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July 12,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on July 13, 2011
Powell Furniture has moved its west coast warehousing and logistics operations to a new, larger warehouse facility in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
Culver City, Calif.-based Powell previously shared a public warehouse space in City of Industry.
"This is a great opportunity for us to control more of our supply chain and be able to deliver superior service to our valued customers," said Jim Ziozis president and CEO of Powell. "Now Powell will not have to coordinate their delivery efforts through a third party and compete for first priority in a public facility. We will be in complete control of our warehousing and logistics operations."
The new 200,000-square-foot warehouse, complete with 32 loading bays, is located near the interstates 10 and 15 in southern California. It will have ERP software networked to the head office to provide instant online communication and order processing. Powell has increased warehousing staff to 12 employees with solid distribution and warehousing experience.
The goal is to provide Powell's retailers with experience quicker delivery of their orders, and in some cases orders will ship in as quick as 24 hours.
"In this tight economy running an efficient operation and quickly getting merchandise delivered to the customer are two keys to success," Ziozis said. "This new warehouse operations will help Powell do just that."
July 11,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Casual Furniture on July 12, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4945423172&z=1250249032
When Richard Frinier was creating his new trilogy of outdoor furniture designs for Brown Jordan, the tireless Long Beach, Calif.based designer wondered what life would be like if he could simply sit still and let his mind drift aimlessly. Would it feel like being on cloud nine? he thought before appropriately naming his three collections Still, Drift, and yes, Cloud Nine. The three diverse lines share one commonalityall are designed with outdoor comfort and relaxation in mind. Each achieves that goal in its own singular way.
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July 11,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on July 12, 2011
The American Furniture Hall of Fame Foundation has named six industry fellows and candidates for election into the American Furniture Hall of Fame.
The six nominees who will be made Industry Fellows are: Donald A. Belgrad, George Alexander Bernhardt, Donald G. Flanders Sr., John C. Portman Jr., Gordon Segal and Roy B. Unger. The voting period begins July 8 and ends August 5. Only members of the organization are eligible to vote.
The candidates were selected from open nominations and the Industry Fellows Selection Committee based on their contributions to the growth and development of the furniture industry in America with a focus on four standards: enduring excellence, superior accomplishments, innovation and creativity, and philanthropic generosity.
Donald A. Belgrad spent his entire furniture career at Schnadig International Corp. where he built it into the largest U.S. family-owned upholstery producer. He pioneered the correlated approach to upholstery with occasional groups, and then living rooms with dining rooms and bedrooms. Identifying the global manufacturing trend, he quickly established a Chinese subsidiary to ensure quality, production control and supply chain management before orchestrating the sale of Schnadig to Markor International Furniture in 2009.
George Alexander Bernhardt has led Bernhardt Furniture Co. to become an award-winning design leader in residential and contract furniture. During his tenure, he has quadrupled the size of the business founded by his grandfather in 1889, making it the largest high-end furniture company in the United States. Bernhardt Furniture has won nine Pinnacle awards and 32 Best of Neocon awards. The company also was one of the first American manufacturers to import parts and later fully made furniture from Asia.
Donald H. Flanders Sr. has built two successful careers during the past 60 years, as a champion of both the case goods and casual segments. He and his wife, Phala, founded Flanders Manufacturing Co. with just two employees in 1954. When he sold it in 1969 to become part of Riverside Furniture Corp., it was one of the largest case goods firms in the Southwest. In 1982, Flanders founded Lloyd/Flanders, where he has taken woven outdoor furnishings from a minor part of the casual market to a the backbone category in the industry.
John C. Portman Jr. helped transform the home furnishings industry, as well as the Atlanta skyline, during a career spanning more than half a century. Portman's 7 million-square-foot AmericasMart houses one of the world's largest collections of home furnishings, area rug, gift, and apparel merchandise and hosts 19 markets annually. His Atlanta Decorative Arts Center is among the most successful design centers nationwide. Portman is considered the chief architect of Atlanta's economic and civic development during the last 50 years.
