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October 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on October 18, 2010
Century Furniture has achieved the American Home Furnishings Alliance's Sustainable by Design registration for its achievements in environmental stewardship.
"We are thrilled to achieve such an important recognition for our sustainability efforts," said Comer Wear, director of marketing and public relations for Century. "Our company has worked for many years to make the most of our resources and minimize our impact on the environment. Century's culture is one of setting standards of excellence that go beyond regulations. We continually strive to surpass our own best performance."
To enter the Sustainable by Design program Century first had to implement an environmental management program know as EFEC--Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture--which required all facilities to analyze the environmental impact of their operations. This resulted in improved management of resources and raw materials, reduced energy and water consumption, reduced waste and improved recycling efforts.
Sustainable by Design required the company to extend its culture of environmental stewardship throughout its global supply chain. For each key area on a checklist, Century established goals and a system for evaluating annual achievement. These key areas included: supply chain management, including assisting suppliers worldwide in the development and implementation of sustainability programs; using eco-friendly materials, including low VOC/low HAP coatings, certified lumber and low-emitting UF resins; global climate impact, including calculating a baseline carbon footprint; social responsibility, including policies defining the company's commitment to workers' rights and community relations in all areas of the world where Century does business.
Century's environmental consciousness is not new, according to Eric Schenk, president and CEO: "We have long been attentive to our impact on our local community. In recent years our attentions have become global, reflecting the international character of our customer and supplier bases."
Roger Jones, vice president of Global Logistics, believes the company's largest impact is in its purchase of the woods that go into Century's products.
"We focus a lot of attention on this single largest source of raw material," he said. "Century is committed to a responsible purchasing policy. We ask our suppliers to certify to us that their purchases are from sources they can trace and be able to reasonably prove the legality of the harvest. Our infrastructure goes beyond what the law requires, providing us with real, defensible data on our purchases around the world."
Century's first official environmental policy statement was issued in 1993, articulating beliefs and practices already in place. Since that time the company has continually raised the bar for managing its resources, eliminating waste, and reducing water and energy use.
"Our associates at every location and level have been highly involved, contributing ideas as well as executing them," Schenk said.
October 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Green on October 18, 2010
Bassett Furniture has implemented the EFEC furniture industry environmental management program at its Martinsville, Va., table plant, and its Bassett, Va., warehouse and corporate headquarters.
Last year Bassett implemented EFEC at its Newton, N.C., upholstery plant. All of the company's domestic facilities are now EFEC-registered. EFEC, or Enhancing Furniture's Environmental Culture, is a program created for the home furnishings industry by the American Home Furnishings Alliance. To achieve registration, companies must improve management of resources and raw materials; reduce energy and water consumption; and reduce waste disposal and associated costs.
"Each of our EFEC teams used the requirements outlined by AHFA to design an environmental program specific to their individual facility," said Maegan Hubbard, environmental project manager for Bassett and head of the EFEC implementation team. Hubbard also is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accredited professional, through a program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council.
"In a short period of time our facilities have seen significant progress toward their goals," she added. "They will continue to develop their programs internally as well as encourage awareness of the environment within the community."
Employee education is a key component of the EFEC program. An implementation team takes the lead in each facility, but the EFEC audit requires random interviews with employees to ensure everyone at every level understands the companys environmental goals and is participating in the improvement process.
"What happened at Bassett--as well as at every other EFEC facility we have audited this year--is that improvements ended up being made in the community outside the plant as employees realized the positive impact of the improvements they were making inside the plant," said AHFA vice president Bill Perdue, who oversees the association's environmental programs.
For example, one Bassett employee started a recycling program at a local church using the EFEC experience at Bassett. Another noted that employees have started recycling items at home, like aluminum cans, plastic bottles, newspaper and magazines.
Since beginning the EFEC program, landfill waste has been reduced by 33 percent at the corporate office. The warehouse has experienced a 28 percent reduction in landfill costs, and the Martinsville table plant has experienced a 70 percent reduction in landfill costs just since January.
In addition, the Martinsville plant has recycled 4,533 pounds of Styrofoam since July and 29 tons of paper and cardboard from April through August. This recycling activity saved the plant over $9,000 in landfill costs.
"Both our corporate community and the wider communities where our facilities are located have benefited from EFEC," said Bassett President and CEO Rob Spilman.
EFEC, which requires participants to make continual improvements in order to retain their registration, was implemented at 26 different furniture manufacturing locations in 2009 and has been implemented at seven additional locations so far in 2010.
October 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in licensing on October 18, 2010
Luxury lighting vendor Bradburn Co.a's 225 new SKUs at High Point Furniture Market include 25 for its first licensed collection with designer Barclay Butera.
"It's been a year of firsts," says Bradburn Co. CEO Bruce Bradburn. "We launched our first advertising campaign and developed our first licensing line."
When it comes to new products, taking care of the details at Bradburn is President and Chief Designer Fran Bradburns job, and her passion. For more than 20 years, Fran has worked closely with artists, designers and manufacturers to create high-end lighting and home décor that pulls off flair without being fussy. There is a fine line between distinctive and overdone, said Fran.
This fall, design trends for the traditional and transitional lighting market are moving in two directions: detail focused and clean and simple.
Traditional customers want the detail found in unique shade fabrics and textures, interesting trims and atypical shapes," said Fran Bradburn, president and chief Designer, "while transitional customers desire clean lines and simple shapes, with interest coming from textured shade fabrics like sea grass and linen that lend an upscale casual feel to the design."
Atlanta-based Bradburn Co.designs and markets high-end, designer oriented lighting and decorative accessories under the brands Bradburn Gallery and Elizabeth Marshall. Founded in 1988 by husband and wife team Bruce and Fran Bradburn, the company distributes its products through high-end retailers and designers in North, Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
October 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Accessories on October 18, 2010
Global Views and Eastern Breeze Home Collections have partnered to develop and expand the Studio A line of design-driven home decor accessories and accent furniture.
Eastern Breeze has been selling its line under the Studio A name for the past year. With the new partnership, Studio A will become a stand-alone company that will utilize the infrastructure and market expertise of Global Views, and the design direction of Eastern Breeze founders Will Foster and Mary Wilson.
Global Views CEO, David Gebhart and his partners, Frederick Rayner and Lois Del Negro, are excited about this opportunity to expand the Studio A product offering.
Studio A offers merchants and interior designers another tasteful viewpoint in home furnishings which could be further developed and enlarged," said Gebhart. "We welcome the chance to be a part of another exciting interior design assortment to greater fulfill the needs of our customers. Studio A gives us this ability. We feel with our experience, knowledge, and funding Studio A can become a major force in the industrythe innovative product design is already thereit just needs to be encouraged and supported."
Global Views is a diversified company offering fine designs in gifts, decorative accessories, accent tables, large furniture items, rugs, mirrors, and lighting. The Dallas-based company has showrooms in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, High Point, Las Vegas and New York.
Studio A showrooms and sales force will expand across the country as the company develops.
October 17,
2010 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on October 18, 2010
Retailer Burlington Furniture Co. has expanded its store to more than 50 percent to just over 15,000 square feet.
The Burlington, Vt.-based store is hosting a grand opening celebration and as an enticement to see the new showroom is allowing attendees to register to win a free month's rent or mortgage payment.
"While we have a strong offering of upholstery and leather from American Leather, McCreary Modern and Max Home, we are excited to be adding Company C upholstery and both Futura and Violino leather," said Mark Binkhorst. "This along with BDI, Greenington Bamboo furniture and Classic Home Furnishings furniture has really strengthened our product offering. We are looking to enter our third year in a row with double-digit growth."