Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
October 10,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on October 11, 2011
Mealeys Furniture has opened a 60,000-square-foot furniture store at Valley Fair Shopping Center in Devon, Pa.
Mealey's held a grand opening at the store, its sixth in the tri-state market, on Oct. 1.
Metro Commercial's Michael Gorman represented Mealey's Furniture in the transaction.
Mealey's Furniture, a multi-generational family business, has operated in the Philadelphia region since 1970, and specializes in a wide selection of in-stock affordable furnishings with seven-day-a-week delivery.
The new location complements existing stores in Warminster, Oxford Valley and Bensalem, Pa.; and Maple Shade, N.J. The retailer has an outlet/distribution center in Morrisville, Pa.
October 10,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Store Openings on October 11, 2011
West Coast mattress retailer Sleep Train has opened a new store in San Bernardino, Calif.
The location is Sacramento-based Sleep Train's 11th new store opening this year.
"As one of the anchor cities of the Inland Empire, San Bernardino's steady growth and integral location in a region where we recently developed a presence made it a prime spot for a new store," said Terry Horsley, vice president of brand strategy, Sleep Train. "We are continually adding new locations strategically throughout California to meet growing consumer demand for quality sleep products. In San Bernardino, the 17th largest city in the state, we'll reach more than 200,000 people that desire a better night's sleep."
Readers of the Los Angeles Times recently voted Sleep Train the "Best Mattress Store" in the Inland Empire. The company offers brand name mattresses including Simmons, Sealy, Beautyrest, Posturepedic, Tempur-Pedic, and The Vera Wang Collection by Serta.
Sleep Train is also recognized for its commitment to the community through its award winning Sleep Train Foster Kids program, which is currently accepting donations of school supplies for its annual School Supply Drive for Foster Kids through September 5th.
The company has 90 retail locations throughout California.
October 10,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 11, 2011
Full-line furniture vendor Lexington Home Brands will open a 10,000-square-foot showroom at the New York Design Center in November.
This will be High Point-based Lexington's second company-owned trade showroom. Lexington opened at a showroom at the Denver Design District in Colorado in fall 2008. Each of the company's brands will be represented in the space, including Lexington, Tommy Bahama Home and Henry Link Trading Co.
Stefanie Pelusi has joined the company as showroom manager for the new facility. Prior to joining Lexington, she managed the Pierre Deux showroom in Manhattan.
"We have experienced remarkable growth in our to-the-trade design business over the last few years," said Phil Haney, president and CEO of Lexington Home Brands. "This serves to validate the strength and significance of this distribution channel. It also validates our strategic decision to elevate the styling and sophistication of the Lexington product line."
The new showroom will be on the second floor of the New York Design Center, adjacent to Century Furniture and Grange. The space is being renovated to include an entirely new storefront design, a cafe and hospitality area, and a large touch-screen monitor to facilitate product search and custom fabric selection.
"Our experience at the World Market Center in Las Vegas has taught us to become highly effective in utilizing selling space," Haney said. "While our showroom in High Point is 100,000 square feet, allowing us to showcase the remarkable breadth of the Lexington line, our space in Las Vegas is only 25,000 square feet. The use of touch-screen technology to facilitate search and to display our line with high-res imagery and video, combined with our iPad app, which we deployed on the iTunes store over a year ago, allow us to leverage a smaller footprint to our considerable advantage."
"We are extremely pleased to welcome Lexington to the NYDC," said Jim Druckman, president and CEO of the New York Design Center. "The product assortment is diverse, styling is on-point, and the relative value is extremely compelling. We love what they are planning for the build-out, and there is already a buzz in the design community about Lexington. New York is ready for this, and the NYDC will prove an outstanding showcase for the line. In this case, one might say that our building's address on Lexington Avenue seems more than coincidental."
"While our primary distribution channel remains traditional retail, the approach we have taken in elevating the styling and sophistication of the Lexington line has naturally resulted in a heightened interest from the design community," said Haney. "We are in a great position to offer relevant and innovative designs at unexpected values. That proposition is resonating, and the NYDC initiative represents just one component of a larger strategy to address the design channel. It should be a great deal of fun."
While the showroom will open next month, Lexington plans an official grand opening party for Dec. 8.
October 9,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on October 10, 2011
Furniture supply chain specialist Zenith Global Logistics has moved its Dallas hub to expand its size 25 percent-plus and more than double trailer-parking capacity.
The move, Zenith's seventh domestic expansion in less than two years, was made to meet increased demand for warehousing, and less-than-truckload and home delivery services in Texas and the Southwest United States.
"Although customers can land product at any of our U.S. hub for shipment nationwide, Dallas is a key location for many of our customers seeking greater speed to market and reduced freight costs to cities in Texas and neighboring states," said Jack Hawn, President and CEO of Zenith Global, Conover, N.C. "This latest expansion allows shippers to store and move freight to their customers quickly and cost-effectively, and it gives retailers the ability to tap inventory for home deliveries that is closer to the consumer, which in the end saves both time and money. In the tough market our industry is operating in, it's critical to our customers that every move in the supply chain be executed as efficiently as possible."
Zenith Global opened the Dallas hub in 2007, with 134,000 square feet of total space and parking capacity for 20 trailers. In January it added a home delivery operation to the facility. The new Dallas building adds 35,000 square feet, for a total of 169,000 square feet. The larger site will accommodate a total of 71 trailers.
In the last two years, Zenith Global has added home delivery/split container hubs in Atlanta, San Antonio and West Palm Beach; a regional freight hub and warehousing facility in Tupelo, Miss.; and a multi-tenant warehouse in Claremont, N.C. This spring the company announced it had acquired the former Boyles Furniture building in Conover, N.C., boosting its storage and handling capacity by more than 30 percent.
October 9,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on October 10, 2011
Global Logistics provider Globe Express Services (Overseas Group) has named Gregory Tampas president--The Americas.
Tampas began his logistics career in 1992 with CP Ships in Montreal, Canada. In 1997, he joined global container shipper Hapag-Lloyd's sales team in Canada. Two years later, he was appointed to corporate sales and marketing manager in Hong Kong, responsible for all transpacific business development activities in Hong Kong and mainland China. Most recently, he served as senior director of corporate logistics for furniture and consumer products vendor Dorel Industries.
"Gregg is a longtime friend of GES on the client side as well as the service provider side," said Group CEO Ziad Korban. "He is an accomplished logistics executive, a true innovator and a skilled business strategist with excellent vendor and client relationships across North America, Europe and Asia. His international supply chain background, 'win/win' philosophy and ability to manage change are a perfect match for our ambitious growth strategy."
"These are trying times for global markets," Tampas said. "Instability, sluggish demand and tighter retail margins will continue to challenge transport intermediaries. To become a best in-class 3PL, GES must continue to re-invent itself and find new ways to create lasting value to our customers. We are committing substantial resources to improving our technological capabilities, as we strive to become a major player in supply chain solutions and contract logistics.
"My focus will be to build our presence in this 'value-added' segment and improve our standing in the more mature, forwarding areas. We have a strong brand and some of the brightest talent in the industry. We are well positioned for growth, but we will never lose sight of our current client base. Our reputation has been built on world class customer service--this will always be the cornerstone of our business model."
Tampas, a graduate of McGill University and the University of Western Ontario Business School, is fluent in English, French, Greek and Italian. For his new role, he will relocate to GES's corporate headquarters for the Americas in Charlotte, N.C.