Monday, May 27, 2013

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 34, No. 13 | $8.00

The Next Big Thing?

BY WARREN SHOULBERG

LAS VEGAS — Equal parts merchandise show, business conference and full-tilt evangelical rally, the annual Anna’s Linens Conference was held here earlier this month, giving the specialty retailer the chance to show its stuff once again.

Alan Gladstone, founder, ceo and the uni-versally acclaimed cultural ringleader of the 315-plus store operation, presided over the four-day event that brought together near-ly 800 Anna’s executives, store managers and suppliers.

Acknowledging that the Anna’s year had gotten off to a slower start as its budget cus-tomer struggled with increases payroll taxes and fuel prices, Gladstone told Home Textiles Today that things had picked up signifi cant-ly since then. “We just had our biggest April ever and we’re very optimistic about the rest of the year.”

Several factors have been driving the Anna’s business over the past year, led by the open-ing of the Puerto Rico market one year ago this month. There are now seven stores on the is-land and all rank within the company’s top 10 in sales. “Puerto Rico has exceeded our wildest

Anna-Rama 2013: Slower Start, Faster Finish

SEE ANNA’S PAGE 14

Inside This IssueEllery ceo Transition Planned At Year-end .........................................page 4

New Opening Date for JCP Department ........................................... page 4

Act II ...................................................................................................... page 6

1,000 Count .......................................................................................... page 6

Retail Performance Report: Money Makers ...................................... page 8

FRAMINGHAM, MASS. — Even in a strong fi rst quarter for TJX Cos., the 426-unit HomeGoods chain was a standout. Already the 16th largest retailer of home textiles in the United States, it could jump into the top 10 as its parent company plans to nearly double the nameplate’s store count.

“I’ll just say it: HomeGoods is on fi re,” said TJX ceo Carol Mey-rowitz during the off-price chain’s earnings call last week. “Their mix is spectacular. Even when the weather turned, HomeGoods was strong. We are absolutely thrilled with this business.”

SEE HOMEGOODS PAGE 19

HomeGoods is Sizzling

Alan Gladstone, left, of Anna’s with Carl Goldstein of Lichtenberg at the Anna’s Annual Conference in Las Vegas in front of the Bellagio fountains. See pages 12-13 for more photos from Anna’s Vegas fete.

PHO

TO: J

IM K

. DEC

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Big Plans in Place for Poufs BY CECILE B. CORRAL

NEW YORK — If decorative pillows are the lipstick of a liv-ing room, then poufs must be the blush, reinvigorating a living space with a splash of color much like a steady stream of sunshine does to the cheeks of a winter-worn face.

Essentially non-existent a few years ago, poufs today rep-resent not just a novel category but a permanent and viable product offering for suppliers and a popular merchandise component for retailers, especially online fl ash sale sites.

HauteLook, which fi rst added poufs to its home mix about a year ago, quickly noticed a correlation in pouf sales with those of decorative pillows.

“When we offer poufs and accompanying pillows in mix-and-match color stories, we sell them almost one to one. Our customers are defi nitely decorating with them in tandem because they allow them to easily decorate a space affordably and fashionably,” Kecia Hielscher, vp of home for HauteLook, told HTT.

SEE POUFS PAGE 20

A pouf from Majestic Home Goods, offered by HauteLook

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A D V E R T I S E M E N T

NEW YORK — Multi-catego-ry home textiles supplier Ellery Homestyles announced that for-mer Sure Fit ceo Hugh Rovit will succeed company founder and Budd Goldman at the end of December 2013.

Rovit joined Ellery last week. Goldman will become co-chair-man of the company’s board of directors.

“I met Budd soon after I en-tered the home furnishings indus-try and we have enjoyed a great relationship over the years,” Rovit said. “The chance to join Ellery and help execute on the portfolio of exciting growth strategies that he and his team are developing is a fantastic opportunity for me.”

Prior to his time at Sure Fit from 2001 to 2005, Rovit was a principal at a consulting fi rm fo-cused on operational improve-ment initiatives. Previously, he held the positions of cfo of Best Manufacturing, a manufactur-er and distributor of institutional service apparel and textiles, from 1998 through 2001, and cfo of

Royce Hosiery Mills, a manu-facturer and distributor of men’s and women’s hosiery from 1991 through 1998.

Rovit currently serves on the board of directors of Spectrum Brands Holdings, a $4 billion publicly-traded global consumer products company.

“I have known Hugh for many years through the industry and am thrilled to welcome him to Ellery,” Goldman said.

“Under his leadership, Sure Fit established itself as a best-in-class business partner to many of the same customers with which we enjoy a similar relationship. His experience managing the company’s significant growth

during his tenure there will be a tremendous asset as we contin-ue building a leading consumer home products business.”

In 2010, private investment fi rm Trivest Partners acquired a majority stake in Ellery. Manag-ing partner Troy Templeton said that at the time of the purchase, “we committed to Budd that to-gether we would develop and ex-ecute a ceo succession plan that would be right for all of Ellery’s stakeholders.”

He added: “Hugh is a great fi t for the company, and the tim-ing is perfect for he and Budd to work together over the balance of the year to ensure a seamless transition.” HTT

Ellery ceo Transition Planned At Year-end

BUDD GOLDMAN

ElleryHUGH ROVIT

Ellery

PLANO, TEXAS — When the new vision for a JCPenney home de-partment anchored by a Martha Stewart store was announced last year, the opening date was set for March 2013. The date has shifted a few times since then, and during the retailer’s Q1 con-ference call yet another launch date was announced: June 6.

The new home set is under construction in 505 of the com-pany’s roughly 1,100 stores. The revamped assortment will feature a broader array of hard home merchandise than has tradition-ally been carried in the depart-ment, ceo Mike Ullman told an-alysts during the May 16 call.

“We have been more of a soft goods home orientation. Now it’s

more balanced,” he added. “Hard goods tend to be at lower prices, in most cases. I think there won’t be any disappointment there. There will be some aspirational merchandise in the area.”

Ullman said the company’s immediate priorities are to re-store traffi c and drive sales.

Penney will also reconcile the operations of its brick-and-mor-tar stores with its ecommerce business, which under the previ-ous leadership had largely run as its own entity and saw sales vol-ume plummet last year. Store and online assortments will be aligned so store associates can turn to the dot.com business to help customers who can find what they’re looking for during

an in-store visit. As it returns to more promo-

tional retailing, JCPenney is test-marketing new messaging before going national, said Ullman.

“We’ve obviously been dark for a long period of time, in

terms of the way that customer expects to shop with us. We’ve had the home store closed for an extended period of time, and home is probably the most pro-motional part of a department store,” he added. HTT

A screen concealing the home department construction area, as seen in early April, promised a spring debut.

New Opening Date for JCP DepartmentMix to Have More Hard Goods

PLANO, TEXAS — JCPenney’s fi rst-quarter net loss swung to $348 million compared to a net loss of $163 million in the year-ago pe-riod, which marked the onset of former ceo Ron Johnson’s transformation strategy.

Excluding charges related to restructur-ing, management payouts and pension plan expense, adjusted net loss for the quarter was $289 million.

Mike Ullman, who returned to the company as ceo after Johnson’s ouster last month, said over the past five weeks the company has worked on stabilizing its busi-ness and improving its balance sheet.

“Our objective is to put JCPenney back on a path to profi table growth,” he said.

