FT Article part 1

FURNITURE|TODAY
FEB. 23$10
MARCH 1, 2015
VOL.39 NO.26
®
THE BUSINESS NEWSPAPER OF THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY
What’s Inside
F U R N I T U R E T O DAY.C O M
Sales freeze up
Snow cuts store traffic, makes deliveries difficult
BY CLINT ENGEL
American producers
finding tailwinds
New products in
technology
Port congestion and rising costs
overseas are a problem for importers, and U.S. manufacturers
like Legends Furniture, which
makes the Avondale bedroom
above, are poised to take advantage. Read our five-page report.
p12
Clint Engel looks at several new
products available to help retailers and others in the industry,
ranging from electronic receipts
to a new texting program. p25
Hooker Furniture
lands Cynthia Rowley
The fashion designer will introduce a line of case goods and
upholstery from Hooker Furniture’s brands in October. p2
Bedding sales soar
in December
Maybe retailers were ordering a
lot to get volume discounts, but
for whatever reason, ISPA reported mattress shipment gains
of 15.1% in units and 25.1% in
dollars in December. p4
Investor group
seeks ouster of
Tempur Sealy CEO
H Partners, which owns nearly
10% of Tempur Sealy’s stock,
sent the company a letter suggesting, among other things,
that it fire its CEO. The company’s board issued a response
in support of the CEO. p36
Las Vegas change
has markets clashing
Dallas market officials have objected to Las Vegas Market organizers’ decision to change its
winter 2016 dates, meaning the
two events will overlap. p36
CONTENTS
AMBIENTE REPORT _______ 34
BEDDING TODAY _________ 28
CLASSIFIEDS _____________ 37
INDUSTRY NUMBERS _____ 39
OPINION _________________ 33
OUTDOOR LIVING_______ 8, 10
PEOPLE TODAY___________ 30
STAFF LISTING____________ 33
BOSTON — Record snow
and freezing temperatures this
month are putting a crimp into
sales for some Northeast retailers, not to mention the moods
of prospective customers.
“It’s snowing right now. I
woke up to another blizzard,”
Peggy Burns, co-owner of
Acton, Mass.-based Circle Fur-
niture said early last week. (She
added a few words not suitable
for publication.)
“This is four or five major
storms in three weeks. It’s
frightening.”
So far for the month,
Circle’s stores and outlet have
closed about five days due to
the weather, including the important Sunday of Presidents
Day weekend, she said. And
when they have opened, sometimes it’s for naught as consumers choose to stay home.
“I would be generous if I
said we were down 50% for
the month of February,” Burns
said. She was prepared to go a
little higher, but then joked, “I
don’t want to be gloomy.”
Near Circle’s Boston city
location, road crews had yet to
clear the parking metered p38
American Furniture booming
BY BILL MCLOUGHLIN
PONTOTOC, Miss. — American Furniture is adding seven
new upholstery lines with plans
to have 32 lines onstream by
April 1, up from 18 as little as
two years ago.
Since the beginning of January the company has added
275 employees to keep pace
with its rapid growth.
The new lines are expected
to add $50 million to $60 million in annualized volume and
will give the company the ability to ship between 18,000 and
20,000 pieces a week, p38
A worker builds a recliner frame at American Furniture,
which now produces between 18,000 and 20,000 pieces a
week.
Mattress Firm says
it’s taking a break
from acquisitions
BY DAVID PERRY
LOS ANGELES — Mattress Firm Holding Corp.
CEO Steve Stagner said it’s time for the fast-growing chain to take an acquisition break.
Addressing 1,400 employees of the Mattress
Firm family of brands here at the company’s
largest-ever BEDTalks, its annual leadership conference, Stagner said the company intends to hold
off on acquisitions, a key to its rapid growth over
the years, for a while.
Stagner called that “a welcome surprise.” It
was greeted by a loud round of applause.
His address, which won him a standing ovation, kicked off BEDTalks, held at the JW Marriott here in downtown Los Angeles. The p36
RECHARGE 2015
IS HERE
Contact your Simmons sales
rep to learn more.
©2015 Simmons Bedding Company. All rights reserved.