October 13,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on October 14, 2011
The Home Fashion Report, featuring Ellen Gefen, will air on the local ABC affiliate during October's High Point Furniture Market.
Produced by High Point-based Gefen Productions, Home Fashion Report will air at 6-6:30 a.m. and 6:30-7 a.m. on WXLV from Saturday, Oct. 22, through Tuesday, Oct. 25. The show also will run on High Point Market transport buses for the duration of the High Point Market.
Segments also can be seen on TheHome.com. Subscribers to TheHome.com can see the latest updates on fashion, trends and trendsetters during High Point Market. They also can follow TheHome on Facebook and Twitter to engage in TheHome's ongoing High Point Market conversation.
Gefen Productions has produced the Home Fashion Report since 1984. The half-hour reports have covered emerging trends and trendsetters, interviews with industry leaders, accomplished manufacturers, retailers, and design professionals. Home Fashion Report has shown hundreds of thousands of marketgoers the showrooms not-to-be-missed and the hot products at each April and October Market.
October 13,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Markets on October 14, 2011
AmericasMart Atlanta, the Georgia Retail Association and the Florida Retail Federation have allied for education and business growth opportunities.
A highlight of the new alliance is the Georgia Retail Association/Florida Retail Federation AmericasMart Business Center open for the exclusive use of GRA/FRF members shopping AmericasMart's 13 annual markets. Located on floor 6, showroom 677B of AmericasMart Building Two West Wing, the Business Center affords members private lounge facilities and networking opportunities, with GRA/FRF staff associates present during market to address questions and field member input regarding various business, education, service and legislative initiatives.
"This alliance affirms our southeastern heritage and celebrates the inspired innovations of those retailers who serve our region's diverse and burgeoning population, said AmericasMart CEO Jeffrey L. Portman Sr., noting that the new partnership occurs in the 50th-anniversary year of both AmericasMart Atlanta and the Georgia Retail Association. "Our stewardship of these unique needs is a special calling which we are pleased to accept."
"We believe establishment of this important presence at AmericasMart will give strong voice to our collective mission and will offer our membership a unique opportunity to access the marketplaces full resources,"said Rick McAllister, president and chief executive officer of the Georgia and Florida entities. "This critical first step sets direction for a multi-dimensional alliance yielding real benefits to our membership and to AmericasMart exhibitors alike."
As the non-profit trade associations representing the retail industry in Florida and Georgia, the newly aligned FRF and GRA are now able to offer members exclusive access to the worldwide marketplace with an unparalleled array of products in hundreds of categories.
October 12,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on October 13, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z5325256948&z=1250249027
Every movement has a lunatic fringe, blares a headline in Restoration Hardware Inc.s 616- page fall catalog, a reference to Theodore Roosevelts famous line about anarchists. In an accompanying essay, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer Gary Friedman--photographed with designer stubble, distressed jeans and a vintage leather jacket--finds common cause with the 26th U.S. president, an iconoclast known for his macho, cowboy charisma.
Its all part of Friedmans strategy to stand out from the crowd as the retailer prepares for an initial stock offering.
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October 12,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on October 13, 2011
Former Better Homes & Gardens editor Kristine Kennedy has joined home furnishings Internet retailer Wayfair.com editorial director.
Kennedy, who spent 17 years at BH&G. and was the magazine's East Coast editor, brings her design expertise online at Boston-based Wayfair, where she will work to enhance customer experience with inspirational editorial content, including digital features, decorating advice and more.
At Better Homes & Gardens Kennedy spent years looking at, visiting, writing about and directing photography of homes from coast to coast. The results of her work were multi-page magazine stories with beautiful photography and practical advice for readers.
She views leaving traditional media for the emerging world of e-commerce content to be the next step in providing service to people who care about their homes.
"Magazine readers are constantly asking for product information, because they want to create the looks they love in their own homes," said Kennedy. "Wayfair's vast selection helps people actually make that happen."
Kennedy also sees demand for home-related content migrating online. The recession brought on a slew of shelter magazine closures, such as House & Garden, Domino, ReadyMade, and Cottage Living. When the magazines went away, the readers were still left hungry for the types of content that an e-commerce site like Wayfair.com can provide.
"I plan to infuse Wayfair.com with helpful, engaging, and fun features that really capitalize on the interactivity of the Internet," Kennedy said. "The goal is to enrich the site experience for our 11 million visitors each month--giving them a reason to hang out with the Wayfair brand whether they are buying something that day or not."
Kennedy knows what works for real people and what doesnt, especially amid todays challenging housing market, said Niraj Shah, Wayfair.com's CEO and co-founder.
"Kris is someone who really understands our core customer, a person who cares about her home but who wants good value and service in making that happen," Shah said. "In her magazine career, Kris provided ideas and guidance to readers with different house styles and a variety of decorating styles, in all regions of the country, which is exactly what we want to do at Wayfair. It's a perfect fit."
Though still in the planning stages, Kennedys content strategy for Wayfair.com involves improving the customer's experience everywhere she or he touches the brand outside of the transaction itself. That may include interactive planning tools, trend information, original photography, partnerships with experts, a robust blog and social media outreach.
"Most people have an amalgam of styles in their homes, collected over the years," Kennedy said. "The question is how do you put those items together in a way that reflects your personality today? What can you switch up to make the room live better or say something about you? That's what our content will address. With Wayfair's catalog at my fingertips, I'll have a lot to work with, creating accessible designs that can satisfy all budgets and styles."
While Kennedy's influence will be seen in the overall visuals for the home goods mega-site, and in the Wayfair blog this year, her first features are scheduled for first-quarter 2012. Kennedy also will be positioned as one of the new faces of Wayfair, in addition to other Wayfair experts, including several designers from home-oriented TV shows.
October 12,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on October 13, 2011
The State of California has placed flame retardant chlorinated tris on its "Prop 65" list of harmful chemicals.
The chemical, which was removed from baby pajamas in 1977 due to concerns about carcinogenicity, is used as a flame retardant in foam in U.S. furniture and baby products. The listing won't ban the chemical from use but could result in a labeling requirement for consumer products containing the chemical.
The Carcinogen Identification Committee, a scientific committee appointed by the Governor, added TDCPP (chlorinated Tris) to the Proposition 65 list, which requires the publication of a list of chemicals, known to the state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have reported that chlorinated Tris poses a cancer hazard.
"The listing of chlorinated tris on Prop 65 is a public health victory," said Sarah Janssen, MD, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Widespread exposure to this chemical, now officially identified as a cancer-causing chemical, threatens vulnerable populations. This listing should result in labeling requirements for products that contain dangerous levels of this chemical."
"Flame retardants like Tris leach out of furniture and end up in dust in our homes. We unknowingly inhale and ingest Tris into our bodies," said Arlene Blum Ph.D., Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley Chemistry Department and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute. "We tested 100 baby products and 100 couches, and found dangerous levels of Tris more often than any other flame retardant."