Sales for the quarter ended May 4 fell 16.4% to $2.6 billion, with comps down

16.6%. The company said attributed the poor same-store sales performance to the on-going remodel of the home department.

Gross margin fell to 30.8% of sales com-pared to 37.6% in last year’s first quarter. Higher levels of clearance merchandise and the restoration of some promotional activi-ty chewed into margin, the company said. HTT

JCP Net Loss Widened In Q1, Comps Down 16.6%

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OPINIONTodaY

May 27, 2013

SA DLY, THIS IS NOT a story about thread count. Sadly, the 1,000 count is about the number of people — actually some 1,100 — killed in the ap-parel factory building collapse in Bangladesh a few weeks ago.

And sadly, this is about the utter and near total failure of apparel and soft home importers in the United States and the rest of the Western world to act decisively, properly and morally to address this tragedy.

Because while this particular factory only made apparel products and it was only in Bangladesh, the problem of terrible working conditions in the plac-es where these things are made extends far beyond those narrow borders. The

home textiles industry escaped this most recent nightmare but it is every bit as vulnerable and sooner or later this will happen to somebody in this business.

The apparel industry’s response so far has been positive-ly shameful. While some retailers have supported a broad-based monitoring and standards organization, many Amer-ican stores have not. Walmart says it will adapt its own policies. Sears, Penney and others are still studying the sit-uation. Others are conspicuous by their total silence.

What we will be left with is a patchwork of policies that will do more to put a good face on the situation to West-ern shoppers than to fi x the problem. Factories that have to meet multiple standards and deal with numerous mon-itoring organizations will end up looking for ways to cir-

cumvent the problem rather than solve it. And even if a consensus could be arrived at, all of this conversation so far is

only about one country, Bangladesh. Granted, this seems to be among the worst situations anywhere, but it is by no means the only. Emerging second-tier Asian sourcing nations like Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and others are certainly not immune to these problems.

Even the big three in Asia — China, India and Pakistan — have factories with sub-par working conditions.

Still, the home textiles business is virtually invisible in this discussion. Where are the big retailers — Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Target — in taking a pro-active role in addressing the problems in soft goods factories in Asia and else-where? Where is the industry’s association in all of this? Where are the individu-al suppliers who are in fact the importers who pick where products are made?

Nowhere.There is a short window for the home textiles industry to come together and

aggressively work to improve this problem. It has to be done unilaterally and with a cohesive approach rather than on a company-by-company basis.

And it needs to be started last week ... or the counts will keep getting high-er and higher. HTT

1,000 CountLI S T E N I N G T O Mike Ullman

lead JCPenney’s quarterly confer-ence call for the first time since returning to the big chair, I was

struck by the comparison to recently depart-ed chief Ron Johnson’s inaugural call as the retailer’s ceo in November 2011.

“I am not here to improve,” declared Johnson. “I am here to transform.”

Ullman took a different tack in his open-ing remarks to analysts on May 16. After not-ing that a bond tender in progress would limit what executives could say about forward-look-ing business, he said he was also constrained by “my own instinct to not get ahead of ourselves as we talk about the fu-ture.”

It wasn’t Ullman’s first go-around on a quarterly conference call, of course. He was Penney’s ceo for seven years before Johnson took the reins in fall 2011. He conducted the recent call in his usual fl at, unemotional monotone. He even managed to praise a few of the chang-es that took place during his 18-month ab-sence at the retailer’s helm. But…

But between the lines, he made several points that had more than a frisson of vin-dication.

For starters, his remarks about the the shop-in-shops that were the centerpiece of Johnson’s vision for a 21st Century JCPen-ney. Ullman repeatedly characterized them as “attractions” — and in a way that made clear this is the new company terminology for the branded areas.

Customers see them “more as features,” he said. “Things that when they turn around

from shopping the core, they see a Sephora or they see Liz Claiborne or a Joe Fresh.”

Please note, gentle reader, Sephora and Liz Claiborne were brought into the com-pany during the fi rst Ullman era.

Ullman placed “attractions” third in im-portance to driving the business, with Pen-ney private label brands leading the way, fol-lowed by national brands. While the core brands are the most promotional, “they also tend to be the most profi table,” he said.

He also emphasized the importance of listening — both to the store associates on the front lines and to JCPenney’s custom-ers. This stands in vivid contrast to John-son, who elicited a great deal of guff from store workers for not soliciting their feed-back and an even more severe load of crit-icism from executives in the trade for not testing new ideas before rolling them out across the store.

In another example of implicit criticism, Ullman said: “Well, the way I would charac-terize the merchandise structure across the store, the core of our business is the private label business, private brand business. And we diminished several of the key brands dur-ing this phase [i.e., the Johnson period]. And we lost a lot of traffi c, so that customer told us loud and clear — St. John’s Bay maybe being the best example — that they would visit again if we had the products that they enjoyed, and they could buy it at the price promotion and calculus that they were used to. That’s how they want to shop.”

Nonetheless, the company is not “going back” entirely to the pre-Johnson strategy, said Ullman, nor is it abandoning some of the programs put in place during Ullman’s interregnum.

And therein lies the rub. The story of Penney’s transformation — or reclamation — remains far from over. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Act II

Warren Shoulberg

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

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7 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com

T H E Y E A R WA S 1889 when Louisville Bedding was founded, but in this crazy retail/wholesale world we live in, nothing lasts forever. You probably al-

ready know that Hollander Home Fash-ions has bought Louisville’s retail busi-ness and LBC will now strictly be a fi ber supplier to the mattress industry.

I was fortunate enough to be part of this great Louisville Bedding Compa-ny for the past three decades. When I fi rst started in the mid ’80s, my home base was southern California and my major accounts included May Co, The Broadway, Bullocks, Robinsons, Gemco, Fedco, FedMart, Bullocks Wilshire, Price Club,Walker Scott, Strouds, and Three D. In north-ern California, I worked with the Emporium, Macys West, Home Express, Gottschalks and Weinstocks.

I also called on surrounding states like Arizona, which featured Diamonds, Goldwaters, Broadway Southwest and Smittys. In the Pacifi c Northwest, we serviced The Bon Marche, Pacifi c Linen, Frederick and Nelson, and Meir and Frank. Let’s not forget about Hawaii’s Liberty House and The Gem.

Back in those days we even serviced small mom-and-pop stores, too numerous to list. Over the years, business boomed until one day I woke up and saw everyone either going out of business or being taken over by Macy’s New York.

At the end of my decade in L.A., every single one of the above accounts was either kaput or on life support. LBC’s management came to me and said,

“Bobby D, we love you, man, and want to make you a proposition. You can either stay in L.A. and starve or move east and handle major accounts for us.”

So, the Dworkins loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly ... Massachusetts, that is. Over the next 10 years I called on all the big guys like Ames, Caldor, Bradlees, Rich’s, Filenes, Lee Jay, Linens ‘n Things (my big-gest account), Marmaxx, Ross, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Macy’s NY. Once again, we even serviced the small guys like The Fair, Rudnicks, Almys, Filenes Basement, etc. It wasn’t too long before Groundhog Day popped its ugly head once again and every-one started going out of business, except of

course, the powerhouses like Ross, Marmaxx, BBB and Macy’s.

