It’s a White Christmas Online Ann Gish Preps Retail Store BY CAROLE SLOAN NEW YORK — Ann Gish Inc., the luxury linens designer/supplier, will open a retail store here and change its marketing strategy dramatically in 2011. The company no longer is represented in sales by Codarus. Its sales efforts now are being headed by Anne Maas, formerly of Robb & Stucky, who will lead the newly forming sales team, said Ann Gish, president. New sales reps are Kathy Stafford for West Flori- da, Sebum Bass for the Carolinas and Adriana Rid- dle for Mexico. The company will exhibit in high- end temporary exhibition spaces at HD Home in Atlanta, Accent on Design in New York, Home Finds in Dallas, and Interhall in High Point, N.C. The company’s new facilities here will include a retail store, wholesale showroom, and design stu- dio at 150 Fifth Avenue — a landmark building — on the southwest corner of 20th Street and Fifth Avenue. The space is about 4,000 square feet on the street floor for the retail store, and almost 3,000 square feet in the basement for storage. The store will not be a typical linen store, Gish commented. “I’m excited to be able to buy things for a lin- ens store my way — with special furniture piec- es, case goods for bedrooms, lighting, art work Monday, December 20, 2010 THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 31, No. 30 | $8.00 BY WARREN SHOULBERG SEATTLE — Everyone knows that e-commerce will be one of the shining retail stars of this holiday season, but hardly anybody knows what home textiles products are actu- ally selling online. Nobody, that is, except for Amazon … and now us. Amazon posts lists of its best selling products in a variety of product classifica- tions and the informa- tion on best-selling home textiles products confirms several anecdotal assump- tions the industry has had about this channel: • Pillows and other white goods are a very strong online business. Four of the top 10 Am- azon bed and bath sellers fall into the product category. • Specialized products that may be hard to find at conventional retail outlets sell well on- line. Silk and specialty bedding and pillows dot much of the list. • Fashion remains a tough sell through the internet. There is only one fashion bedding group to break into Amazon’s top 10. • Brands really don’t matter much in home textiles. Out of traditional home tex- tiles brands, only Martex shows up in the Amazon rankings. By the time the holiday season is over, the actual final rankings may change, but as of late last week, the 10 best-selling home textiles products on Amazon showed that white is most certainly right online. The best-selling bed and bath Online Marketplace Keeps Pace SEE COMSCORE PAGE 12 Heimtextil Tweaks Layout CHICAGO — The online market- place is growing, and furnishing sales along with it, according to Jennifer Vlahavas, senior director of Comscore, a digital marketing media intelligence provider. Her presentation at the San- dow Media Online Technol- ogies Conference in Chicago looked at the overall world of ecommerce, then drilled down to furnishings-specific data. Comscore uses a 2 million member panel of consumers, representing more than 170 countries and 43 markets, to gather its data. According to its data, fol- lowing a soft 2009, total e-com- merce sales through Q2 2010 were up 7% vs. a year ago. Last year recorded $209 billion in on- line sales. Also notable, ecommerce continues to gain share of retail spending, hitting 8.1% of overall sales in the first quarter of 2010. The middle-income segment ($50,000-$99,000 household in SEE SALES PAGE 23 Claude Litton Celebrates Retirement Business associates and tenants of New York showroom building 295 Fifth Avenue gathered last week to see off building president and ceo Claude Litton, who is retiring. In his 32 years of managing the property, Litton, seen here with his wife, Rosalee, transformed 295 into a major hub for the home textiles industry. See page 23 for additional party photos. BY CAROLE SLOAN FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Home textiles fashion trends, sustain- ability and new aspects of the contract business will be key themes at Heimtextil here next month. A three day program during this major international trade fair – which runs January 12 to 15 – will focus on how fash- ion influences home textiles in terms of color, pattern and ma- terials as one key element. Sus- tainability in home fabrics and products will be discussed in terms of statutory regulations, ethical rules and global stan- dards as well as eco-labels dur- ing sustainability sessions and a discussion of the standards and changes in the contract segment will be the focus for the discus- sions in this segment. For home textiles and other product categories, Heimtextil SEE GISH PAGE 23 SEE LAYOUT PAGE 23
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It’s a White Christmas Online
Ann Gish Preps Retail StoreBY CAROLE SLOAN
NEW YORK — Ann Gish Inc., the luxury linens designer/supplier, will open a retail store here and change its marketing strategy dramatically in 2011.
The company no longer is represented in sales by Codarus. Its sales efforts now are being headed by Anne Maas, formerly of Robb & Stucky, who will lead the newly forming sales team, said Ann Gish, president.
New sales reps are Kathy Stafford for West Flori-da, Sebum Bass for the Carolinas and Adriana Rid-dle for Mexico. The company will exhibit in high-end temporary exhibition spaces at HD Home in
Atlanta, Accent on Design in New York, Home Finds in Dallas, and Interhall in High Point, N.C.
The company’s new facilities here will include a retail store, wholesale showroom, and design stu-dio at 150 Fifth Avenue — a landmark building — on the southwest corner of 20th Street and Fifth Avenue. The space is about 4,000 square feet on the street fl oor for the retail store, and almost 3,000 square feet in the basement for storage.
The store will not be a typical linen store, Gish commented.
“I’m excited to be able to buy things for a lin-ens store my way — with special furniture piec-es, case goods for bedrooms, lighting, art work
Monday, December 20, 2010
THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 31, No. 30 | $8.00
BY WARREN SHOULBERG
SEATTLE — Everyone knows that e-commerce will be one of the shining retail stars of this holiday season, but hardly anybody knows what home textiles products are actu-ally selling online.
Nobody, that is, except for Amazon … and now us.
Amazon pos t s lists of its best selling products in a variety of product classifi ca-tions and the informa-tion on best-selling home textiles products confi rms several anecdotal assump-tions the industry has had about this channel:
• Pillows and other white goods are a very strong online business. Four of the top 10 Am-azon bed and bath sellers fall into the product category.
• Specialized products that may be hard to find at conventional retail outlets sell well on-line. Silk and specialty bedding and pillows dot much of the list.
• Fashion remains a tough sell through the internet. There is only one
fashion bedding group to break into Amazon’s top 10.
• Brands real ly don’t matter much in home textiles. Out of traditional home tex-
tiles brands, only Martex shows up in the Amazon
rankings.By the time the holiday
season is over, the actual fi nal rankings may change, but as
of late last week, the 10 best-selling home textiles products on Amazon showed that white is most certainly right online. The best-selling bed and bath
Online Marketplace Keeps Pace
SEE COMSCORE PAGE 12
Heimtextil Tweaks Layout
CHICAGO — The online market-place is growing, and furnishing sales along with it, according to Jennifer Vlahavas, senior director of Comscore, a digital marketing media intelligence provider.
Her presentation at the San-dow Media Online Technol-ogies Conference in Chicago looked at the overall world of
ecommerce, then drilled down to furnishings-specifi c data.
Comscore uses a 2 million member panel of consumers, representing more than 170 countries and 43 markets, to gather its data.
According to its data, fol-lowing a soft 2009, total e-com-merce sales through Q2 2010
were up 7% vs. a year ago. Last year recorded $209 billion in on-line sales.
Also notable, ecommerce continues to gain share of retail spending, hitting 8.1% of overall sales in the fi rst quarter of 2010.
The middle-income segment ($50,000-$99,000 household in
SEE SALES PAGE 23
Claude Litton Celebrates Retirement
Business associates and tenants of New York showroom building 295 Fifth Avenue gathered last week to see off building president and ceo Claude Litton, who is retiring. In his 32 years of managing the property, Litton, seen here with his wife, Rosalee, transformed 295 into a major hub for the home textiles industry. See page 23 for additional party photos.
BY CAROLE SLOAN
FRANKFURT, GERMANY — Home textiles fashion trends, sustain-ability and new aspects of the contract business will be key themes at Heimtextil here next month.
A three day program during this major international trade fair – which runs January 12 to 15 – will focus on how fash-ion infl uences home textiles in terms of color, pattern and ma-
terials as one key element. Sus-tainability in home fabrics and products will be discussed in terms of statutory regulations, ethical rules and global stan-dards as well as eco-labels dur-ing sustainability sessions and a discussion of the standards and changes in the contract segment will be the focus for the discus-sions in this segment.
For home textiles and other product categories, Heimtextil
SEE GISH PAGE 23
SEE LAYOUT PAGE 23
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2 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com
NEW YORK — After 29 years of working with WestPoint Home for its bedding and bath pro-grams, Ralph Lauren Home said that it is assuming operations for this business segment, effective May 1.
WestPoint Home will remain the brand’s exclusive licensee for the Lauren basic bedding pro-gram, which includes utility and blanket products.
But Ralph Lauren Home will now handle the manufacturing, sourcing and development its
Lauren-branded bed and bath categories, integrating them into the Polo Ralph Lauren overall supply chain and global manu-facturing process.
“This move allows us to lever-age Polo Ralph Lauren’s world-wide sourcing capabilities to offer the highest quality and value in a very large scale bedding pro-gram,” said Frank Guzzetta, pres-ident of Ralph Lauren Home, which is a division of Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. “This shift will ignite growth and further our
position as a leading designer brand in department stores.”
Added John Piazza, president and ceo of WestPoint Home, “We have enjoyed this record-setting 29-year association. We look for-ward to a prosperous future with Ralph Lauren as we continue to be their basic bedding licensee and, through our strategic ven-dor relationship, continue to produce product for Ralph Lau-ren out of our bedding and bath facilities in Bahrain, Lahore and Chipley, Fla.” HTT
Ralph Lauren Home to Assume Lauren Bed and Bath Ops in ’11
MENOMONEE FALLS, WIS. —Kohl’s Corporation has signed an early renewal of its long-term license agreement with designer Vera Wang’s Simply Vera Vera Wang brand. The excusive pro-gram will expand into cosmetics by spring 2012 in stores nation-wide and on its Kohls.com web-site.
Kohl’s is the exclusive pro-vider and marketer of all Sim-ply Vera Vera Wang merchan-dise in the United States. The partnership began in 2006 when Simply Vera Vera Wang was fi rst licensed by a subsidiary of Vera Wang Group to Kohl’s.
The current merchandise roster includes bedding and bath for the home as well as apparel, intimates and sleep-wear, handbags, leather acces-sories, jewelry, and footwear.
“Leveraging the strength of our exclusive and private brand portfolio allows us to broaden our cross-category representa-tion of existing brands and con-tinues to differentiate Kohl’s in the marketplace,” said Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo of Kohl’s.
For Kohl’s, the expansion of Simply Vera Vera Wang into cosmetics demonstrates the
strength of its exclusive and private brand strategy, which accounted for 48% of sales in the third quarter of 2010, “up significantly from 2009,” the retailer noted.
“Since its launch in 2007, Simply Vera Vera Wang has con-sistently been a strong performer and is the leading exclusive brand in the women’s contem-porary category,” Kohl’s added.
Upon its launch early next year, the Simply Vera Vera Wang branded line of cosmetics will include make-up and color, skin care, bath and body products and beauty accessories. HTT
Kohl’s Extends Simply Vera Vera Wang deal
December 20, 2010
Cost Plus, Bed Bath & Beyond Partner for Test
Cost Plus has acknowledged conducting a merchan-dising test in three Bed Bath & Beyond stores,
which are carrying some Cost Plus consumables.The stores are located in: Totowa, N.J.; Elmsford,
N.Y.; and San Diego.“Cost Plus continually evaluates merchandising ini-
tiatives, including the merchandising test taking place with Bed Bath & Beyond,” the company said in a state-ment.
