Pipefine Patio Furniture

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.

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.

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.

Total value amounts to $9.1 billion

U.S. furniture imports fell 22% for the first six months of 2009 as consumer demand skidded during the recession, according to new figures from U.S. government sources.

Numbers compiled by Furniture/Today’s market research staff from U.S. Customs Service, Census Bureau and International Trade Commission data showed that furniture imports in the first half were just under $9.1 billion, down from $11.6 billion in the same period in 2008.

Of the top 20 countries shipping furniture to the U.S., 17 saw double-digit drops during the period. Two, Vietnam and France, fell 6%, while only one – Poland – posted a gain, an 86% jump to $103.4 million that placed it at No. 9 on the list.

China retained its No. 1 spot, although its first-half shipments to the United States fell 19% to $5.4 billion.

Remaining a distant second was Vietnam, whose shipments fell 6% to $612.7 million.

No. 3 source Canada’s shipments fell 44% – the sharpest drop among the top 10 countries – to $580.9 million from $1.03 billion a year ago.

In order, it was followed by Mexico (down 22% to $415.5 million); Malaysia (down 15% to $290 million); Italy (down 43% to $257.9 million); Indonesia (down 22% to $235.9 million); Taiwan (down 23% to $216 million); Poland (up 86% to $103.4 million) and Thailand (down 19% to $95.7 million).

Further down the list were Germany (down 35% to $91.3 million); France (down 6% to $62.7 million); Brazil (down 40% to $54 million); Austria (down 41% to $49.7 million); the Philippines (down 52% to $41 million); India (down 13% to $40.9 million); the United Kingdom (down 30% to $35.5 million); Sweden (down 23% to $26.9 million) Norway (down 32% to $25.7 million) and Denmark (down 25% to $24.9 million).

For many source countries, shipments dropped more sharply in the first half of this year than they did for all of last year. For all of 2008, total U.S. furniture imports were down 6% from 2007, to $22.6 billion.

Canada remains top customer

U.S. furniture exports fell 21% in the first six months of 2009, signaling a drop in demand for the products in some of the top industrialized countries.

The numbers are based on information Furniture/Today’s market research staff compiles from the U.S. Customs Service, Census Bureau and International Trade Commission.

The first-half decline was a reversal from 2008, when U.S. furniture exports grew 15%. This year, shipments from January through June came to $1.05 billion, down from $1.3 billion in the comparable period a year earlier.

Canada remained the top market for U.S. furniture, but shipments to that market fell 21%, from $729.2 million to $579 million. That $150.2 million difference represented more than half of the overall drop in U.S. furniture exports during the six month period.

Other top markets in order include: Mexico (down 24% to $94.2 million); the United Kingdom (down 31% to $42.9 million); Saudi Arabia (up 33% to $27.7 million); Japan (down 2% to $21.3 million); China (down 42% to $16.6 million); the United Arab Emirates (down 14% to $15.7 million); Australia (down 31% to $10.4 million); the Bahamas (up 6% to $8.1 million) and Venezuela (up 60% to $7.9 million).

In addition to Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and the Bahamas, other countries in the top 20 that increased their furniture purchases from the United States included Panama (up 205% to $7.8 million), Qatar (up 109% to $6.1 million), Bermuda (up 41% to $6.1 million), the Cayman Islands (up 98% to $6 million), Costa Rica (up 95% to $5.7 million) and Malaysia (up 51% to $4.8 million).