Orders for residential furniture in September surged 7 percent over September 2018, making it the strongest month of 2019, according to Smith Leonard’s latest survey of manufacturers and distributors. “And remember that September 2018 orders were 9 percent higher than September 2017,” the High Point, N.C., accounting and consulting firm
On a recent Sunday morning, HFA member Jordan’s Furniture turned its Avon, Mass., store into a winter wonderland for adopted children and their families. In celebration of National Adoption Month, local families and their recently adopted children showed up at Jordan’s on Nov. 24 for an invitation-only chance to explore
In that final mile, I was smiling. The crowd had delivered a thunderous roar for the past 25.2 miles. Officially, the Boston Marathon begins in Hopkinton, Mass., but the journey starts long before that. In that final mile, I reflected on where I came from. I thought about all it
Ken Smith uses a couple of reliable exhibitors to help him evaluate the High Point Market. “Unless it’s a really good market, they’re usually in a sour mood,” Smith said after the October show. “They were in a good mood, and one said it may have been the best market
The Home Furnishings Association’s inaugural CEO Summit concluded today with participants focused on action. Next steps will happen before the second annual gathering in October 2020. The event, which began Sunday evening, convened 50 of the nation’s top furniture retailers for discussions and networking in Pebble Beach, Calif. They set
The Ashley Homestore website includes an important safety page. The retail giant and Home Furnishings Association member offers statistics about tip-over accidents and instructions for anchoring chests and dressers securely in place. Consumers – whether they’re Ashley customers or not – are invited to request free tip-restraint kits. Those are
Smaller furniture retailers take heart. Even the country’s top retailers share many of the same staffing problems you have. At the second day of the Home Furnishings Association’s CEO Summit in Pebble Beach,Calif., those Top 100 retailers spent this morning discussing ways and days to better use their staff. Mark
The country’s top furniture retailers say they’ve given away too many sales to big, online vendors, and it’s time to win them back. That was the consensus reached during the first business session today at the Home Furnishings Association’s CEO Summit in Pebble Beach, Calif. The event attracted 50 owners,
The Home Furnishings Association today convened its inaugural CEO Summit in Pebble Beach, Calif. The three-day event brings together owners, presidents and chief executives of 50 of the Top 100 home furnishings retailers for discussions about significant industry issues. The setting is an iconic golf resort on the Pacific coast,
Social media is like a digital superhero for furniture retailers, a powerful tool to connect and share your brand with consumers. But with that power comes great responsibility, says author and digital influencer Erik Qualman. What does it take to be a successful furniture retailer in the digital era? Part
On a recent Sunday morning, HFA member Jordan’s Furniture turned its Avon, Mass., store into a winter wonderland for adopted
By Doug Clark Brian Gaines has survived a business failure and a medical crisis that put him in a coma
Ken Widger has a tough act to follow: his own. Widger, senior program marketing manager for MicroD, drew a standing-room-only audience of more
Furniture retailers miss sales opportunities if they don’t turn anonymous website visitors into people they know, says Scott Hill, executive
Above: Jacqueline and Jesús Capó, Rob Davis, Mitchell Stiles and Matt Schultz at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. It’s called
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
