Home Textiles Today articles from June 2004

Home Textiles Today archives from June 2004

Changing landscape has retailers reassess.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Change for the remainder of this decade will be driven by sharply morphing consumer demographics against a rapidly maturing retail environment, forcing merchants to reassess and reinvent their formats and market positions. "You...

License properties seek partners at LIMA.(Licensing Industry Manufacturer's Association)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Stores of license properties will be looking for potential partners to produce bedding, bath and sort room decor items to "round out" their consumer products lines at the annual Licensing 2004 International trade show here this...

Ryman to help Sears revamp.(Appointments; Steve Ryman)
June 7, 2004... HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. -- Sears' new home fashions merchant sees the retailer's home textiles business as "offering tremendous opportunities. But it's going to take time." The merchant in question, Steve Ryman, last week joined Sears...

Industry feels avian flu hangover.
June 7, 2004... MASON, OHIO -- The worst of last winter's avian flu crisis may be over, but its repercussions continue to affect suppliers. Panelists representing Europe, Asia and the international testing community at Down Lite's down, feather and fabric...

Home Depot hires help to target Hispanics.(Retail briefs; The Vidal Partnership )(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... The Home Depot has selected The Vidal Partnership as its agency of record for marketing and advertising to Hispanics. "The Home Depot is committed to being the company of choice for the Hispanic community," said John Costello, executive...

Sears signs technology deal with CSC.(Retail briefs; Computer Sciences Corp.; Sears, Roebuck and Co.)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Computer Sciences Corporation has signed a 10-year agreement to provide Sears, Roebuck and Co. with information technology (IT) infrastructure support services. CSC estimates the value of the agreement to be approximately $1.6 billion over the...

BJ's taps Stout for merchandising.(Retail briefs; B J's Wholesale Club Inc. hires Karen Stout)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... BJ's Wholesale Club has appointed Karen Stout to executive vice president, merchandising. She will oversee strategy for both food and general merchandise categories. Stout has 25 years of experience in the retail grocery business. Most...

Family Dollar names Flur to new post.(Retail briefs; Dorlisa Flur)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... Family Dollar Stores has named Dorlisa Flur to the newly created position of senior vice president--strategy and business development. During a 16-year career at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Flur earned a...

Marshall Field's to sponsor model search.(Retail briefs)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... As part of a new partnership signed with the Ford Models, Marshall Field's will be the primary sponsor of Ford's Supermodel of the World U.S. Search. The winner of the search process becomes the top U.S. contestant to compete in the...

Spade starts strong for Neiman.(Neiman Marcus Group Inc. launchesKate Spade bedding collections expands store locations)
June 7, 2004... DALLAS -- The Neiman Marcus Group boasted early successes with the recent launch of its Kate Spade bedding collections during its third quarter earnings conference call last week. "Particularly there are tabletop and linens and domestics,...

Home Depot to buy 24 Kmarts.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... TROY, MICH. -- Kmart Holding Corporation had signed definitive agreements with The Home Depot, Inc. to sell up to 24 stores for a maximum purchase price of $365 million in cash. The exact number of stores, locations, and total purchase amount...

If Covington wins, ADF will appeal.(American Decorative Fabrics and Covington Industries Inc. in copyright dispute)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Despite the ruling by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York that a Covington Industries pattern, called "Maxwell," has a valid copyright, American Decorative Fabrics (ADF) "ultimately intends to...

Down Lite builds out facilities.(in Mason, Ohio)
June 7, 2004... MASON, OHIO -- Down Lite International is expanding its two-year-old, 200,000-squarefoot finishing plant and warehouse here as well as a processing plant in Cincinnati. The company will also add an overseas buying office in China by 2005...

[D.sup.2]X Decor + Design Expo to hit Canada.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... TORONTO -- A new home decor expo will debut next year in conjunction with the repositioned [H.sup.2]X Canada Hardware + Home Improvement Expo in February. The new show--[D.sup.2]X Decor + Design Expo--is being produced by Heimtextil...

Invista to showcase products at Showtime.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The business unit of Invista that manufactures Micromattique super microdenier and Dacron Vibrance solution-dye polyester, an ITMA Education Foundation Sponsor, will join other Invista businesses showcasing products for the...

828 Intl. hits the links.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... GREENVILLE, S.C. -- 828 International Trading Co. recently became the new licensee of area rugs for the PGA Tour Home's growing roster of home goods. 828 International will preview its first round of offerings later this month, when...

