Pipefine Patio Furniture

Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture co-founder Phyllis Rubin, who has battled multiple sclerosis quietly for decades, is appearing in a series of public service announcements that begin airing today during national MS Awareness Week.

Rubin has had multiple sclerosis for nearly 40 years and went public with her story recently in hopes that it will help others, increase awareness of multiple sclerosis, and raise money to find a cure, the retailer said in a press release.

Multiple sclerosis affects more than 2.1 million people worldwide, including more than 400,000 people in the United States and 16,000 people in the Top 100 company’s trading area of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Donations can be made to the Phyl Fund at http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/PhylFund.

Rubin will receive the national MS Hope Award from the National MS Society, Central New England Chapter at its MileStones Gala May 20 at the Westin Boston Waterfront in Boston. She is being honored for the inspirational life she has led - as an entrepreneur, businesswoman, community benefactor, wife, mother, and grandmother - while living with MS.

Rubin co-founded Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture with her husband Bernie Rubin in 1983 and helped build it into one of New England’s largest furniture chains with six stores. Married for more than 50 years, the Rubins raised three children - Larry, Rob, and Michelle - all working in the family business.

Phyllis Rubin had her first MS attack in 1971, but wasn’t diagnosed until two years later when she lost sight in her left eye.

“There are times when it’s been frustrating like when I couldn’t do even the simplest task like brushing my own hair. But I’ve always had the philosophy that you make the best of what you have,” she said. “Getting MS was something I couldn’t control, so I decided early on I wouldn’t let it stop me from living a full life.”

Proposal expected to be introduced in U.S. Senate

An aide to Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., said Tuesday that a bill that would likely affect some chemicals used in furniture could be introduced as early as next month.

Lautenberg has submitted similar bills twice since 2005 to reduce the exposure of workers, children and other consumers to toxic chemical substances, but both proposals died in committee.
According to an ABC News report earlier this week, the new bill could overhaul the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate chemicals.

The story said some harmful chemicals with links to cancer, neurological disorders and reproductive defects lack tight regulation and could be banned.

It also noted that such a bill would propose a broader set of regulations than some recent fixes dealing with high concentrations of lead and formaldehyde in certain Chinese-made products, which were limited in scope and dealt with specific crises.

On Feb.4, speaking to the Environment and Public Works subcommittee he chairs, Lautenberg said the Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, fails to give EPA the tools it needs to protect against unsafe chemicals.

He added that in more than three decades of existence, the TSCA has allowed EPA to test only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemicals in household products, and allowed the EPA to ban only five substances on the agency’s inventory of chemicals on the market.

“With EPA unable to require adequate testing, our children have become test subjects,” Lautenberg said in the statement. “Our children should not be used as guinea pigs. So it’s time to update the law and protect them.”

Airbed manufacturer and retailer Select Comfort recorded a profit of $35.3 million in the fourth quarter, reversing a net loss incurred in the same quarter in 2008.

Expansion will take place over next 18 months

With two new distribution centers in place and hints that the economic climate is improving, Rooms To Go plans to open 16 new stores over the next 18 months, its biggest growth push in at least the last three years.
 Jeff Seaman”Jeff Seaman”

Jeff Seaman, CEO of the 121-store Top 100 company, said the growth will boost its store count by about a dozen units.

The rest will be replacement stores, as the retailer converts some of its oldest and smaller showrooms to the updated 35,000- to 40,000-square-foot formats, most including attached Rooms To Go Kids & Teens showrooms. About three of the former Rhodes locations that RTG acquired in 2005 will be replaced with new stores, including the showroom in Mobile, Ala.

Roughly half of the net growth will come in Texas, including two new markets Seaman wouldn’t indentify. About three stores will open in Florida - including new market Destin - and the others will be in Georgia and Alabama, he said.

The midpriced RTG opened a 35,000-square-foot store in McAllen in South Texas in November and its fifth Houston-area store last month in Katy, but neither is counted in the 16-store expansion.

New stores are already under construction in Houston and Dallas and in the Perimeter Mall area of metro Atlanta, where RTG is filling out existing territory and expects to open within six months. In addition, a 30,000-square-foot Sarasota, Fla., store will soon be under construction to replace what Seaman called a “vintage 1991″ showroom, probably by the end of the year.

Seaman said his company started to see a turn for the better in business this past fall. Part of it had to do with easy-to-beat comparison numbers from 2008, “but it’s definitely taking a tick up,” he said.

Backlog also increases

New orders for residential furniture in November were 10% ahead of the previous November, according to the latest survey by the accounting firm Smith Leonard.

The results, published in the firm’s monthly Furniture Insights newsletter, followed October results that showed orders were flat with the previous October. That marked the first month since October 2007 that new orders were not lower than the same month from the previous year.

