Cabinet Maker articles from February 2006

Cabinet Maker archives from February 2006

Recovery is still on hold.
February 3, 2006... January's furniture sales were gloomy but February's expectations are high Furniture retailers have failed to turn promising post Christmas sales into a sustained recovery. That is the depressing verdict of the Confederation of British...

New Shell opens.
February 3, 2006... Shell, an importer of rustic bedroom and living room cabinet, has re- emerged four years after its predecessor, Steven Shell, went into administration. Steven Shell, former owner of the eponymous firm, has taken a back seat in the new...

Management takes over as Kirwan leaves.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Peter Kirwan, the erstwhile md of Klaussner, has been ousted from the role he occupied before, during and after the firm's administration on 21 July. The former owner has been replaced by a management team including Bill Hobden chief...

Exclusive deal.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Designer Nick Munro has been commissioned by John Lewis to provide an exclusive range of homeware items for the store. The new range includes porcelain, glassware and bathroom accessories. The department store has also been working with Munro...

Ikea plans Irish double.
February 3, 2006... Swedish giant targets Dublin and Belfast for new stores Changes to Irish retail planning guidelines means Ikea will submit two applications today (3 February) for opening a Belfast store by December and a Dublin outlet early next year. ...

New Sanderson takes the stage.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Radford Furniture showcased its relaunched Nathan brand and a new Sanderson range at The Furniture Show. Nathan was relaunched three months ago and since then 100 stockists have signed up to sell the brand. New pieces include sideboards,...

Dining room sales are dying.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Sales of traditional dining room furniture is declining in Britain, along with the dining room itself. Research from market analyst Mintel found that over the past five years, sales of dining room products declined by 8% to just #119m in...

OBITUARY: Howard Rees.(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 3, 2006... Howard Rees, former Cintique md, has died, aged 58. Rees, who had latterly been store manager of Thornburrows of Welling, Kent passed away after a long illness. He was Cintique md for 12 years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Rees will be...

In brief: Silentnight move.
February 3, 2006... Silentnight Group is to relocate its head office from Salterforth to its Silentnight Beds site in Barnoldswick. Seven redundancies have been proposed in a move which Neal Mernock, md has described as ending the last vestiges of the group's...

In brief: Double savings.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Rising house prices mean first time buyers take twice as long to save the deposit for a home as they did five years ago, according to a Halifax report. Its annual review of the market for first time buyers said wage inflation had failed to keep...

In brief: More time to pay.
February 3, 2006... DIY retailer B&Q has almost doubled the number of days its suppliers will have to wait for payment. John Cleland, B&Q md commercial has told suppliers B&Q will pay within 90 days - it currently pays within 49 days of receiving goods. ...

In brief: Get on course.
February 3, 2006... Retailers wanting to sign up for the last few places on the Retail Management Course run by the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers have until 7 February to enrol. The course is on 12-17 March at Highgate House, near Northampton. Tel: 020...

In brief: Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 3, 2006... Waring & Gillow was sold to a consortium of which Ashley Meyer was a board member. After the business was taken over, Manny and John Cussins resigned from the board. At no time did they have anything to do with Ashley Meyer as was indicated in...

Retail space glut favours rent deals.
February 3, 2006... The current excess of vacant stores creates a good bargaining position against upward only reviews A glut of vacant retail plots has put retailers in a strong position to negotiate on property agents' hated upward only rent reviews. ...

English lifestyle showroom.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Lifestyle Forbidden City is opening a showroom in Ashford after the success of its UK launch at The Interiors Event. Russell Stevens, UK director said the #170m turnover Singapore-based company, which has been active in the UK for 15...

City: Shorting shares works for MFI.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... MFI's 9p (11%) loss vindicated the judgement of speculators who had staked more than #100m by `shorting' the shares, ie selling shares they had borrowed, in the hope of subsequently buying back at a lower price. Specialist researchers...

Help baffles small firms.
February 3, 2006... CBI says Government support schemes need streamlining The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has accused the Government of letting down small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by offering grants and support schemes that are...

Second half sales look up.
February 3, 2006... Fabric and furnishings business Walker Greenbank's recovery continued in the second half of 2005. The first six months of the year saw operating profits for the first time in six years, as revealed in a trading update for the year to 31 January...