TJX Decides to Fold A.J. Wright
The TJX Companies plans to shutter its A.J. Wright operations, converting 91 stores to its T.J. Maxx,
Marshalls or HomeGoods formats, and closing the remaining 71 stores plus its two distribution centers and home offi ce.
The move will cut 4,400 jobs from the company payroll, nearly half of them part-time positions.
The company now expects the Marmaxx division to grow to 2,300 to 2.400 stores, which is 300 to 400 more stores than its had originally projected.
The stores are to close between late January and mid February.
Duckwall-Alco 3Q Sales Slip
Duckwall-Alco said third-quarter sales fell 0.6% to $110.5 million and same-store sells dropped 2.3%.Net loss for the quarter ended Oct. 31 widened to
$2.0 million, or 53 cents per share, from a net loss of $1.4 million, or 38 cents per share. Year to date, the net loss was $5.3 million, or $1.37 per share, compared to net earnings of $1.5 million, or 40 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Earnings were impacted by a $484,000 charge related to the reset of 214 Alco stores, a $210,000 charge for integrating a pair of Associated Wholesale Grocers’ brands into the product mix and $60,000 in severance related to layoffs in the home offi ce.
New Macy’s DC to Support Online Biz
Macy’s Inc. will build a new distribution center about 80 miles northwest of Washington, D.C.,
to services its growing online business.The 1.3 million-square-foot fulfi llment center,
located in Berkeley County, W.Va., is scheduled to begin shipping in summer 2012.
In the fi rst 10 months of 2010, the company’s online sales were up 29% — on top of 20% growth in 2009.
RetailBriefs
Tom Byrnes, marketing manager for Liora Manne accepted the Best Booth award on behalf of his company. This award is given each Showtime event to the company that goes the extra step to create an engaging product display within their space.
Liora Manne Awarded Best Booth at Showtime
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4 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com
JLA Home Lands Woolrich License
December 20, 2010
WOOLRICH, PA. — Multi-cate-gory home textiles resource JLA Home has signed an agreement with outdoor apparel manufac-turer Woolrich to produce top-of-bed, dec pillows and textiles wall art. The collection will debut next month at the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market.
It will show again at the High Point market in April.
JLA’s Woolrich collection will launch with five bedding ensembles. Queen sets will include a comforter, adjustable bed shirt, two Euro shames and two standard shams. Throw, dec pillows and sheets will be sold separately.
“JLA Home is well known for its high quality, fashionable products,” said Sharon Kepley, licensing manager of home fur-nishings for Woolrich. “Their
innovative approach and strong presence at retail will play a key role as we expand the Woolrich line to include a broader range of styles beyond our traditional outdoor-inspired, rustic niche.”
Woorich also has licensing arrangements with Mohawk Home for rugs, Lynn Haney Collection for handcrafted San-tas, Picture Source for wall art, Row Potter Works for pottery and garden décor, Shadow Moun-tain for home furnishings, Shady Lady for lighting and accesso-ries, and Whitecraft for indoor and outdoor furniture.
“Our bedding and decorative items will be a stylish comple-ment to the popular Woolrich line of home furnishings, provid-ing consumers with new options for decorating their homes,” said George Kerr, president of JLA Home. HTT
MU T T E N Z , SW I T Z E R L A N D — Major industry supplier Clariant Business Unit Textile Chemicals announced price increases for its range of textiles chemicals and dyes, effective immediately.
The increases will run up to 15%, according to the company.
“Continuing shortages in raw materials are creating an on-going situation of rising feed-stock prices for our business. This, in combination with ever-higher energy and transportation costs, leaves Clariant no alterna-tive but to adjust the prices of
our textile ranges for our cus-tomers,” said Thomas Winkler, head of BU Textile Chemicals at Clariant International Ltd.
Clariant plans to contact cus-tomers individually to specify the price increases that apply to their products and regions. HTT
Clariant Hiking Prices up to 15% for Textiles Products
MUMBAI, INDIA — Industry exec Anurag Sharma has become the new president and ceo Deesan, the textiles division of Patel Brothers, which also has inter-ests in education, oil refining, infrastructure, aviation.
“After 12 years of long and exciting career with Welspun, I have decided to move on and add different dimensions to my personal life and my career,” he
said.He added: “I remember hav-
ing joined Welspun in 1998 when our total turnover was around $20 million, and when I leave it, it is little over $500 million, with an impressive bot-tom line.”
Deesan has been involved with cooperative farming for several years and now cotton is being cultivated on more than
100,000 acres of land under the Deesan umbrella, he said.
The company’s facilities are located in Shirpur, roughly 280 kilometers northeast of Mum-bai. Deesan produces towels, sheets, knitted fabrics and gar-ments, woven fabrics and gar-ments, yarn-dyed shirting fabrics and garment and cotton yarn.
Sharma will be based at head-quarters in Mumbai. HTT
Welspun’s Sharma to Lead Deesan
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The New York International Gift Fair has upgraded its website – www.nyigf.com – to offer its exhibi-tors additional interactive search tools.
The new product search tool, which was made to comple-ment NYIGF’s Online Catalog Gallery, gives retailers access to more detailed product and ven-dor information through a sim-ple keyword search.
“Buyers can now search in broader strokes for product infor-mation, and get a more com-plete picture of the breadth and depth of products available at NYIGF,” said Dorothy Belshaw, director of NYIGF and senior vice president of GLM. “Not only does this make searches more effi cient, it also facilitates the identification of comple-mentary resources.”
Keyword searches will now extend beyond exhibitor-supplied product category designations to include relevant product list-ings found in exhibitor catalogs posted to NYIGF’s Online Cata-log Gallery, increasing the poten-tial to fi nd suitable resources.”
Additionally, keyword search results are now weighted based on relevance, and search results are
prioritized based on the greatest number of prod-uct matches. And buyers are also now able to iden-tify which field – for example, Catalog Gallery, category, etc. – ma tches thei r request.
B u y e r s c a n create and save “walking l is ts” of NYIGF exhibitors upon conducting searches on the site. This service can be used onsite during the Fair events, and archived searches can be adjusted and updated with each show cycle to refl ect new prod-uct offerings and information.
NYIGF said usage of its online interactive features have grown “exponentially” since they were first introduced two years ago.
Buyers who create an online profile can access custom-ized exhibitor lists, exhibitor show specials and new prod-uct announcements. Attend-ees also can register online, in advance, for free admission to NYIGF. Those who have
attended past shows can update their contact information, and add or delete names of addi-tional staff. The website also provides access to seminar and event information as well as travel and hotel discounts.”
NYIGF noted it continues to offer an on-site mobile applica-tion for basic exhibitor and cat-egory searches for ease of nav-igation and orientation on the exhibit fl oor. The mobile appli-cation will be adapted for all smart phone platforms and will be available for download as of January 1, 2011.
The upcoming New York International Gift Fair is sched-uled Jan. 29 to Feb. 3 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City. HTT
NYIGF Enhances Website
ABILENE, KAN. — Midwestern retailer Duckwall-Alco will shift its focus to the Alco nameplate, closing 44 Duckwall units and changing its corporate name to Alco Stores.
Alco units, now numbering 214 stores in 23 states, gener-
ate higher returns, the company said in a st atement. Duck-wall stores, which are nearly four times smaller than Alcos, “account for only 3.9% of sales and little or no profi t,” said Rich Wilson, company president and ceo. HTT
Duckwall-Alco Realigns, Shifts Focus to Alco Name
FRANKFURT, GERMANY — As part of its sustainability push, the Heimtextil international trade fair feature a special show-in-show highlighting bark cloth, which it says is manufactured in an economical, ecological and socially sustainable way from tree bark in Uganda.
The manufacture of bark cloth as been designated as an immaterial UNESCO World Cultural Heritage activity, a dis-tinction given by UNESCO to cultural expressions and prac-tices.
Barktex was launched in 1999 as developmental aid proj-ect. It now provides hundres of
small farming families with an income, according to Heim-textil organizers Messe Frank-furt. The handcrafted fabric looks like leather and is “soft but robust.” During the Janu-ary 2011 fair, Ugandan seam-stresses will demonstrate how the cloth is made in an exhibit in the foyer between Halls 5.1 and 6.1.
This year, Messe Frankfurt commissioned a study of sus-tainably manufactured home textiles. It found the European and North American markets are expected to reach $400Mil-lion, or roughly $545 million US. HTT
Bark Cloth Exhibit Set for Heimtextil
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6 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com
Manhattan Properties.indd 1 11/16/2009 3:28:48 PM
NEW YORK — The Printsource New York trade show taking place Jan.10-12 at 7W New York has lined up a number of semi-nars covering trends.
They include:• “Influences for Spring
2012,” Rita Nakouzi, director, Promostyl;
• “Key Silhouettes for Spring 2012,” Jerome LaMaar, trend consultant, Promostyl;
• “Italian Lab Spring/Sum-mer 2012,” Ionnis Voinis, Ital-ian Lab;
• “Be Inspired,” Fran Yosh-ioka, consultant;
• “Woolworks International Spring 2012,” Philippe Bertrand, Woolworks International;
• “Brasi l & Argentina,” Philippe Bertrand, Woolworks International;
• “Trendlab Spring/Summer 2012,” Shari Hershon, fashion and trend editor, ESP Trend-lab;
• “Color & Surface Trend Forecast Spring/Summer 2012,” Lauren Deatherage, product trend analyst, Cotton Inc.;
• “Color Stories,” Mark Woodman, global color research, Mix Publicatons;
• “Early Color & Trend Directions, Women’s Spring/Summer 2012,” Paul Pelessers, Paul Pelssers Ltd.;
• “Carl in Internat ional Spring/Summer 2012,” Nicki Gondell, Trend House;
• “The Magical Business of Color,” Laurie Pressman, Pan-tone;
• “Reinventing Color and Style: The Major Trends,” Lau-rie Pressman, Pantone;
• “Emerging Trends for the Home Décor Market,” Patti Car-penter, president and creative director, Continuum Home;
• “Benjamin Moore: Color Pulse 2012,” Doty Horn, direc-tor of color and design, Benja-min Moore;
• “Home Interior Trends for Spring/Summer 2012,” Estela Lugo, Trend Bible.
7W is located at 7 W. 34th St. For additional information about the show and seminar schedule, visit www.printsource-newyork.com or call (212) 352-1005. HTT
PrintSource Offers Trend
Programs
NEW YORK — Local home fur-nishings chain Gracious Home, which filed a pre-pack bank-ruptcy in August, has been acquired by Americas Retail Flagship Fund LLC.
Principals of the private invest-ment group include: Joel Kier of the Kier Group, a construction and civil engineering fi rm; Frank Sciame and John Randolph of
Sciame Development Inc., the real estate development arm of a New York construction com-pany; and Isidore Mayrock, the former principal partner of For-tunoff and head of his fami-ly’s investment and real estate offi ce.
“We look forward to working with the Gracious Home team and using our resources, and
fi nancial, real estate and retailing acumen to further develop the company, and serve our custom-ers by building on the heritage and culture of wonderful service and exceptional quality the orig-inal founders have brought to dis-cerning New Yorkers since 1963,” said Kier.
Gracious Home operates three retail stores in Manhat-
tan as well as a home improve-ment design store and showroom in Chelsea, which it previously operated as a retail store.
