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News

Identify Workplace Hazards w/ OSHA-Compliant Signs & Labels!

According to OSHA’s Specifications for Accident Prevention (29 CFR 1910.145), employers must indicate and define potential hazards around the workplace. Safety signs and labels are easy and effective ways to communicate warnings and comply with OSHA standards. Here are the top five common workplace safety signs and labels that will help you comply with OSHA regulations: Exit Route Signs Place Exit Route Signs along pathways leading to exits and post directional evacuation markings every 100 feet. Fire Safety Signs Make sure fire extinguishers are present and clearly marked by posting Signs. Electrical Hazard Signs & Labels Warn employees about electrical hazards with conspicuous Warning

September 10, 2017

Announcements

Recovery from Harvey and Irma: Where Do You Start?

As people are beginning to return to their homes and businesses along the Gulf Coast and Florida to assess the aftermath of Hurricane’s Harvey and Irma – from wind damage to the unprecedented flooding, HFA has coordinated a list of resources to guide your recovery and assist in assessing damages. The Red Cross provides a checklist of items to have on hand when returning to your home or business, in addition to basic tips for recovery. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) walks you through advice about remaining vigilant when it comes to health and safety in potentially perilous conditions.

September 6, 2017

News

Beware the Warehouse

Your warehouse employees are only as mindful of safety as you are. Show them you’re serious. We all know that working in a furniture store’s warehouse can be dangerous. With rising demands from customers to have that sofa yesterday and the introduction of automation to warehousing operations, more pressure is on workers to increase productivity. Now more than ever, warehouse managers must make sure that employee safety remains a priority. Since the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) was signed into law in 1970, there has been a decrease in the number of reported workplace injuries and deaths. It’s been

September 6, 2017

Shop Talk

Getting Value Right

The key is knowing what your customers want and need from you When you run a business like a furniture store, your job is to produce and sell value. It’s both as simple and as complicated as that. When I see businesses getting value wrong, I have a physical reaction to it—it’s like watching a starving person eat cardboard. So that’s what we’re going to focus on this month: Getting value right. Because if you can do that, you can make money. Let’s start with a few examples. Getting value wrong I was in a family-owned store, consulting with them

September 6, 2017

BIG GAMBLE Trevor McAllister and his wife Kasey took a chance when they moved back to Trevor’s hometown to run the family business. After a few early struggles, the move appears to be paying off.

HFA Influencers

The Next Jenner(ation)

Turns out you can go home again. It just takes a lot of hard work to rebuild your family furniture store. Just ask Trevor McAllister. Looking back there were clues. No sirens or flashing blue lights, just subtle cues that maybe the retail furniture business wasn’t going to be so easy. The first clue came when Trevor McAllister, clipboard in hand, was taking inventory of one of the three stores he and his wife had just inherited. “I swear there was furniture on the floor and in the warehouse that looked like it had been there for years,” he says.

September 6, 2017

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News

Retailers’ Great Questions

And the even better answers behind them Selling furniture used to be so predictable: Plop down a few hundred bucks for a full-page newspaper ad or 30 seconds on the radio and TV and wait for the parking lot to fill up. Employees made a career out of working at your store, not just a summer. Of course, those days are long gone—if they were even there for you when you started in the business. Today there’s increasing competition—down the street and on the internet—for shrinking margins. There’s at least a half-dozen mediums to attract consumers, none of which can

September 6, 2017