March 26,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 27, 2013
The Design Center at the Chicago Merchandise Mart has been redesigned to create a better customer experience.
After an extensive redesign and shuffle, more than 65 home and casual furnishings tenants have been relocated into spaces on the 14th and 15th floors.
The floor renovations, by interior designer and architect Gary Lee Partners, have improved the Design Center shopping experience by creating a more concentrated, easily navigable showcase of the top name showrooms in residential and outdoor design.
More than 115 showrooms, representing 2,500 product lines, span floors 6, 14 for residential furnishings including furniture, fabrics, lighting, rugs, and wallcoverings and floors 15 and 16 for outdoor furnishings including furniture, fabrics, rugs and accessories.
"The Design Center re-launch event was a fun way to show off our new space to clients and friends, while benefiting from the increased foot traffic to meet a new audience," said Emily Mundwiller, showroom manager for Tufenkian. "The reconfigured floors provide high level focus and one-stop shopping for designers and browsers alike. We look forward to more events like this in the Mart."
The daylong relaunch event last month featured special events including book signings, guest speakers, new product introductions, and drew key industry executives like Eric Schenk, President / CEO of Century Furniture, Holly Hunt, President of Holly Hunt,Crans Baldwin, CEO of Edward Ferrell + Lewis Mittman, Gary McCray, President of Lane Venture, and Keith and Michelle Bradley of Bradley.
The 14th floor renovation included the construction of a designer amenity center, "Lounge 1447," which features a well-appointed conference area, lounge, café and audio/visual display. Lounge 1447 was designed as an office-away-from-the-office for designers, architects, guests and showroom personnel who do business in the Design Center.
"The relocation of more than 65 showrooms and extensive floor renovations couldn't have gone smoother and we're thrilled with the final result," said John H. Brennen III, executive vice president, MMPI. "With the support of our parent company, Vornado, they made a substantial financial investment in the reconfiguration and design of 14th and 15th floors and relocation of many tenants. We are proud to offer Midwest designers the best Design Center presentation in the country."
March 26,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Furniture Retailing on March 27, 2013
from http://hhcourier.com/Main.asp?SectionID=8&SubSectionID=33&ArticleID=157757
After more than three decades of continuous operation, Krispin's Contemporary Furniture, one of Ohio's most prestigious home furnishings dealers, is going out of business and closing its doors forever.
Home Center Furniture Inc. DBA Krispin's Contemporary Furniture was founded in 1978 by Dan and Becky Grubb.
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March 26,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Aggregated Content in Internet on March 27, 2013
from http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/03/27/web-accounts-three-quarters-williams-sonomas-growth
With an extra week in the 14-week fiscal fourth quarter at housewares and home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma Inc, Q4 e-commerce net revenue grew by $70 million and increased 24.0 percent year over year, the retailer says. For the full fiscal year ended Feb. 3, 2013, e-commerce net revenue rose 17.4 percent, and represented 76.4 percent of the retail chain's growth.
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March 26,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on March 27, 2013
Full-line furniture vendor Emerald Home Furnishings will add a second showroom for the April 20-25 High Point Furniture Market.
In order to accommodate its growing product offering, Emerald added an additional 3,800 square feet in space 105 on the main floor of the Center Point Building at 401 S. Hamilton Street. The new space complements the companys primary showroom, space 201 in Center Point, bringing the Emerald's combined showroom space in High Point to more than 28,000 square feet.
We are excited to have this new space to really shine the spotlight on new Emerald product lines in a gallery setting, said Emerald Vice President of U.S. and Asia Operations Robert Kirchmeyer. For April, we will use the new space as a 'Sleep and Sit' pavilion, promoting compelling new additions to our bedding line--including the Cool Jewel gel and memory foam sleep collection--as well as a range of new upholstered beds, and attractive additions to our office and accent chairs categories. We look forward to launching other new products and categories in this space in the future.
Tacoma, Wash.-based Emerald Home Furnishingss current product lineup includes fabric and leather upholstery, motion furniture, casual and formal dining room furniture, bedroom collections, and occasional tables, as well as entertainment, home office and accent chairs. The company has showrooms in Tacoma, Wash., Las Vegas and High Point; and sourcing offices in Haining City (Shanghai), China; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Saigon, Vietnam.
March 26,
2013 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on March 27, 2013
Hong Kong furniture retailer Sofamark has debuted luxury mattress brand Pure LatexBliss at three locations.
Sofamark, one of Hong Kongs leading furniture stores, launched Pure LatexBliss products specially designed for regional preferences, and including mattresses, pillows and toppers, in showrooms located in Sheung Wan, Taikoo and Kwun Tong.
More than 75 guests attended a grand opening event at the Langham Hong Kong Hotel on March 23. Latex International President and CEO Dave Fisher, Vice President of Strategic Marketing Tomas Eisenberg and Pure LatexBliss President Kurt Ling represented the company for the festivities, joined by Sofamark directors Jack Kwan and Nelson Lau.
We couldnt be more excited about our new relationship with Sofamark as they share our enthusiasm for bringing the Pure LatexBliss brand and our lift, relax, relieve message to the Hong Kong market, said Ling. Hong Kong represents an important first step for our China expansion plans as it remains the leading luxury goods market in the region. Sofamark customers value U.S. manufactured goods, and it is our privilege to provide them with the finest quality sleep products available in the world today.
All Pure LatexBliss products exported to Asia will still be manufactured in the United States at the companys Connecticut facility. The company also will introduce am exclusive, ultra-luxury collection customized specifically for the Asian consumer, with new mattress profiles including 13-inch, 14-inch and 15-inch all-latex beds. The pricing for the mattresses range from US$2,500 to US$8,000.