Original condition more vital than look of item

When determining the value of antique furniture, condition is important.

The condition is also important when assessing the value of baseball cards, labeled boxes and bottles, toys and most other collectibles.

But decorators and casual collectors are more concerned about the look of something than about its original appearance. Labels have been soaked off jars, cardboard boxes discarded, furniture and tin toys painted, and labels stripped from trunks and boxes.

Styles have changed. The proper care of antiques in earlier times was to refinish, paint or remove labels to try to make the old look new. Even today, decorating and crafts magazines describe projects that destroy the original look of an antique.

Ikea flat-pack furniture sales hit by downturn

Ikea, the Swedish furniture group, warned yesterday that the housing downturn is hitting sales of its flat-pack furniture as global retailers painted a gloomy picture. Speaking at the World Retail Congress, in Barcelona, Anders Dahlvig, Ikea's president, said: "The housing downturn is important for our business and we feel it quite a lot. Our growth is going down slightly in the US, the UK and Germany."
His comments came the day after figures from the Halifax showed that house prices fell in Britain last month by 2.5%, the biggest monthly fall since the property slump of the early 1990s, and against a backdrop of a rapidly shrinking mortgage market in Britain. Both developments are likely to affect spending on household goods in Britain, where Ikea has 17 stores.
Dahlvig's gloomy description of the credit crunch's impact on retailing was echoed by several of the 2,000 delegates attending the congress. Another speaker, Paul Charron, chairman emeritus of fashion retailer Liz Claiborne, said hopes that recovery would emerge this year had been dashed: "Recovery in the second half of 2008 is clearly a pipe-dream - the second half of 2009 is more likely."
He forecast many more company failures in the US because there are "too many outlets chasing too few consumers".
However, Dahlvig said that the effects of the credit crunch were also an opportunity for Ikea, which operates in 37 countries. The company would focus on expansion into emerging markets such as Croatia, Slovenia and Ukraine. The boss of Carrefour, José Luis Duràn, said the sector faced its "most significant challenge in a generation". He added that the company, the world's second largest retailer, would wait until next year to consider a stock market listing of its property unit because of market conditions.

The Time To Buy Furniture Is Now

When people buy new houses, they buy new furniture but when they don't buy, furniture stores begin to worry.
CNN reports that over the next few months, furniture stores will likely reduce prices from five to fifteen percent on top of their current discounts.

This can mean big bargains for consumers, but furniture store owners are feeling the impact of lower sales.
Many Tallahassee Furniture owners say they've noticed a significant impact from the housing market slumps and economic downturn.
"We definitely have had to modify our prices to try to stimulate some business, so you can get great deals right now," says Jennifer Bishop, owner of StyleHouse.
Bishop and others say they are adjusting prices, offering no interest for a set period of time and offering financing options for customers to bring in business.

ServerLogic Introduces MarketPoint to the Furniture Industry

MarketPoint is an Direct Marketing Campaign Management Software designed specifically for the home furnishings market. It has seen tremendous success in the furniture industry and is leading to explosive sales growth for its member dealers.

Portland, OR (PRWEB) March 18, 2008 -- ServerLogic has announced the release of MarketPoint Direct Marketing Campaign Management software. Designed specifically for the home furnishing market, MarketPoint replaces inefficient direct mail campaigns with a targeted, repeatable method for running a direct marketing campaign. MarketPoint helps dealers target high-value prospects by increasing their prospect response rate and decreasing direct marketing costs, resulting in increased profits.

MarketPoint provides a proven system to effectively create and manage multiple direct marketing sales events that target potential customers that have visited a store, but did not purchase.

Designer's furniture prized by collectors

Phillip Lloyd Powell, a self-taught furniture designer who, working largely out of the public eye, produced elegant, sculptural pieces that are today highly prized by collectors, died March 9 in Langhorne, Pa. He was 88 and lived in New Hope, Pa.

Powell died after a fall, said George Gilpin, a friend and business associate. No immediate family members survive.

Though Powell's work is often described as midcentury modern, it routinely transcended the cool, clean lines associated with that style.