“All of us at Gracious Home are highly motivated about our future and look forward to part-nering with such experienced investors who understand and respect the Gracious Home val-ues and customer-focused cul-ture,” said Jordan Smilowitz, president and coo. HTT
Gracious Home Finds a White Knight
December 20, 2010
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LIVE FROM HEIMTEXTIL
Sponsored by
Look to our website, www.HomeTextilesToday.com for
our daily broadcast from Frankfurt, Germany on the
latest news from Heimtextil. Each day at the fair,
Home Textiles Today will be webcasting video
coverage of Heimtextil, including interviews with
key industry executives.
For the first time ever, we will be
bringing you coverage direct
from the show! Be sure to
check back often to catch all
the latest comments and
interviews with attendees
and exhibitors.
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8 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com
Furnishings Execs Urge Transparency for Green Claims
BY MARILYN NASON
ASHVILLE, N.C. — If you can’t prove it, don’t call it “green” or “eco-friendly” or any similar term. That was the underlying theme of the two-day American Home Furnishings Association Sustainability Summit here ear-lier this month.
While the three previous AHFA annual summits for home furnishings executives had also dealt with this con-cept, this year’s summit speak-ers emphasized the critical importance of total sustain-ability transparency today to combat greenwashing misin-formation. Several encouraged attendees to initiate programs throughout their entire com-pany from selecting raw mate-rials to production methods to fi nal assembly that clearly dem-onstrate and can prove the lev-els of sustainability commit-ment they have achieved.
This proveable transparency should appear online, should be thoroughly detailed to a company’s vendors and their suppliers, so they, in turn, can explain it to their ultimate cus-tomers—consumers and the public. Where applicable in promotional materials and even on hangtags, a company’s com-mitment should cite not only its sustainability claims but also how these claims have been cer-tified by reputable third party sources.
As evidence of the impor-tance of complete transparency of its environmental commit-ment, Ernesta Ballard, senior vp, corporate affairs, Weyer-haeuser, outlined details of the
company’s program. “You just can’t say it, you must be able to prove it,” she declared, terming it a “greenwashing antidote,” adding, “Sustainability is the new viability for corporations like ours.”
She warned home furnish-ings executives they must go beyond just standard profit reports to show certifi ed trans-parency in their total com-mitment from raw materials through waste and recycling programs and make certain their customers understand it themselves and can then explain it to their customers.
Acknowledging achieving cer-tifi able transparency in a compa-ny’s sustainability commitment is complex to initiate and prop-erly oversee, she encouraged companies to include participa-tion from all employees, suppli-ers, vendors, as well as the com-munity/communities in which they operate .
Ballard and other speak-ers emphasized sustainabil-ity commitment and transpar-ency is becoming more critical in business, as governmental and industry rules, regulations and guidelines become more focused on discouraging unsub-stantiated greenwashing claims in the marketplace. Consum-ers are demanding it as well, all agreed.
In addition to Weyerhaeuser, other case studies underscor-ing the same detailed commit-ment to sustainability were pre-sented by Rod Miller, La-Z-Boy Inc. director of environmen-tal affairs; Kevin Boyle, Cen-tury Furniture Industries plant manager case goods facility;
Meagan Hubbard, Bassett Fur-niture Industries store planning project manager.
Because of the importance of company-wide sustainabil-ity commitment and resulting transparency programs, Oren (sp) Jaffe, founder/managing partner, Sustainable Supply Network Consulting Group, urged all home furnishings executive s to come together as an industry to share sustainabil-ity programs, especially in defi n-ing what sustainability means to their own company.
He also encouraged compa-nies to include a Code of Con-duct in their sustainability pro-gram commitment, as a guide for their vendors, suppliers, as well as their stockholders and the public in general.
Also addressing the critical nature and corporate impact of a total sustainability trans-parency commitment were Paul Hepperla, vp product strategy, Verisae, who discussed how to establish creditable carbon footprints.; Dina Dunn, North American representative, Inter-national Oeko-Tex Assn, who outlined the complexities of certifying leather to meet envi-ronmental/social performance standards.; Steve Linton, sus-tainable technologies direc-tor, Deltec Homes, who noted his companies’ circular-shaped homes “have 78% less waste than conventional homes”; Brock Landry, chairman, gov-ernment division chairman, Venable LLP., who listed FTC Green Marketing updated guideline home furnishings executives should include in their commitment plans. HTT
NEW YORK — Upscale area rug house Safavieh is growing its “Couture” collection of designer brands with the newly inked exclusive licensing partnership with Ralph Lauren Home.
Effective January 2011, Safa-vieh will produce area rugs under both the Ralph Lauren Home and Lauren Ralph Lau-ren Home brands, which are divisions of the Polo Ralph Lau-ren Corp.
“Our approach in this launch was to develop luxury area rugs infused with the spirit of the Ralph Lauren brand, addressing a complete range of lifestyles to further complement the pieces within the Ralph Lauren Home collection,” said Arash Yaraghi, principal, Safavieh.
The program will include handmade and machine-made rugs in a full range of sizes and styles, and will be made in the company’s manufacturing facili-
ties. The fi rst collection is sched-uled to be launched in January during the Atlanta International Rug Market.
Safavieh Couture, the com-pany’s umbrella term for the rug company’s collection of designer brands, also includes Martha Stewart, Thom Filicia, Thomas O’Brien, Suzanne Kasler, Jamie Drake and David Easton.
“Safavieh’s passion for qual-ity and craftsmanship coupled with their firm grasp of both the Ralph Lauren and Lau-ren brands make them an ideal partner as we enter into this new line of business,” said Frank Guzzetta, president of Ralph Lauren Home.
For Ralph Lauren Home, this new partnership is poised “to strengthen and grow the Ralph Lauren Home business in mar-kets throughout North Amer-ica, Europe, Asia, and the Mid-dle East.” HTT
Safavieh Adds Ralph Lauren Home to
“Couture” Designer Rugs Collection
MINNEAPOLIS — Target Corp. is outlining an aggressive approach to sustainability with its newly released company-wide commit-ment to the environment.
Target’s environmental efforts also include several newly set milestones to achieve over the next fi ve-year period.
“We believe the commit-ments announced today will guide our ongoing efforts to further engage Target suppli-
ers, team members and guests in our sustainability initiatives,” said Gregg Steinhafel, chair-man, president and ceo.
The company has listed its commitments to environmental sustainability, along with addi-tional sustainability efforts, at its hereforgood.target.com/environ-ment website.
T h e s e c o m m i t m e n t s include:
• Expanding the selection of
sustainable product choices; • Creating buildings that use
space more effi ciently;• Using resources responsi-
bly, eliminating waste, and min-imizing its carbon footprint.
The longer-term milestones for 2016 for resource use, waste elimination and carbon footprint reduction include:
• Reducing the percentage of operating waste sent to landfi lls by 15%;
• Reducing water usage by 10% percent per square foot;
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10% per square foot and 20% per dollar of retail sales;
• Earning the “Energy Star” label from the Environmental Protection Agency for at least 75% of its buildings;
• Improving the effi ciency of general merchandise transporta-tion inbound to distribution cen-
ters by 15% and outbound by 20%, and supporting the adop-tion of cleaner and more fuel-effi -cient transportation practices.
“Target ’s port fol io-wide approach to tracking energy pe r fo rmance exempl i f i e s how benchmarking can drive improved energy effi ciency and carbon reductions,” said Alyssa Quarforth, national program manager for commercial prop-erty markets, Energy Star. HTT
Target Outlines Environmental Sustainability Efforts
December 20, 2010
PITTSBURGH — American Tex-tile Company will open a new manufacturing plant and dis-tribution center by the end of the fi rst quarter 2011 in Tifton, Ga., to support its accounts in the Southeast.
The 218,000-sq.-ft. plant will initially produce sleep pil-lows, a growing business for the manufacturer. American Textile also produces pillows
at facilities in Duquesne, Pa., Salt Lake City and Dallas.
“The opening of the Tifton facility completes our strate-gic nationwide pillow distribu-tion strategy,” said John Ric-cio, cfo.
About 50 people will work at the plant when it opens. But the end of 2016, American Textile expects the facility to employ about 120 people. HTT
American Textile Co. Readies New Facility
in Georgia
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9 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com
NEW YORK — Organic cotton bedding from Portico Home + Spa is launching in premier suites at 14 Hyatt hotels in the U.S. and Aruba, the inaugural move in the brand’s hospitality strategy.
Next spring, Hyatt plans to add Portico’s organic cotton tow-els, bathrobes and bath rugs to the suites. Hyatt has long carried
Portico shampoo, condition and bath soap.
“We look forward to expand-ing ‘green’ hospitality initiatives with Hyatt and other companies around the world, by being a one-stop-shop organic and sustainable solution provider of amenities, bed, and bath linens, and utility products,” said Gregg Haft, Por-tico Home + Spa president. HTT
Portico Bedding in Deal with
Hyatt Hotels DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA. — WE network décor program Design-ing Spaces recently featured Firefend flame-retardant, resi-dential draperies as part of a spe-cial “Holiday Spaces” program.
The show aired Nov. 12, 14, and 15
“There aren’t any other cur-tains or drapes sold retail or online that self extinguish, and every production lot is indepen-dently tested and certified to
meet strict commercial flame retardant codes,” said Tripp Hor-nick, coo. “Appearing on ‘Holi-day Spaces’ gives us the perfect opportunity to share with viewers the design, style, and safety bene-fi ts of the Firefend collection.”
The collection includes fash-ion drapes, kids drapes, and semi sheer batiste panels. In addition, all the colors and prints can be purchased by the yard in bolts for upholstery uses or to create
other fi nished textiles.Lysa Liemer, Designing
Spaces’ executive vp of program-ming and chief operating offi-cer, said: “We are always explor-ing exciting topics and trends to inspire viewers to take on all holiday home challenges — and Louis Hornick and Company, along with their fl ame retardant ready-made drapery collection delivered the perfect solution.” HTT
Louis Hornick & Company FR Draperies Featured on
“Designing Spaces”
December 20, 2010
NEW YORK — Next month’s Tex-world USA fabric fair here at the Javits Center will offer a slate of informational sessions covering sustainability, fashion trends and more.
The show runs Jan. 18-20. Seminars, which were organized by fi ber manufacturer Lenzing, include:
“An Eco Index for Everyone,” a panel discussion featuring Karla Magruder, president, Fabrikol-ogy; Jamie Bainbridge, director of fabric and product develop-ment, Nau, Inc.; Steve Lamar, executive vp, American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA); and Celeste Lilore, co-founder Restore Clothing.
“Spr ing Summer 2012:
Mega + Materials,” with SophieLucie Dewulf, materials editor, Stylesight of Milan, and Andrea Praet, trend director, Stylesight USA.
“Crossing the Bridge to Spring/Summer 2012,” by Lau-rie Pressman, director of market-ing and sales development, Pan-tone.
“Fashion: Fact or Francy,” featuring David Wolfe, creative director, The Doneger Group.
“Color Trends: The West Coast Perspective on Color and Lifestyle Trends,” with Fran Sude, president, and Arnold Sude, coo, both of Design Options.
“Fiber Innovations,” a panel discussion with Karla Magruder,
president, Fabrikology; Andreas Dorner, global marketing direc-tor, Lenzing; Kenneth Barker, ceo, Naturally Advanced; Steven Usdan, founder, MDC Group.
“Spring/Summer 2012 Youth Culture,” by Andrea Praet, trend director, Stylesight USA.
“Sourcing North America: Discover New Resources,” by Susan Power, publisher, About-Sources.
“Get Started,” advice for new designers about how to set up and run a business, featur-ing Mercedes Gonzalez, direc-tor, Global Purchasing Com-panies.
