Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
March 31,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on April 1, 2011
High Point Acquisition Co. has named a transition team to manage the 2.1 million square feet of High Point Furniture Market showroom space it acquired last month.
Those properties include Market Square Complex, Hamilton Market, 300 S. Main Street, Furniture Plaza, Plaza Suites and the National Furniture Mart.
The transition leadership team will be led by Chief Transition Officer Randy Eller in partnership with Steve Johnson, vice president of administration/assistant general manager. They will be supported by Brian Bunch, vice president of leasing/assistant general manager; Karen Olson, vice president of marketing; and Paul Sperano, director of operations.
March 31,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on April 1, 2011
The Sustainable Furnishings Council has added four new members to its board of directors.
The new SFC directors are:
* Mitchell Gold, co-founder of design-oriented upholstery manufacturer and retailer Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams.
national retailer
* Peggy Burns, owner and "Queen Bee" of Circle Furniture in Acton, Mass.
* Kathryn Fernholtz, executive director of Dovetail Partners, a consultant on sustainable wood practices and an experienced forest certification lead auditor.
* Mary Jane Grigsby, American Society of Interior Designers Fellow and president-elect of the National Council of Interior Design Qualification, the organization responsible for qualifying education for ceu credits.
"This is a fantastically diverse incoming class of new board members," said SFC President Jeff Hiller. "We are honored to have them join the cause and help lead our organization in new directions. Activation at the consumer level is critical and this will primarily come from our efforts at retail, in the design world and through ongoing educational offerings."
The SFC, now in its fifth year of existence, continues to demonstrate dynamic growth, adding up to a dozen new members each month and expanding its educational platforms. SFC recently graduated the 500th participant in the GREENleaders Certified Sustainability Training program that it sponsors at all the major furniture markets and other industry events.
The SFC will be at High Point Furniture Market with a booth on the ground floor of Showplace; and stage a public event between Showplace and IHFC on Monday, deconstructing furniture to demonstrate the difference between sustainable and regular goods.
In addition SFC, is offering their GREENleaders Certified sustainability training at Market. Contact admin@sustainablefurnishings.org for registration details.
March 30,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Financial Reports on March 31, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z4457201108&z=1250249029
Beaumont, Texas-based Conn's lost $3.4 million in its fiscal fourth quarter, reflecting charges tied to planned store closings and other items. Conn's operates 76 stores.
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March 30,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on March 31, 2011
A possible successor to Warren Buffett, David Sokol, has resigned his position as chairman of several
Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) and
(NYSE: BRK.B) subsidiaries.
In a release issued Wednesday in the form of a letter, Buffett said the resignation took him by surprise. Sokol wrote in his resignation letter that he had no future plans and was resigning for personal reasons.
Sokol's resignation letter reads "As I have mentioned to you in the past, it is my goal to utilize the time remaining in my career to invest my familys resources in such a way as to create enduring equity value and hopefully an enterprise which will provide opportunity for my descendents and funding for my philanthropic interests. I have no more detailed plan than this because my obligations from Berkshire Hathaway have been my first and only business priority.
Berkshire Hathaway owns a number of home furnishings retailers, including
Jordan's Furniture;
Nebraska Furniture Mart;
RC Willey Home Furnishings;
Star Furniture; and
Cort Business Services.
Buffett said he had not asked for Sokol's resignation, and that Sokol had mentioned to him in the last couple of years the idea of resigning two times for the same reasons outlined in his letter.
"Both times, I and other board members persuaded him to stay," Buffett wrote. "Berkshire is far more valuable today because we were successful in those efforts."
Sokol worked closed with
MidAmerican; and
NetJets; and
Johns Manville.
He is also credited with the idea to acquire chemical company
Lubrizol,
which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. In his letter, Buffett mentions that particular acquisition, and goes on to explain that Sokol owns Lubrizol stock.
Buffett outlines the timing of Sokol's purchases in his
letter where he emphasizes the timeline.
"Dave's purchases were made before he had discussed Lubrizol with me and with no knowledge of how I might react to his idea," Buffett said. "In addition, of course, he did not know what Lubrizol's reaction would be if I developed an interest ....
"Neither Dave nor I feel his Lubrizol purchases were in any way unlawful," he continues. "He has told me that they were not a factor in his decision to resign."
March 30,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on March 31, 2011
New orders from furniture retailers fell 1 percent in January 2011 compared with the same prior-year month, according to the latest Furniture Insights survey.
High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard conducts the monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors.
New orders also fell 5 percent from December levels, but that's a normal month to month decline.
January shipments rose 2 percent over January 2010, when shipments were up 6 percent over January 2009.
Shipments fell compared to December, but again, that result is somewhat normal.
January backlogs increased slightly over December as the dollar volume of orders was greater than the value of shipments. Backlogs were down 6 percent from January 2010. In December, backlogs were 3 percent lower than December 2009.
Receivables remained in line with shipments, rising 1 percent over January 2010.
"Compared with December, January receivables were only down 1 percent, with shipments down 10 percent, but we believe most of that was timing as the December year end affects payments," Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith wrote in the survey report.
January inventories rose 1 percent from December levels, and were 12 percent higher than January 2010. In December, inventories were 22 percent higher than December 2009.
"Again some of this is timing and relates to some build up which occurred in the latter part of 2010," Smith noted.
Factory payrolls fell 1 percent from January 2010, while December payrolls were up 7 percent over December 2009. January payrolls were 19 percent lower than December, but drop reflects normal year-end bonuses and vacation pay.
Factory and warehouse employment fell 4 percent from January 2010, but actually increased 1 percent over December 2010.
"The results of our survey were pretty much in line with our expectations based on what we had been hearing," Smith said in summary. "We believe the weather, along with issues in the Middle East, have hampered sales of furniture in both January and February."
Smith said The Beige Book report from the Federal Reserve Districts issued in March was encouraging.
"It noted that overall economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace in January and February," he said. "Retail sales increased in all Districts, except Richmond and Atlanta, although Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Kansas City noted severe snowstorms had a negative impact on merchant activity.
"The retail report by the government was interesting in that most all categories of retailers were up over last year, except for the furniture and home furnishings stores and electronics and appliance stores. With auto and other motor vehicle dealers up 21.9 percent year-to-date, it appears that consumers are back in the car buying business and letting their homes wait a bit."
Smith said recent reports of business stabilizing and new store openings, or the reopening of closed stores, are encouraging.