Powell's work has been shown at America House in New York, the Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center and elsewhere. In 2006, an eight-foot-long wall-mounted cabinet he made in the early 1970s, topped with slate and with handles taken from the frame of a Sicilian donkey cart, sold at auction for $60,000.

Furniture Brands sells Hickory Business Furniture unit

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Furniture Brands Inc. plans to sell its Hickory Business Furniture unit to HNI Corp. for $75 million.

The all-cash transaction announced Monday is expected to be completed in the first quarter. Furniture Brands officials say Hickory doesn't fit the company's strategic focus on the residential consumer market. HNI is the world's second-largest office furniture maker.Furniture Brands' stock declined 13 cents to $11.31. Shares of HNI Corp. rose 47 cents to $29.07.Furniture Brands is based in St. Louis.
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Birmingham entrepreneur buys city's Church & Stagg

Office and furniture supplier Church & Stagg has a new owner after operating in Birmingham for more than 60 years under the Church family.

Dennis Williams purchased the 70-employee business, which has office supply, furniture and printing divisions, last month.

Williams declined to disclose the purchase price, but said Church & Stagg had $25 million in sales last year and he hopes to reach $30 million by 2010 and add more employees.

Williams owned Birmingham Mailing Systems for 17 years, before selling the company to its supplier, Neopost, nearly two years ago. Before that, he was in the copier business for 16 years, he said.

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Wickes Furniture gives up hope of reorganizing

It appears the 20 Wickes Furniture stores in the Chicago area may have a short future.

The Wheeling-based Wickes Furniture Co. announced Tuesday it has abandoned hopes of reorganization and agreed to put itself on the bankruptcy auction block before the end of the month, according to court papers.

Citing ''operating losses and liquidity concerns,'' Wickes said Monday it would seek bankruptcy court approval to sell all its assets by Feb. 29.

The company said it would be sold either as an operating business or piecemeal in a liquidation.

Wickes Furniture stores are currently selling merchandise in the store and in the warehouse, but taking only credit-card payments. Back orders may be subject to a refund. Merchandise was still being delivered and serviced on Tuesday, a service representative said.

Candleholders add style and grace to your home

Among the most powerful mood enhancers in a room is the glow of candlelight. It beckons guests to its warmth, mesmerizes with its flickering and lends mystery. It casts a romantic spell on an interior
Candleholders can be ordinary or as captivating as the dancing lights. From simple candlesticks to elaborate candelabras, table centerpieces and even wall-mounted containers, candleholders are decorative accessories that hold their own even when the votives, tapers or pillars they cradle are not lighted.
Candleholders long have been collectibles and span a rich history of design styles. Tall hand-carved, painted or gilded wood candlesticks from Italy and delicate enameled 18th-century French holders are sold at auctions and in antique shops for hundreds to thousands of dollars apiece.
Today they are available in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles — from luxurious to rustic, from exotic to whimsical.

GMT: Friday, February 15, 2008

Known for their beautiful use of color and design that makes a home comfortable & inviting, IBB Design Furniture Showroom has been creating residential & commercial masterpieces for over 25 years. Based in Dallas, Texas the firm has a client list that spans the United States. Founded by interior designer, Beth Rafferty, this award-winning all inclusive design firm is always in high demand. IBB Design Furniture Showroom attends and buys from markets all over the world enabling them to offer the hottest trends in design. IBB's competitive advantage is that their facilities include an on-site showroom and design resource center giving their designers the tools to fulfill even the most discerning client's desires. Whatever your style Ð traditional, contemporary, classic or transitional the designers at IBB can make your design dreams a reality.

Dearborn firm shapes homeowners' dreams

These days, it's not enough to have two sinks or a separate tub in your bathroom.

To really impress the neighbors, you need stylish wall sconces, the cabinets need to look like freestanding furniture and the medicine cabinets must be big enough to hold a small pharmacy.

To capture that glamorous look, a homeowner could buy everything in the latest Pottery Barn catalog. For those with a more realistic budget, there's De Giulio Industries, one of Metro Detroit's oldest family-owned cabinet manufacturers and design studios.