Questrom bestows JCPenney annual chairman's awards.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... PLANO, TEXAS -- Two home textiles buyers and three product development executives for the Home Collection were among those presented with the 2003 Chairman's Award at JCPenney. They were among the 248 managers from across the country cited...

Miller moves to Sesame Street; designer to work with company to develop bedding and room decor items.(Appointments; Nicole Miller; Sesame Workshop)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Designer Nicole Miller recently teamed up with Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, to develop a new apparel collection for newborns, infants and toddlers. Launching next year, the...

Lowe's promotes Hull to executive vp, cfo.(Appointments; Lowe's Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... mooresville, n.c. -- Lowe's Companies, Inc. has promoted Robert Hull Jr. to executive vice president and chief financial officer. Hull has served as senior vice president and chief financial officer since March 2003. He will continue to be...

King exits Joan Fabrics.(Resignations; Ray King )(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... TYNGSBORO, MASS. -- Elkin McCallum, chairman of Joan Fabrics, announced the resignation of Ray King as executive vice president of sales. No replacement for King has been named. On an interim basis, the sales force for the company will...

No growth for the weary.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Home textiles expenditures will grow by an anemic 2.9 percent compound-annual growth rate through the end of this decade, according to Retail Forward's "Growing into 2010" report. It will trail a group of five underperforming...

China: obstacle or opportunity.
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- China is to global trade as Wal-Mart is to retailing -perhaps more so. Not only is Wal-Mart dominating production of vast quantities of that nation's outbound goods, ifs building a store base there to serve an increasingly...

Macy's ad campaign congratulates shoppers.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Macy's launched its new national advertising campaign last week which includes the Macy's East and Macy's West divisions, as well as three of the divisions with the Macy's suffix. "Way to Shop" is the theme of the campaign,...

Trend guide turns one (month).
June 7, 2004... PARIS -- An online guide to international design trends celebrated its first month in business last week. The brainchild of a Fashion Institute of Technology student who interned with New York home textiles companies, Trendease...

Lost in transition.(Opinion Today)(retailing corporations)
June 7, 2004... The dog days of summer promise to be anything but humdrum this year. Wholesale change is under way across a range of companies that continues to transform the structure of the buyer/seller equation. JCPenney is well into its transition. The...

Elbow room.(Opinion Today)(retial stores space, logistics)
June 7, 2004... Looking over the retailing landscape, it appears that certain words are being used more and more frequently. We've been through the "consumer-centric" phase, when many retailers realized they had been ignoring customers in a quest for...

Homefires creates compact area rug display.(Brief Article)
June 7, 2004... ATLANTA -- Area and accent rug supplier Homefires has created a new free-standing rug rack it hopes easily and compactly displays its area rug products. The 55-inch tall rack, which has a footprint of about 18-by-45 inches, carries up to...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 7, 2004... JUNE 8-10 Annual Licensing and Merchandising Conference and Exposition Javits Center New York (800) 331-5706 www.licensingshow.com 14-16 NeoCon World's Trade Fair Merchandise Mart Chicago ...

Manufacturing up on strong employment.(Business Today)( Institute for Supply Management)
June 7, 2004... TEMPE, ARIZ. -- Gaining strength for a 12th straight month, the American manufacturing economy grew at a faster pace in May, and the Purchasing Managers' Index ticked up 0.4 percent, to a current reading of 62.8. Propping up the index was...

Double-digit sales drive DG's profits.(Business Today)
June 7, 2004... GOODLETTSVILLE, TENN. -- Paying down debt and hacking away at interest costs, while building sales at a double-digit pace, Dollar General Stores Corp. drove first-quarter profits up 12.5 percent, to $67.8 million from $60.3 million last year....

Same-store sales finish strong.(Business Today)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Closing out the month on an upbeat note, same-store retail sales sprinted ahead during the final week of May, helped by a run-up to Memorial Day and rising 4.6 percent, recovering from a slump the week before, the Johnson Redbook...

Same-store sales best expectations.(for May)
June 7, 2004... NEW YORK -- Apparently undeterred by higher prices at the pump, shoppers still flocked to the malls during May, pushing up same-store sales for key U.S. retailers at a higher than expected pace. After taking a breather the month before,...

Wall Street watch for the week ended June 3, 2004.(Business Today)(Illustration)
June 7, 2004... WALL STREET WATCH FOR THE WEEK ENDED JUNE 3, 2004 MANUFACTURERS & SUPPLIERS CLOSE % CHG % CHG. COMPANY 06/03/04 THIS WEEK YEAR-TO-DATE Cone...