For additional information, visit www.texworldusa.com or call 770.984.8016 ext.401. HTT
Texworld USA Announces Seminar Line-up
FT. LAUDERDALE, FLA. – Valley Forge Fabrics received Editors’ Choice distinction during the opening ceremony of the Inter-national Hotel, Motel and Res-taurant Show in New York City for the second time in three years.
Valley Forge won in the Lin-ens category for the Expand-A-Grip bedding product, which
was introduced earlier this year.
Expand-A-Grip, patented by Louisville Bedding, combines a “fi ts-like-a-glove” design that allows the fi tted skirt to stretch in two different directions to fi t a wide range mattresses and box spring widths. The product is made in the USA by Louis-ville Bedding. HTT
Valley Forge Fabrics Receives Second
Editors’ Choice Award
DALTON, GA. — Carpet and rug manufacturer Beaulieu of Amer-ica is playing up its Bliss brand this winter at several markets in early 2011.
Keeping specific details about the newest batch of offer-ings close to the vest, svp of mar-keting Patricia Flavin instead offered a more general summary, describing the product expan-sion as “a totally new and fresh approach to the Bliss brand, with new collections, features and displays that are unique in the industry. Bliss for 2011 pro-vides dealers with more of what
the carpet-buying customer is looking for and that spells a real advantage for Bliss dealers.”
As in the past several years, Bliss and the other Beaulieu brands will occupy a major booth space at Surfaces in Las Vegas, which is scheduled Jan.25 to 27.
Beaulieu will also be show-ing at:
• Dallas Regional Show, Grapevine, Texas, Jan. 13-14;
• Atlanta Regional Show, Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 13-14;
• Tunica Regional Show, Tunica, Miss., Feb. 4-5. HTT.
Beaulieu Expands Bliss Brand at Winter Markets
WHITE PLAINS, NY — The 2011 Surtex show, which features orig-inal art and design available for licensing, will also include conference session around the theme: “Future Focus: Profi t from Design.”
Taking place during the fair at the Javits Center in New York from May 15-17, the program includes:
• Core Basics of Licensing 1: Practicality, with Steve Har-ris, founder of Harris-Sachs, and Marty Segelbaum, president/owner, MHS Licensing.
• Core Basics of Licensing II: Creativity: with Sam Abell, pres-ident, Courtney Davis, and Jeff Grinspan, owner, Grinspan & Co and artmoid.com.
• Core Basics of Licensing III: Marketing & Presentation: with
Tara Reed, founder, ArtLicens-ingInfo.com, and Khristian A. Howell, owner, Khristian A. How-ell Surface Design.
• Manufacturers and Artists Working Together -Secrets of Suc-cessful Relationships: with David North, vp marketing, Croscill Liv-ing; Paul Brent, owner, Paul Brent Designer, Nicci Henry, licensing account manager, Mead West-vaco, Charles Gallagher, sr. vp sales and marketing, PTS Amer-ica, Inc., and Alan Korsgaden, president, Image Connection.
• Business Practices: Nuts & Bolts of Licensing Agreements: with Joshua Kaufman, Venable LLP.
• Business Practices: Pro-tecting Your Creative Designs – Legally: with Jeanne Hamburg, Norris McLaughlin & Marcus PA.
Business Practices: Structures, Leases, Staffing, Insurance and More: with Lara Kisielewska, owner, Optimum Design & Con-sulting.
• Trends in Art Licensing Busi-ness: with Susan January, vp/prod-uct management, Leanin’ Tree, Gus Walbolt, co-owner, Mosaic Licensing, Mary Beth Freet, cre-ative director, Pink Light Design, and Francesca Ash, publisher/edi-tor, Total Licensing LTD,
• Retail Trends - A Savvy Look at the Future: with Maggie Gil-liam, owner, Gilliam & Co.
• Digit al Trends: From Homepage to the Latest in Social Media: with Tom Shapiro, pres-ident/owner, Digital Marketing NOW.
For details, visit www.surtex.com or call 800-272-7469. HTT
CHECK US OUT ON THE WEB
Suxtex Announces Conference Program
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10 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com
1. At MMPI’s event, Roberta Hayes, Valdese, left chatted with Dan Carroll of Adesai Jacquards and Jana Platina-Phipps of Classical Elements.
2. Lara Lund, left, Edinburgh Weavers, with Suzy Murphy-Phipps, Edinburgh Weavers and Lady Fabrics, and Luis Almeld, Lady Fabrics.
3. Alice Guercio, left, Kravet, with Katherine Hable, Hable
Construction, Ron Fiore, Hickory Chair, Susan Hable, Hable Construction, and Laura Levinson, Valdese.
4. Mindy Marcus, left, of Circa 1801, with Zack Taylor of Valdese, Jennie Wilde of Robert Allen, Christy Almond of Robert Allen, and Martha Clifton of Valdese.
5. Corey Faul, Newport, Ann Hackney and Jennifer White, Valdese, Vickie Miller, Macy’s, and Mike Shelton, Valdese.
6. Tish Zagaroli, left, of Circa 1801, with Susan Moore of Dos Rios, Blake Millinor of Valdese.
7. Linda Skeen and Perry Skeen, left, both of Brentwood Textiles, with Jack Cobb and Suzanne Theodore, both of Morgan Fabrics.
8. Jonathan Ostrow, left, of Blue Moon Printworks, with Ronnie Gold and Lee Kabat, both of Home Accent Fabrics.
1
3
5 2
7 2
Showtime Parties2
4
6
8
The social bees buzzed at Showtime in High Point, N.C., earlier this month with major events hosted by event sponsor International Textile Market Association, as well as Valdese Weav-ers and MMPI, the landlord for Market Square.
December 20, 2010
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11 Home Textiles TodayNewsNews> hometextilestoday.com
CHICAGO — Social media is the hottest topic in the online world, but in the B2B environment, the rationale and strategy for a social networking campaign are not al-ways clear.
The fi nal session at the On-line Technologies Conference in Chicago was Social Media and the Real World, a panel dis-cussion about how businesses have leveraged social media and how they measure the return on investment.
Panelists were Kelly Ellis, director of integrated market-ing for Serta International; Julia Rosien, former communica-tions director for Natura World and founder of social media con-sultancy Social North; Jessica Koster, commercial manager of Cargill BiOH; and Chris Phil-lips, director of Apartment Ther-apy Media. The discussion was moderated by Crystal Vilkaitis, the newly named director of so-cial media for Snapretail.
The panelists agreed that while making the leap into the world of Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites can be intimidating and time-consuming, it’s a great way to build a brand, extend a compa-ny’s reach and build a very di-rect relationship with customers and end consumers.
“You don’t engage in social media as a PR arm of your com-pany,” Rosien said. “Your com-pany should embody the trans-parency that you can get through social media.”
Ellis agreed that this trans-parency can be diffi cult to em-brace, but it’s the key to a suc-cessful social media effort, even when (and perhaps especially when), you are dealing with an
unhappy customer.“Be prepared to be complete-
ly transparent – especially when it comes to customer service,” she said. “Be prepared with time and resources, and get someone to be a brand advocate – some-one who is passionate about your brand.
“You also have to be pre-pared when you enter this space that you will get disgruntled customers who fi nd you. They will threaten to use these media against you. Make it a quick res-olution – don’t be afraid of it, but be prepared to work hand-in-hand with your customer ser-vice department.”
Because of the open nature of social media, there are op-portunities for companies to learn what consumers are say-ing about them.
“Your customers are talking about you,” Rosien said. “Isn’t it better that you’re there to hear about it?”
“That’s the benefi t of social
media – you can create a real dialog,” Koster added. “We may end up that we agree to disagree, but we have created a respectful commentary.”
Blogs are a good way to start the conversation, but you don’t necessarily have to create your own, Phillips said. Instead you can leverage the content that oth-ers are already producing to help build your own community. “Lots of blogs already cover your fi eld,” he said. “You can get your feet wet by pitching them, joining the conversation and getting to know those editors and infl uencers.”
Social media infl uence tends to grow organically, but it’s most effective when it’s used to create conversation.
“Once you’ve started a com-munity, watch what people are talking about and join the con-versation,” Phillips said.
“Look around you and back and forth,” Koster added. “Don’t make it just about your busi-ness.” HTT
Social Media Panel Shares Secrets to Success on Facebook, Twitter
The social media panelists were, from left, Chris Phillips, Apartment Therapy; Jessica Koster, Cargill BiOH, Julia Rosien, Social North; and Kelly Ellis, Serta. Crystal Vilkaitis of Snapretail, far right, moderated the discussion.
ATLANTA — The ICON Hon-ors, the awards program for the home and gift industry launched this past summer by AmericasMart Atlanta and the Gift & Home Trade Associa-tion, is returning next year with a new media partner: Sandow Media, parent of Home Textiles Today.
The event, which recognizes superior achievement, contribu-tion and innovation in a variety
of industry business classifi ca-tions, is scheduled for July 14, 2011 during the summer mar-ket at AmericasMart here. Last year’s inaugural event attracted more than 1,000 attendees.
The new member of the sponsorship triumvirate next year will be the Sandow Media group of home furnishings re-tail publications, also includ-ing Gifts & Decorative Acces-sories, Home Accents Today,
Furniture Today and Casual Living.
“ICON Honors emerges as both a dream realized and the promise of a resurging, re-newing vision for 2011 and be-yond,” said Jeff Portman, Amer-icasMart president, “now made stronger through the Sandow Media partnership.”
Details and deadlines for the 2011 event will be announced after the fi rst of the year. HTT
2011 ICON Honors Set With Sandow as Media Partner
December 20, 2010
NEW YORK — Encouraged by fa-vorable reviews from buyers dur-ing a sneak preview last year, de-signer Marlo Lorenz and her team at Thro Ltd. have decid-ed to launch a permanent col-lection of outdoor cushions for the spring 2011 season.
Hitting stores just in time for the warm weather, Lorenz’ new outdoor cushion collection transforms classic prints and em-ploys new designs, with cushions in a variety of shapes and sizes.
“There is something for ev-eryone and every style,” she said.
“It is a new and exciting time at Thro, many changes are hap-pening and I couldn’t be hap-pier.”
Lorenz, company founder and chief designer, launched her fi rst brand, Thro Ltd., in 1999 with her signature opulent style inter-preted on a line of accent pillows and throw blankets.
As the company grew, Lorenz was inspired to launch a second brand, Marlo Lorenz Signature Collection, in 2006, as a high-end home décor offering of home textiles. HTT
Marlo Lorenz, Thro to Launch Outdoor Cushion Collection
for Spring
DALLAS — Feizy Rugs has hired and appoint-ed 35-year area rug in-dustry veteran Doug Robetor as the compa-ny’s new vp, sales.
Robetor comes to Feizy from Loloi Rugs, where he was national sales manager. Prior to that, he worked at OW/Sphinx as its Southern regional manager.
In his new role, he is respon-sible for the development and supervision of Feizy’s regional sales managers and the expan-
sion of Feizy’s national accounts, which con-sist of furniture stores, fl ooring and rug retail-ers, and home accent dealers. He reports to Cameron Feizy, senior vice president.
“Doug’s knowledge of the industry and his sales and business acu-
men are well-known and re-spected. We are excited that he will be leading our sales team and helping to grow our busi-ness,” said John Feizy, president and ceo. HTT
Feizy Taps Robetor for vp, Sales Post
DOUG ROBETOR
Feizy
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. – With its roster of designer licenses continuing to grow, high-end area rug house Safavieh has created the new post of execu-tive account manager, licens-ing, and has promoted Tiffany Yaraghi to fi ll it.
