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October 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Aggregated Content in Retail Technology on October 28, 2010
from http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r3514693805&f=10761
Home furnishings retailer, Slumberland, Inc., has recently selected the Cisco (CSCO) Unified Computing System as a platform for its primary data center.
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October 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in economic news on October 28, 2010
New-order growth for residential furniture continued to slow in August, rising 1 percent over August 2009, when orders were off 12 percent from the prior year.
That's according to the latest Furniture Insights survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors from the High Point accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard.
Year-to-date, new orders rose 8 percent over the first eight months of 2009, down from a 9 percent increase over the prior-year-to-date level reported in July. At this time last year, new orders were 19 percent lower than the same period a year ago.
"The results were in line with most of what we had heard on the street," said Smith Leonard Managing Partner Ken Smith.
August shipments rose 11 percent from the same month last year, when they were down 18 percent from August 2008.
"With orders showing a smaller increase, these shipments were to a degree out of backlogs," Smith said. "We suspect that some of this increase related to finally receiving some product that was ordered at the April market. Approximately 68 percent of the participants reported increased shipments, up slightly from last month.
Year-to-date shipments as of August were 9 percent higher than at the same period a year ago, up slightly from July results. In 2009, shipments year-to-date through eight months were off 20 percent from 2008.
With shipments higher than orders, backlogs fell 6 percent from July but remained 18 percent higher than August 2009. This compares to increases of 40 percent reported in May, 35 percent in June and 27 percent in July.
"One person told me that his backlogs were getting too high, which worried him from a customer service standpoint," Smith said. "Then he noted that now that they are down, backlogs sure felt better when he had them."
August receivables were 15 percent higher than in August 2009, up from a 12 percent increase reported in July. Receivables were 6 percent higher than July 2010.
"The increases would be expected with the increase in shipments, though we continue to hear of extended terms either given or taken by dealers," Smith said.
Inventories were 14 percent higher than August 2009, up from a 6 percent increase last month.
"Some of this, we believe, resulted from imported goods coming into warehouses from previous orders," Smith said. "More may have resulted from manufacturers and distributors ordering more based on earlier increases in orders, but with new orders slowing, inventories increased."
The number of factory and warehouse employees rose 2 percent over August 2009, compared with a 3 percent increase reported in July. Yet, the number of employees was flat compared to July 2010. Payrolls rose 11 percent over August 2009. Year-to-date, payrolls remained 12 percent ahead of the first eight months of 2009.
In summary, Smith said the slight increase in August orders was not unexpected.
"Most of the people we have talked with over the last couple of months had indicated that July and August had started to cool down a bit," he said. "At market, most of those we talked with noted that business was picking up until sometime in July when orders began to slow down. That continued into August, and except for some results of Labor Day sales, continued into September. The order rates have not seemed to decline from last year, but have not increased.
"On a brighter note, the High Point Market was much more up beat than we expected. Traffic, while not in the glory days, appeared to be pretty good. We did hear that several dealers brought fewer people, but we also heard that there were several new buyers, some came that had not been here for a while, and international traffic apparently was up as well."
Some retailers reporting good business "attribute that to keeping their floors fresh with new and exciting items," Smith said. "We continue to believe that makes a lot of sense for obvious reasons. The same seemed to be true for many of the exhibitors. Those that brought out a fair amount of new product, seemed to be pleased with the reaction at market."
Worries about the economy and the upcoming mid-term elections continue to plague consumer confidence.
"Many believe that once the elections are over, consumers may gain more confidence, but others believe that the economy is so bad, that the elections will not matter," Smith said. "We will see in a few weeks which ones are right. With that said, we continue to believe that it is going to be a while before we see significant improvement."
October 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 28, 2010
Furniture retailer Design Within Reach Inc. (PK: DWRI) announced Wednesday it is moving its headquarters from San Francisco to Stamford, Conn.
DWR President and CEO John Edelman and COO John McPhee, both Connecticut residents, were catalysts for the move, according to a
company announcement.