Moore wants to 'add value' in new role.
June 14, 2004... CLIFTON, N.J. -- Shortly after being named president and chief operating officer of Linens 'n Things last week, Jack Moore told HTT he'll visit the retailer's headquarters here for couple of days this week in order to get to know the team. ...

Business a mixed bag for fabrics suppliers.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- After a strong first quartet many decorative fabric suppliers are reporting a slowdown in incoming orders across all channels of distribution. Obviously for a number of fabric suppliers, offshore sourcing by their customers,...

May to use Field's as a platform.
June 14, 2004... ST. LOUIS -- The new steward of the Marshall Field's plans to leave the upscale retailer's merchandising team, market strategy and vendor structure largely intact. Further, the May Department Store Company wants to learn from Field's trend...

Big Lots opens new DC.(Retail briefs)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Big Lots, a closeout retailer, recently opened a $70 million, 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center in Durant, Okla. The center is the fifth Big Lots distribution center, which collectively service over 1,400 stores across the...

Home Depot heads East.(Retail briefs; establishing Asia division )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... The Home Depot has set its sites on the growing consumer market in China, establishing a new Asia division to spearhead its entry into the country. "About 70 percent of home improvement spending in China is for completion of interior space...

JCP awarded at LIMA.(Retail briefs; JCPenney Company Inc.; International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... The International Licensing Industry Merchandisers' Association (LIMA) named JCPenney Retailer of the Year at the International Licensing Excellence Awards, held in New York. Penney received the award for The Nick Zone, which featured...

Value City: no more cheaping out.(Retail Briefs)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Value City has been steadily moving out of "chintzy cheap" merchandise as it works to boost average ticket sizes and one day return to a 2 percent net margin structure, executives said during parent company Retail Ventures Inc.'s quarterly...

Groups ask D.C. to prod WTO.
June 14, 2004... WASHINGTON -- Industry associations have turned up the volume in their quest to get the World Trade Organization to reconsider the elimination of worldwide quotas on textiles and apparel products at the end of 2004. Two bipartisan letters,...

Trading Spaces' Kia eyes textiles line.
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Trading Spaces personality Kia Steave-Dickerson, who has set trends for two seasons on the hit TLC show with her eclectic interior designs, now wants to start her own home textiles line of bedding, bath, rugs, etc. with the help of...

Goldberg out, Kazner in, at Brylane.(Brylane Home Lifestyles Group)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Brylane last week named Gary Kazner executive vice president of the Brylane Home Lifestyles Group. He was previously vice president of customer relations. He succeeds industry veteran Steve Goldberg, who until last week was...

Tracy Porter looks to expand licensees.
June 14, 2004... PRINCETON, WIS. -- Tracy Porter Inc. is looking to grow its lineup of licensing programs by expanding the brand's broad-reaching appeal and high sell-through at retail. Currently licensed in multiple categories for tabletop, home accents,...

Calif. show features high end of home.(At Home portion of California Gift Show )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- The At Home portion of the California Gift Show will feature more suppliers of high-end products, according to organizer George Little Management. The next edition of At Home, running from July 17 to 20 at the Los...

Aegean Apparel sets sail into home.(new line of beach towels)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... DAYTON, OHIO -- Aegean Apparel, maker of robes and novelty sleepwear, has moved into home. The 13-year-old company introduced its inaugural line of beach towels in late fall 2003, and this past spring debuted bath towel collections made at...

Adding it all up.(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... Data for Numbers 2004 is based on information provided directly by suppliers in these categories. Home Textiles Today augments the information with data from the U.S. Department of Commerce; Claritas, a market research firm headquartered in San...

Pillowtex demise shook bath.(Bath & bath accessories report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- In a year that saw the demise of one major mill and the bankruptcy of another, compounded with increased direct importing by retailers and deepened price deflation in bath towels and bath/scatter rugs, the bath products industry...

Shrinking rugs helped sales.(Rug report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Rug companies "shrunk" their businesses in 2003 and, as a result, the industry was able to eke out a 2 percent increase to $4.8 billion in total sales over the prior year. Players can thank their smaller sized offerings--mainly...

Deflation shaded window.(Window treatments report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Deflation left its mark on sales in the soft window category last year, depressing overall retail volume by roughly 2.6 percent. At the moderate and upper-moderate levels of retail, "All of the massive price-point reductions...

Specialty stores saved table linens.(Table linens report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Like its sister product category kitchen textiles, the table linens category experienced unchanged retail sales in 2003, coming in at $603 million again. Mounting concerns in January 2003 seemed to paint an ugly picture for the...