Yaraghi joined the company early this year, working in Sa-favieh’s wholesale and manu-facturing division. Since then she has been involved in vari-ous merchandising capacities, including the development of home accent product line ex-tensions set to launch in 2011.
“With the growth of our de-
signer licensing portfolio, which now includes the top style icons in fashion and home furnish-ings, Safavieh Couture now re-quires a full time manager co-ordinating every aspect from product development to market introduction,” explained Arash Yaraghi, principal.
The company’s Safavieh Couture line encompasses a bevy of designer licensed pro-grams, including Martha Stew-art, Thomas O’Brien, Thom Filicia, Jamie Drake, David Easton, Suzanne Kasler, and most recently Ralph Lauren Home. HTT
Safavieh Promotes Yaraghi
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12 Home Textiles Today News
come), which had shown little signs of growth in prior quarters, grew at a rate of 11% in Q3 ver-sus year ago; it contributed 5% of the total e-commerce growth for the third quarter of 2010.
When it comes to research-ing products online, six in 10 consumers said the Internet has become important when mak-ing buying decisions, and 59% of them say that has increased
in the past year, according to Comscore research.
“Consumers are becoming more comfortable buying big-ger ticket items online, and that shows in the total spend,” Vla-havas said.
In the first eight months of 2010, online home furnishings sales showed strong growth over 2009 — up 10.1% to reach more than $2.7 billion, she said.
Vlahavas said about half of consumers will abandon an on-line shopping cart if free ship-ping is not offered. But, 66% of those said they would be more
likely to continue their purchase if special pricing or discounts/re-wards on future purchases were offered.
Among the home furnishings sites popular with the Comscore panelists, Ikea was by far the most visited, followed by Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. The strongest year-over-year growth was posted by Rent-a-Center, up 32% for 2010.
Flash sale sites, such as OneKingsLane.com, Haute-Look.com and Gilt.com, all also showed significant growth in 2010, up more than 100% each
as the fl ash sale trend continues to build momentum.
“Flash sale sites are becom-ing a new way to shop online and for consumers to feel smart about the way they shop,” Vla-havas said.
She also got into details about the online search for furniture.
She reported 18.5 million searches on furniture so far in 2010, an 8% growth increase in terms of searches and 11% in-crease over 2009 in the number of searchers entering the term “Furniture.” All households with income of more than $25,000
increased their share of searches by double-digits, while the stron-gest growth came in the 55-64 age group, which was up 16%.
While search (paid keywords, for example) was more effective than display advertising, the most effective home furnishings promoters online use a combi-nation of search and display ad-vertising, Vlahavas said.
The top home furnishings ad-vertisers by total display impres-sions are La-Z-Boy, Sleepy’s, Ashley Home Stores, RC Wil-ley, Wal-Mart, Pier 1 and Value City. HTT
BY JENNY HEINZEN YORK
CHICAGO — Online technol-ogies are shaping the future of the business world, and the most successful companies now are fi nding ways to leverage the new tools available to them.
The fi rst Sandow Media On-line Technologies Conference, held at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart in November, sought to explain some of those tools and why companies need to aggres-sively enter the digital space to lay the groundwork for long-term success. Sandow Media is HTT’s parent company.
“Technology and its impact on the way we do business are accelerating,” said Penny Sch-neck, online manager for the Sandow’s Retail Group of pub-lications. “Just when you think you’ve got your Internet pro-gram all set, some new technol-ogy emerges. What’s the next big thing? Will it be a fad or a game-changer? And how applicable is it to our businesses?”
The day-long event, attend-ed by more than 100 represen-tatives from all areas of the gift and home furnishings universe, was designed to answer some of those questions.
Comscore kicked off the day with a session on the State of Home Furnishings Online (see related article, page 1).
Next up was Mark Grodin, senior vice president of Shopa-tron, who spoke about in-store pickup as the future for e-com-merce.
Grodin said that selling on-line, but offering in-store pick-
up, avoids shipping costs, leads to add-on sales and closes a sale before a shopper can get distract-ed. He said many key retailers use in-store pickup, with Circuit City being the fi rst to offer the service broadly.
Now, he said, 30% of Wal-Mart, 40% of REI, 77% of Ace Hardware online orders are picked up in-store. At Wal-Mart, 60% of those lead to add-on sales, averaging $60 each.
He also said that 37% of Amer-ican online consumers have used in-store pickup, and the trend to-ward immediate order-fulfill-ment is demonstrated by Ama-zon.com now offering same-day service in seven cities. Using in-store pickup also can solve some of the issues with online purchas-ing: legal, shipping, security and installation, he said.
Grodin’s presentation was followed by a panel discussion: What Works Online. Speak-ers were Irene Jeremic, presi-dent and CEO of The Tableau; Ron Goswell, CEO of Ayr1; and Robert Williams, director of fun/marketing/ecommerce/social media for Texas retailer Gallery Furniture.
Williams said Gallery Furni-ture has found success by trying new things in the digital world. “It’s not always easy to determine the return on investment, but you have to be there,” he said.
Gallery uses scannable QR tags on every piece of merchan-dise, so a customer or sales rep can immediately access more in-formation about a piece of fur-niture. The retailer also active-ly uses social media, with nearly
7,000 fans on Facebook. It has built its online following through creative contests, including one in November to outfi t teachers’ lounges at area schools that get the most votes on the company’s profi le page.
“Mobile technology, social media, your website … it all gives you the opportunity to go out and reach people as never before,” he said. “You may not like it, you may not use it your-self … but you have to go where your customers are.”
Which is exactly the point made by Ayr1’s Goswell, who said that most personal online shopping happens between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. -- when most brick-and-mortar stores are closed.
“Every morning, long before you open your stores, Ameri-ca has been surfing and shop-ping,” he said. Retailers need to operate their online business with that in mind – e-commerce sites are different businesses and need to be treated as such.
Adam Schrier, executive di-rector of sales, marketing and business development for Wher-eoware, shared the Five Secrets to Sell More with Targeted Mar-keting.
Schrier made the point that for an online message to be most effective, it needs to be targeted to a specifi c reader.
“Don’t send 10,000 emails,” he said. “Send 2,000 to the peo-ple who want to get them.”
His fi ve “secrets” or steps to marketing success are: Profi le, segment, target, measure and adjust.
An example of effective tar-geted marketing: Contacting cus-tomers who abandoned online shopping carts. Schrier said 69% of these shoppers will open the reminder email if you send it to them. Many of those will go on to purchase the cart items, espe-cially if you offer them a discount or free shipping at that point.
The next session – The Dig-ital Media Landscape – was led by Matthew Klein, co-found-er and CEO of online ad agen-cy Fuor Digital. He shared new technologies and some of the marketing campaigns made pos-sible by implementing them.
The most important thing to remember with online mar-keting, he said, is to be every-where and offer a complemen-tary message across platforms
and media.“A Facebook campaign, dis-
play ads, Google Ad Words … everything works together,” he said. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to digital mar-keting.”
He said that because televi-sion is a marketers “holy grail,” web advertisers can ease their way in by creating web videos, noting that there were 1.5 times more video views online in the month of September than there were online searches.
The session closed with a panel on social media (see relat-ed story, 11).
Sponsors for the event were Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., Whereoware, Shopatron, Ayr1, Snapretail and Myriad Software. HTT
Online Technologies Conference Helps Industry Move Ahead on the Internet
December 20, 2010
Comscore Presentation
COMSCORE FROM PAGE 1
More than 100 members of the gift and home furnishings industry attended the first, sold-out conference.
> hometextilestoday.com
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13 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com December 20, 2010
MIAMI— Michael Fux, former Sleep Innovations founder and president, brought his gift of Christ-mas cheer to seriously ill children and their families at his annual Holiday Party at the Miami Chil-dren’s Hospital.
Some 300 people were on hand for the event, which featured visits from local sports stars, entertain-ment, face painting and other activities all geared to the kids who are the benefi ciaries of the Michael Fux Foundation. The event, held on Saturday, Dec. 11 at the hospital, was capped off with a visit from Santa Claus himself who distributed special gifts to the special kids. HTT
Santa Fux Comes To Miami
The big star of the party was Santa himself who handed out holiday gifts. Below: Miami Heat Dancers helped kick things off at the party.
At left: Michael Fux and Gloria Rubin, with an event volunteer, were hosts for the annual event. Above: Former basketball star Alonzo Mourning was one of several sports personalities on hand.
Face painting was a highlight of the activities geared toward the 300 guests, including seriously ill children and their families.
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14 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com
PEOPLETodaY
CONNOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. — Tish Zagaroli and Townson Smith have been promoted to senior design positions at the Circa 1801 division of Valdese Weavers, part of a major personnel restructuring activity for the division.
Zagaroli promoted to the new position of cre-ative director, was senior designer for Circa 1801. She has been with the company for 11 years. Smith, now the company’s design director, has been with Valdese since 1999 and joined Circa 1801 in 2009. They report to Laura Levinson, senior vp of product development for Valdese.
For Showtime, as part of the division’s expanded product launch, it will introduced more than 200 skus from Hable Construction, a New York-based design group headed by sis-ters Susan and Katherine Hable. The company has been designing for the casual accessory mar-ket as well as other finished products such as handbags and has a young, whimsical, hip sig-nature. HTT
Valdese Promotes Zagaroli, Smith
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Perfect Fit Industries has named Brian McAlear its national representa-tive for the Canadian market, a new position.
He is charged with expand-ing the company’s distribution as well as its manufacturing
beyond the United States.Previously, he served as vp
of Canadian operations for Dan River.
“Brian’s track record, his understanding of the Canadian market, and his extensive expe-rience working with both the
Canadian majors and indepen-dents, make him a terrifi c addi-tion,” said Dan Hammer, Per-fect Fit’s president and ceo.
He said the move was part of the company’s plan to support global retailers, adding: “Can-ada is just the fi rst step.” HTT
Perfect Fit Adds McAlear
December 20, 2010
BELLE HARBOR, N. Y. — Services were held for Steve Tabasco, 82, who died in September.
Tabasco, a long-time mill executive, was one of the pio-neers in the licensing of sports and cartoon characters in the
home textiles industry. He was one of the Bibb Co.’s leaders in the licensing world, bringing Star Wars and Strawberry Shortcake to the market.
He is survived by his wife Lois, two daughters and a son. HTT
TISH ZAGAROLI
Valdese
TOWSON SMITH
Valdese
J.Queen Luncheon Reunites Former Croscill ExecsNEW YORK — J. Queen celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday with a “family” reunion of former Croscill colleagues at a luncheon in its showroom. HTT
Mike Kahn (Croscill) left with Chip Scala, Waverly Homestyles, and Dave Talbert, formerly of Croscill.
At left: Stanley Kahn, Croscill, Julie Brady, J. Queen, and Lenny Soifer, Croscill alum. At right: Dave Talbert, left, with Jerry Mobley, J.Queen, and Stanley Kahn, all Croscill alums.
Mill Veteran Tabasco, 82
MUMBAI — Industry veteran KK Lalampuria has become execu-tive director on the board at Indo Count Industries here.
He has spent 27 years in the textiles industry, 10 of them as president at Welspun. He opened Welspun’s first U.S. showroom and helped lead the company’s shift from a supplier
to US importers to a retail-direct resource.
After leaving that company, he started his own consulting business.
“I advised companies like Trident and Alps. I was also for a couple of years president at Bombay Dyeing the oldest Home Textiles Mill in India,”
he said. Indo Count is currently doing
a turnover of $175 million, with $110 million done in the export of sheet sets.
