June 29,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in Community/Charitable Support on June 30, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4903300297&z=1250249027
LYNCHBURG, VA -- A transitional home for women and children in Lynchburg received a special donation on Wednesday. Grand Home Furnishings donated furniture to Miriam's House, as part of the company's plan to offer its communities "100 grand gestures" in celebration of the company's 100th anniversary. The donation included: Three sofas and eight chairs for the meeting room Three loveseats and two chairs for the living room A sofa for the children's play area A box spring for a resident's room A desk for the administrative office "We donated a piece of furniture to Miriam's House last year, and
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June 29,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on June 30, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4903115229&z=1250249029
The owner of Limestone Furniture in Limestone, Ala., has been arrested and charged with six felonies related to taking payment for furniture and then not delivering orders.
Several customers of the Limestone Furniture Mart had recently filed criminal reports against Scott Connell after they did not receive merchandise they had paid for. They also failed to get their money back. The cost of the purchases ranged from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars worth of furniture.
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June 29,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on June 30, 2011
An early High Point Furniture Market helped boost April furniture orders from retailers 16 percent over April 2010, according to the latest Furniture Insights.
The High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard compiles the monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors.
"As we expected, the results for April to April comparisons were quite different due to the significant difference in High Point market dates," said Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith. "The April 2010 market dates were April 17 through the 22nd while April 2011 dates were the 2nd through the 7th. The dates allowed more market and after market orders to be recorded in April 2011 versus April 2010."
Smith noted that since March 2011 orders were 11 percent higher than March 2010, the April increase may not have been all market related. Orders through April are 7 percent ahead of 2011's first four months, when new orders were up 10 percent compared with the same point the previous year.
Shipments, generally not affected as much by markets specifically, rose 2 percent over April 2010. Year-to-date, shipments are up 3 percent over last year when they were up 5 percent over 2009. Backlogs rose 8 percent over March and were 6 percent higher than April 2010. Backlogs were 5 percent higher than February in March 2011.
Receivables rose 6 percent in April, compared with the 2 percent increase in shipments and the 3 percent year-to-date increase in shipments: "Hopefully, this is just a timing issue so we will see how it looks next month," Smith noted.
Inventories increased 14 percent in April over prior-year levels, when they were down 13 percent from April 2009. Inventories fell 1 percent from March. March 2011 inventories were up 16 percent over March 2010.
"If we recall correctly, last year inventories were probably a bit low when orders started picking up, so the increase in inventories may not be that far out of line," Smith said.
Factory and warehouse employment stayed even with March 2011 but fell 2 percent compared with April 2010. March 2011 employment also fell 2 percent from March 2010.
"The results for April among most of our participants were good even considering the effects of market timing," Smith wrote in summary. "Hopefully we will see those orders shipped in May and June as we need to turn orders to cash. Recent conversations have been somewhat mixed regarding current business conditions. For the most part, it seems that business is not really good but not really bad either. Certainly weather has had a significant impact on furniture shopping in many areas of the country. From the winter snows to the spring time flooding and tornados, there has clearly been a negative impact on consumers, even those who would be willing to spend.
He added that high gas prices, a slow economy, weather and a looming presidential election are putting a drag on the consumer confidence necessary for consistently strong furniture sales.
"On the good side, gas prices seemed to be heading down, with projections of lower prices," Smith said. "While the employment picture is not great, it seems to have stabilized. If we can keep the stock market at least at current levels--at least for those who stayed in most of the decline we saw in 2008 and 2009 has recovered--that will also help consumers.
"We have a good ways to go until the industry is consistently improving. On a good note, we just finished our annual survey of operating statistics and overall we saw improvements in profitability. Certainly not back to historical levels or even levels that are needed, but at least the results were positive. It appears that many companies have adjusted to current volume levels which hopefully will continue to improve even with modest growth."
June 28,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Community/Charitable Support on June 29, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4899275779&z=1250249030
This past week, Project Horizon's Lisa's House in Lexington received a wonderful surprise as the local Lexington store donated two couches, end tables and a coffee table, chest of drawers and table lamps to the Shelter for domestic abuse. "We are really delighted," said Director Judy Casteele as the staff of the store delivered the furniture. "Usually we get donations of used furniture so having brand new furniture is a real upgrade to the facility." The donation was made by the local store under the The Grand Happiness Foundation program that was founded and based on Grand Home Furnishings'
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June 28,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on June 29, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4902609018&z=1250249029
Customer relations, good staff and community involvement are among the reasons Bennett's Home Furnishings is celebrating its 85th anniversary, say owners Eric and Marlaine Bennett. "We have carried on a tradition of treating customers the way they would like to be treated," said Marlaine. "We are proud to be a part of the Campbellford and Peterborough communities. We love our loyal customers, and are always reaching out to find new ones to remain successful. When people shop locally, everyone benefits in a community." Bennett's has
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