Recovery tactics pay off.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... The Homestyle chart shows a powerful three-month recovery in the share price, following the success of November's AGM statement in talking-up the benefits of the deal with Steinhoff International. Last week's interim figures confirmed sales...

AIS team expands.(Associated Independent Stores appoints Euan Kelway-Bamber)(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Furniture buying group Associated Independent Stores (AIS) has appointed Euan Kelway-Bamber to the new position of merchandise director - home. Kelway-Bamber, former MFI director of sourcing and supply (sofas), assumed responsibility for...

Stand showdown.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... United Lights to contest County Court Judgement which resulted in bailiffs arriving at Lighting Show United Lights was forced to pay #2,900 at last week's Lighting Show, when bailiffs came to the stand threatening to seize stock. They...

Import push.
February 3, 2006... Bedroom and dining room cabinet wholesaler, Indus Valley, has branched out into importing. The initiative was launched at The Furniture Show with the firm offering discounts of as much as 50% for retailers purchasing whole containers. ...

Puffa moves into the bedroom.
February 3, 2006... Puffa, the upper mid-market clothing firm known for its jackets, launched a soft furnishings arm at Soft, part of The Interiors Event, last month. Starting off with quilts, the firm has come full circle in a sense, since the clothing was...

Safer foam on the horizon.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... A safer fire-retardant foam rubber that can be used in soft furnishings has been developed at Glasgow's Strathclyde University. After four years' work, scientists have invented a polyurethane that is less toxic and more environmentally...

Leader: Retail: it's all about delivering.(Editorial)
February 3, 2006... It is choice that attracts shoppers to online furniture sales rather than increased discounting, according to Julian Field, Furniture123 md. He was vocal about his opinions on online retailing at a seminar held at The Knowledge Forum during The...

Views By Andrew Adamson.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... I was selling to a retired couple recently, and chatting about prices. They were astute enough to have realised that many shops have gone downmarket and that quality, generally, was `not what it used to be'. A few comments which struck a...

Talk: Is there a future for mid-market furniture?
February 3, 2006... `Yes. There will always be people who want better but cannot afford the top. Whether there is a future for the mid-market furniture retailer is a different matter. The Internet is the worst thing to happen to the trade, or any business. The...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Choose your weapons.
February 3, 2006... In the face of continued sluggish sales, there is still much that retailers and suppliers can do to improve their profit margins, reports Mark Lewis The retail figures released from the British Retail Consortium and the Office for National...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Signs of improvement.
February 3, 2006... It may be slow in filtering through, and focused at the budget end, but rising house prices mean a furniture recovery is on the way, says Deven Pamben Predictions that house prices are set to rise, along with the overall level of new...

STORE MANAGER: See-saw tax battle.
February 3, 2006... A husband and wife owned company still face a battle to determine if their corporate structure will hit their tax bill, as Paula Tallon reports The Court of Appeal's decision on 15 December 2005 in the case of Jones v Garnett was a victory...

The HMRC's next move.
February 3, 2006... The decision was a shock to HMRC as it did not think it would lose this case. The general feeling was that it would give up gracefully and perhaps introduce some new legislation in the 2006 Finance Bill. The 13 January decision told everyone...

Occasional/home office: Baker.
February 3, 2006... Baker's Bulldog and Greyhound tables fuse metal and stone to create a modern take on the nest of tables. The tops are a confection of swirling chocolate, caramel and cream onyx with oil rubbed bronze frames. Tel: 00 1 92 0457 4441 ...

Occasional/home office: Stua.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... Designed by Jesus Gasca for Stua, Milano is a table that salutes traditional methods of working with wood while addressing contemporary materials and techniques. Featuring aluminium detailing, it is available in beech or wenge stain with the...

Occasional/home office: Greenapple.
February 3, 2006... The glass desk from Greenapple makes a feature of its shelves being contained within the boundaries of the legs, offering a stylish storage solution and a minimalist design for a home work environment. Tel: 01727 872 525 Copyright: CMP...

Occasional/home office: Isos Collection.
February 3, 2006... The Y series coffee table from Isos Collection is available in a choice of square or rectangular shapes and three finishes: oak, maple and walnut. Tel: 020 7320 3222 Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

Occasional/home office: Ligne Roset.
February 3, 2006... Designed by Michael Koenig for Ligne Roset, the three-deck U-Turn trolley is available in round or rectangular versions. It is finished in natural or ebony-stained oak veneer or white lacquer. Tel: 08707 777 202 Copyright: CMP...