Louisville Bedding’s management was nice enough to once again offer me a fresh look at life and I relocated to Florida to call on assorted ac-counts from my new home base. So today, I truly have mixed feelings about our recent sale. ... sad-dened to no longer be working with one of the truly great home textiles companies in history, but also happy to have worked with so many great people and to see so many of them retain their jobs with Hollander.

Nothing lasts forever, so please enjoy today. HTT

— Bob Dworkin has been an exclusive agent with Louisville Bedding since 1989. He began his career in May Company’s executive training program, then went on to Burlington and Saturday Knight Ltd.

May 27, 2013

Bob Dworkin

GUEST COLUMNIST

Nothing Lasts Forever

comScore: Ecommerce up 13% in Q1

Online retail spending in the fi rst quarter climbed 13% to $50.2 billion, according to comScore,

which measures the digital world.The results marked the 14th consecutive quarter

of positive year-over-year growth and 10th consecu-tive quarter of double-digit growth. It was also just the second quarter on record to surpass $50 billion in spending, according to the fi rm.

The measurement, which tracks ecommerce pur-chases from home and work, excludes auctions, autos and large corporate purchases.

comScore reported nearly half (49%) of the time consumers spent online in the retail realm took place on mobile devices. Smartphone access (34%) was more frequent than tablets (14%).

Kohl’s Creates New Position: Chief Customer Offi cer

Kohl’s has hired longtime Starbucks exec Michelle Gass for the newly created position of chief cus-

tomer offi cer, effective June 17.She will oversee branding across all platforms, in-

cluding the ecommerce business, with a view to cre-ating a consistent omnichannel customer experience. She reports to Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo.

Gass spent more than 16 years in a number of se-nior positions at Starbucks Corporation, most recent-ly as president of Starbucks Europe, Middle East and Africa. Before Starbucks, she worked in marketing and new product development with Procter & Gam-ble Company.

Lowe’s Toughs it Out

Despite delayed spring selling in parts of the coun-try, Lowe’s net earnings ticked up 2.5% to $540

million, or 49 cents per share in the fi rst quarter.Sales slipped 0.5% to $13.1 billion and comps de-

clined 0.7%.“Results for indoor categories were solid for the

quarter, a testament to the team’s continued focus on improving our core business through cross-function-al collaboration and consistent execution in stores and across other selling channels,” said Robert Niblock, chairman, president and ceo.

Target Launches Summer Collection Drawn From DC Comics Archives

Target has teamed with Warner Bros. Consumer Products on a broad summer collection featuring

DC Comics characters.The Justice League merchandise assortment in-

cludes more than 50 products in the home, stationery, sporting goods, and lawn and garden categories. It debuted May 19.

The exclusive merchandising deal was inspired by “DC Comics — The New 52-inch comic book character designs featuring DC Comics’ super heros Aquaman, Batman, Cyborg, The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman and Wonder Woman.

RetailBriefs

LARGO, FLA. — Wicker and rat-tan manufacturer Palm Springs Rattan recently introduced Per-fect Fit, an interactive custom re-placement cushion design and order program available to casual furnishing retailers.

Perfect Fit is a proprietary pro-gram that can be emailed or in-stalled via a disc at the retail level and enables consumers to custom order replacement. Cushions are designed to customer specifica-tion and then ordered by email or fax to Palm Spring Rattan’s fa-cility in Florida for production.

“Our decision to offer Perfect Fit was in response to retailer re-quests for a reliable source and easy to manage program for qual-ity replacement cushions,” said Tami Newton, sales manager of Palm Springs Rattan and Gar-den Classics. “The program has been received positively not only by consumers due to the easy on-line functionality, but also by re-

tailers that have found it to be a tremendous source for the gener-ation of additional revenue.”

Twelve cushion designs are available in the program, includ-

ing sling pads, bench, dining and deep seating cushions. Additional options addressed within the pro-gram include fabric, seam style, welting, and thickness. HTT

Palm Springs Rattan Creates Custom Replacement Cushion Program

Retailers can provide their consumers with up to 12 cushion types.

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8 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

BEST AT THE BOTTOM LINE TOTAL OPERATING RETURN ON RETURN ON TOTAL PERFORMANCE RETAILER PROFIT MARGIN MARGIN ASSETS EQUITY RATE

1. Ross Stores Inc. 8.09 13.08 21.43 44.53 87.13 2. TJX Cos. 7.37 12 20.05 52.01 67.43 3. Bed Bath & Beyond 9.51 15.01 16.53 25.44 66.49 4. Pier 1 7.59 11.67 14.08 25.12 58.46 5. Costco 1.88 2.86 25.88 17.33 47.95 6. Family Dollar 4.32 6.88 3.14 32.2 46.54 7. Macy’s 4.82 9.63 7.73 22.28 44.46 8. Big Lots 3.28 5.65 11.23 22.41 42.57 9. Walmart 3.62 5.93 8.37 22.27 40.19 10. Kohl’s 5.11 9.8 8.42 15.71 39.04 11. Target 4.09 7.33 6.23 18.11 35.76 12. Tuesday Morning -4.19 -5.2 -2.44 -17.65 -28.48 13. Sears Holdings -2.33 -2.04 -2.5 -28.06 -34.93 14. JCPenney -7.59 -10.32 -7.9 -27.43 -53.24

0 200 400 600 800 1000

$369

$4711

$907

10. Family Dollar

9. Macy’s

8. Pier 1

7. Kohl’s

6. Bed Bath and Beyond

5. Target

3. The TJX Cos.

2. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

1. Costco

4.2

4. Ross Stores, Inc. $355

$300

$259

$232

$198

$184

$181

Sales per Square Foot

0 10 20 30 40 50

31.3

32.0

34.0

35.0

36.0

39.20

40.0

40.21

43.5

10.Target

9. JCPenney

8. Tuesday Morning

7. Family Dollar

6. TJX

5. Kohl’s Corp.

3. Macy’s

2. Bed Bath & Beyond

1. Pier 1

30.38

4. Big Lots

Gross Margin as % of Sales

MethodologyThe retailers garnered their positions via a

performance rating composed of four key metrics: profi t and operating margins (which are measures of profi tability); and return on assets and return on equity (which are measurements of management effectiveness). The data compiled refl ects the most recent trailing 12-month period — year over year.

NEW YORK — Even in a soft economy with consumer confi dence pinging up and down like a yo-yo, there was money to be made in the retail business last year.

Off-pricers were profi tability stars during the worst of the recession, and as the economy slowly recovers they remained in the lead.

As was the case in HTT’s last Retail Performance Report, which covered profi tability metrics for 2010 among the leading home textiles retailers in the United States, Ross Stores topped the profi tability index for 2012, followed by TJX Cos. in second place and Bed Bath & Beyond in third.

Ross vice chairman and ceo Michael Balmuth noted in the company’s year-end report that profi t mar-gin benefi ted from higher gross margins on merchan-

dise, a 6% bump in same-store sales, leverage on oper-ating expenses and the addition of a 53rd week in the retail year.

The business threw off enough cash for Ross to con-tinue repurchasing stock — something it’s done every year since 1993 — and hike its quarterly cash dividend for the 19th consecutive time since 1994.

The story was similar at TJX Cos., where the com-pany plans a 26% bump in the stock dividend to be delivered to shareholders next month — the 17th con-secutive year TJX has raised the dividend. Since 1996, the retailer’s dividend has grown at a compound annual rate of 23%.

