Blog - Home Furnishings Association

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City Furniture's newest store in the Miami community of Doral will be a dual-branded effort with Ashley HomeStore.

Shop Talk

With business booming, City Furniture adding 500 jobs

Like other furniture retailers this summer, Home Furnishings Association member City Furniture has become a rare hot spot in an economy that is, at best, lukewarm. Since the first days of reopening in the coronavirus pandemic, the Florida-based retailer has enjoyed what City CEO Keith Koenig earlier this year described as an “amazing” sales surge. Beds, sofas, recliners, student desks — just about anything in stock — has been flying out of its 21 stores across the state. To keep up with that demand, company officials announced this month they will hire more than 500 employees during the fourth quarter.

September 15, 2020

News

Residential furniture orders surge, survey reports

Orders for residential furniture revved up in June, industry accounting and consulting firm Smith Leonard reports. The High Point, N.C., firm’s survey of manufacturers and distributors found a 30 percent increase in orders over June 2019. That followed an 8 percent dip in May. Year-to-date, new orders were still down 16 percent for 2020. But Smith Leonard Assurance Partner Kenneth D. Smith is encouraged. “We had heard from many that June orders had really started to come in better than expected, but the increase over June last year was more than we would have thought,” he wrote in the report’s

September 11, 2020

News

Cash is critical during a crisis, HFA panelists say

The coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing shutdown of stores will have a direct impact on every furniture retailer’s bottom line this year. It will also affect how they manage their businesses moving into 2021. At a recent Home Furnishings Association COVID-19 live webinar, HFA members Peter Theran and Bobby Watson spoke about how the pandemic has forever changed the way they manage their companies’ finances moving forward. Looking back on the early days of the pandemic, Theran, president of Boston Interiors, said “cash was the only thing that mattered, and how much cash we had depended on whether we would come out the other

September 10, 2020

Image shows a man standing in a furniture store

Policy Matters

Liability protection battle waged in states and Congress

Liability protection from COVID-related claims was easily won in Alabama. Gov. Kay Ivey granted it for businesses in an executive order she signed in May. “I want to do everything within my authority to protect businesses as Alabama’s economy gets up and running again,” Ivey said then. “As we resume operations, the very last thing a business owner needs to worry about is a frivolous lawsuit from responding to COVID-19.” That was a relief to Jacob Shevin, president of Home Furnishings Association member Standard Furniture. The retailer, founded in 1912, has 13 stores in Alabama and one in Tennessee. Shevin is

September 9, 2020

News

PMP Sales adds consulting to list of services for HFA members

Here’s what Ron Cooper loves to hear a client say after a PMP sales event: “Ron, I just finished the analysis of my financials, and it cost me nothing to have you here.” “That’s really the bottom line,” says Cooper, vice president for sales and marketing for PMP Sales, a new Home Furnishings Association Solution Partner. “And that couldn’t have given us any higher compliment, for us to come in as a commission-based company and not cost the retailer anything because of the results we got, with increased margin as well as revenue.” PMP Sales runs promotions to help furniture

September 8, 2020

News

Phelps Digital guide can help retailers boost their SEM game

Furniture retailers know the power of paid search in getting their brand in front of people, but executing and monitoring a successful SEM campaign can be time-consuming and fraught with potential mistakes. Home Furnishings Association Solution Partner Phelps Digital can help. The company’s recently released guide, “Top 5 SEM Best Practices that You Should be Asking About,” answers many questions retailers have about implementing or maintaining an SEM campaign. Keyword setup, geo-targeting, ad copy, budget strategies, landing pages — there are many pieces that must be executed correctly and constantly monitored to ensure a successful campaign. For example, Phelps Digital

September 4, 2020