Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
January 16,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in on January 17, 2011
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?z3944418205&z=1250249032
Furniture Brands International has announced that it is expecting net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal ended December 31, 2010, to be approximately $274 million. The company anticipates that financial results for the fourth quarter of 2010 will include selected charges totaling between $20 million and $25 million on a pre-tax basis. The selected charges include closed store expense, property disposition and restructuring expenses, accounts receivable charges, factory downtime costs, inventory charges, and trade name impairment. The company anticipates that the selected charges will be allocated approximately evenly between cost of sales and selling, general & administrative expenses.
Read Full Article...
January 16,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Delivery on January 17, 2011
Import cargo volume at major U.S. retail container ports should rise 8 percent in January compared with the same month last year.
That's according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released last week by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
"While the economy clearly began to recover in 2010 and drove up cargo volume as retail sales improved, maintaining that momentum in 2011 could be difficult," NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. "Consumers faced with continued high unemployment are expected to focus more on necessities than discretionary spending. Retailers will continue to carefully gauge consumer demand and adjust import levels accordingly."
U.S. ports handled 1.23 million 20-foot Equivalent Units (TEU) in November, the latest month for which actual numbers are available. That was down 1.6 percent from October as stocking up for the holiday season wound down, but up 13 percent from November 2009. It was the twelth month in a row to show a year-over-year improvement after December 2009 broke a 28-month streak of year-over-year declines.
December was estimated at 1.16 million TEU, a 7 percent increase over December 2009. January is forecast to stay at that level, but the figure will represent an 8 percent increase over January 2010. February is forecast at 1.14, up 13 percent from a year earlier; March at 1.18 million TEU, up 9 percent; and April at 1.21, up 7 percent. May is forecast at 1.24, down 2 percent from last year.
The first half of 2010 totaled 6.9 million TEU, up 17 percent from the same period in 2009. The full year is estimated at 14.8 million TEU, also up 17 percent. The 12.7 million TEU seen in 2009 was the lowest since the 12.5 million TEU reported in 2003. The 2010 number remains below the 15.2 million TEU seen in 2008 and the peak of 16.5 million TEU seen in 2007.
"Our projections for 2011 remain firm, albeit not at the levels of the recovery rates of last year," Hackett Associates Founder Ben Hackett said. "Growth in the upper single-digit levels can be expected, particularly on the West Coast."
Global Port Tracker covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast.
January 16,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Acquisition on January 17, 2011
Fabric, upholstered furniture and accents vendor Brunschwig & Fils has filed for Chapter 11 restructuring.
In addition to providing financing for the reorganization, fabric and home furnishings vendor Kravet has agreed to buy Brunschwig & Fils subject to a competitive bid process.
"The restructuring is a business decision that will not affect the quality of our products, or present and future orders," said Brunschwig & Fils President and CEO Olivier Peardon. "This restructuring will improve our services and supply chain flow. Our relationships with the lines we represent remain intact and the Brunschwig & Fils Design Studio is creating new patterns for future release."
Brunschwig & Fils, White Plains, N.Y., has been been a source for luxury fabrics, wall coverings, trims, lighting, furniture and accessories for 110 years.
Ninety-three-year-old Kravet, Bethpage, N.Y., is a distributor of high-end brands such as Lee Jofa and GP&J Baker.
January 16,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on January 17, 2011
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, American Home Furnishings Alliance and Franklin Furniture Institute will promote the EFEC environmental management system as a fast track to entering the state's enHance Stewardship program.
The enHance program is a voluntary initiative to recognize environmental leaders in Mississippi. Participating organizations make a commitment to address and achieve ongoing environmental improvements. To enter the program, companies must have a formal environmental policy, an active or completed project that enhances the environment, a defined management process to review environmental issues and a demonstrated commitment to environmental compliance.
EFEC, "Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture," is a furniture industry-specific environmental management program developed by AHFA to help manufacturers better manage their resources and raw materials, reduce energy and water consumption, reduce waste and increase recycling efficiencies.
"MDEQ officials evaluated AHFA's EFEC program and determined that it mirrors the objectives in their enHance program," said AHFA Vice President Bill Perdue. "As a result, they have agreed to work with EFEC-registered companies to facilitate their application into the enHance program."
Flexsteel Industries' Starkville, Miss., plant is the first EFEC-registered manufacturing facility to complete the application for membership in the Mississippi enHance program.
Mississippi furniture companies that achieve membership in the enHance program also would have a streamlined process for completing EFEC.
"The involvement and support of the Franklin Furniture Institute is really the conduit for this cooperative agreement," Perdue said.
Last spring FFI partnered with AHFA to help interested Mississippi furniture manufacturers complete the EFEC program. Bill Martin, director of FFI, and two other Institute staffers have been certified to provide EFEC training and perform EFEC audits.
More information on EFEC is available from Bill Perdue. More information on the Mississippi enHance program is at available online, or via e-mail.
January 16,
2011 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Las Vegas on January 17, 2011
Next Generation-NOW will host its first educational session and a cocktail reception at Las Vegas Furniture Market, Tuesday, Jan. 25.
Next Generation-NOW provides professional development, networking and hosted forums to give a voice to the unique needs of young furniture professionals.
The educational session by David Lively of The Lively Merchant runs 4-5 p.m. in the new Retailer Resource Center, WMC-C488/496, with the cocktail reception taking place immediately afterwards in the One-Six Club on the 16th Floor of Building B.
Lively's session will teach attendees how to work with four generations around the conference table. Lively will explain the differences in each generation and give attendees hands-on methods for them to use in their business to bridge the generation gaps.
Following the educational session, Next Generation-NOW attendees will gather One-Six Club for a cocktail reception sponsored by FurnitureDealer.net, the group's major sponsor. Additional Next Generation-NOW sponsors are Lane Home Furnishings, Emerald Home Furnishings and Pacific Furniture Dealers.
"The Next Generation-Now group is a great addition to the industrythey are our future customers, are innovative and way cool," said Andy Bernstein, owner of FurnitureDealer.net. "We really need to engage the younger generations and excite them in order to keep them coming into our industry. Next Generation-Now is a great way for them to express themselves, learn from others and excite them about the home furnishings industry. I am very excited to be a part of this group and to help move us into the future."
RSVP for the Next Generation-NOW event by calling Cindi Williams at 916.748.7677, or visiting the group's Facebook page.