“Our business continues to generate enormous amounts of excess cash,” ceo Carol Meyrowitz said

when TJX announced its fi scal year performance.Bed Bath and Beyond added to its empire in 2012

with the acquisition of competitor Cost Plus World Market and the privately owned Linen Holdings, a distributor of textiles and other products to the institu-tional trade. Together, they accounted for 58% of the retailer’s top line increase, which also benefi ted from comp store increases and new store sales.

Gross profit margin, on the other hand, fell 120 basis points during the year. Even though Bed Bath & Beyond engaged in less markdown activity, it saw increases in both coupon redemption and the aver-age coupon amount. It also attributed the softer met-ric to a shift in the merchandise mix to lower margin goods. HTT

Money Makers

May 27, 2013

Off-Pricers Do it Best

Source: SEC filings, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch and quarterly conference call information

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10 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comMay 27, 2013

View our Videomwwsolutions.com

TORONTO — Seven years after Umbra unveiled its first flag-ship store here, the housewares brand is preparing for the June 11 opening of its new concept store in Shanghai.

Umbra began producing its original home décor designs in Canada over thirty-three years ago. “I am proud to say that we have stayed true to the origi-nal idea of functional, original, beautiful products that often have a sense of fun and excite-ment,” said Les Mandelbaum, president and co-founder of

Umbra Ltd.The 1,700-square-foot store

will be located in Shanghai’s Jinqiao Mall at 3611 Zhangyang Road and will carry kitchen and bath accessories as well as gift and homeware products.

“Our designers hail from around the world, which has helped us create a truly interna-tional style. We hope that we’ll be as popular here in China as we are in over 100 other coun-tries,” said Paul Rowan, co-founder and vp of Inspiration. HTT

Co-founders Paul Rowan, left, and Les Mandelbaum at Umbra’s Toronto store.

Umbra Readies Shanghai Flagship

StoreNEW YORK — Hye Jung In of Seoul, Korea, a recent graduate in Textile Design at the Acad-emy of Art University in San Francisco, was named the win-ner of the 2013 designnext inter-national student competition organized annually by the Sur-tex surfaces design trade show.

The Grand Prize comes with a $1000 cash award.

For this year’s competition, students were challenged to create an overall concept and a minimum of six surface designs that would be appropriate in a gym, spa, health clinic or sim-ilar setting. Hye Jung In used imagery of Marrakesh, Morocco pulled from travel photos of the city. The judges lauded her sen-sitivity to surface, pattern and design for the global market in her portfolio.

“This year, 75 participants in the designext competition from 15 colleges developed distinc-tive portfolios that position them for entry into the surface design industry. All students have ben-efi tted from the learning experi-ence: to prepare commercially viable work on a defi ned theme

that will translate to diverse sur-faces. Each year, the four win-ners have utilized the contacts they made at Surtex to launch

promising careers,” said Penny Sikalis, vp of show organizer GLM and manager of the Sur-tex show. HTT

PHO

TO : D

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Jung In at the Surtex show last week with her winning designs.

Hye Jung In Wins Surtex designext Grand Prize

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There truly will be a meeting of the best of both worlds with the big news that the organizers of the famous Proposte fair held every May outside Milan, Italy in Como will be setting up a Pavilion at this year’s Intertextile Shang-hai Home Textiles Fair.

This agreement will commence with the 2013 edition of the Au-gust fair and run through the 2015 show. This cooperation will see the creation of the Proposte China Pavilion @ Intertextile pavil-ion which will showcase the best of “Made in Europe” to Chinese and overseas buyers.

All together about 25 Europe-an manufacturers of high-quality decorative and furniture fabrics are expected to exhibit at the new Pavilion.

“The demand for European brands in the domestic Chinese market is growing exponentially,” said Wendy Wen, Senior General Manager of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd., organizers of the show, “so trade fairs such as this are an ex-cellent opportunity for companies from Europe to fi nd new markets, while local buyers can gain ac-cess to quality European-made products all in the one place.”

Established in 1993, the Pro-poste trade fair brings together some of the best home furnishing and curtain fabric producers from Italy and throughout Europe. It is a specialized fair in the sense that it only accepts direct produc-ers of these products. While it is selective as exhibitors must meet three criteria: the qualifi ca-tion of the company and its prod-ucts, professional fairness and a commitment to research and ex-perimentation in the fi eld of aes-thetics and new technology.

The 2013 Proposte fair saw 97 exhibitors take part, with 45 from Italy and 52 from other European countries.

Only exhibitors from Proposte’s

2013 fair will be invited to take part at Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles. This will include suppliers of upholstery fabrics and accessories, curtain fabrics and accessories and window screen fabrics.

“The time has come for Pro-poste to open its doors in other countries,” said Mauro Cavelli, president of the fair. “Having scrutinized the various oppor-tunities we decided on China, a huge country that has seen its economy and customs evolve at an unrivalled rate.”

The involvement of Proposte at Intertextile Shanghai Home Tex-tiles will enhance the European fl avor of the fair. Apart from the Proposte China pavilion, Bel-gium, Greece, Korea, India, Italy, Taiwan and Turkey pavilions will also be featured.

This is the third in a series of special promotional previews for Intertextile Shanghai Home Tex-tiles, the leading home textiles trade exhibition in Asia. The next Countdown to Intertextile Shanghai will appear in the June 24 issue of Home Textiles Today.

MilanComes toShanghaiA brand new partnership is bringing a fi rst-time-ever Pavilion from the famed Proposte Fair to this year’s Intertextile Shanghai this August

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles - Autumn Edition will

be held August 27-29 at the Shanghai New

International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China. For more

information, please visit www.intertextilehome.com.

COUNTDOWN TO INTERTEXTILE SHANGHAI HOME TEXTILES/A SPECIAL ADVERTISING REPORT

The Proposte Fair in Italy, pictured here from the 2012 edition, is organizing a “Best of Europe” pavilion that will be part of the Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles fair this August.

shanghai 2013-3.indd 1shanghai 2013-3.indd 1 5/22/13 9:51 AM5/22/13 9:51 AM

12 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comNewsMay 27, 2013

The Anna’s Merchandising Team: from left, Peggie Galvin, Sharon Magro, Alan Gladstone, Jennifer Knapp, Carie Doll, Jeannie Wolf, Tim Bynon, Maggie Negrete, John Partington and Katie Peterson.

At the vendor reception, from left, Justin Piscione and Andy Piscione of P&A Marketing, Lou Casali of Perfect Fit and Loren Sweet of Brentwood, which was named vendor of the year.

Vendors included, from left, Bob Weiss and Henny Lakin of Creative Bath and Jeff Moss of Welspun.

PHO

TOS

BY

JIM

K. D

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Anna’s Arrives in Vegas

htt130502_001_030_031.indd 12 5/22/2013 10:56:52 AM

13 Home Textiles TodayNewsNews> hometextilestoday.com

The Lichtenberg team, from left, Scott Goldstein, Scott Lichtenberg, Michael and Lisa Lichtenberg and Carl Goldstein.

At the reception, from left, Richard Rae of Pacific Coast Home Fashions, Sara Asher of Sara Asher Sales and Orlando Aguiliar and Maggie Negrete of Anna’s.

Vendors on hand were, from left, Pam Banks of Springs Global and David Baines and Caryn Tatasciore of Maytex Mills.

At the reception, from left, Allen Josephson of Veratex and Kelly and John Olsen of Suntex/Sun Yin.

