Archive for April, 2009
April 15th, 2009 at 10:24pm
Under Furniture News
The majority of Norwalk Custom Order Furniture employees voted against being represented by the U.S. Steelworkers Union. The election was supervised by the National Labor Relations Board and was held with a secret ballot.
Tom Bleile, the spokesman for Norwalk said the company is glad that the matter has been settled and that the company can now move forward. Company president, Dan White, stated that he was glad that the workers got to voice their opinions and that they were willing to give the company a chance to make something new.
Amid financial problems, the original Norwalk Furniture store closed it’s doors last year. The new company is being ran by a local investment group that obtained the defaulted assets.
By MCC
April 10th, 2009 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
Furniture Brands and Foremost Groups Inc. had joined together in a licensing agreement to develp two full lines of outdoor furniture that will be sold uner Broyhill and Lane brand names. Foremost will be designing and manufacturing the new lines that will be sold in outdoor and patio stores, retail chains and furniture stores.
The lines will be debuted at the Casual Market in Chicago that runs September 21 through 24. This newly formed partnership will provide Broyhill and Lane the opportunity to move into the outdoor furniture business for the first time.
Each year, over $4 billion is spent on outdoor furniture in the United States alone. Furniture Brands sees this agreement as their way of expanding profits while meeting consumer needs at the same time. And, are excited about working with Foremost Groups who are known for their high quality manufacturing.
By MCC
April 8th, 2009 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
Major bedding manufacturer Simmons, was recently honored for outstanding efforts relating to the maintenance and implementation of illness and safety prevention programs at six of their bedding plants. According to Simmons, it’s the only bedding producer to receive such high honors from OSHA.
They attribute the recognition of OSHA to their desire to make Simmons a health and safety leader in the bedding industry. Their OSHA recordable incidence rate for 2008 was only 3.2, which was the lowest in the companies history, but also almost half of the 7.1 incidence rate reported by the rest of the furniture industry for 2008.
Simmons had striven to work closely with OSHA on local as well as federal levels to actively enroll all of their plants in OSHA’s cooperative safety programs. Executive Vice President, Kimberly Samon said that Simmons most important resource is their associates and that they realize that a company is only as strong as it’s employees.
By MCC
April 6th, 2009 at 09:35am
Under Furniture News
Costco recently announced that it will make it’s exit from the furniture store business. The company will be closing the two Costco Homes stores located in Tempe, Arizona and Kirkland, Washington this summer. CEO Jim Sinegal said that the two furniture stores had been a “valuable experiment” and that the company has learned a lot about the business of home furnishings.
The company will continue to sell home furnishings at the more than 500 warehouses located around the world. Costco hasn’t been the first giant retailer to find it hard to survive in the dedicated furniture business. Sears, Wal-Mart and JCPenny have all tried their hand at the furniture industry with little success.
The current down turn in the economy may be only partly to blame for their failed travels to introducing furniture. Many retail companies don’t realize the enormous amount of over head and the sheer talent it sometimes takes to make a furniture sale.
By MCC
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