showrooms, excellent service and exciting new products," said Clarence H. Smith, president and CEO. "Our program for enhancing store interiors is complete in 33 stores and will continue through early 2013. We are working with a new marketing agency to develop a consumer segmentation model which will aid in more efficiently reaching our target customers with a resonating message. The review of manufacturers' new products is ongoing as we develop a merchandise assortment that embraces the Havertys brand of style, quality and value."
Gross profit margins for the fourth quarter are expected to rise around 1 percent from the 51 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Advertising and marketing expense are planned to be approximately 0.8% as a percent of sales greater in the fourth quarter of 2011 than in the comparable prior year period.
For the fourth quarter to date, delivered sales are up 4.9 percent and written sales are down 1.4 percent compared with the same period last year.
Click here for the full Havertys third-quarter performance release.
November 2,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedroom on November 3, 2011
The U.S. Department of Commerce will assess no duties on Chinese wood bedroom furniture maker Dongguan Yujia Furniture for 2010 shipments.
In a Federal Register Notice of final results of Dongguan Yujia Furniture's new shipper review of 2010 furniture shipments, DOC said that because no parties commented on the department's preliminary ruling, it assessed no duties on the manufacturer.
DOC had published preliminary results on August 10, when it requested comment on its ruling of no duties.
November 2,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on November 3, 2011
Richard Olmeda has resigned as chief executive officer of
Stein World to pursue other interests.
Mr. Olmeda has been a valued contributor to Stein World over the past four years," said David Fiore, Stein Mart's chairman of the board. "All of us are appreciative of Richards leadership and contributions and wish him every success in his future endeavors."
The company has started an executive search. In the meantime, Fiore has assumed the role of interim CEO until a successor is named.