Daily News Archive
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December 4,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on December 5, 2010
New Jersey Ashley Furniture Homestores are supporting two charities for the holidays.
Ashley stores in Morris County and Ledgewood, N.J., will donate $25 to Toys for Tots with every "bonus buy" that customers purchase and for every $25 down payment customers make when they finance their furniture. The goal of Toys for Tots is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them into becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.
Ashley Furniture Homestore in Phillipsburg, N.J., will make the same kind of donation to North West New Jersey Community Action Program (NORWESCAP) to fight hunger locally. Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Phillipsburg is working with ShopRite of Greenwich's program, Partners in Caring. Partners in Caring helps fight hunger in the local area and provides assistance to NORWESCAP, the local food bank. They also provide cost-effective, coordinated services to low-income people in Hunterton, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Passiac and Warren counties.
"We all need to help one another," said Barry DiMaio, president of Ashley licensee D'Berg LLC. "Ashley Furniture wouldn't be successful without its customers, so wed like to give back to the communities who support us."
D'berg LLC owns and operates two Ashley Furniture HomeStores with locations in Phillipsburg.
December 4,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Internet on December 5, 2010
Online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) ranked tops in employee satisfaction in a Glassdoor.com survey commissioned by Forbes magazine.
The Salt Lake City-based company earned high marks for its fun, relaxed work culture. CEO and Chairman Patrick M. Byrne earned a 92 percent employee approval rating, the highest of any retailer on the survey list.
"This ranking is a very nice recognition for our company culture," said Overstock.com President Jonathan Johnson. "We focus on making Overstock.com a place that our employees look forward to coming to each day. Our motto is 'We save people money,' and we have a lot of fun doing it. It is great working at a place where people put aside office politics and just get the job done. This award is a reflection of how Patrick cultivates the Overstock.com culture from the top down."
The survey ranked employers based on criteria such as "career opportunities," "communication," "compensation & benefits" and "employee morale." Collected from current and employee feedback since June 2008, the study ranked brands that had at least 20 reviews or more over the last 30 months.
Overstock.com currently employs more than 1,500 people. Its corporate office, two warehouses and two call centers are all located in the greater Salt Lake City area. The retailer recently earned another top ten ranking in a customer service survey conducted by the National Retail Federation and American Express. Overstock has earned the number two spot in this same survey for the past two years.
December 3,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on December 4, 2010
Leather supplier Zenda Leather is the recipient of the 2010 Sage Award for environmental excellence in home furnishings.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance announced the award during last week's All-Industry Sustainability Summit in Asheville, N.C.
AHFA and Cargill's BiOH polyols business unit launched the Sage Award to seek out and recognize environmental innovators in the furniture industry. The competition is open to retail, manufacturing and supplier companies in both the furniture and bedding industries.
Zenda Leather was founded in 1890 in Uruguay. Today the company operates 13 plants and commercial offices in Argentina, Mexico, Germany, South Africa and Uruguay. A 50,000-square-foot U.S. distribution center is located in Hickory, N.C.
All of Zenda's manufacturing facilities hold internationally-recognized ISO 14001 environmental management certifications, said Juan Diego Casaretto, managing director. This certification prescribes controls for all activities that have an impact on the environment, including the use of natural resources, handling and treatment of waste and energy consumption.
Zenda's Uruguay facility has the largest waste treatment plant of its kind in Latin America. In 2000, the company invested more than a half million dollars to expand the plant and double its capacity. It now treats an estimated 2 million liters of water per day. Biological sludge from the plant is used as organic fertilizer for local farmland. An extension to the finishing plant at the same location is used for collecting rainwater that is used in processing the leather hides. The rainwater accounts for 7 percent of the plants total water consumption.
In 2006, Zenda began working with researchers from the Uruguayan National Agricultural Research Institute and developed practices to reduce over 3 million kilograms of solid waste per year by producing compost. In 2008, Zenda opened the first private energy plant in Uruguay. The plant transforms waste into energy, eliminating the companys need to buy power from an outside source for this plant.
Zenda Leather has also invested in developing more eco-friendly products. Based on 10 years of experience making chrome-free leather for the automotive industry, Zenda introduced "Eden" leather to the residential furniture market in 2008. Only natural extracts--no metals--are used in the tanning process for Eden leather.
While several Sage Award judges acknowledged that the leather industry is generally not considered an "environmentally conscious" industry, they also described Zenda as an "industry transformer."
"This raises the bar for all leather manufacturers," said one judge.
The 10 Sage Award judges represented furniture and bedding industry leaders, environmental journalists, sustainability experts and the furniture industry business press. They included Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief of Furniture Today; Mary Frye, president of the Home Furnishings Independents Association; Heather Gadonniex, managing partner of MindClick, a San Francisco-based consultancy specializing in sustainable business; and Leslie Guevarra, associate editor for Greener World Media, an online publishing group focused on sustainable business.
Also Susan Inglis, executive director of the Sustainable Furnishings Council; Robyn Griggs Lawrence, editor-in-chief of Natural Home Magazine; Jean Nayar, former editor-in-chief of Woman's Day Special Interest Magazines and author of "Green Living by Design"; Richard Prisco, professor of industrial design, department of technology, Appalachian State University; Ryan Trainer, president of the International Sleep Products Association; and Steve Walker, assistant director of the Furniture Manufacturing and Management Center at North Carolina State University.