May 27, 2013

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14 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comNews

expectations so far,” he said, add-ing that Anna’s will look to open additional units there this year.

The retailer, which bases its operating strategy around open-ing price points across the prod-uct spectrum, has also been doing a bit of trading up more recently. “We have 5.2 million fans on our website and those customers are telling us they

want us to raise our price points and expand our assortments.”

For Anna’s that means more $25 and $30 window panels and bedding sets that break through the $100 retail price point. The store is also adding more up-scale products such as duvet cov-ers and down bedding. “I didn’t foresee there ever being duvets at Anna’s when I started.”

There will also be more hard goods going forward, an expan-sion path Anna’s has been pur-

suing for several years. Eventual-ly housewares and tabletop will account for twice as much of the company’s sales as they do today, he said.

Anna’s is also investing in its online business and has seen a 50% comp increase in web sales, though the base remains some-what modest. “Online should be 10% of our overall sales within three years.”

Other investments have come in an increased merchan-

dising team — Anna’s added two “seasoned members” to its buy-ing roster this past year — new inventory management software and a new ad agency.

All of this means Gladstone will continue on his path to keep expanding the Anna’s store count. While still holding out 1,000 units as the holy Anna’s grail, over the next 12 months the company should get close to 350 with 20 brand new stores as well as 15 complete remodels and seven

relocations. St. Louis was a new market for the retailer so far and there will be one more additional territory by the end of the year.

One of those 300-plus Anna’s units will be especially impor-tant: Gladstone said the compa-ny is working on a new proto-type that it will unveil sometime later this year. The store may veer from the 10,000-square-foot size that is the Anna’s traditional foot-print, but he declined to reveal any other details in the works.

Gladstone laid out much of the Anna’s game plan to employ-ees and suppliers alike during the conference here, held at the Planet Hollywood hotel. More than 50 vendors displayed their wares for store managers and all joined in for the highlight of the week, the awards banquet where best performing stores and sup-pliers were honored.

Anna’s also called attention to its support of the St. Jude Chil-dren’s Hospital, its favorite chari-ty. This year, the company made a $715,000 donation to the fa-cility, bringing its total over the past four years to $2.5 million.

The dinner, Gladstone said, “is the heart and soul of Anna’s.” That could also be said about Gladstone, who founded the re-tailer a quarter of a century ago and shows no signs of slowing down. “I’ve still got some more work to do.” HTT

Anna’s AnnualANNA’S FROM PAGE 1

The vendor reception was held at the Hyde Club where a highlight was the Bellagio fountain show set against the Paris Hotel’s Eiffel Tower.

Jenny Zhu and Jared Cohen of Triangle Home Fashions, which was named new vendor of the year by Anna’s.

Executives at the event included, from left, Tom O’Connor of Springs and Frank Snow of Royale Linens.

May 27, 2013

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15 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com

HARRISON, N.Y. — Home Accent Fabrics is showcasing a collec-tion of new decorative fabrics developed using digital print-ing technologies at the upcom-ing Showtime Fabric Market in High Point, N.C., which takes place from June 2-5.

The four-year-old decorative fabric converter is presenting a portfolio of fresh fashions and cutting-edge colorations includ-ing prints, stripes, yarn-dyes, woven jacquards and embroi-dered fabrics, many created using state-of-the-art printing and weaving techniques.

“Digital printing is a four-color process that is allows us to duplicate any form of art-work wi thout worrying about t h e n u m b e r of screens that need to be cut or separated,” said Ronnie Gold, co-founder and des ign di rec -tor for Home Accent Fabrics. “This technol-ogy allows us to be more daring in design with-out the initial costs of screen expense or inventory.

The company’s Aurora pat-tern, for example, suggests a contemporary painting with elongated brushstrokes reminis-cent of an ikat print. “Although we can’t take credit for invent-ing this digital technology, we understand how to use it to achieve interesting and innova-tive effects that previously have not been seen in the decorative fabric industry,” said Gold.

Home Accent Fabrics was founded in 2009 by industry veterans Gold and Lee Kabat, a husband-and-wife team with more than fi ve decades of com-bined experience in the design, logistics and sourcing of decora-tive fabrics. The company also

has warehouse facilities in Char-lotte, N.C.

Gold was formerly vp of design for Bloomcraft and West-Point Stevens, and has won numerous design awards, includ-ing seven Tommy Awards from the American Printed Fabrics Council; the HomeTex Design Award from the Home Fashion Products Association; and Cot-ton Incorporated’s Design Excel-lent Award.

Kabat served in several execu-tive positions for leading decora-tive fabric fi rm P/Kaufmann for 30 years, most recently as corpo-rate vp. He also was a founder and president of the Interna-tional Textile Market Associa-

tion (ITMA) and an originator of Showtime.

“We also are experiencing growth with bedding and home fashion manufacturers, and exploring export opportunities,” said Kabat. “The line is designed to provide tight coordination of woven and printed product in four to five on-trend color sto-ries each season. We are not try-ing to be all things to all people, but rather to present a sharply focused line that offers our cus-tomers a point of difference.”

The company displays its existing collections on its new website, www.homeaccentfab-rics.com. HTT

Home Accent Fabrics Spotlights

Digital PrintingCERNOBBIO, ITALY — Weakness in the European economy slightly depressed attendance at the recent Proposte show here, but the number of visitors from Aus-tralia, China, Japan, Greece, India, Poland, Taiwan and Tur-key increased.

There were 372 attendees from the United States, up from 236 last year.

The furnishings fabrics and curtains fair drew 6,151 visi-tors, down 3.33% from last year. Non-Italian visits made up 65% of the attendees.

“While customers generally planned cautious buying, dem-onstrating the need to proceed warily in ever-changing mar-kets, the event was judged by the exhibitors to be lively given the variety of countries repre-sented and the interest shown

in the new collections,” the show said in a statement.

The next edition of Proposte in Cernobbio will take place May 7-9, 2014. This summer,

the first Proposte Shangahi show will be held from Aug. 27-29 as part of the Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles show. HTT

Proposte Tallies up 2013

Proposte’s 2013 edition drew over 6,000 visitors.

Home Accent Fabrics is offering a portfolio of designs showcasing digital printing at Showtime next month.

May 27, 2013

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — Nouri-son is building on the reaction to its Tahoe collection of wool hand-knotted rugs by adding sev-eral new styles to the program for launch this spring/summer season.

The new offering, aptly named Tahoe Modern, features a broad array of looks, includ-ing contemporary interpreta-tions of animal prints, painterly crosshatchings, fanciful fleur-de-lis, vivid ikats, and others. All Tahoe Modern rugs are hand-made in India of 100% wool and are available is a range of sizes spanning accent through room-sizes as well as runners.

“We have made the rugs more contemporary through the use of color, absence of borders, and cleaner lines while still main-taining the overall feel of this popular collection,” explained Joyce Lowe, executive director, Nourison’s rug division.

The company said its new “unusual yet delightfully har-monious color combinations” for Tahoe Modern rugs were created to match with current home fashion trends, adding

that each rug in the program “is the perfect accent piece for a new approach to sophisticated and ultra-elegant décor.”