"We believe in the concept of rebirth and we love what Building and Land Technology is doing with this fantastic waterfront area," Edelman said, referring to the Harbor Point development DWR will call home and its developer,
Building and Land Technology.
"We chose Stamford due to its proximity to New York City, vibrant available workforce, and the opportunity to be part of the exhilarating renewal taking place in Stamford's South End," McPhee said. "We look forward to having our corporate offices located directly above the newest Design Within Reach Studio, both of which will be in the former Yale and Towne lock factory at Harbor Point."
Design Within Reach was founded in San Francisco in 1999 by Rob Forbes and has retail stores across the country, a large catalog business and an extensive e-commerce Web site. The retailer specializes in modern-design home furnishings.
October 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Case Goods on October 28, 2010
Appalachian State University student Lee Shan Beatrouse's table design was chosen the best among 23 entries in a design competition put together by
Groovystuff.
The competition was designed to give students real-word experience, a chance to earn royalties on successful design and a reason to choose the home furnishings industry upon graduation.
Twenty-three of the 110 students in ASUs Industrial Design and Furniture Design programs led by Professor Richard Prisco participated in the design competition. The challenge was learning how to work with reclaimed teak and other materials typical of the Groovystuff line. The students were required to design an environmentally-friendly product that reflects the Dick Idol brand http://www.dickidol.com and can be produced using sustainable manufacturing practices.
The design competition was an Olympic event for the 23 students involved from App State, and the talent was indescribable," said Chris Bruning, vice president of Groovystuff. "But as in any competitive race for Gold there can be only one winner, and that winner is Lee Shan Beatrouse!
Groovystuff assembled a panel of judges to review the student projects and presentations for inclusion in the modern rustic Dick Idol brand. Students were judged on practicality in production, marketability with regards to the MSRP, incorporation into the Dick Idol brand, and the professionalism of the students delivery. The panel of judges included: Ray Allegrezza of Furniture Today, Tracy Bulla of Home Accents Today, Jackie Hirschhaut of the
American
Home Furnishings Alliance, Steve Hodges of
Steve Hodges Associates,
Tracy Kalman of TR Designs, and Gray Penell of
Furnitureland South.
The vision behind this table is that of bringing the outdoors in," said Beatrouse. "Using a contrast of materials and textures gives this piece a unique feel. Influenced by the many styles of furniture produced by Groovystuff, I was able to design a coffee table with the versatility to accent a variety of living room spaces. This table implements reclaimed Thai farming equipment as well as teak root pieces, giving the table a very natural feel while maintaining a crisp and clean visual appeal.
In addition to the judging panel, Groovystuff posted the student designs on
Facebook for the public to comment on and vote. For the final voice in the voting competition, Groovystuff displayed each of the student models and design boards for the market attendees to vote on during the
High Point Market. All participants in the voting were eligible to receive a Warner Music Group Prize package that included the new release from Eric Clapton Clapton, Neil Young Le Noise, and Seal Commitment.
Beatrouse will receive a $500 cash reward for stage one of the contest. For stage two of the contest, Groovystuff will display the original drawings along with the finished product in April of 2011 so buyers can see the transformation of the concept into a fully executed consumer product.
"Groovystuff will then ask the attendees at market to comment and vote once againbut also for their order," Bruning said. "The final winning design will be the one with the top sales. That student designer will not only be included in the prestigious Dick Idol Legends collection, but will also win a $1,000 cash prize and a permanent royalty on all future sales of the product for life!
October 27,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Business Strategy on October 28, 2010
Furniture retail consortium Contemporary Design Group has set its annual conference for Dec. 3-7 at the Se San Diego hotel in San Diego.
Despite a tough economy, 2010 has been a growth year for CDG, with six new members as of the close of High Point Furniture Market and a revamped Web site. The groups newest member is Burlington Furniture Co., Burlington, Vt.
The event formally kicks off at 6:30 p.m., Friday, Dec. 3 with a welcome reception and dinner at House of Blues San Diego. Open business sessions begin Saturday morning with an open continental breakfast 7:30 a.m., and after breaking in the late afternoon, continue through Sunday morning. CDG's "members only" session continues through Tuesday.