“(W)e may, in fact, be hitting the bottom,” analyst Ken Smith wrote in the newsletter. “Two months do not really create a trend, but it is certainly a start.”

November shipments were 1% below November 2008, but the order backlog among those surveyed was 7% ahead of the previous November.

For the first 11 months of 2009, new orders were 14% below the first 11 months of 2008, and shipments were 17% below the prior year.

“While there are still many companies out there that are really hurting, it seems that most companies have made adjustments to current volume levels,” Smith wrote.

Will roll out new models at Las Vegas Market
ATLANTA — Bedding major Simmons is rolling out a new flagship Beautyrest line that is the culmination of three years of research and features new coil designs, feels, aesthetics and styles.

The line, to be introduced at the Las Vegas Market next week, was designed with the aid of retail sales associates, among other groups, and extends the brand’s promise of providing superior motion separation, conformability, support and durability, officials said.

The line is backed with an array of updated marketing materials, including the new tagline: “It’s not just sleep, it’s Beautyrest.”

The heart of the line is a new Super Pocketed Coil, designed with new wire gauges and offered in higher-density configurations, including the first 1,000-coil design, in the Beautyrest World Class line.

Retails for the line will range from $599 to about $2,000, the same range covered by the former Beautyrest line, which was introduced in 2007 and enjoyed a longer run in the marketplace than some other flagship lines. Simmons officials said the former line was highly successful for Simmons dealers in its three-year life but was ready to be refreshed and updated.

To take the Beautyrest brand to the next level, Simmons embarked on a comprehensive research process. The result is a new line with “striking aesthetics and the broadest range of feels” in the 85-year history of the Beautyrest line, officials said. The new line “delivers an enhanced sleep experience,” they added.

There are three families of products in the new Beautyrest line.

More companies enter niche this year
One category of green home furnishings that looks to have established a permanent foothold is reclaimed wood furniture.

Last year Turning House furniture joined the category, looking to use wood from deconstructed buildings with historical value.

More recently, one of the biggest commitments to reclaimed products came from Four Hands, which announced a subsidiary with eco-designer Thomas Bina and a launch of 100 pieces at the October High Point Market.

“The reclaimed, eco-friendly story creates a nice presentation for our sales consultants, but the consumer really seems to be drawn to the overall look of the case pieces,” said Tatelman of Jordan Furniture.

He said consumers are looking for unique pieces that break the monotony of matching case goods collections. Reclaimed pieces can be shown in eclectic mixes and have applications in every room of the house.

“We are inundated these days with similar looks from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, but not everyone can afford to buy from those resources,” Tatelman said.

Furniture Classics began showing some pieces featuring reclaimed timber in 2007 and came out with its first significant offering that October.

Ikea Canada is donating C$280,000 in funds raised by its recent Bag the Bag campaign to Tree Canada, a non-profit group that encourages Canadians to plant and care for trees in urban and rural environments.

In addition to the C$280,000 donation, Ikea also will continue to contribute a portion of its annual Christmas tree sales, which are now available for C$20 at all 11 of the company’s Canadian stores, to Tree Canada.

“Environmental sustainability continues to be anchored in everything we do at Ikea,” said Kerri Molinaro, president of Ikea Canada. “It is clear that our customers take great pride in supporting Ikea Canada’s commitment to responsible retailing.”

The funds raised from the Bag the Bag campaign, which is geared at eliminating the use of plastic bags in Ikea stores, will be reinvested into Ikea Canada’s annual partnership program with Tree Canada - Pick a Tree Plant a Tree. To date, the program has contributed to planting more than 14,000 trees across Canada. The additional funds will allow Ikea workers to plant a larger variety of trees, and to provide better maintenance such as mulch and tree guards that will improve tree survival.

“Ikea’s donation to Tree Canada will be used over the next five years, taking us into our 18th year working together,” says Mike Rosen, president of Tree Canada. “This generous donation will also be used towards our re-branding efforts and educational and carbon offset research.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Four area Ashley Furniture HomeStores in north and central Alabama are hosting the fourth annual Basket Brigade this year, where staff will be collecting food to feed hundreds of families in need this Thanksgiving.

Employees, vendors and customers can donate food to fill basket with everything needed for a Thanksgiving meal - vegetables, rolls, cranberry sauce, ingredients for dressing, desserts, yams, and fully cooked turkeys. Every year, employees and their families deliver the baskets to the families in need.

The recipients are identified by community organizations such as the nonprofit Manna House in Huntsville, Ala.

Collection boxes for donations are at the HomeStores in Huntsville, Hoover, Fultondale and Tuscaloosa, Ala. Donations of nonperishable items will be accepted through Monday, Nov. 30.