Occasional/home office: Smartistart Design.
February 3, 2006... Smartistart Design's solid wood Jigsaw Puzzle table is made up of several pieces that fit together to make occasional tables. It is available in three sizes. Tel: 07813 193 009 Copyright: CMP Information Ltd.

INTERVIEW JULIAN FIELD: Don't discount convenience.(Interview)
February 3, 2006... Choice matters with online furniture sales, not the increased discounting which will lead to a shake-out in the sector, as reports Andrew Kidd Most retailers would be very happy if three million shoppers visited their store every year. But...

SPACE-SAVING FURNITURE: Drawer attention.
February 3, 2006... Companies are responding to demand for underbed storage which is being increasingly asked for by consumers having to deal with a lack of space The wardrobe is full, there is no space on top for any more boxes and the chest of drawers is...

SOFT FURNISHINGS BEDLINEN: Dressed for more sales.
February 3, 2006... Furniture retailers are missing out on up to 25% of add-on sales by not selling the complete package of bedlinen and beds, reports Rachel Calton The verdict is out on bedlinen. Not enough is being done in the bed industry to harness the...

Tips for selling bedlinen.
February 3, 2006... * Bedlinen is best sold off the bed. Dressing a bed helps to spark the customer's imagination, and gives them the confidence to buy. * See it as a service. If you are selling a deep mattress, providing sheets to fit is a service the...

March's diary: IFFS - World-wide talent on show.(Brief Article)
February 3, 2006... 1-5 International Furniture Fair Singapore/ASEAN Furniture Show Singapore Expo www.iffs.com.sg With around 480 exhibitors at the Singapore show, the event is gaining more attention from the world market. Furniture from various...

March's diary: MIFF: Good production facilities.
February 3, 2006... 7-11 MIFF Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia www.miff.com.my More than 400 exhibitors will be at MIFF at the Putra World Trade Centre and the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. The Malaysian furniture industry is expanding and is currently...

March's diary: MAFEX - Exporting expo.
February 3, 2006... 3-7 MAFEX Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia www.mafex.net The seventh consecutive MAFEX show will feature 160 exhibitors, and cover 7,500sqm of floorspace. The furniture on display is mainly from manufacturers in the surrounding region and...

March's diary: TIFF - Encouraging business.
February 3, 2006... 8-12 Thailand International Furniture Fair Bangkok www.thaitradefair.com TIFF has two identities: one for trade visitors and the other for the public. Its trade persona is the first to emerge, from 8-10 March. Last year, this attracted...

March's diary: MOVELSUL - Brazilian celebration.
February 3, 2006... 13-17 Movelsul Bento Goncalves, Brazil www.movelsul.com Movelsul aims to promote the development of the national furniture sector through commercial alliances between industries and their customers. It also encourages the export...

March's diary: FAMOUS FURNITURE FAIR - Forum for corporate expansion.
February 3, 2006... 17-21 Famous Furniture Fair Dongguan, China www.2f.com.cn The 15th Famous Furniture Fair will cover 200,000sqm. The 2005 event had more than 87,000 visitors, 8,510 from overseas, a 40% increase on the previous year. More than...

March's diary: FURNIFAB - Spot on.
February 3, 2006... 14-16 FurniFab Poznan, Poland www.furnifab.pl The name FurniFab originates from a combination of furniture and fabrics and the event is designed to display suppliers of seating and upholstery. Organised by Survey Marketing +...

March's diary: FURNITURE & HOME ACCESSORIES - Satisfied visitors.
February 3, 2006... 26-29 Furniture & Home Accessories Simmonscourt, Dublin www.irishfurniturefair.com There will be in excess of 180 exhibitors with all types of furniture at the 26th Furniture & Home Accessories fair. Several new initiatives...

March's diary: CIFF - Double opportunity.
February 3, 2006... 18-21 China International Furniture Fair Guangzhou, China www.ciff-gz.com This biannual event will have two phases. Phase I will be from 18-21 March, focusing on domestic furniture, accessories and housewares. Phase II will be...

RETAIL INTELLIGENCE: December 2005 trading.
February 3, 2006... The upturn that began in October continued into December, although the year on year improvement was small. Compared with November, some 31% of retailers reported a decline in the value of sales, 11% had static sales and 58% reported an...