Price pressures plagued suppliers.(Kitchen textiles report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Consistent with what the top five category players reported for their own financial results last year, the kitchen textiles industry experienced zero growth in 2003 when retail sales remained flat at $444 million. Carrying the...

Sourcing grew, as did deflation.(Bedding report: 2004)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- The biggest trends taking place in the bedding category in 2003 were the continuation of price deflation, the increasing pace of globalization in the supply chain, and a larger percentage of retail businesses going directly overseas...

HTT methodology.
June 14, 2004... HTT made some changes to its annual survey in 2003, which in some cases have resulted in distribution channel figures that vary significantly from those published in previous years. There are two reasons for this. This year, HTT's market...

Qual Fab teams with DuPont to go digital.(Fabrics Today)
June 14, 2004... HIALEAH, FLA. -- Qual Fab Industries is launching a digital printing program using DuPont's Artisti system. The Qual Fab-DuPont digital printing system uses permanent pigment-printing technology which gives more consistent color and the...

Friedman moves up at Robert Allen.(Swatches; appointment)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Arthur Friedman has been promoted to vice president, key accounts, at The Robert Allen Group. He joined the company in April as operating vice president, national sales and manufacturing. In his new role, he will be responsible...

Fitz takes vp post at Cranston.(Swatches; appointment)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... CRANSTON, R.I. -- Hedi Fitz will join Cranston, the textiles division of Cranston Print Works, as vice president sales. She will be based at the company's Webster, Mass., location and will report to Andrew Sylvia, president of Cranston. She...

Nunnally joins Claridge as vp of sales.(Swatches; Jack Nunnally; Claridge Textiles International)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... CHULA VISTA, CALIF. -- Jack Nunnally has joined Claridge Textiles International as vice president of sales and operations, a new post. Nunnally most recently was vice president of sales for Venus Industries, a trimmings manufacturer....

Costa Blanca targets specialty stores.(Fabrics Today)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... HIGH POINT, N.C. -- Costa Blanca will introduce a new fabric collection and merchandising program designed for fabric specialty stores, called Destiny and Design. The coordinated fabric collection is designed for window treatments,...

Dawn's early light.(Opinion Today)
June 14, 2004... Whew! The best news coming out of May's acquisition of Marshall Field's is that not only will May resist the dumbing down of assortments that usually occurs after such transactions, but it also hopes to use Field's to scale up some of its own...

The madding crowd.(Opinion Today)
June 14, 2004... The name game continues unabated. The buzz over national brands versus private brands versus licensing of brands is at an all-time peak. And the annual licensing show last week in New York certainly didn't do much to temper the boil....

Abyss jazzes up towels for show.(Abyss European Towels)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... WINDSOR, N.J. -- Portuguese-based luxury bath towel manufacturer Abyss will be introducing Jazz, a two-tone contrast bias towel, during the New York International Gift Fair, held Aug. 15 to 19 at the Jacob Javits Center. A 500-gram, 100...

World Market Center names Mackey to director post.(People Today)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... LAS VEGAS -- World Market Center Las Vegas has appointed Briana Mackey as director of market operations for the 7.5 million square-foot home and hospitality contract-furnishings-showrooms complex under construction in downtown Las Vegas. ...

Paradiso wins textiles gold in SF.(People Today; award for Cucina Paradiso at San Francisco's Gourmet Products Show)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... FORT LEE, N.J. -- Cucina Paradiso won the Gourmet Golds award for textiles during the recent Gourmet Products Show held in San Francisco. Cucina's winning product was a kitchen tapestry featuring the label design from an olive oil tin. The...

Sheftex chairman dies at 69.(People Today; Elliot Sheftman)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
June 14, 2004... MONTREAL -- Memorial services were held on May 28 fox' Sheftex chief Elliot Sheftman, 69, who passed away after several years of battling heart problems. Sheftman, who was chairman and CEO of the family-owned business, joined the company...

Home Depot promotes Patterson, Rice, Liebert.(People Today; appointments)(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... ATLANTA -- The Home Depot announced a series of promotions last week following the appointment of Bill Patterson to the newly created post of president for The Home Depot Asia, a new division (see page 2). Patterson, who has served as...

Retail Ventures slashes loss.(Business Today)
June 14, 2004... COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Building sales, boosting margins and whittling interest expense; Retail Ventures Inc., parent of Value City Department Stores and Filene's Basement, edged its way towards a turnaround. The company pared its first quarter...

