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Membership

Morris Furniture ties promotion to 2020 election

Home Furnishings Association member Morris Furniture Co. hopes its latest promotion will help get out the vote. Shoppers who buy furniture at Morris or any of its family of brands in Ohio and Kentucky between Oct. 13 and Nov. 2 will get their purchase free if 6.3 million Ohio citizens vote by Election Day. Larry Klaben, president and CEO of Morris Furniture, a Top 100 retailer, hopes the promotion will help people not only appreciate the democratic process but actually exercise their right to vote. “The United States of America is most united when everyone exercises their right to vote,” said Klaben. “In a way, our home furnishings unite friends and family every day, whether

October 24, 2020

News

Mariner Finance helps you increase sales

When it comes to retail financing, Mariner Finance has a simple motto: “Our business is to grow yours.” Mariner Finance’s retail sales manager, Therese Bernardo, says the motto is not just a slogan. “This credo is truly what we live by,” she says. “Not only do we earn our paycheck by helping others earn theirs, it’s also just incredibly fulfilling to know that every day we’re helping businesses grow and support their employees. That’s what we believe in.” Mariner Finance is a new Home Furnishings Association Solution Partner. It offers flexible lending options for furniture retailers in 24 states with

October 23, 2020

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Policy Matters

HFA alerts California members to tax threat

For California members of the Home Furnishings Association, this has been a very difficult year. And it can get worse if voters approve Proposition 15 on the Nov. 3 ballot. Business shutdowns in response to the coronavirus crisis and widespread wildfires delivered a devastating economic impact to the state. While demand for home furnishing products picked up, supply chain disruptions hindered a rapid recovery. Now, a proposed multibillion-dollar tax increase poses a long-term threat to industrial and commercial property owners and businesses that rent or lease space from them. Furniture stores and warehouses could be hit very hard. The HFA

October 22, 2020

HFA Influencers

Experts: Manufacturers, retailers need to be realistic with consumers on orders

If you would have told Gaston “Gat” Caperton back in January that Gat Creek, his family-owned furniture manufacturing company in West Virginia, would post a 40 percent increase in third-quarter orders over last year, a lot of adjectives would have raced through his mind, almost all of them good. “Thrilled, ecstatic and fantastic are a few of them,” he said last week. “Probably a bunch of others, too.” But the one adjective that sticks out these days? “Stressful,” said Caperton. “It’s incredibly stressful having to deal with the backlog of orders and working with retailers wondering about orders.” Welcome to

October 22, 2020

News

Take control of your supply chain management

The pandemic has flattened many retailers, but not furniture retailers. Like many furniture retailers across the country, Home Furnishings Association member Howard Gerchikov of European Furniture Imports in Tampa is doing a booming business these days. Like many furniture retailers, he could be doing even better if he had product to sell. “Don’t get me wrong, sales are great,” says Gerchikov, who has seven stores throughout central Florida. “But when you miss a sale because you don’t have an item in stock, that hurts.” Supply chains have always been something of a mystery to many furniture retailers. One month a

October 21, 2020

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Membership

Politician surprises Grace Furniture with honor

When you run a furniture store, it’s not always great to hear from government. It wasn’t great last spring when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered most businesses in the state to close as the coronavirus was spreading – mainly in the New York City area. “They shut the doors, they really did,” said Bill Grace, owner of Home Furnishings Association member Grace Furniture in the upstate town of Marcy, far from Gotham. So, it was a pleasant surprise recently when the local state assemblywoman, Marianne Buttenschon, called. She wanted to honor Grace Furniture for celebrating its 80th anniversary. She

October 20, 2020