Fast-moving fires and long, dark nights. Those are some of the challenges Californians – including furniture retailers – are facing. “The ridgeline is burning toward us, but the wind is blowing against us,” Norbert Moniz, owner of Home Furnishings Association member A Royal Suite in Santa Clarita, said Friday afternoon.
Ken Smith was getting tired of reporting monthly declines in new orders for residential furniture. His latest survey of manufacturers finds better news. “The July orders were up 6 percent over July 2018, following five months of reporting declines in new orders,” said Smith, assurance partner for Smith Leonard, an
Marathons are a lot like running a furniture store. It’s important to finish strong. In the HFA’s Fall Insights magazine, David McMahon offers furniture retailers advice on the final push. But that’s just the start, says McMahon. Here he offers some tips on forecasting for the next year. Retailers can
Erik Qualman purchases furniture in the same way he urges businesses to operate in the digital age: by finding a balance between online and offline. “It runs the gamut,” says Qualman, the popular speaker and best-selling author. “Sometimes we research products and buy online.” Other times, he and his wife
Uncertainty about tariffs. A possible recession on the horizon. These days, furniture retailers who want to expand can get frightened off by the headlines. HFA member Furniture Connection in Clarksville, Tenn., is not like a lot of furniture retailers. Owner David Berggren broke ground this month on a second Furniture Connection
It’s easy to see why many retailers refuse to accept checks from customers,” says Charles Dortch III. “They don’t want to be burned.” The trouble is, a no-checks policy turns away some customers — for good. So why not make the sale and pass the risk to CrossCheck? CrossCheck is
June represented a new month for furniture retailers to tell what’s becoming the same old story: New orders for the month experienced a 6 percent decline from orders in June of 2018 – the fifth consecutive month this year for falling orders. The numbers come from accounting and consulting firm
Home Furnishings Association member Andrew Tepperman of Tepperman’s is not one to go by the book. When the industry zigs, Tepperman frequently zags. That’s probably why his 94-year-old company is such a hit in Ontario, Canada. So, when Tepperman’s announced it was opening a store – number 6 if you’re keeping score –
Hoping to avoid disaster, Home Furnishings Association members from Florida to North Carolina have one eye on their showroom floor and the other on weather updates this week as Hurricane Dorian slowly churns its way north. In Wilmington, N.C., it was a busy Tuesday morning for HFA member Mike Serafina
Proposed changes to federal hours-of-service regulations could give more flexibility to truck drivers who carry home furnishings products, industry leaders say. “The proposal doesn’t change the maximum allowable driving time, but it gives more flexibility to shift drive time and work shifts to mitigate impacts of certain variables like weather,
The face of the retail furniture consumer is changing. That’s because America is changing, too. There are 131 million multicultural
The Home Furnishings Association asked a key legislator in Rhode Island to stop an unnecessary and counterproductive flame-retardant bill from advancing
Eugene Alletto’s “spoof” at the Las Vegas Market was meant to make a serious point about sleep: You can’t fake it. Alletto
International trade lawyer Rob Pisani (photo, above) offered predictable advice to importers looking for legal ways to avoid paying high
Two chests of drawers sold by Kirkland’s have been recalled because of safety concerns. “The recalled chests are unstable if
The threat from online retailers like Wayfair is not a game to home furnishing businesses, but it is a “gaming” attitude they are turning to
Could you increase sales through psychology? The scientists at Neurofied think so. At their Brain and Behavior Academy in Amsterdam they are working to help
