Archive for January, 2009
January 31st, 2009 at 07:48am
Under Furniture News
The closed Ashley Furniture Home Store in North Charleston is getting revived! A Florence based merchant plans to reopen the empty store the middle of February after some renovations.
Burk Parrott, already operates three outlet stores in South Carolina and will open the store next week to sell all of the remaining items left by the previous owners. The store still contains some pieces of furniture and home accessories such as fake plants, vases and other home decor items.
The store was abruptly closed on December 31, by Compass Furniture. The closing cost the jobs of 14 employees who will now be offered employment at the new store. Once the remaining inventory is sold, the store will be once again closed to undergo cleaning, painting and to be restocked with new items.
By slone
January 30th, 2009 at 11:48pm
Under Furniture News
Schnadig Furniture, a case goods and upholstery importer wants to relocate it’s corporate offices and other operation to High Point. The company is asking the city for $100,000 in incentives to help them complete the move.
The company already has a product development office and a sales office in the city. But, they want to begin manufacturing in High Point and have a warehouse located at the same site.
A corporate office located in Illinois and a company warehouse in Mississippi, would both be consolidated into the new facility. The relocation would create around 70 new jobs.
By slone
January 29th, 2009 at 08:30pm
Under Furniture News
Steelcase recently announced their membership in the Institution Recycling Network. The networks goal is to find homes for un-used or un-needed office furniture to keep the products out of landfills.
Unwanted office furniture is provided for non-profit organizations around the world that need chairs, desks, cubicles and any other type of office furniture that is donated to the network.
Earlier in the month, the University of Notre Dame Law School moved into a brand new home. The school only had a week to remove all of the furniture from the old building. Through the new partnership with Steelcase and the IRN, the school was able to donate the old furniture totaling 1,600 pieces to Food for the Poor.
While the recycling effort cost the school $14,000, it would have cost at least $6,000 more to have had to haul all of the furniture off to a landfill. In the United States, many pieces of office furniture that would have been discarded in landfills, were sent to Texas after Hurricane Ike’s devastation.
By slone
January 26th, 2009 at 07:44pm
Under Furniture News
Herman Miller’s facility in Zeeland, MI just achieved the LEED-CI Gold for the renovations done to the Site B-West facility. B-West consists of almost 32,000 square feet and is located in the Main Site headquarters.
The award measures the interiors for their high performance design to reduce impact on the environment. This certification makes the 13th recognition that the company has received.
Among other things, the new renovations included 40 new windows, 7 skylights, C2 Climate Control desktop units, green cleaning products and 100 percent renewable energy source.
By slone
January 25th, 2009 at 07:19am
Under Furniture News
Once again, Steelcase has sent 300 letters to employees to warn them that they’re in danger of a layoff. The company had sent 300 of the dreaded letters last year, but spokeswoman, Jeanine Holquist said that none of those layoffs have actually occured yet.
The company extended the cut off date to February 13 for letters received last year. The second group of letters sent to employees have a deadline of February 27, but Holquist has stressed they hope they won’t have to make any job cuts.
By slone
January 23rd, 2009 at 07:17pm
Under Furniture News
Hammary Furniture just opened a warehousing plant in California that will not only serve the state, but Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Washington as well. The new WorldWide Logistics Distribution Center will be able to get shipments on their way to customers in just 24 hours.
The center will house a wide variety of Hammary products that will include entertainment consoles, bedroom and dining room, occasional tables, Hidden Treasures home accents and decorative area rugs. You can get a glimpse of many of the available items at the Las Vegas Market.
Hammary markets high fashion, eclectic furniture for the entire home and has been in business since 1943. Hammary products are distributed both in the U.S. and internationally and the company is a part of the La-Z-Boy family.
By slone
January 22nd, 2009 at 07:15am
Under Furniture News
Noted attorney, Jack Hick’s will be a guest speaker at the Las Vegas Furniture Market next month. A intellectual property attorney, Hick’s will be talking about the risks of getting sued if you’re selling designer knockoff pieces.
Hicks will be telling the furniture industry how to protect themselves from litigation. He will be giving the presentation at 11:10 a.m. on February 10 in the LVDC Seminar Room, Building c-316. Hicks is licensed as a patent attorney and has counseled clients in everything from patents to trade secrets.
By slone
January 20th, 2009 at 07:17am
Under Furniture News
Contemporary upholstered furniture make, Carter Furniture closed it’s doors for the last time last week. The store had been in Salisbury since 1968 and had 70 people employed at the Long Street and Denton plants.
Another contemporary furniture manufacturer, Directional Furniture is going to buy the failed companies asses and relocate production to their plant in Thomasville. Some of the people employeed by Carter and live in the area will now be working for Directional Furniture.
The furniture industry in North Carolina has suffered with the competition from foreign companies. Bill Ward, president of Carter Furniture and one of the major stockholders, said the decision to shut down was a hard one, but they just didn’t see how they could last.
By slone
January 18th, 2009 at 07:13am
Under Furniture News
Color has a huge effect on our emotions, colors can make you feel energetic, warm and happy. It’s estimated that about 60 percent of a customers buying choices depend on color! Most buying decisions begin with a basic color scheme as the most important factor.
When setting up your furniture displays, make sure that your pieces don’t blend into the walls or surroundings. Choose colors that will contrast with the furniture and accessory pieces so that they become the focal point of the display.
For example, wood furnishings should be enhanced with colors that have black undertones. Colors with black undertones make spaces appear larger and open. These colors include purple, indigo, green, blue and of course black! Knowing the color palette can attract more customers and end in more sales.
By slone
January 16th, 2009 at 06:19pm
Under Furniture News
The U.S. Department of Safety Commission announced the recall of baby cribs from two manufacturers today. Both companies, Stork Craft Mfg. Inc. and Jardine Enterprises are voluntarily recalling their cribs in cooperation with the Safety Commission.
Stork Craft is recalling around 535,000 of their Stork Baby Cribs in cooperation with the Safety Commission. Consumers are advised to stop using the units immediately. At least ten incidents have been reported where the metal brackets that support the crib mattress have broken causing the mattress to collapse.
When the mattress collapses, a child can become trapped and may even suffocate. One report was received that a toddler had sustained bruises and in another report, a child was trapped without injury.
The recall includes all of the Stork Craft Baby cribs with a manufacturing date, or distribution date from May 2000 until November 2008. The affected cribs were sold at several major retailers. Kmart, Walmart, J.C. Penny. The cribs were also sold online at Babiesrus.com, Sears.com, Walmart.com, Costco.com and Amazon.com.
Jardine Enterprises is recalling almost 55,000 units. The units have been reported to have wooden slats that break leaving a gap that can lead to strangulation. No injuries have been reported with the cribs, but several reports were made of the slats breaking while a baby was in the crib.
Back in June, 320,000 of the cribs were recalled and owners are advised to stop using the cribs immediately. The affected cribs were sold at Toys ‘R’ Us, KidsWorld, Babies ‘R’ Us, babiesrus.com and Geoffrey Stores between March of 2004 and this month.
Jardine Cribs included in this Expanded Recall:
Model # Description Date Code Between
DA715BC Dark Pine Olympia Lifetime Crib 2/04 - 1/07
0108L00 Antique Walnut Capri Single Crib 7/06 - 11/07
0308C00 White Capri Lifetime Crib 12/05 - 11/07
By slone
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