Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
September 4,
2013 by in Bedding, Industry, Legal, Product 
The federal agency that enforces workplace discrimination complaints has sued Carolina Mattress Guild, accusing the company of subjecting black employees to a racially hostile work environment and unlawfully firing an employee who complained about racial remarks that included the "N-word."
The mattress manufacturer and distributor is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
According to the EEOC complaint, from as early as June of last year through about Aug. 9, 2012, Ricky Clark, a truck loader, and other black employees, were subjected to unwelcome derogatory racial comments and slurs by a white employee at Carolina Mattress Guild.
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Source: High Point Enterprise
September 3,
2013 by in Industry, Store Openings
Furniture retailer The Dump opened its 11th store over the weekend in the Chicago area.
September 3,
2013 by in Executive Changes, Industry
The Specialty Sleep Association (SSA) has named its new officers.
September 3,
2013 by in Industry, Web Retail
Net revenue in the web-dominated direct-to-consumer channel at Williams-Sonoma Inc. increased 15.3 percent to $477.66 million in its fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 4, accounting for nearly half of total net revenue, which rose 12.3 percent to $982.21 million, the retailer of kitchenware and other home furnishings said.
Executives at the retailer said in a recent conference call with stock analysts that e-commerce sales grew by more than 20 percent in Q2 and accounted for more than 90 percent of direct-to-consumer sales, which also include telephone sales placed through paper catalogs.
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Source: InternetRetailer.com
September 3,
2013 by in Business Strategy, Industry
Swedish furniture retailer Ikea plans to accelerate store expansion, a part of its strategy to double sales to around $66 billion by 2020.
The announcement came from Ikea veteran Peter Agnefjall, who became CEO last week. Agnefjall aims to generate 5 percent annual sales growth in existing stores, while another 5 percent sales will come from new store openings.
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Source: Retail Business Review
August 30,
2013 by in Furniture Retailing, Industry
Houston's furniture king Jim McIngvale , known to his fans as "Mattress Mack," tweeted on Thursday after undergoing a heart procedure at St. Luke's Hospital.
Well wishes flooded his Twitter page after he tweeted, "I had a procedure on my heart today @ the TX Heart Ins. @ St. Luke's for a condition called PFO. Looking fwd to getting back to work soon."
McIngvale has more than 3,000 followers on the social networking site.
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Source: Houston Chronicle
August 30,
2013 by in Economic News, Industry
Consumer purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, rose 0.1 percent after a revised 0.6 percent increase the prior month that was larger than previously estimated, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington.
The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.3 percent rise. Incomes increased 0.1 percent, down from 0.3 percent the previous month.
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Source: BusinessWeek