“We are fully vertical in man-ufacturing and our mission is to grow the company to $500 mil-lion in the next three to four years,” he said. HTT
Lalampuria Joins Indo Count
PITTSBURGH — American Tex-tile Company has been named the Pittsburgh Business Times Manufacturer of the Year in the mega business category.
The program annually recog-
nizes area manufacturers in the Pittsburgh region for achieving growth through sales revenue, innovation and process improve-ments.
“We’re proud of our manu-
facturing achievements and are thankful to be recognized for them,” said Jack Oullette, pres-ident and ceo of the manufac-turer, which produces utility bedding. HTT
American Textile Company Wins Award
htt101203_014 14htt101203_014 14 12/13/2010 4:49:48 PM12/13/2010 4:49:48 PM
Textiles is our Middle Name
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16 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com
BUSINESSTodaY
NEW YORK — After a frenetic shopping pace at the beginning of the holiday sales season, comps eased up a bit during the second week of December, according to the Johnson Red-book.
Same-store sales for the week ended Dec. 11 rose 2.5% after a 3.8% hike a week earli-er. Comps for the department store sector showed to 1.8%, while discounter segment comp came in a 3.2%.
“With the month signifi-cantly back-loaded with last minute holiday shopping along with the new year, re-tailers entered the expected
“soft-middle” of the holiday season as most re-mained cautiously optimistic in sitting out the pre-Christmas wait,” said Catlin Levis, Redbook analyst.
She noted there is one extra shopping day before Christmas this year, “which should add some growth.” HTT
Same-store sales
Comps Softened a Bit During December’s Second Week
BY CECILE B. CORRAL
GOODLETTSVILLE, TENN. — En-couraged by its ability to main-tain increases in net income and sales over the past several quarters, Dollar General Corp. is ramping up its new store and remodel program in 2011 and expanding for the fi rst time into three untapped U.S. states.
In the new year, the 9,273-unit discount chain expects to open approximately 625 new sites, some of them for the fi rst time in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Nevada. Addi-tionally, Dollar General plans to remodel or relocate about 550 existing stores.
Overall, selling square foot-age in 2011 is expected to in-crease about 7%.
However, the company said, its shoppers are still spending carefully.
“Customers are as sensitive as I’ve seen them,” said Rick Dreil-ing, chairman and ceo, during the company’s earnings confer-ence call Dec. 6. “[They] are still being frugal, and I expect
competition to remain fi erce,” he continued.
When asked to described activity over the third quarter, Dreiling said Dollar General “had a very strong August, and I was pleased with it because this was indicative of our back-to-school offering. In September, while comps dipped down, the company stayed positive. As we moved through the quarter, we saw an uptick again in October. We’re seeing customers being very need-based. In August, they needed [school supplies.] Then, September was when they took a break [from spending], and they did.”
This analysis is supported by Dollar General’s consistent growth in its consumables busi-ness, which experienced strong sales “in nearly every category.”
But “also paying off” have been the retailer’s efforts to improve its offering and pre-sentation of some of its key non-consumable offerings, in-cluding housewares and home, which lately “has been contrib-uting meaningfully to comps…
We are especially pleased that our home category comps were positive.”
Net income for the third quarter, ended October 29, hit $128 million, or earnings per share of 37 cents, up 68% from $76 million, or 24 cents per share, in last year’s third quarter. Results were impacted by an $8 million pre-tax charge from the early repayment of some long-term obligations.
Sales climbed 10.1% to $3.22 billion, and same-store sales were up 4.2% on top of a 9.2% increase in 2009’s third quarter.
Both customer traffi c and av-erage transaction were up, said Dreiling.
Year to date, net income was $405.3 million, or $1.18 per share, up 61% from a profit of $252.2 million, or 79 cents per share during the year-ago peri-od.
Sales rose10.9% to $9.5 bil-lion, with comps up 5.3% on top of a 10.3% gain a year ago.
The company raised its full-year guidance to earnings per share of $1.78 to $1.81. HTT
Dollar General to Ramp up New Stores, Remodels in 2011
BY CECILE B. CORRAL
CHARLOT TE, N.C. — Three times is a charm for Belk Inc., as the regional department store enjoyed its third consecutive earnings period of comp store growth and solid margins in its third quarter.
The 305-unit chain in 16 Southern states reported a 2.6% increase in total sales to $746.6 million, and a 2.5% gain in comps for the 13 weeks, ended Oct. 30.
“We are investing in strategic areas, including branding, IT in-frastructure and merchandising headcount, which has raised our costs for the quarter but which we believe will boost per-formance over the long term,” said Tim Belk, chairman and ceo. “We are encouraged by our profi tability to date and are pos-itive about the remainder of the year.”
The top performing mer-chandise categories includ-ed home furnishings as well as shoes, men’s apparel and chil-dren’s apparel.
Less lustrous news came in the $4.2 million net loss for the third quarter compared to net in-come of $0.4 million for the year-ago period. The company said the decrease was due primarily to increased expense of approx-imately $11 million, of which approximately $10 million re-fl ected costs that were incurred during the period for the compa-ny’s re-branding and other corpo-
rate strategic initiatives.Excluding non-comparable
gains and losses, asset impair-ments and store closing costs, the net loss was $6.1 million compared to net income of $1.3 million for the same 13-week period last year.
Belk’s year-to-date sales totaled $2,338.2 million, an increase of 4.0%, compared with last year, and comps rose by 4.4%.
Net income for the first 39 weeks was $32.6 million com-pared to $10.4 million. Exclud-ing non-comparable items, net income was $30.5 million com-pared to $11.8 million.
Ushering Belk’s growth in the quarter was its company-wide re-branding and corpo-rate marketing initiative in Oc-tober that includes a new logo and tag line, “Modern. South-ern. Style.”
Signs are being installed in 60 stores before year-end with the balance scheduled for in-stallation by November 2011. Newly designed charge cards were issued in October to Belk Elite and Premier customers, to be followed by Belk Rewards cardholders in March 2011.
Belk added that its new cor-porate identity is being support-ed by an “extensive branding and advertising campaign that includes market-wide television and print advertising, circulars, direct mail and social media, all of which incorporate Belk’s new graphic elements and brand messages.” HTT
Belk’s Fall Rebranding Effort Pays Off in 3Q
Johnson Redbook IndexSecond week of December, year-over-year % change
WEEK ENDED 12/4 12/11 12/18 12/25 1/1 MONTH TARGET
Department stores* 3.4 1.8 2.6 2.9Discounters 4.0 3.2 3.4 3.4Redbook Index 3.8 2.5 3.1 3.2*Including chain stores and traditional department storesSource: Johnson Redbook Index
December 20, 2010
NRF ups Holiday ForecastWASHINGTON — The “solid” start to this holiday selling season has given cause to the National Re-tail Federation to revise – and raise -- its forecast up a notch to 3.3% from its original 2.3% pro-jection for the season’s sales in-creases over November and De-cember.
NRF explained this shift comes as a result of the “im-
provement in a variety of eco-nomic indicators, including stock market gains, recent in-come growth and savings built up during the recession - all giv-ing consumers the capacity to spend.”
As found by the NRF, No-vember retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles,
SEE HOLIDAY PAGE 18
htt101203_016_018 16htt101203_016_018 16 12/15/2010 11:31:45 AM12/15/2010 11:31:45 AM
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18 Home Textiles Today Business > hometextilestoday.com
NE W YO R K — Department stores – specifically Kohl’s, JCPenney and Macy’s – are the retailers where most shoppers said they would make extra trips to do holiday shopping this season.
That is according to the WSL Strategic Retail How America Shops-The Pulse of Shopping Life, which found that 79% of shoppers said they would consider making extra shopping trips to take advan-tage of a retailer’s sale or cou-pon, and of those 57% selected department stores Kohl’s, JCP
and Macy’s as their preferred channels.
Second in place were “mass merchandisers” Walmart and Target with 56%, followed by warehouse clubs Costco and Sam’s Club with 55%.
In third place came in drug stores Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, which staked 54%.
The report also found that the leading gift-giving categories for which shoppers are willing to make extra trips are electron-ics (51%), and computers and computer sof tware (48%).The majority of shoppers say
they will consider making an extra trip to save, “regardless of age or income,” the report said. “Gender infl uences willingness a bit, but not as much as you might think.”
Here are some other find-ings:
• More women (84%) said they would make the extra trip, but 75% of men do too;
• Non-Caucasians (Hispan-ics and African Americans) es-pecially, take advantage of re-tailer sales by a margin of 10 percentage points over Cauca-sians. HTT
WSL’s The Pulse: Department Stores Shoppers’ Choice for Repeat Visits
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Big Lots re-ported a drop in profi t from last year and cut its outlook for the fourth quarter, yet cited home as a hot category in the third quar-ter as consumers looked to keep warm.
“Customers continue to be selective but were willing to spend money where they saw tremendous values,” said Ste-ven Fishman, chairman, ceo and president, during the re-tailer’s earnings call earlier this month. “ From a merchandising perspective, furniture, season-al and home continued to lead the way.”
“Home comped up in the low single-digits on top of improving trends from a year ago. So comp on comp—which I believe is an indicator of the category gaining momentum,” Fishman added.
Going into the all-impor-tant fourth-quarter holiday sell-ing season, Big Lots reported a successful start over the three-day Thanksgiving weekend. “We made some major investments in a couple of categories. We had a good Thanksgiving week-end,” Fishman continued. He
singled out blankets and micro-fi ber items in the $15-$20 range as particularly good sellers.
The 1,389-unit closeout re-tailer reported net income of $17.7 million, or 23 cents per diluted share, and income from continuing operations of $17.7 million, or 23 cents per dilut-ed share, for the third quarter of ended Oct. 30, 2010. This is down 42% from net income of $30.3 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, for the third quar-ter of fi scal 2009. Net sales for the third quarter increased 2% to $1,055.8 million, compared to $1,035.3 million for the same period in 2009. Comparable store sales increased 0.7% for the quarter. The company cited higher expenses in the quarter as a factor, including costs relat-ed to adding merchandise and associates for the holiday selling season.
Based on these results, the company has updated its outlook for the fourth quarter and low-ered its full-year guidance to be-tween $2.75 to $2.81 per share, from prior guidance of $2.75 and $2.85 per share. HTT
Big Lots Profits Down in 3Q, Home Highlighted
ISSAQUAH, WASH. — Costco Wholesale Corp. saw many of its high-margin discretionary categories, including house-wares and jewelry, grow 10 to 25 basis point during its strong fi rst quarter.
Net income for the quarter, ended November 21, grew by 3.75% to $312 million, or 71 cents per share, from $266 mil-lion, or 60 cents per share.
Sales jumped 11% to $18.8 billion from $16.9 billion a year ago. That includes the compa-ny’s 50% owned Mexican joint
venture. Without those sales the increase would have been 8%.
Comparable sales for the quarter, were up 5% for the U.S. division, 14% for the in-ternational business, and 7% for the total company.
Inflation in gasoline prices and strengthening foreign cur-rencies had a positive impact on comparable sales. Exclud-ing these effects, comparable sales for the twelve-week period increased 4% in the U.S., 10% internationally, and 5% for the total company.
Costco expanded its club count in the first quarter by eight new units – seven in the U.S. and one in Alberta, Cana-da. Two more sites slated to open in the second quarter have been opened, bringing the current club count to 582 -- including 425 in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, 80 in Canada, 22 in the United Kingdom, seven in Korea, six in Taiwan, nine in Japan, one in Australia and 32 in Mexico.