Tahoe Modern will be on dis-play in Nourison’s showrooms

this summer in Atlanta, in space 3F2 of the AmericasMart dur-ing the International Rug Mar-ket, and in Las Vegas, in suite C112 of Building C during the Las Vegas Market. HTT

Nourison Expands Tahoe With New Modern Line Extension

From Nourison’s Tahoe Modern Collection

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16 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

PEOPLETodaY

Former Home Textiles Exec

Joins Newport Board Group

VALDESE, N.C. — Valdese Weav-ers had added new personnel for the Valdese Weavers Contract brand: Scott George, Fay McFe-tridge and Rosemary Harley.

George has joined the com-pany as vp /sales and marketing of Valdese Weavers Contract. A vet-eran of the con-tract industry, he has held senior management posit ions with companies such as Mastercraft Contract, which Valdese Weav-ers acquired in 2007.

“Scott brings over 25 years of experience managing and grow-ing textile businesses and will provide a seamless transition in

providing leadership to fulfi ll the Valdese Weavers Contract over-all growth strategy,” said senior vp and chief marketing officer Blake Millinor.

McFetridge has become designer director for Valdese Weavers Contract. Her more than 20 years of experience in textiles includes an earlier stint as a designer at Valdese Weaver. She was most recently design

manager for Cone Jacquards. “Fay’s strength in construc-

tion and weave development will be a great asset to our con-tract design team,” said Laura

Levinson, senior vp /design and merchandising.

Harley was hired last October as senior designer. Her focus is on developing products for the contract area both in seating and pri-vacy curtain fabrics. She has held design positions at Craftex, Victor, and most recently Bentex Mills.

“We are excited to have Rose-mary’s talents added to our con-tract team. Her experience in the privacy curtain market will help us produce products suit-able for this area,” said Levin-son. HTT

Valdese Makes New Appointments for the Contract Business

May 27, 2013

NEW YORK — Jack Toolan has become a partner in the Newport Board Group, a national professional services fi rm that helps middle market companies drive growth and improve performance.

Toolan spent many years at WestPoint Ste-vens in various senior executive positions, at one point handling the Ralph Lauren Home business. He joined Li & Fung USA, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based global sourcing group Li & Fung Ltd., in 2004 as senior vp and general manager of the Cannon and Cannon Royal Family global licenses. Afterward, he exited the home textiles business, serving for four years as coo and ceo of Sportcraft, a sporting goods company.

In addition to providing insight to clients, Toolan also blogs about business on the Newport Board Group website. HTT

NE W YO R K — Universal Home Fashions announced the return of Kaitlin O’Leary to the company as well as the hiring of Ken Bragers.

O’Leary serves as senior designer and will lead the design team as the company expands it bed-ding, window and bath businesses. She reports directly to president Christopher Certosimo.

Bragers is vp of basic bedding. His more than 20 years in the industry includes roles at JLA Home and Hollander Home Fashions. HTT

FAY MCFETRIDGE

Valdese

JACK TOOLAN

Newport Board Group

ROSEMARY HARLEY

Valdese

SCOTT GEORGE

Valdese

Universal Home Fashions Expands Team

KAITLIN O’LEARY

Universal Home Fashions

OMAHA, NEB. — Apparel and home décor retailer Gordmans has hired Geoffrey Ayoub as senior vp of planning, alloca-tion and analysis.

Most recently, he was chief planning offi cer at Edcon, a $2 billion retail company based in South Africa operating more than 1,000 stores under mul-tiple formats in fi ve countries.

Prior to that, he was senior vp of business planning and inte-gration at Home Shopping Net-work.

He also held various posi-tions at JCPenney, including vp of business process develop-ment. Before Penney, he spent seven years at Limited Brands.

“Geoff has comprehensive expertise in developing innova-

tive strategies and processes to achieve signifi cant sales growth objectives,” said Jeff Gord-man, president and ceo. “He is adept at leveraging technology to optimize sales and planning and allocation-ceo processes. Geoff’s planning acumen will help drive Gordmans’ contin-ued expansion in both new and existing markets.” HTT

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. — Multi-channel retailer HSNi, parent of HSN and the Cornerstone brands, has promoted Judy Schmeling to coo/cfo. She had been executive vp and cfo since

2011.She adds oversight of supply

chain operations and customer care to her previous responsibil-ities, which include fi nance and information technology.

HSNi also announced the promotion of two senior fi nance executives, Michael Attinella and Patrick Vonderhaar, both reporting to Schmeling. Atti-nella was appointed cfo of HSN

and chief accounting offi cer of HSNi. Vonderhaar was elevated from vp and corporate controller to cfo for Cornerstone Brands.

In addition, Rob Solomon has been appointed executive vp

for customer care & operations administration for HSNi, and Bob Monti was named execu-tive vp for supply chain & logis-tics, HSNi, both reporting to Schmeling. HTT

HSNi Announces Promotions

Gordmans Names Senior vp for Planning and Allocation

htt130502_016 16 5/22/2013 11:13:49 AM

2 0 1 3 L o g i s t i c s c o n f e r e n c e

Join us for this special one-day conference filled with expert speakers, panels and workshops devoted exclusively to retailers and manufacturers in the gifts and home furnishings industries.

Sponsored by:

in search of A seamless supply chainL GISTICS:

tUesDAY, JUne 11, 20136:00pm-7:30pm Networking Cocktail ReceptionAmericasMart, Bldg 2 West, 4th Floor Foyer

WeDnesDAY, JUne 12, 20138:20am-8:50am Check-in and Registration4th Floor Foyer

8:50am-9:00am Welcome 204-F/GRay Allegrezza, Editor in Chief, Furniture/Today

9:00am-9:45am Keynote Address204-F/GDave Pollard, Managing Director, FedEx Solutions

9:45am-10:45am Ocean Freight Panel204-F/GThanks to ongoing concerns about port strikes, frequent changes to ocean freight rates, bunker price changes and ongoing forecasting challenges, ocean freight rate management is becoming tougher than ever for both importers and exporters. Our panel will look at the key challenges in the sector and also discuss best-practice strategies to minimize those obstacles.• BillSmith,GlobeExpressServices• ChuckMiller,KlaussnerFurnitureIndustries• CliffPyron,GeorgiaPortsAuthority• JohnLomax,FurnitureBrandsInternational• MikeMorris,MaerskLine

10:45am-11:00am Break4th Floor Foyer

11:00am -12:00pm Legislative Update204-F/GDave Osiecki, American Trucking Associations, Inc.

12:00pm-1:00pm Lunch and Networking204-B

WeDnesDAY, JUne 12, 2013

AmericAsmArt, AtlAntA, GA

1:00pm- 2:00pm Trucking Panel: On the Road Again204-F/GWith trucking on the rise and the actual number of truckers on the downside, will this critical link in the supply chain be forced to travel rocky roads, or is pedal-to-the-metal time just around the corner? Our panel of experts will navigate these and other important issues facing the trucking industry.• RayKuntz,WatkinsandShepardTrucking• JackHawn,ZenithGlobalLogistics• JoeWade,ShelbaD.JohnsonTrucking,Inc.• EdwardMassood,ThomasvilleHomeFurnishingsofNJ

2:00pm-3:00pm Home Delivery Panel204-F/GToday’s consumer is educated, factually armed and dangerously demanding.Asaresult,bothretailersandtheircarriersoftenliveor die on that last mile. Our panel will discuss key trends, best practices and also consider how technology is impacting this segment of the supply chain.• ThomasBolden,MascoCabinetry• WillO’Shea,3PD• SatishNatarajan,DispatchTrack• MaryjaneFanizzi,AshleyFurnitureHomeStores

3:00pm-3:15pm Break4th Floor Foyer

3:15pm-4:15pm Retail Panel204-F/GMostanalystsagreethatE-commerce,whichgenerated$231billion in sales for U.S. retailers last year, is likely to grow to more than$260billionthisyear.Butwhatopportunitiesandchallengesdoes this steady and swift growth represent to the supply chain? Our panel will touch on these and other topics.• MikeO’Hanlon,Wayfair• TonyHeslin,Lovesac• LennyKharitonov,UnlimitedFurnitureGroup• PatrickCory,CoryHomeDelivery

4:15pm Closing Remarks & Adjourn204-F/GRay Allegrezza, Editor in Chief, Furniture/Today

r e g i s t e r n o W !