Gordon Segal built Crate and Barrel from one store in Chicago to an internationally renowned home furnishings business with more than 100 stores in the United States and abroad. With a focus on design and a reputation for flawless customer service and integrity, Segal was among the first to buy directly from factories in Europe. He introduced innovative and much emulated methods of visual and product merchandising, dubbed "the Crate and Barrel look." For decades, Crate and Barrel has been among the nations top 20 furniture stores.
The late Roy B. Unger, known as "The Father of the Modern Bedding Era" and the industry's "Ambassador of Sleep," played a major role in the rise of bedding companies Sealy and Serta during a career spanning more than 50 years. After his retirement, he served as a consultant to Simmons, making him one of the few executives to play key roles at each of the industry's three largest producers. Unger played important roles in the Sealy Posturepedic and Serta Perfect Sleeper brands' ascent to prominence. One of the founders of the Better Sleep Council, Unger continued to advocate for the bedding industry until his death at age 83.
"There is tremendous diversity in the background of each person on this year's slate with one common thread: they all represent the pinnacle of their fields and they all represent individuals of great leadership, innovation and generosity," said Kurt Darrow, president of the Foundation. "When you read their full bios, it is humbling and immediately apparent that each one is more than worthy of the honor of being made an Industry Fellow. This is a slate of industry giants."
Under the new selection system, the inductees will be determined by the combination of a vote of the membership and a points-based rating system of each nominee by the Foundation's Industry Fellow Selection Committee. New members will be announced and officially inducted into the American Furniture Hall of Fame at the annual banquet celebration on Oct. 23 at the High Point Furniture Market.
July 11,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on July 12, 2011
Ron Sellers has joined home furnishings industry Web portal FurnitureCore.com as senior vice president of sales, a new position.
Sellers, most recently vice president of sales at Escalate Retail Systems, reports to Bob George, managing partner of Impact Consulting Inc., which launched FurnitureCore.com in 2009 as a separate company.
FurnitureCore equips online subscribers with customized research to improve their market share and bottom line profitability. The virtual resource provides comprehensive market intelligence by integrating dozens of databases with extensive, proprietary FurnitureCore research, creating information that is relevant to each client, and making it easy for retailers and manufacturers to apply it to their business model.
"Ron brings an undivided focus and many years of industry knowledge to offer a clear vision to retailers and manufacturers about how FurnitureCore can help their business regardless of economic conditions," George said. "Ron will head up sales for FurnitureCore, a groundbreaking web interface for retailers and manufacturers which provides affordable ongoing access to relevant information using the power of technology."
FurnitureCore currently is used by manufacturers and retailers, including adoption by the National Home Furnishings Association and the Western Home Furnishings Association, and retail buying groups including Furniture First and the Furniture Marketing Group.
"Ron has been instrumental to the success of my companies for more than 10 years. Since we already work with FurnitureCore, we are excited about his move. Their services allow us to know our market share, advertising effectiveness, merchandising, consumer preferences and segmentation in our market," says Lee Goodman, president and CEO of the San Diego-based Jerome's Furniture. "In house, we refer to FurnitureCore as our retail brain and we're thrilled that Ron is joining the FurnitureCore team to help take the company to the next level."
Prior to his time at Escalate Retail Systems (formally GERS Retail Systems), a leading provider of enterprise software solutions for the home furnishings industry, Sellers was a founder of FurnishNet, which provides electronic data interchange for the home furnishings industry.
"FurnitureCore offers business intelligence that is essential for making educated decisions and creating effective strategies in today's world," Sellers said. "This is the platinum resource standard for home furnishings information for both retailers and manufacturers so that they can accurately compare themselves to their specific market."
July 11,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Las Vegas on July 12, 2011
Due to a scheduling conflict, the Summer 2011 Las Vegas Furniture Market keynote event featuring President Bill Clinton will now take place Tuesday, August 2, at 6:45 p.m. instead of Monday.
The Gift for Life event, benefitting DIFFA, now will be held Monday, August 1, at 6 p.m. in SkyView Terrace instead of Tuesday.
All the information has been updated the Las Vegas Furniture Market Web site, and attendees can still RSVP to attend.