MARKET REVIEW: Switched on to service.
February 3, 2006... Christopher Wray's slick website is full of useful information, and some white space, but it's not possible to order products online, says Nick Yates Christopher Wray's website, a wide-ranging portal to all the lighting retailer's products...

OFFCUTS: Making design add up beautifully.(Orazio Gualtieri of Byron and Byron)(Interview)
February 3, 2006... Orazio Gualtieri is owner and md of curtain pole designer Byron & Byron How did you get started in the industry? I started in the family business. I came to England in 1982 in search of fun and furniture. In 1985, I started Byron &...

OFFCUTS: Julian drives charity effort.
February 3, 2006... One can only assume that his staff managed without their boss for six weeks as Julian Bowen, Julian Bowen md roared off on a car rally around South America in December and January. The vintage automobile enthusiast was accompanied by four...

OFFCUTS: Globaltex support.
February 3, 2006... Fabric design company Globaltex has launched a charity initiative that Lee Clarke, md hopes will eventually raise #500,000 for children's hospice charity, Kirsty's Appeal. Globaltex pledged to donate 10% of the profits from two ranges of...

Sleep Depot nets LoL deal.(Land of Leather)
February 10, 2006... Growing beds retailer takes on concessions previously held by Homestyle Sleep Depot has secured 45 concessions in Land of Leather stores, cementing the bed firm's position as a national retail force. The deal means the end of a...

Natuzzi suspensions.
February 10, 2006... More than 200 workers have been affected by Natuzzi staff cutbacks at its Matera-La Martella plant in southern Italy. The workers are officially on temporary suspension under the Italian Labour Laws (Cassa integrazione), an Italian form of...

UK showroom.
February 10, 2006... Roche Bobois will officially launch its UK showroom next week. The 10,000sqft Wandsworth store will stock new collections for the UK market. Nicolas Roche, group architect has designed the showroom at the Riverside and will showcase the Les...

Difficult start for furniture.
February 10, 2006... Two reports show minimal January sales growth from 2005 Furniture retailers suffered a tough start to 2006, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), whose January retail sales monitor reported overall like for like sales growth of...

Armour buys Alphason Designs.
February 10, 2006... Consumer electronics company Armour Group has bought Alphason Designs for #10m. The acquisition of the home entertainment furniture manufacturer, strengthens Armour's position in a growth sector of the audiovisual (AV) market, driven by...

Tax hinders small firms' growth.
February 10, 2006... A Small Business Research Trust survey has revealed that wholesale and retail sector sales were down in three of the four quarters last year. Figures also show that 27% more small and medium-sized businesses reported a drop rather than an...

Two stores hit by fire.
February 10, 2006... Two furniture shops suffered extensive damage from fires in Huddersfield and Edinburgh. It took Yorkshire firefighters called to a blaze at Lockwood Carpet and Furniture in Huddersfield, three attempts to find the blaze. Firefighters...

In brief: Moving space.
February 10, 2006... Furniture designer and wholesaler Gillmore Space is to shift its warehouse operation from London to Devon. It has also moved its office from Acton to Scrubs Lane, north west London. The move to a larger warehouse that can hold more stock is...

In brief: Miller double.(JH Miller & Sons moving warehouse)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Lighting importer JH Miller & Sons is moving to a warehouse almost double the size of its current one. Barry Miller, accounts manager said it is staying in Manchester but will relocate to a 9,000sqft purpose built site in early summer after its...

In brief: Tracking deliveries.(Woodberry Bros uses tracking software )(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Woodberry Bros has installed new tracking software that allows it to monitor its fleet of delivery vehicles more accurately. The system pinpoints the location of drivers at any given time and sends automatic updates to head office every 15...

In brief: Service rage.
February 10, 2006... British retailers risk losing trade because shoddy customer service and aggressive selling is causing `service rage', according to a National Consumer Council report. Its author, Philip Callum, NCC chief executive, calls the phenomenon `the...

In brief: Demand drops.(Nobia AB's profit data)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Demand for Nobia kitchens in the UK fell by 6% in 2005. Net sales declined by 5% with operating profits falling to #18.8m. Last year, the Swedish manufacturer, which owns Magnet, launched an initiative to renovate its larger city centre stores....

Call for probe into pension solutions probe.
February 10, 2006... Walker Greenbank could be investigated for its solutions to impending pensions obligations if industry bodies get their way. The Pensions Regulator is being urged to investigate companies, such as the soft furnishing manufacturer for...