No one from AHFA or Cargill participates in the Sage Award judging. Results were tabulated by Ken Smith, managing partner of the High Point accounting firm Smith Leonard. The entries were evaluated based on each company's sustainability efforts, social or community involvement and their business success.
In addition to the custom-carved Sage Award plaque, the Sage winner receives $2,500 from Cargill's BiOH business unit to be donated to the charitable organization of their choice.
Two finalists in the 2010 competition also were recognized during the Summit in Asheville: Flexsteel Inds., Dubuque, Iowa; and TLS by Design, Portand, Ind.
Flexsteel is a manufacturer, designer, importer and marketer of upholstered and wood furniture for the residential, recreational vehicle, office, hospitality and healthcare markets. Flexsteel's environmental journey began in January 2008 when it implemented EFEC, an environmental management program developed for the residential furniture industry by AHFA. Flexsteel was the first company to implement EFEC at multiple facilities in multiple states simultaneously. In addition to its Iowa plant and headquarters building, it launched EFEC at plants, warehouses and office buildings in California, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas--seven facilities in all.
In business only five years, TLS by Design is the youngest and smallest company to be named a finalist in the three years of the Sage Award competition. Located in a small community surrounded by a depressed rural area, TLS is an innovative, family-run business striving to follow an environmentally-responsible path.
Seventy percent of the company's products are produced and sourced within a 75-mile radius of Portland. When the company's upholstery source went out of business, TLS hired some of the displaced factory workers and moved them into a nearby pole barn. They outgrew the pole barn in six months, but, instead of building a new facility, they purchased a local factory that had housed brush and broom production for most of the last century. They have repurposed the building section by section, equipping it with materials and machinery purchased at auction, including old bowling alley lanes recycled into a "new" 60-foot long cutting table.
The company and its founders, Elizabeth Updike and her husband, Jeff Day, now have their eyes trained on more eco-friendly products. They are using foam with a percentage of soy-based ingredients. Springs in upholstered products are made of recycled steel purchased from a nearby, fifth generation spring-making firm. They are transitioning to more recycled content where possible. On the case goods side, they source wood from local forests and mills and have completed development of new water-based stains that they are now testing.
December 2,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on December 3, 2010
The Furniture Buying Index from
America's Research Group, held steady this month at a reading of 72
Although I would have liked to see another increase in the Index, a steady hold at 72 is not bad, said Britt Beemer, chairman of Americas Research Group. This is 13 points higher than the December 2009 level of 59 and is tied with June and November for the highest 2010 Index.
Beemer said consumers remain concerned with incoming bills and are hesitant to spend money right now.
The Furniture Buying Index is compiled each month by America's Research Group from interviews with 5,000 to 8,000 consumers across the country. In a typical month, 80 percent of the consumers interviewed can name a specific furniture item they intend to buy. The Index's mark signifies what percent of the benchmark 80 percent actually have a particular item in mind.
December 2,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on December 3, 2010
Same store sales reports released yesterday by a number of large chain retailers suggest consumer activity is on the rise, likely foreshadowing the strongest holiday shopping season retailers have experienced in recent years, said the
Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA).
Black Friday sales were up over a year ago as shoppers not only purchased gifts for others, but shopped for themselves as well. Shoppers also got a head start on their shopping this year hitting stores and retail Web sites on Thanksgiving Day and to take advantage of early holiday discounts and promotions. These developments coupled with consumer confidence being at its highest level in five months are an encouraging start for retailers as they enter the holiday season.
Retailers are more optimistic this year than they have been in several years, evidenced by inventory levels higher than a year ago. Retailers have approached the 2010 holiday season eager to attract value-conscious consumers to their stores and earn their business, said RILA President Sandy Kennedy . Retailers will continue to emphasize quality customer service, in-store and online promotions, attractive product assortments and an exceptional shopping experience for customers.
Retailers are utilizing a variety of tactics and applying lessons learned from each of the past two holiday shopping seasons to maximize sales this season.
Inventory: Retailers are carrying more inventory this year compared to last, but by only a small margin. The lessons of recent years have informed planning for this year. In 2008 excess inventory lead to deep discounting and in 2009 low inventory lead to items selling out of stock early. This years inventory is expected to strike a good balance to sufficiently meet consumer demand.
Discounts: Retailers continue to play to the value shoppers in their product assortment and promotional offers. They have found a desirable level in their discounts without undermining profit margins. Retailers are offering great prices and promotions but are offering sensible discounts.
Promotions: In addition to promotions in weekly circulars and offering other conventional forums, retail observers will note an uptick in social media and mobile strategies, used to drive traffic to websites and to entice customers to visit stores. Retailers are also accommodating shoppers by offering a variety of purchase promotions such as layaway and online holiday wish lists.
On-line: Retailers have offered free shipping, special on-line discounts, friends and family discounts, on-line coupons and discount promotions. They have made it possible for consumers to shop on-line and pick up items in the store and return on-line items to the store.
Mobile: Retailers are utilizing mobile to offer sales and promotions and special deals for consumers who follow them on social media sites. Consumers can download mobile apps to check pricing, find out if a product is in-stock, take advantage of promotions and redeem coupons.
Staffing: In anticipation of increased consumer activity a number of retailers have announced they plan to add a significant number of seasonal and temporary workers to assist shoppers and provide them with the best possible shopping experience.