For more information, contact Heather Grant,

Conference & Events Manager 336-605-1061 or

hgrant@sandowmedia.com

register onLine At: fUrnitUretoDAY.com/2013Logisticscon

18 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

BUSINESSTodaY

NEW YORK — With Mother’s Day shopping over, comps were up just 2.4% in the second week of May com-pared to a 2.8% gain the prior week, according to The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index.

Month-to-date, May was up 2.6% versus May of last year, relative to a target of a 2.7% gain. Month-over-month showed a 0.5% gain, relative to a target of a 0.6% gain.

“Coming off the Mother’s Day last-minute shopping on Sunday [May 12], sales and traffi c

slowed across the board during the week,” ex-plained Catlin Levis, Redbook analyst. “The sales performance also refl ected diffi cult comparisons with last year’s pre-Mother’s Day sales, which fell a week sooner this year.” HTT

Same-store sales

May’s Second Week Falls Short as Mother’s Day Shopping Ends

BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart cited unseasonably cool weath-er and delayed tax refunds for its underperformance during the fi rst quarter.

At U.S. Walmart stores, the home department’s same-store sales were down in the mid single-digits, primarily due to soft sales in outdoor living merchandise. At Sam’s Club, home was also down,

although domestics and mattress-es saw modest gains, executives said during the company’s quar-terly conference call May 16.

“Frankly, we had a more diffi -cult quarter than expected when we announced our guidance in February. It’s important to note that Walmart U.S. continued to gain market share across several key categories,” said Mike Duke,

president and ceo of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

For the quarter ended April 30, net income rose 1.1% to $3.78 billion, or $1.14 per share. Total revenues rose 1.0% to $114.2 billion.

Comps at Walmart U.S., ex-cluding fuel, declined 1.4%. Same-store sales at Sam’s Club ticked up 0.2%. HTT

Walmart Sees Soft Q1

CINCINNATI — Home textiles was again singled out as among Ma-cy’s strongest merchan-dise category performers, along with furniture, dur-ing the department store chain’s fi rst quarter.

Macy’s Internet and omni-channel business-es also “continued to fuel growth,” said cfo Karen Hoguet during Macy’s earnings call on May 15.

Net income for the 13 weeks, ended May 4, rose 20% to $217 million, and earnings per share were up 28% to 55 cents.

Sales increased 4.0% to $6.387 billion, and comparable

store sales – which in-clude net sales from stores open at least one full fi scal year as well as online sales at macys.com and bloomingdales.com — grew by 3.8%.

Average unit re-tails and transactions were both up — 2.5%

and 1.7%, respectively, while units per transaction were down slightly, the company noted. HTT

Macy’s Posts Strong Q1

Johnson Redbook IndexSecond week of May, year-over-year % change

WEEK ENDED 5/11 5/18 5/25 6/1 MONTH TARGET

Department stores* 1.9 1.4 1.7 1.7Discounters 3.3 2.9 3.1 3.3Redbook Index 2.8 2.4 2.6 2.7*Including chain stores and traditional department storesSource: Johnson Redbook Index

May 27, 2013

MENOMENEE FALLS, WIS. — Al-though all lines of business at Kohl’s experienced sales de-clines during the fi rst quarter, home outperformed the store average, led by strength in elec-trics and luggage.

Net income for the quarter ended May 4 fell 4% to $147 million. Sales slipped 1% to $4.2

billion, with comps down 1.9%. The 2.4% increase in units per transaction was offset by a 1.1% decline in average unit retail. Ecommerce sales jumped 31%.

Looking ahead, chairman/president/ceo Kevin Mansell said he sees “a lot of pent-up demand for spring merchan-dise out there.”

The 1,155-store ret ailer plans to step up its marketing following tests during the fi rst quarter.

Kohl’s expects a second quarter sales increase of 1% to 3% and a same-store sales per-formance to be fl at to up 2%. Gross margin is expected to rise by 10-20 basis points. HTT

Home Textiles a Winner

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — Dillard’s department stores produced re-cord fi rst quarter earnings thanks to better margins and cost con-trols. The home and furniture categories were the weakest per-formers during the quarter, the company reported.

Net income for the 13 weeks ended May 4 rose 23.4% to $117.2 million, or $2.50 per share. Excluding a $4.4 million after-tax credit, net income rose 27% to $112. 8 million, or $2.40 per share. Merchandise gross

margin improved by 110 basis points while operating expenses dropped 20 basis points.

Total merchandise sales —excluding the company’s CDI Contractors construction busi-ness — rose 1% to $1.53 bil-lion, with comps up 1%. Includ-ing CDI, total sales were fl at at $1.549 billion.

As of May 4, Dillard’s oper-ated 283 department stores and 18 clearance centers as well as its ecommerce operation at dil-lards.com. HTT

Kohl’s Profit Dips in Q1

Dillard’s Logs Strong Q1 Profit

KAREN HOGUET

Macy’s

CHECK US OUT ON THE WEB

htt130502_018 18 5/22/2013 11:17:15 AM

19 Home Textiles TodayNewsNews> hometextilestoday.com

TJX HomeGoodsHOMEGOODS FROM PAGE 1

When asked if any specif-ic home areas were especially strong, Meyrowitz said strength was across the board. “Home-Goods just has a fabulous mix, and we love the business.”

To support the momentum, TJX Cos. has recently expand-ed branded-product penetration and increased its buying staff.

“We have people buying for us all over the world,” she contin-ued. “We do business with over 16,000 vendors and offices all over the world. I don’t think our HomeGoods business is equiv-alent to anyone else’s. Our sku count is enormous, our differ-entiation is great, it’s a very spe-

cial business and it is very excit-ing, and that is what’s driving this business, driving the margins.”

Working against the toughest comparisons it will face in the new fi scal year, TJX Companies generated a strong fi rst-quarter performance that was largely ig-nited by the home segment.

For the quarter ended May 4, HomeGoods posted a 15.7% sales hike to $690 million and a 7.0% comp increase on top of last year’s 9.0% gain. Marmaxx, its sister business in the Unit-ed States, had a 6.35% sales in-crease to $4.136 billion. Comps ticked up 1.0% on top of last year’s 8.0% increase.

TJX Canada posted a modest

0.8% sales increase to $645 mil-lion, but also reported a mod-est comp decline — down 1.0% compared to last year’s 6.0% comp increase.

Total company net income for the quarter grew 8.0% to $453 million, and diluted earn-ings per share jumped 13% to 62 cents.

TJX Cos.’ net sales for the quarter increased 7% to $6.2 bil-lion, while consolidated compara-ble store sales inched up 2% over last year’s reported 8% increase.

