Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
November 10,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Financial Reports on November 11, 2010
Leon's Furniture Ltd. on Wednesday announced third-quarter 2010 sales of C$228.9 million, a decrease of 3 percent from the prior-year period.
While sales dropped for the period, net income increased 18.2 percent to C$18.1 million.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, total for Toronto-based Leon's sales were C$642.3 million (C$137.2 million of franchise sales), compared with C$641.8 million (C$136.6 million of franchise sales) in 2009, an increase of 0.1 percent; and net income was C$41.9 million, an increase of 30.4 percent per common share.
Construction has been completed on a new 73,000-square-foot facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario, which will open this week. Construction has begun on a new 84,000-square-foot building in Regina, Saskatchewan, that is scheduled to be completed by late 2011. Leon's also committed to leases for a 76,000-square-foot store in Guelph, Ontario; and a 46,700-square-foot store in Rosemere, Quebec; and those should open next Fall.
Leon's also plan major renovations to be complete by the end of next year at its Sault St. Marie and Sudbury stores. In addition, Leon's had grand openings at two new franchises; Collingwood, Ontario, and Fort Frances, Ontario. At the present time, all funding for new store projects and renovations is scheduled to come from existing cash resources.
Leon's has 38 corporate and 28 franchise stores every Canadian province except British Columbia. Product lines sold at retail include furniture, appliances and electronics.
November 10,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Legal on November 11, 2010
Washington-based law firm Crowell & Moring LLP has launched "Retail Law Observer," a blog covering legal issues and key trends facing the retail industry.
Attorneys from the firm's cross-disciplinary retail law practice will blog on issues of law that impact retailers' bottom line, ranging from price fixing to lease restructuring.
"Retailers are under tremendous economic pressure now, which makes identifying legal risks and opportunities all the more critical to running a successful enterprise," said San Francisco Crowell & Moring partner Gregory D. Call, who heads the firm's retail law practice. "Our goal for the Retail Law Observer is to highlight those legal issues most pressing to the retail industry."
The Retail Law Observer will cover trends and issues affecting the industry including:
* Retail lease provisions and cost-saving opportunities relating to minimum rent, percentage rent, CAM, real estate taxes, marketing fund, utilities, insurance, trash, and co-tenancy.
* Lease restructuring and right-sizing your space.
* Comparative risks and rights under traditional retail leases and pop-up store leases.
* Employee claims, including class action lawsuits challenging employee classifications and meal and rest breaks.
* Efforts by employees to unionize.
* Opportunities for retailers to recover antitrust overcharges.
* Duty savings through global trade negotiations.
* Bankruptcy disputes that continue to rise out of the struggling economy.
* How a retailer's business, risks, and rights are impacted by the sale and financing of malls, shopping centers and mixed use facilities, and the merger and consolidation of center owners.
* Consumer data collection and new privacy legislation impacting social media.
* The FTC's new guidelines on making "green" or environmentally friendly claims, such as recycled content, compostable, and non-toxic.
* Upcoming changes to the Internet naming system, which will dramatically expand the domain names that can be used by retailers.
* Changes to generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and its impact on reporting requirements.
Crowell & Moring's retail law practice clients include wholesale and specialty retailers, department stores, and big-box retailers across the United States and internationally.
November 10,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Mattresses on November 11, 2010
The Better Sleep Council will launch "Suite 7," a Web series created to entertain and heighten awareness of the link between the mattress and overall sleep health.
Suite 7 will premiere in December with distribution partners to be announced in coming weeks.
With each episode set in the same hotel room, each week a new couple or group--newlyweds, divorcing couples, best friends, business partners, total strangers--checks in to "Suite 7" where they unpack their emotional baggage and eventually discover the bed in the center of the room somehow holds the key to resolving their conflict of dealing with overall sleep health.
To give each story its distinct style and voice, the BSC has enlisted a diverse roster of film, television, stage and web talent to write and/or direct each of the anthology's seven episodes. These include Craig Bierko (Damages), Wilson Cleveland (The Temp Life), Shannen Doherty (Charmed), Illeana Douglas (Entourage), Mark Gantt (The Bannen Way), Tony Janning & Sandeep Parikh (The Legend of Neil), Michael Kang (Easy to Assemble: Finding North), Susan Miller (Anyone But Me) and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes).
Bierko, Cleveland, Doherty, Douglas, Janning and Ventimiglia also will appear onscreen along with a cast that includes Brian Austin Green (Beverly Hills 90210), Henry Dittman (Greek), Joshua Malina (The West Wing), Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13), Brandon Molale (Reno 911!), Jaime Murray (Dexter), Tara Perry (The Legend of Neil) and Alexi Wasser (Boy Crazy).
"The Better Sleep Council is leveraging the dramatic growth in branded entertainment and social media to deliver our positive messages of the benefits of a good nights sleep more efficiently and effectively," said BSC Chairman Jimmy Orders, president of Greenville, S.C.-based mattress producer Park Place Corp. "The world is changing faster and faster--and BSC will be part of that change. Suite 7 will reach a much broader spectrum of people than weve ever been able to reach before. Its the most exciting program the Better Sleep Council has ever launched."
"Delivering your message through this type of branded entertainment has proven to be more effective than traditional delivery methods. Our industry has an incredible story to tell and this is a great way to tell it," added BSC Vice Chairman, Mark Quinn.
Suite 7 was developed in collaboration with CJP Communications, and is being produced through its CJP Digital Media branded entertainment practice.
The Better Sleep Council is the consumer education arm of the International Sleep Products Association.
November 10,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on November 11, 2010
The membership of High Point's Hamilton Wrenn Design District has elected Lisa Shankle president of the association.
Shankle is the general manager of Showplace Properties and has served as vice president of the association for the past two years.
Shankle takes over as association president from Bill Cain, president of Chelsea House.
"Bill has done a great job of leading the association," said Shankle. "We will continue to work to keep the Hamilton Wrenn area as the premier area for high end buyers."
In addition to Shankle, the current board members include Larry Platt of The Platt Collections; Charlie Coffey of The Sherrill Cos.; Rod Lambeth of Tomlinson/Erwin Lambeth & Directional; Anna Swing of Yorkshire House; and Sumner Finch of TRS Furniture.
The Hamilton Wrenn Design District is a coalition of high-end showrooms in the Hamilton Wrenn area of High Point who work together to provide buyers services for the area and publicize the district.
November 10,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Community/Charitable Support on November 11, 2010
Online retailer Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) has teamed up celebrity designer Angelo Surmelis to celebrate Veterans Day.
Salt Lake City-based Overstock.com will be selling the Surmelis-designed "angelo:HOME Hero Chair" designed by Angelo Surmelis. Through the end of the year, every time an Overstock.com customer purchases the angelo:HOME Hero Chair, $50 dollars of that purchase will go directly to the Wounded Warrior Project.
"Finding the right organization to partner with was really important, so when my retail partner Overstock.com told me about the Wounded Warrior Project, it took all of five seconds for me to say, 'Yes'" Surmelis said. "WWP truly believes in not only healing the physical scars but also the emotional and psychological ones as well. They believe in hope and I do too."
Overstock.com has raised more than $250,000 for the Wounded Warrior Project since November 2009.
"We are proud to support our veterans," said Overstock.com Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Care Stormy Simon. "The Wounded Warrior Project is focused on making this generation of wounded warriors the most successful and well-adjusted in our nation's history."