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Wright of Thomasville Launches Top-of-Bed Mfg.

January 16, 2011 by in UnCategorized

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on January 17, 2011

Home furnishings marketing services vendor Wright of Thomasville's Showroom Solutions division has begun in-house manufacturing of top-of-bed branding items.

Those include shams, foot protectors and embroidered labels.

Twelve additional employees have been hired to support manufacturing is taking place at Wright's Thomasville complex. For the past 10 years, Wright has used a local manufacturer for these products. Wrights new division will bring in-house much of the manufacturing for these products.

"The bedding industry has become one of the most dynamic segments in the home furnishing industry and we felt that using our own people and equipment to handle these assignments would assure our customers the continued quality, service and value they have come to expect from Wright for the past 50 years," said Wright President and CEO Greg Wright. "Because of changes in the industry, one of the most compelling challenges we wanted to address in the supply chain was the shorter turns many of our clients require today. We can better meet those challenges by having a captive unit only dedicated to the needs of our clients."

Disney, Theo Kalomirakis Launch "Surround Made Simple"

January 16, 2011 by in UnCategorized

By Home Furnishings Business in licensing on January 17, 2011

Designer Theo Kalomirakis has created, "Surround Made Simple," a new line of home entertainment furnishings for the Walt Disney Signature brand.

Surround Made Simple, which features six full collections of coordinated upholstered furniture, case goods and accessories, will debut at the Las Furniture Vegas Market, Jan. 24-28, in the Furniture Origins showroom, WMC-B101.

Furniture Origins, USA, is a fully integrated furniture company with an extensive portfolio of global home furnishings brands, including Shadow Mountain, Zocalo, Magnolia Home and E1 Origins. The company is the exclusive licensee, manufacturer and distributor of the Theo Kalomirakis for Walt Disney Signature line.

Kalomirakis' goal in creating the new line was to make it easy and affordable for any consumer to enjoy an exciting entertainment experience at home. Each credenza in the collections features built-in surround sound and houses discrete electrical outlets that power all audiovisual equipment with just a single external cord.

"Hidden high-quality speakers, subwoofers and smart phone docking stations built right into each of the units provide superb sound quality along with easy and turn-key multi-media connectivity," Kalomirakis said. "Coordinated sofas, sectionals, arm chairs, cocktail tables and side tables complete the picture--seamlessly blending form and function in stylish and comfortable roomscapes the entire family will love."

"Walt Disney understood the narrative power of sound in cinema," said Robert Oberschelp, director, Walt Disney Signature, Disney Consumer Products. "He revolutionized the movie industry in 1928 with Steamboat Willie and the first synchronized sound and animation. Later, he developed the very first version of surround sound for Fantasia."

"When Walt Disney began making movies, technology was not advanced enough to translate what was in his mind to the silver screen, so he invented what he needed to make his vision a reality," said Scott Ballard, president of Furniture Origins. "In honor of that innovation, each buyer who previews the collections in Las Vegas later this month will receive Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, a special edition, two-movie collection on Bluray and DVD."

International Bedding Names VP of Marketing

January 16, 2011 by in UnCategorized

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on January 17, 2011 International Bedding has named Mark Wozniak vice president of marketing, a new position for the bedding supplier.

Wozniak is responsible for managing the grown of the company's brands, new product development and all marketing and new business initiatives. He reports to Dan Hige, president and chief operating officer.

Mark brings to our company a wealth of experience, talent and passion accumulated over his successful career, Hige said. "Having worked with him for several years at Sealy. I'm familiar with his strong grasp of the retail environment resulting from his early experience at Burdines and other Federated divisions. Coupled with his excellent communications skills and appreciation for the value of teamwork, hell form meaningful relationships not just within our company but with retailers, both of which are essential to our future growth.

Prior to joining IB, Wozniak was vice president of sales for Kingsdown, and prior to that, he was executive vice president of marketing at Comfort Solutions.

Earlier in his career, he held a number of key executive sales and marketing posts at Sealy, where his last held position was vice president of marketing and product merchandising.

Wozniak's retail experience includes roles at Burdines as a bedding and floor coverings buyer. He also held a number of buying and divisional merchandise manager posts at other Federated divisions.

Boyd Sleep Names Mocias Regional Sales VP

January 16, 2011 by in UnCategorized

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on January 17, 2011 Boyd Specialty Sleep has named Dan Mocias regional sales vice president of sales responsible for the company's specialty sleep and accent furniture divisions.

"Dan has a wealth of experience and talent as a veteran of the home furnishings industry," said Dennis Boyd, president. "We look forward to leveraging his expertise with both our customers and our sales staff, and to the valuable contributions he'll make to our future growth and development."

Mocias, who is based in Claremont, Calif., will be involved in marketing and sales of Boyd's product in the western United States. He will also focus on design, manufacture and marketing of the company's accent furniture products on a national basis.

Prior to joining Boyd, Mocias was vice president of sales for case goods supplier Endura. He has also held positions with Somerton Furniture and Intercon Furniture. Prior to those positions, he was president of Custom Style Furniture.