For fi scal 2011, 27 new total sites are planned – 15 of them in the United States. HTT
Costco Q1 sees Double-digit Increases for Housewares
WASHINGTON — Retailers can breathe a sigh of relief – more shoppers than last year are plan-ning to give gift receipts with gifts, making the return process less painful than in the past, post holiday.
The National Retail Feder-ation’s Holiday Returns Sur-vey found that six out of 10 – or 60.7% – of shoppers said they will provide a gift receipt most or some of the time when giv-ing a gift, up from 58.5% who said so last year and 56.9% in 2006.
More good news for retail-ers: Nine out of 10 (88.4%) said they fi nd stores return policies to be fair.
The survey polled 8,778 consumers and was conducted for NRF by consumer research fi rm BigResearch from Nov. 3
to 9.“The fi nal week of Decem-
ber brings a variety of shoppers to stores, including people re-deeming gift cards, bargain shoppers looking for next year’s gifts and of course, gift recip-ients who need to make re-turns,” said Matthew Shay, NRF president and ceo. “With crowds still at peak levels on most days after Christmas, re-tailers will have extra staff and customer service representa-tives to assist, but gift receipts really do help make the return process a smooth one.”
But the lines to return un-wanted gifts shouldn’t be too long, anyway, as two-thirds (66.3%) of holiday shoppers said they didn’t return a sin-gle gift last holiday season, the NRF survey showed. HTT
NRF: Retailers Rest Easy as Shoppers Plan to
Use Gift Receipts
December 20, 2010
gas stations, and restaurants) in-creased 0.8% seasonally adjust-ed over October and 6.8% un-adjusted over last year.
Matthew Shay, NRF presi-dent and ceo, said this holiday season has “surpassed all expec-tations. While employment data is still a concern, we are starting to see improvement in other eco-nomic indicators that support an increase to our forecast. In order to sustain this momentum for re-tailers and the U.S. economy, there must be a renewed focus on jobs as we enter the new year.”
Similar to NRF’s findings,
November retail sales released today by the U.S. Commerce Department show total retail sales (which include non-general merchandise categories such as autos, gasoline stations and res-taurants) increased 0.8% season-ally adjusted over October and 9.2% unadjusted year-over-year.
“Consumers have not been suffering from a lack of spend-ing power, they’ve just been missing the confidence to use it,” added Jack Kleinhenz, NRF chief economist. “With notice-able improvement in key eco-nomic indicators combined with great deals on merchan-dise, consumers have certainly shown they shouldn’t be count-ed out this holiday season.”
Solid gains across the board
indicate some pent up demand as consumers stocked up on items such as apparel, accessories, and books and music. Sales at cloth-ing and clothing accessory stores increased 2.7% seasonally adjust-ed over last month and a strong 9.6% unadjusted year-over-year. Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores sales increased 2.3% seasonally adjusted month-to-month and 15.5% unadjusted year-over-year.
Health and personal care stores sales increased 0.9% sea-sonally adjusted over last Octo-ber and 7.3% unadjusted over last year. General merchandise stores sales increased 1.3% sea-sonally adjusted over last month and 4.2% unadjusted year-over-year. HTT
Holiday Forecast
HOLIDAY FROM PAGE 16
htt101203_016_018 18htt101203_016_018 18 12/14/2010 3:02:30 PM12/14/2010 3:02:30 PM
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20 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comDecember 20, 2010
Calendar
January 201110 – 11Dallas Fabric ShowDallas Market Hall, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dallasmarketcenter.com
10 – 13National Retail Federation Convention Jacob K. Javits Convention CenterNew York www.nrf.com(202) 626-8162
12 – 15HeimtextilFrankfurt Fair & Exhibition CenterFranfurt am Main, Germany (770) 984-8016heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com
12 – 19Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com
13 – 16The Atlanta International Area Rug MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com
15 – 18The Canadian Home Furnishings Market (TCHFM)The International CentreMississauga, Ontario, Canada (514) 866-3631www.tchfm.com
15 – 18 DOMOTEX HannoverHannover Fairgrounds, Hannover, Germany (609) 987-1202www.domotex.de
18 – 20Texworld USA Jacob Javits Center, New York(770) 984-8016www.texworldusa.com
18 – 23imm cologneThe Exhibition CenterCologne, Germany www.imm-cologne.com(773) 326-9920 or +49 221 821-0www.imm-cologne.com
19 – 25
Dallas Holiday & Home ExpoDallas Market Center, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dmcfinds.com
19 – 25 Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dallasmarketcenter.com
21 – 24F!NDS Dallas Temp ShowWorld Trade Center, Market Hall, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dmcfinds.com
21 – 25Maison & ObjectParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, Paris, France(888) 522-5001www.maison-objet.com
23 – 26Interiors BirminghamThe National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, UK+44 (0) 20 7921 8408www.interiorsbirmingham.com
24 – 28Las Vegas MarketWorld Market Center, Las Vegas (702) 599-9621www.lasvegasmarket.com
25 – 27SurfacesMandalay Bay Convention CenterLas Vegas(866) 860-1975www.surfaces.com
29 – February 3 New York Home Textiles Market Week At the New York International Gift Fair, Jan. 29 - Feb. 3 At 230 Fifth Avenue, Jan. 30 - Feb. 4 At 7 W New York, Jan. 28 - Feb. 3 (800) 272-7469www.nyhometextilesmarketweek.com
29– February 3New York International Gift FairJacob K. Javits Convention Center, Pas-senger Ship Terminal Piers, New York(800) 272-7469www.nyigf.com
30 – February 3CGTA Gift ShowToronto International Centre; Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, Canada(416) 679-0170www.cgta.org/Assoc/Home.aspx
30 – February 2IntirioFlanders Expo, Gent, Belgium+32 09/24 38 450www.intirio.be
February2 —4Tex Trends IndiaPragati Maidan New Delhi, India+91-124-2708082textrendsindia2011.com
6 – 10Spring FairThe National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, UK(609) 921-0222www.springfair.com
7 – 10 TexworldParis Le Bourget Exhibition Centre, Paris, France+33 155 268 989www.texworld.messefrankfurt.com
8 – 10ExpofilParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, France+33 (0) 4 72 60 65 00www.expofil.com
11 – 15AmbienteFrankfurt Fair & Exhibition Center, Frankfurt am Main, Germany(770) 984-8016www.ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt
27 – March 2ASD Las VegasLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas(310) 481-7300www.asdamd.com
March12 - 14The Atlanta International Fine Linen and Home Textiles Market & The Atlanta Spring Gift, Home Furnishings & Holiday MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com
13Home Textiles Today’s New York Winter Market Kick-off PartyThe Penthouse Lounge and Rooftop Garden at 230 Fifth6 p.m- 8 p.m.(646) 805-0226www.hometextilestoday.com
14 – 18 New York Home Fashions MarketHome Fashion Products Association(212) 297-2122 (Kellen Co.)www.homefashionproducts.com
16 – 18Interstoff Asia Essential—Spring
Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong KongMesse Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. (852) 2238 9917www.interstoff.messefrankfurt.com
24 – 27Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(800) 325-6587www.dallasmarketcenter.com
22 – 24Domotex asia/CHINAFLOORShanghai New International Conven-tion Center, Shanghai, China+86 21 6247 7668www.domotexasiachinafloor.com
April2 – 7 High Point MarketInternational Home Furnishings Center (IHFC), High Point, N.C.(336) 869-1000www.highpointmarket.org
6 – 8 LineapelleFair District, Bologna, Italy+39 02 8807711www.lineapelle-fair.it
26 – 28gulfBIDBahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Manama Kingdom
htt110101_020_021 20htt110101_020_021 20 12/15/2010 10:35:54 AM12/15/2010 10:35:54 AM
21 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com
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WANTED - WELL KNOWN, ESTABLISHED MANUFACTURER OF BASIC NATURAL & SYNTHETIC
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EXPERIENCE & SUCCESS IN SELLING MAJOR RETAILERS. PLEASE SEND RESUMES TO: [email protected]
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of Bahrain+973 1729 3131www.gulfbidexhibition.com
26 – 28Vision10: International Window Coverings EXPOGeorgia World Congress Center,Atlanta(651) 293-1544www.wf-vision.com
May4 – 6Proposte Villa Erba in Cernobbio, Como, Italy+39 02 6434054www.propostefair.it
14 – 17International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF)Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(914) 421-3200 www.icff.com
15 – 17 SurtexJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, (914) 421-3200www.surtex.com
18 – 20Hospitality & Design ShowSands Expo Center, Las Vegas(508) 743-8502www.hdexpo.com
18 – 22 EvteksCNR EXPO, Istanbul, Turkey+90 212 465 74 75www.itf-evteks.com
June 1 – 3Interior Lifestyle (Ambiente/Heimtextil/HomeDesign) JapanInternational Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight), Tokyo, Japan+81 3 3262 8453www.interior-lifestyle.com
5 – 8 Showtime Fabric FairMarket Square, Textile Tower, High Point, N.C.(336) 885-6842www.itma-showtime.com
13 – 15NeoCon World’s Trade FairThe Merchandise Mart, Chicago
(800) 677-6278www.merchandisemart.com/neocon
13 – 15American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) National Conference at NeoConThe Merchandise Mart, Chicago(202) 546-3480www.asid.org/foryou09
14 – 16Licensing International ExpoMandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas(212) 951-6612www.licensingexpo.com
22 – 28 Dallas Holiday & Home ExpoDallas Market Center, Dallas(800) 325-6587www.dallasmarketcenter.com
22 – 28Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(800) 325-6587www.dallasmarketcenter.com
24 – 27
F!NDS Dallas Temp ShowWorld Trade Center, Market Hall, Dallas(214) 655-6116www.dmcfinds.com
30 – July 3 & July 7 – 10New DesignersBusiness Design Centre, London, UK020 7288 6738www.newdesigners.com
July 13 – 20 The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta, GA(800) ATL-MART or (404) 220-2435www.americasmart.com
15 – 18 (TBD)The Atlanta International Area Rug MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta, GA(800) ATL-MART or (404) 220-2437www.americasmart.com
31 – August 3ASD/AMD Las VegasSands Expo Center & Las Vegas Con-vention Center, Las Vegas, NV(310) 481-7300
www.asdamd.com
August 1 – 5Las Vegas Market World Market Center and Pavilions Las Vegas(702) 599-9621www.lasvegasmarket.com
13 – 18 New York International Gift FairJacob K. Javits Convention Center, Pier 94, New York(914) 421-3200 www.nyigf.com
14 – 18New York Home Textiles Market Week7 W New York, 230 Fifth Avenue, Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, NY(800) 272-SHOWwww.nyhometextilesmarketweek.com
14 – 18 Gourmet Housewares ShowJacob K. Javits Convention Center(914) 421-3200www.thegourmetshow.com
December 20, 2010
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22 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com
OPINIONTodaY
NOW T H AT T HIS T U M U LT UOUS year is fi -nally coming to a close, it’s time to look back — analyze —and see what can be learned and used from 2010 for the year ahead.
Granted it was a year that few would wish to repeat — but then it was not all bad. For even in the bad spots, there were many lessons from the year that going forward will benefi t individuals and com-panies alike.
First, we learned that even the really, real-ly big guys — aka the retail giants — can only swing their weight so far in a global market-place. It happened this year, many times over and quite publicly.
Then, of course, we had lesson after lesson as to how small a player in the global marketplace that the world of home textiles really is. This scenario played out whether in terms of pricing, commodity availability, transportation — or just about anything else.
