Pipefine Patio Furniture

KUNMING, China — One of this city’s newest furniture retailers has the look and feel of an IKEA store.

But don’t be fooled. The Swedish retail giant has not opened a store here. It’s all part of latest wave of Chinese knockoffs — fake retail formats. Kunming is the same city where a blogger recently stumbled upon a fake Apple store.

Buoyed by a 20% same-store sales increase, specialty bedding resource Select Comfort recorded double-digit sales and earnings increases in the quarter ended July 2.

The company, which makes the Sleep Number airbed and sells its products largely through company-owned stores, said total sales rose 16.2% to $161.5 million.

Net income, meanwhile, shot up 82% to $11.3 million, or 20 cents per share.

“We’re pleased that focused execution against our strategic priorities is continuing to result in strong operational and financial performance, as demonstrated in our second quarter results,” said Bill McLaughlin, president and CEO. “Specifically, we sustained double-digit comparable sales growth and strong margins, which allowed us to report record-setting second quarter operating income.”

The company ended the quarter with 375 stores and said it would have about 380 by the end of the year.

For the six months ended July 2, sales totaled $354.5 million, an increase of 19.4% from $296.9 million in the same period a year ago.

Six-month net income was $27.9 million or 50 cents per share. That’s roughly double the totals for the same period last year, when the company made $14 million or 25 cents per share.

Based on its strong second quarter, Select Comfort boosted its earnings estimates for the year. The company now says it expects to have earnings of 90 cents to 96 cents per share. That’s up from an April forecast of 85 cents to 93 cents per share.

The company said same-store sales should increase in the mid- to high teens for the year.

Borders sold books and other educational and entertainment items at more than 900 stores prior to its Feb. 16 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Gordon Bros. and Hilco Merchant Resources were the opening bidders for a planned liquidation auction and will now buy the assets and liquidate the business, according to a Bloomberg news report.

There are 259 remaining leases available ranging from 10,000 to 40,218 square feet.

But the deal still needs court approval and faces objections from creditors and landlords who say the action is rushed, the report said.

“This group of Borders’ stores has generated very strong interest from retailers,” Andy Graiser, co-president of DJM Realty, said in a release. “With a lack of new real estate development and restrictive barriers of entry in several key markets, surplus real estate like Borders becomes a very good opportunity for a number of growing retailers looking to open for business during the next four to 12 months.”

Julius Feinblum, industry real estate expert and president of Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate of Plainview, N.Y., said he has been evaluating many of the locations for interested furniture retailers.

“The big question is where is the best value – through the bankruptcy proceeding or through landlords,” when and if properties are returned to them, he said.

Pier 1 Imports’ earnings soared 83.8% in the fiscal first quarter ended May 28 as same-store sales rose 10.2%, on top of strong growth a year earlier, the Fort Worth-based retailer reported today.

Total sales rose 9.3% to $334.6 million, primarily the result of gains in store traffic, conversion rate and average sales ticket, the company said. Earnings of $14.1 million or 12 cents per share were up from $7.7 million or 7 cents per share a year earlier.

“We continue to see strength and sustainability in all aspects of our business – top line growth, strong merchandise margins, prudent cost controls, operating margin improvement, a strong balance sheet and ongoing cash generation. All have benefited from the creativity and rigor embedded in our organization,” said Alex Smith, president and CEO.

He also noted that on June 6 the retailer soft-launched Pier 1 To-Go, an online service that lets consumers browse Pier1.com, order what they like, and pick it up at a store near them.

The 10.2% comparable-store sales gain in the quarter was on top of a 14.3% increase in the same period a year earlier, the company said.

TORONTO — After 60 years as one of Canada’s most influential contemporary furniture retailers, John De Boer has decided to retire and will shutter his five-unit operation over the coming 12 months or so.
 John and Suanne de Boer”Suanne De Boer and her father, John De Boer, will close their iconic Canadian store chain, DeBoer’s, over the next 12 months.”

De Boer, who recently turned 71, has been quietly transferring responsibility to his daughter, Suanne, the company’s general manager, for the past few years with the goal of retiring into a consultant’s role.

But about 18 months ago, a developer approached him with a proposal to purchase two of retailer’s most valuable locations – the flagship DeBoer’s store on Yonge St. in the heart of uptown Toronto and the Mississauga store on Dundas Street West near the Erin Mills Parkway. He had been approached before, but this was the first time anyone offered all cash on closing, and he accepted.

Under the terms of the deal, both stores will continue to operate until the acquisition closes at the end of August.

After accepting the offer, the De Boers originally planned to consolidate its three Toronto stores (the third in College Park is in a retail complex in the heart of the city) and build a new 40,000- to 50,000-square-foot store. But in a year of research, the father-daughter team discovered that was no simple proposition.

“We did a feasibility study and looked at the furniture market in Toronto,” John De Boer said, adding that there were a number of things they didn’t want. For one: “We don’t want to open on Sunday.”

Ever since Ontario legalized Sunday shopping over a decade ago, DeBoer’s has been one of a few furniture retailers that chose not to open that day. The company could compete in this environment because it had built a loyal following since it opened under the leadership of John De Boer’s father, Anne, in 1950.

But when consolidating to one store, it would unwise to not be open on Sunday, the De Boers concluded.

John De Boer said while the chain has been consistently profitable, consolidating to a single store would also require drastic revisions to its business model. De Boer was one of the first independent Canadian retailers to import furniture directly – which worked with a chain of several stores but could cost-prohibitive for a single store.

However, father and daughter were confident they could devise a plan that would be true to DeBoer’s historic product profile and market position, and would be profitable. But they discovered it was almost impossible to secure a new location. While buildings are available in greater Toronto, Suanne De Boer said that whenever she found a suitable building, she couldn’t get the zoning permission required to convert the premises to suit her needs.

In a year of searching, she found buildings of the right size and price in a good location with ample parking – but zoned for industrial use. “And the local authorities didn’t want to erode their industrial space,” she said. [Ed: idiot politicians!]

Without that offer to buy the two key locations, the retailer probably would have kept going under Suanne De Boer’s leadership. “Neither of us wanted things to come to this; we both wanted to carry on,” she said.

The shutdown of DeBoer’s will take place gradually over the next few months. The College Park and Ottawa will close when their leases expire at the end of June. The Yonge Street and Mississauga stores will close when the property acquisition deal closes at the end of August.

After that, remaining inventory will be sent to the company’s corporate head office and warehouse facility in the Toronto suburb of Vaughn. It’s from this location that all remaining inventory will be sold.

John De Boer anticipates he will be in a position to sell the Vaughan facility in about a year. An active member of Rotary International, he said he plans on becoming involved in a number of overseas projects with the service club, and will enjoy retirement.

Suanne De Boer will stay at the helm until the end. After that, she said with a laugh, “I just might have to look for job.”