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Jennifer Convertibles cuts losses

Furniture retailer Jennifer Convertibles Inc. said Tuesday it lost $505,000 in its fiscal first quarter, which ended November 24, but that the loss was less than the $637,000 deficit it report in the same period last year.

The Woodbury-based company, owner of the largest group of sofabed specialty stores in the country, said the decrease in the net loss was the result of a $146,000 gain in net income from its Ashley Furniture HomeStore, which it opened in 2007 in Carle Place.

On a per-share basis, Jennifer said it lost 7 cents, compared to a loss of 9 cents in the same period last year.

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At the seat of furniture-making

MANZANO, Italy - The big chair to end all big chairs looms on the flat horizon in northeast Italy, and it's enough to make a Bay Stater homesick. After all, Gardner, Mass., reputedly started the madness back in 1905 when the town erected a 12-foot Mission chair at the railroad depot as a symbol of its signature industry. Thus began the "Big Chair" wars, as other furniture towns such as Thomasville, N.C., and Morristown, Tenn., built their own big seats. Even Old Avon Village in Connecticut got into the act with a relatively diminutive 9-foot rocking chair. Gardner's current effort is a 20-foot, 7-inch Heywood-Wakefield model.

But the Italians get the last word when it comes to furniture. The Guinness world record for the tallest chair in the world belongs to a 20-meter (65 1/2-foot) wooden chair standing inside a traffic circle on the outskirts of Manzano, a village in the Friuli region near the Slovenian border.

Thrifty chic: Dig deep to find best buys

Good shoppers scour the ads, clip coupons and plan their shopping attacks to find furniture, appliances and accessories to complete their home. But at Rapid City’s thrift stores, shoppers can find bargains on a French-style lighting fixture, wingback chair or dresser — and support a worthy cause at the same time.

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Furniture adds touch of Frank Lloyd Wright

If doing an entire house or even a room in Frank Lloyd Wright's austere, yet ample style seems Mission impossible, then consider acquiring a few unique pieces. Copeland Furniture in Bradford, Vt., which is licensed to do reproductions of the architect's home furnishings, introduced the Boynton dining chairs at last fall's International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C.

The chairs were designed in 1908 by Mr. Wright for the Boynton house in Rochester, N.Y., but the complicated compound curve of the back required skills and technology that did not exist at the time. The design, which has been in the archives for a century, will soon appear in retail showrooms.

Linder's Fine Furnishings on Yunker Street in McKees Rocks is the exclusive area outlet for Copeland's Frank Lloyd Wright series.

Dirty Harry gunning for Palliser Furniture

DIRTY Harry is playing dirty, according to the head of Palliser Furniture.

Art DeFehr, president and CEO of the Winnipeg-based furniture manufacturer, accused Academy Award winning actor Clint Eastwood and his lawyers of staging a publicity stunt in announcing a lawsuit against the company this week.

Documents filed in the United States District Court Central District of California accuse Palliser of using Eastwood's name without his permission on a line of home theatre chairs.

The documents said Palliser's actions are "knowingly and intentionally designed" to capitalize on Eastwood's goodwill, recognition and fame and are "likely to confuse, mislead or deceive the consuming public and trade by creating the false impression" that "The Eastwood" home theatre chair is in some way connected or affiliated with the actor.

Andy Thornton launch new hotel and restaurant furniture at Hotelympia ...

Hotelympia 2008 will be the perfect opportunity for Andy Thornton to launch their exciting NEW range of hotel and restaurant furniture. The comprehensive range offers the benefit of high quality upholstered furniture at extremely competitive prices. Ideally suited to hotels, restaurants and reception areas, samples from the new range will be displayed at Hotelympia on Thornton's stand, S2625.

All the items in the new range have contract quality beech frames, and are available in any fabric or leather, offering maximum flexibility to match all interiors. Shown in the rich, vivid colours so popular in fabric and wall coverings at the moment, the collection combines modern style with traditional warmth, at exceptional value.

Andy Thornton is a leading supplier of contract furniture, accessories, decorative lighting and outdoor furnishings for hotels, restaurants, bars and pubs.

Welcome

Welcome to this blog on furniture. We aim to examine all aspects of furniture from design to style to history. Please comment on any aspects you would like to see covered or expanded on