September 7,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Obituaries on September 8, 2011
Furniture industry veteran Charles Harmon McKinney died Monday at age 91 after a brief illness.
McKinney was born Jan. 11, 1920, in Selma, Ala.. He entered the U.S. Army in 1941 and fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Southern France and Belgium with the 509 Parachute Battalion and earned the Silver Star in Italy. During his 20 years of service in the Army, he earned the rank of major, a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and was an honored member of the 82nd Airborne Division.
After retiring from the Army, his second career was working in management in the furniture industry. He began as vice president of sales for United/Burlington Furniture. He then joined Dixie Furniture as vice president of international sales, working also in product sourcing and marketing throughout the transition of the company to Lexington Furniture Industries. Charlie was an excellent golfer and enjoyed the game at every opportunity.
Surviving are his wife of 65 years, Estelle Smyly McKinney; son, Charles Douglas McKinney; grandson, Charles Michael McKinney of Winston-Salem; and nieces Peggy Johnson and Alice Swink.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church, W. 3rd Ave. in Lexington, N.C., where he was a member. A private burial will be held at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. The family will receive friends after the service in the church fellowship hall.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to First Baptist Church of Lexington, P.O. Box 436, Lexington, NC 27293 or to a charity of the donor's choice. Online condolences may be made here.
September 7,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Advertising on September 8, 2011
Leather upholstery supplier
Natuzzi Americas is broadening its consumer reach with its digital marketing partnership with
GET Interactive The interactive ad campaign is currently being featured on shelter magazine Web sites like
Elle Décor.
Natuzzi (
NYSE: NTZ) first signed an agreement with GET Interactive in October 2010. The technology allows consumers to roll over an online banner ad, which then expands to showcase products, video and more in a total branded experience.
"Rather than waiting for a consumer to visit our Web site to learn about our company's offerings, this technology is enabling us to push the Natuzzi Italia, Natuzzi Editions and Italsofa brand stories out to the consumer wherever they choose to engage with us," said Brad Cates, senior vice president of Natuzzi Americas. "It also allows us to do so in a very compelling way."
In additional to national brand building, the company is creating custom banner ads for local markets to support individual dealers.
"In light of current economic conditions, we believe that it s more important than ever to find innovative ways to help dealers convert business and drive sales, particularly as they head into the all-important fall selling season," Cates said. "We are therefore customizing the national banner ad campaign for dealers at the local level to reflect both the message of the national campaign, and the products each store offers on its floors. This allows our dealers to take advantage of everything that Natuzzi Italia is doing from a national campaign perspective and to maximize consumer awareness for the Natuzzi Editions or Italsofa brands."
The local banner ads are customized in-house by Natuzzi's marketing team at no charge to retailers. The ads are available with customized voiceovers in French and Spanish for the Canadian and Latin American markets, as well as English.
Go online to check out one of the banner ads. In leveraging this technology, Natuzzi Americas has created the best possible scenario to maximize its full potential, said Rick Harrison, chief executive officer of GETInteractive. The combination of national and regional ad buys, which allows consumers to engage with, and learn about the brands at any digital point of contact -- in concert with an individualized, store-by-store deployment of the banner ads customized to reflect the brands and products each store offers--has never been done before, in the furniture industry, or any other. Ever.
Natuzzi Americas commitment to adopting and leveraging cutting-edge technologies like this is not new, Cates said. The company was also among the first in the furniture industry to deploy digital tags to convey product information.
One of our goals as a brand is to remain ahead of the technology curve and to continually raise the bar, both for the
industry and for our customers, he said.
In addition to driving consumers to dealers doors at a time when they need it most, the expandable banner ad campaign is also providing information regarding consumer preference patterns at both a national and a granular level.
We can track where consumers are going and what they are doing, and we can do it in real time," Cates said. "Were able to discern which models are most popular at a store-by-store level and were generating a very powerful body of information. In essence, in implementing this technology, weve created an on-going focus group that funnels information back to us from wherever the technology is deployed. Best of all, we are able to share this information with our dealers to help them manage and build their businesses.
September 7,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Retail Closings on September 8, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z5173057549&z=1250249030
High-end furniture retailer Bograd's will close its 30,000-square-foot store in Riverdale, N.J. A store-closing sale will begin next Friday.
Read Full Article...
September 6,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Legal on September 7, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z5167790977&z=1250249032
The owner of a San Antonio Ashley Furniture Homestore has denied allegations in awrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of an employee murdered at the store.
Read Full Article...
September 6,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in licensing on September 7, 2011
Upholstery producer
Miles Talbott Furniture has joined with case goods vendor Lefa to form ML Brands International.
The vertically-integrated joint venture offers the home furnishings industry a spectrum of licensing and brand management services, including product design and development, merchandising, sales and marketing. Production will take place at MLBIs wholly-owned facilities located in the United States and Latin America, creating factory-direct manufacturing capabilities.
By vertically integrating sales, marketing and manufacturing operations in the Western Hemisphere, MLBI is able to bypass third-party outsourcing fees and extended supply-chains. This assures shorter product lead times for global home furnishing brands and greater earnings growth potential.
Through a group of affiliated companies, MLBI will also offer an assortment of additional home furnishings, including lamps, rugs, tabletop decorative accessories and linens.
Rob Casey, former manager of licensing programs for
Polo Ralph Lauren and
Martha Stewart, is the managing partner of the venture.
Miles Talbott and Lefa, for over half a century combined, have developed an expertise for delivering to the marketplace better-end home products bearing superior quality, price and value, Casey said. MLBI is positioned to deliver the market to global home brands seeking growth opportunities in this tough economy. We have vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities with well established sales and marketing teams.
Casey said MLBI signed a licensing agreement with a "major home brand" earlier this summer. An announcement is expected to be made in a few weeks.
George Jordan, president of Miles Talbott, said the new company has been approached by a number of better-end brands interested in exploring licensing agreements.
Because of the rising wages in China and the Pac-Rim, and the costs associated with long-lead containers, a lot of people are taking another look at producing their goods in the Western Hemisphere," Jordan said. "As the East-West price gap narrows, brands and retailers have expressed interest in products manufactured in closer proximity to North American markets."
ML Brands International is headquartered in Miles Talbotts corporate offices in High Point.