Overseas sales strengthen Tommy.(Business Today; Tommy Hilfiger Corp.)
June 14, 2004... HONG KONG -- Helped by stronger sales in Europe, which offset declines in the United States, and getting a further lift from currency conversion, first quarter earnings before one-time items at Tommy Hilfiger Corp. jumped 29.7 percent to $36.7...

Same-store sales make the grade.(Business Today; Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index )(Brief Article)
June 14, 2004... NEW YORK -- Though hampered somewhat by cooler weather, which chilled some sales of seasonal apparel, same-store retail sales nudged up slightly ahead of plan during the first week of June, the Johnson Redbook Index reported. Same-store...

Calendar.(Calendar)
June 14, 2004... JUNE 14-16 NeoCon World's Trade Fair Merchandise Mart Chicago (312) 527-7074 www.merchandisemart.com/neocon 23-25 Heimtextil Japan Tokyo http://www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com 23-25 Ambiente Japan, Interior Lifestyle and...

Wall Street watch for the week ended June 10, 2004.(Business Today)(Illustration)
June 14, 2004... MANUFACTURERS & SUPPLIERS CLOSE % CHG % CHG COMPANY 6/10/04 THIS WEEK YEAR-TO-DATE Cone Mills (N) 0.01 0.00% -72.89% Crown...

Spending remains low as suppliers adapt.(updating equipment in plants)
June 21, 2004... NEW YORK -- Bringing in more of the goods they sell, and shutting down more of their own plants, American home fashions suppliers are keeping their capital spending near historic low levels this year, often doing little more than routine...

Dollar General works to inject some new life.
June 21, 2004... GOODLETTSVILLE, TENN. -- Dollar General has recently implemented several supply chain initiatives to enhance its business, ranging from back-end production to international sourcing efforts. The main priority for the chain this year is to...

Fighting for WTO's ear.(Textiles quotas)(World Trade Organization)
June 21, 2004... BRUSSELS -- Representatives of textiles trade groups acknowledged they face an uphill battle in their efforts to prompt an emergency session of the World Trade Organization. However, following a three-day summit here, groups from 22 nations...

Pier 1 feeling pressure to adapt.
June 21, 2004... FORT WORTH, TEXAS -- Coming off a weak first quarter, Pier 1 Imports announced during its quarterly earnings call that it soon would be implementing some changes--mainly editing its merchandise mix, reducing price points and enhancing marketing...

Hanover Direct receives cash infusion.(Retail briefs)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Hanover Direct said it has reworked its credit facility and secured $25 million in additional liquidity. Controlling shareholder Chelsey Direct is providing a $20 million junior secured loan over a three-year term, subject to earlier...

Saks may shutter some units.(Retail briefs)
June 21, 2004... Saks Inc. is in the process of reviewing the viability of its individual Saks Fifth Avenue stores and considering the possibility of shutting down some units in the near future, the company said during a retail conference call last week hosted...

LNT outlines Moore options.(Retail briefs)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Linens 'n Things last week said it granted Jack Moore, new president and chief operating officer, 200,000 options to purchase the company's common stock as part of his hiring package. The options have an exercise price of $27.01 per share...

Macy's bewitches brides with bucks.(Retail briefs)(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... Federated Department Stores is creating a new bridal registry program under its Macy's Home Store division that will provide rewards on purchases made by the couple before their wedding date and gifts purchased by their guests. It will also...

Pennington teams up with Sears.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL. -- Sears Roebuck is joining the ever-growing list of retailers with decorating gurus with its announcement last week that it has signed television personality Ty Pennington to a multi-year agreement. Calling...

Wal-Mart lays out plan to roll out RFID tags.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... BENTONVILLE, ARK. -- Just weeks into its initial test of electronic product coding in north Texas, Wal-Mart has laid out an implementation plan covering the next 18 months. The trial under way now involves radio frequency tagging on cases...

Maxim tries its hand at home line.
June 21, 2004... NEW YORK -- The men's lifestyle magazine known for its saucy tone and scantily clad cover models is launching a lifestyle line of home textiles next month under the brand Maxim Living. The collection will debut next month at Foley's and...

Williams-Sonoma continues push into diverse markets.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... SAN FRANCISCO -- Recognizing opportunities to accelerate its growth rate through new concepts, Williams-Sonoma Inc. is currently developing four of its brands to better cater to specific target customer bases, the company said last week during...

Hilasal Mills heads back to the beach.(Brief Article)
June 21, 2004... EL SALVADOR -- Hilasal Mills, North America's third largest towel manufacturer, has returned to the beach towel business under its own operation. For the past two years, that business had been handled under agreement with Brumlow Mills. ...