Archive for July, 2010
July 18th, 2010 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
Smith Leonard reports that the United States factory orders for residential furniture rose 12 percent in April 2010 from the same time last year. This represents a growth for six consecutive months. Smith Leonard, an accounting firm reported that 73 percent of the participants reported gains. Some of the gains were fairly significant reaching double digits.
The spring High Point Market may be partially responsible for this years gains. Aprils order backlog increased 44 percent from last year, but orders are expected to catch up to shipments in the next few months. Shipments rose 6 percent in April from last years total and the year to date totals are at 5 percent.
By MCC
July 16th, 2010 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
This falls Las Vegas Market will be offering over 40 seminars for attendees. The seminars will cover motivation and education on a variety of furniture industry issues. Many of the seminars will be c0-sponsored by the World Market Center and other trade organizations which include the National Home Furnishings Assn., Western Home Furnishings Assn., the Specialty Sleep Assn. and industry publications and companies.
Several of the seminars will be held at the WHFA-NHFA Retailer Resource Center that is located in space B-1630. Other seminars will be located in several venues around the market. Most of these sessions are completely free to those who attend the market. FurnitureToday has more information on this years seminars.
There will also be numerous social events that are designed to keep attendees well fed and entertained. From hospitality bars and free appetizers and cocktails, to cooking demonstrations and food samples there will be lots to do.
By MCC
July 14th, 2010 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
Furniture Brands International has announced that it will be building its largest case goods plant in the world in Indonesia. The facility will span 1.4 million square feet and will be located on the island of Java. The new plant is only around five miles from the Semarang plant.
Eventually, all of the manufacturing will be shifted to the new plant. It is expected that the new plant will be producing higher end products for the Furniture Brands lines and Thomasville and Drexel. Officials haven’t revealed what the plants production capacity will be or how much of the Asian market it will represent.
The company did announce that it will still be sourcing from plant that are located in Vietnam, China and South America. The company also owns several manufacturing and distribution facilities in the United States that have a total square footage of well over 3 million square feet.
By MCC
July 4th, 2010 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
Several case goods companies are changing their product mix to focus on areas where they are seeing the most sales. Some are actually abandoning some of the past key categories like formal dining and bedroom furnishings because of declining orders.
For example, Hammary will be exiting the formal dining and bedroom categories to place more focus on accent furniture, occasional and home office and entertainment. Although it will still be offering a small amount of casual dining furniture. Jack Richardson, president of Hammary and sister companies Lea Inds. and American Drew said, “We have been letting our inventories of bedroom and dining room dwindle over the last six months, we are gradually selling those down.”
Lane Furniture is another company that is shifting its focus. They will be putting a greater emphasis on their home entertainment and occasional lines. The company hasn’t introduced any new formal dining or bedroom groups over the past two or three markets. They now offer three formal dining groups and four bedroom groups.
By MCC
July 2nd, 2010 at 07:00am
Under Furniture News
With the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Act passing the United States House, it is now headed for adoption. The bill was passed by the Senate earlier this month and will establish the very first nationwide standards for formaldehyde use in composite panels. These new standards are going to be very similar to the ones that are already in place in California.
The legislation was passed on to the president to be officially signed into law. The bill was written to help protect consumers from the hazardous levels of formaldehyde that are used as a bonding agent in composite panels. It will apply to products that are made domestically and those that are imported from foreign countries.
The bill establishs standards for the emissions from hardwood plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard that is sold within the United States. There are numerous household products that contain composite wood including flooring, cabinets and furniture. It is expected that the bill will require retailers and suppliers to adopt practices that are already being followed in California.
By MCC
Next Posts