Retailers miss chip and pin deadline.
February 10, 2006... BhS and B&Q are among 15% of British retailers which have failed to upgrade their POS systems to chip and pin payment in time for the 14 February deadline. Retailers are being warned that failure to upgrade leaves them exposed to liability for...

Specialists LoL and ScS shine.(Land of Leather's sales data)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Upholstery duo outperform the general market with positive sales figures Both Land of Leather and ScS have outperformed the general furniture market for the 17 weeks to the end of January, posting positive like for like sales figures of...

Profits drop.(Dobbies Garden Centre)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Annual profits fell at gardening and homeware supplier Dobbies Garden Centre after pumping money into new developments. Pre-tax profit fell to just under #5m for the year ending 31 October from #5.2m the previous year on sales of #60.6m, up...

Mark Elliot hits #1m in one month.
February 10, 2006... Furniture and upholstery company Mark Elliot generated a #1m sales turnover for January - the first time it has achieved the figure in one month. The sales come on the back of two new shops opening on Boxing Day. The 5,000sqft Cambridge...

Bankruptcies reach a record high.
February 10, 2006... Personal bankruptcies in England and Wales are at their highest rate since records began in 1960. This coincides with figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders which show home repossessions in 2005 rose 70%. According to figures...

Marriage and mattresses.
February 10, 2006... Bed campaign looks for the most-married person The Sleep Council is launching a campaign based around marriage and mattresses for National Bed Month. The idea was sparked by recent figures from the Office for National Statistics...

Letter: Online retailers v independents.(Letter to the Editor)
February 10, 2006... My own experience confirms the views of Graham Sanderson, Johns of Cambridge owner (CM, 3 Feb, p9) on Internet retail accelerating the demise of the mid-market independents. Having referred to the closure of some 400 independent traditional...

Letter: Focus on comfort.(Letter to the Editor)
February 10, 2006... I read with interest, Memory foam row (CM, 20 Jan, p5) concerning the Which? report on the best memory foam mattresses. It struck me that everyone was focused on the technical aspects of the beds and how quickly a machine could destroy it,...

Letter: Gallery concept.(Letter to the Editor)
February 10, 2006... In response to Gallery for Incanto (CM, 27 Jan, p5), we would like to clarify a few points. The Giovanni Sforza Collection of sofas, which represents a selection of leading luxury lifestyle trends is the culmination of many year's work of...

Leader: Having faith in experience.(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 10, 2006... In less than a year, The Sleep Depot has grown from just a gem of an idea in the minds of Bill Wolstenholme and Bernard Kelly, to a nationwide bed chain with five standalone stores in Scotland and 70 concessions. This has to be one of the...

View: By Sean Quinn.(furniture importers in retail trade)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... There has been much speculation recently in the press regarding furniture importers who have become involved in retailing. Furniture retail suffered devastation in 2005 with hundreds of stores closing and thousands of jobs lost. So why is it...

Talk: Do you think dining room furniture has had its day?
February 10, 2006... `Not from our experience, as trade in the past six months has picked up. It is probably regional. Some areas report doom and gloom and others do not. Dining room sales have been steady whether it's contemporary or traditional. We are quite...

Chinese expansion.(Caldeira)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Merseyside cushion company Caldeira is to build a new factory in China. The Knowsley firm is investing almost #1.5m in the 200,000sqft factory, warehouse, office space and showrooms in the Hangzhou area, having outgrown its current base....

Sunflex saves Swish.(Sunflex Packaged Products' marketing and distribution agreement)(Brief Article)
February 10, 2006... Retailers relieved as track supply will continue Worried suppliers of Swish curtain poles and tracks have been spared as the company's UK distribution arm has been saved from closing. Sunflex Packaged Products has acquired the rights to...

Store for Blank Canvas.
February 10, 2006... Blank Canvas opened a 120sqft store yesterday (9 February) in Harrogate's town centre after 18 months of working from the owners' home. Founded by Andrew and Sharon Price, the couple print digital images on to furniture and accessories,...

Fantastic promotion.
February 10, 2006... Paul Darmoo is the new sales director at Fantastic Lighting. He joined the crystal lighting manufacturer in September as a sales executive when the Kent business increased its sales team. Darmoo, who has previous sales experience in the...