The retail community got its comeuppance in many
ways — but most of all in terms of demands on pricing. When a price commitment won’t hold more than a nano-second, and often results in a higher price just hours later, there is trouble ahead.
Style-outs and market tests that go on for eons, just won’t cut it in the new world environment of supply and demand. The stuff just probably won’t be available when the super retailer is fi -nally ready to place the really big order.
There’s a whole new world out there where consumers are shopping. They’re non-tradition-al spaces and formats — some probably not even
ready to roll as this is written — but still on the horizon nonetheless.
This is not to say the traditional forms of retailing are being abandoned — but that new competition is quick-ly forming. It’s time for everyone in home textiles land to keep this in mind and act on it.
And, as we have every year at this time, we wish one and all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year. HTT
“Even in the bad spots, there were many lessons from the year that going forward will benefi t individuals and companies alike. “
CaroleSloanFOUNDING
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Learning from the Past
TH E Y E A R- E N D is always a glorious time for news junkies. It’s a time for looking back and projecting forward. This column chooses for-ward. Herewith, my list of the top fi ve develop-
ments I’m most keen on watching in 2011:1. Consumer reaction to the 2011 price increasesWill she notice that what used to be an eight-piece
bedding ensemble is now a four-piece at a slightly high-er price? Not unless she’s in the habit of regularly buying bedding ensembles. Will she take to the thin-ner, more affordable “quick-dry” towels, or is she still hooked on the chunkers — and if the latter, how much will she be willing to pay?
2. Walmart vs. the dollar store giantsAlthough executives dance around the sub-
ject when asked directly, Walmart’s recently an-nounced strategy to accelerate the rollout of smaller format stores and reach inside urban mar-kets clearly suggests Dollar General and Family Dollar are taking a bite. In fact, Walmart’s own numbers show little rebound in business from what was originally its core customer. In Con-necting Northwest Arkansas’ recent survey of Walmart ven-dors, suppliers named Dollar General and Family Dollar as the greatest competitive threat to the retailer.
3. Target vs. Walmart
To repeat a long-cherished rule of thumb employed by the gentleman to my right, you can pretty reliably mea-sure the health of the middle class by seeing whose comps are doing better — Walmart’s or Target’s. Target execs like what they see coming from Target’s remodels, which offer stepped up food assortments to drive more everyday visits. Will it help Target claw back those middle-class shoppers who down-shifted during the worst of the recession?
4. Springs’ global branding initiativeAnyone who still thinks of Springs as a big
American company needs to rub the sand out of their eyes. Springs is a global mill based in Bra-zil, whose strong growth in its home market is working overtime to offset continuing declines in the U.S. business. But! Springs is clearly pouring major buckeroos into the global branding busi-ness headed by Ralph Lauren Home alum Joe Granger — and moving well beyond textiles into hard goods, including tabletop and furniture. It’s one of the boldest moves this industry has seen in a long time. Will it pay off?
5. Welspun marches onThe future No. 1 supplier to the U.S. market (at last
count No. 3). My bet: Within three years.Here’s wishing the industry a busy and prosperous New
Year. HTT
JenniferMarks
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
“Herewith, my list of the top fi ve developments I’m most keen on watching in 2011.”
The Ones to Watch
360 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10010Tel: (646) 805-0227; Fax: (646) 365-2307
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THE WEEKLY BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY®360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HOME TEXTILES TODAY, P.O. Box 5879, Harlan, IA, 51593-1379 Email: [email protected]. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: RCS International; Box 697 STN A, Windsor Ontario N9A 6N4. Printed in the USA.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: U.S.A. (866) 456-0405All other countries: (515) 247-2984
FAX SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1-866-310-7181
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jennifer Marks375 South End Avenue #32U
New York, N.Y. 10280(212) 945-9151 | [email protected]
FOUNDING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carole Sloan16 E. 96th St., New York, NY 10128
Tel: (212) 831-8266 | Fax: (212) 831-0814
PRODUCT EDITOR Cecile B. Corral428 Bianca Ave. Coral Gables, FL 33146
(305) 661-7493 | [email protected]
COPY EDITOR Julie Murphy(646) 805-0224 | [email protected]
DIRECTOR OF MARKET RESEARCH Dana French(336) 605-1091 | [email protected]
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(646) 805-0226 | [email protected]
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EVP, GROUP PUBLISHER James N. Dimonekas
December 20, 2010
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23 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com
FO R T H O S E R E A D E R S who may have been following yours truly around these assorted pages for oh-so-many sorted years, you
know it’s that time again; that time when humbly offered up are some holiday gift-giving suggestions for the truly needy, the truly beloved and the truly challenged in the home business.
No expense is spared in the pursuit of this endeavor, although certainly every ex-pense possible is avoided in the actual pro-curement of said gifts.
That would sort of defeat the purpose of the whole thing, wouldn’t it?
Last year at this time, it was said it had not been a fun — much less funny — year and 2010 has turned out to be not very light-hearted. There are still serious problems and se-rious issues that all of us face individually and personally.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t laugh a little, too. You just can’t take this stuff too seriously.
So with tongue placed once more fi rmly in cheek, we offer up some special gifts for some special people.
Mike Duke: Yet another home strategy at Walmart … but maybe this time one that actually works.
John Piazza: Another pony to ride in 2011.Cotton growers: Less acreage to plant next year so prices are
higher.Carol Meyrowitz: More of the same.Mike Ullman: The only Kohl’s sale he really wants to see, the
one with the letters GOB ahead of it.Alan Gladstone: The Nobel Prize for mathematics for being the
only one in the home textiles business smart enough to know that there are more windows in a house than beds.
Joe Granger: DVF for WM.Eddie Lampert: The ghosts of retail past – Richard Warren
Sears, Alvah Curtis Roebuck and Sebastian S. Kresge – visiting on Christmas eve.
Cotton growers: Much less acreage to plant next year so pric-es are much higher.
Steve Temares and Art Stark: More new orders for more new opening order discounts.
Laura Albers: Howard’s old calculator.Barry Leonard: Sully getting a map for the Ganges River.Terry Lundgren: A new My Macy’s program that merchandises
assortments by zip code. Cotton growers: Much, much less acreage to plant next year so
prices are much, much higher.Kevin Mansell: Apartments 10, 11 and 12. Josue Gomes de Silva: Lucro, lots and lots of lucro.Greg Steinhafel: Less expectations, more pay for shoppers.Cotton growers: Virtually no acreage to plant next year so pric-
es are virtually through the roof.Cotton users: Cotton.Polyester suppliers: Chapstick for all the lip licking they have
been doing recently.And to all: Peace on Earth. HTT
“The location may change, but not the time of year. “
Presents of Mine
WarrenShoulberg
PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
December 20, 2010
and decorative accessories,” she said. “The store will be a refl ection of the individual — I’m going to put in pieces that I love” and that point of view will
also be expressed in the show-room. In years past, Gish op-erated retail stores in addition to her wholesale collections at Coral Gables, Fla. and on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Fla.
She operated a leased de-
partment at nearby ABC Car-pet & Home until about three years ago.
The new facility is expect-ed to open in mid to late spring 2011. The company warehouse will remain at 599 11th Avenue here. HTT
SALES FROM PAGE 1product, according to Ama-zon, is the Spasilk Facial Beau-ty Pillow at $14.99. The Spasilk brand also turns up in the fi fth spot with a silk crib sheet.
Other pillows include a memory foam leg pillow at number four and a cervical pil-low fi nishing at number ten.
Other specialized products in the top rankings include an Aerobed, at No. 2, and the most expensive product on the list, an organic Hungarian down comforter from Downtown at $1,050, No. 9.
Those looking for tradition-al home textiles brands will be disappointed. The Martex label shows up at No. 7 with a two-pack towel at decidedly nonpro-
motional price of $59.99. The only other brand recognizable to those in the home business is a Rubbermaid rubber bath mat, from Ginsey, fi nishing third.
No unit numbers for any products are posted but if you’re curious, the top selling home product on the Amazon list is a Wagner steam cleaner. HTT
Amazon Top 10 Amazon Home Textiles Sellers
Rank Brand Product Price1 Spasilk Facial Beauty Pillow $14.992 Aerobed Queen-size Bed $147.903 Ginsey Rubbermaid Bath Mat $14.384 Hudson Foam Leg Pillow $72.005 Spasilk Crib Sheet $27.996 Luxury Resort Hotel Blanket, Full/Queen $34.997 Martex Big Bath Towel 2-Pack $59.998 Home Collection 7-piece Bed-in-a-Bag $51.959 Downtown Goose Down Comforter $1,05010 Deluxe Comfort Medicaid Cervical Pillow $18.91
Source: Amazon, 12/16/10
is changing the layout for the 2011 event. The halls are orga-nized by product groups to make navigation easier.
The designer bed and bath categories that in 2010 were showcased in Hall 11, contin-ue with Premium Collections: Classic housed in Hall 11.0 while Premium Collections: Fashion will be in Hall 11.1.
In addition, table linens, bed-ding, mattresses, and bath linens and accessories will be show-
cased in Hall 11.1. Table lin-ens also will be in Hall 9.0 and 11.0, while bedding, mattresses and throws also will be in Halls 6.0, 9.0 and 11.1.
Bath and bath accessories will also be in Halls 8.0, 9.0 and ll.0.
Asian origin products will be housed in Hall 10, separated as categories as Asian Vision for the premium segment in Hall 10.2; with Hall 10.1 highlighting qual-ity bed, bath and table linens and Hall 10.3 focusing on Asian Feel-ing suppliers, including joint ven-ture partners and quality suppli-
ers in similar categories. Window and upholstery fab-
rics will be highlighted in Halls 3.0, 3.1 and 4.1, while fl oor cov-erings, wall coverings and sun sys-tems will be featured in Hall3.1.
Asian suppliers also will be showcased in Halls 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3.
The first issue of the Green Directory will be available at Heimtextil 2011 and lists the qualified suppliers and their products as well as products that stand out based on significant quality standards as well as a spe-cial show in Hall 8. HTT
HeimtextilLAYOUT FROM PAGE 1
Retail StoreGISH FROM PAGE 1
Litton Celebrates Retirement
Fred Buonocore, recently retired from Blue Ridge Home Fashions, left, and Steve Lewis, Aussino Home Fashions.
Incoming 295 president Lou Lombardi, second from left, with (left to right) his wife Augusta Lombardi; Kyle Brandit of Protech Interiors; Luise Barrack of law firm Rosenberg Estis; and David Karel of law firm, Wilkofsky, Fiedman, Karel & Commins.
htt101203_022_023.indd 23htt101203_022_023.indd 23 12/16/2010 3:59:06 PM12/16/2010 3:59:06 PM
GIFT & HOME TEXTILES MARKET WEEK® JANUARY 28 – FEBRUARY 3, 2011
HOME FASHIONS MARKETMARCH 14 – 18, 2011
7WNEW YORK.COM7 W 34TH STREET AT 5TH AVE . | 212 .279.6063
MARY HARPER GROUP, ROBELY, ISADORA & MIZRAHI, KENSINGTON HOME FASHIONS7 W New York is registered trademark of MMPI. Home Textiles Market Week is a registered trademark of GLM.
7 W NEW YORK IS YOUR DESTINATION RESOURCE MARKETPLACE FOR THE GIFT, HOME, TABLETOP AND TEXTILES INDUSTRIES.
HTT_Jan12thWrap_MMPI.indd 1HTT_Jan12thWrap_MMPI.indd 1 12/13/2010 6:59:04 PM12/13/2010 6:59:04 PM
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