“We are very pleased with our first-quarter results, espe-cially as they were achieved over the highest year-over-year com-parisons for quarterly comp sales and EPS growth of this year,” Meyrowitz noted.

Looking ahead, the company said in the second quarter it ex-pects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of 61 to 63 cents, which would represent a 9% to 13% increase over last year’s 56 cents per share. TJX estimates consolidated compa-rable store sales growth of 2% to 3%.

For the fiscal year ending Feb. 1, 2014, the company is narrowing its expected range for diluted earnings per share to $2.70 to $2.78 versus $2.55 in fi scal 2013.

Farther ahead in TJX Cos.’ sights are loftier goals, Meyrow-itz said. “Longer term, we re-main very confi dent in our con-tinued ability to grow sales and profitability as we are well on

the road to being a $40 billion-plus company.”

The company also thinks it can expand its store count even-tually to 3,000 within its existing markets alone, likely more with new markets. These include more urban sectors, for which TJX Cos. is currently develop-ing a new prototype.

With respect to HomeGoods’ real estate future, its recent per-formance has encouraged the company to ante its store-count potential to 825 units, up from the previously estimated 750 stores.

“There are about 100 mar-kets where we operate TJ Maxx and Marshalls and no Home-Goods, for example,” Meyrow-itz said. HTT

MINNEAPOLIS — Described as “choppy and challenging,” Tar-get’s first quarter disappoint-ed, as net earnings were dealt a harsh blow and sales and comps could not stand up against year-ago comparisons.

To blame was “one of cold-est spring seasons on record, fol-lowing record warmth a year ago,” noted Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and ceo. The expiration of the payroll tax holiday also caused shop-pers to withdraw from spending, he added.

Net earnings for the three months dove 28.5% to $498 mil-lion, or 77 cents per share.

In the U.S. segment, quarter-ly sales inched up 0.5% to $16.6 billion, but comps were down 0.6%, compared to last year’s 3.5% increase.

By category, the less-discre-tionary categories that are not as dependent on weather experi-enced the strongest comps noted Kathryn Tesija, evp, merchandis-ing and supply chain. These in-cluded food, health & beauty, and household essentials.

Home comps were down in the low single-digit range, on par with apparel. But there were bright spots, including the Nate Berkus collection and Thresh-old.

During the quarter, Target opened its fi rst batch of Canadi-an units — 24 sites, which col-lectively generated sales of $86 million in the fi rst quarter with a gross margin rate of 38.4%. The loss before income and taxes was $205 million. The Canadian di-vision generated gross margin of $33 million which was offset

by $238 million in start-up costs and other expenses.

Canadian operations reduced Target’s earnings per share by 24 cents in the quarter.

Steinhafel noted the new Ca-nadian units experienced “unex-pectedly strong surge in sales” and the “mix in sales in home and apparel was higher than we expected.”

Target’s digital channel re-mained strong — and growing — through the fi rst quarter, with sales and traffi c on the upswing, “up at a healthy pace,” he said. “Our mobile traffic represent-ed more than 30% of our digi-tal traffi c.”

The company continues to also expand its urban presence, bringing its total CityTarget store count to six units in four cities to date. HTT

TORONTO — Despite improve-ments in the bed, bath, apparel and accessories categories, sales at Sears Canada declined dur-ing the fi rst quarter and the re-tailer swung to a net loss.

The net loss for the quarter ended May 4 was $31.2C mil-lion, or 31 cents per share, com-pared to net income in the year ago quarter of $93.1C million, or 91 cents per share.

Sales fell 6.6% to $867.1C

million, with same-store sales down 2.6%.

Calvin McDonald, president and ceo, said the company was encouraged by improvements in the soft lines business.

“We are continuing to make progress in our transformation, and we believe the growth in apparel and accessories is an indicator that we are on the right track,” he added. “At the same time our rate manage-

ment initiatives have positive-ly impacted gross margin by 50 basis points, while our focus on controlling costs has reduced expenses by 7.9% compared to the same period last year. Fac-toring out the gains from the re-turn of the three leases to the landlord last year, we are see-ing an overall improvement in our bottom line for the quarter as compared to the fi rst quarter last year. HTT

Wintry Weather Chills Target’s Q1 Results

Sears Canada Sees Red Ink in Q1

WASHINGTON. — While import volume at the nation’s major re-tail container ports is expected to rise by 3.3% in May over a year ago, the National Retail Federa-tion warned further growth could be stunted by summer’s end at the hands of the sluggish econ-omy.

“The weak cargo increas-es expected over the next few months are consistent with other signs that the economy is slowly improving but show that retail-ers remain cautious, especially when it comes to stocking their inventories,” explained NRF vp for supply chain and customs policy Jonathan Gold in the most recent monthly Global Port Tracker report, released by NRF and Hackett Associates.

“We’re looking at barely 1% of year-over-year growth through the early summer, and August and September are expected to be basically fl at even though they’re supposed to be two of the busiest months of the year,” Gold added.

Cargo import numbers do not predict retail sales and don’t refl ect the value of the merchan-dise inside the containers. But NRF considers container vol-ume a rough yardstick by which to measure retailers’ expecta-tions.

U.S. ports followed by Glob-al Port Tracker include: Los An-geles/Long Beach, Oakland, Se-attle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston, Savannah, Port Everglades and Miami on the East Coast; and Houston on the Gulf Coast.

Collectively, these ports handled 1.14 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in March, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was down 10.9% from February and 8.6% from March 2012.

One TEU is one 20-foot cargo container or its equiva-lent.

The fi rst six months of 2013 are expected to total 7.8 mil-lion TEU, up 2% from the fi rst half of 2012. The total for 2012 was 15.8 million TEU, up 2.9% from 2011.

“Despite the Fed pumping li-quidity into the market, consum-er confi dence still has not turned the corner,” said Ben Hackett, founder of Hackett Associates. “We need to see the economy strengthen in the coming quar-ters before we can begin to see the threat of a further economic downturn dissipating. Trade will remain at low growth levels until we reach this stage.” HTT

NRF: Import Volume to Slow This Summer

May 27, 2013

htt130502_001_019_022_023.indd 19 5/22/2013 2:59:36 PM

20 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

Century 21 Brings Poufs Back to CampusNEW YORK – Century 21, regional eight-unit department store chain in the New York/New Jersey area, is taking its back-to-campus season to new fashion lengths with the addition of poufs to the assortment.

Set to launch in mid summer, the retailer’s BTC pouf offering will encompass many novelty styles, includ-ing peace signs and other trendy design themes poplar among the 16-to-24 age set, Stuart Weiss, dmm, lin-ens, told HTT.

Additionally, Century 21 will also incorporate some Bohemian-type looks in the mix, based on customers’ de-mands for the retailer’s original pouf offering that rolled out about a year ago.

Weiss said the trend began when Century 21 added kantha-type throws from India.“They were a hit right away, so we expanded on that Bohemian-type look in throw pillows and draperies,

and then the next extension were the poufs,” he explained.He said Century 21 shoppers have taken to its poufs because of their functional yet fashionable attributes.“They see that they don’t have to break the bank. They can get a couple of eclectic or sophisticated poufs,

depending on their taste, and with them they can change room without a third mortgage,” Weiss said. “Poufs give a quick, fresh look and they can make people go ‘Wow’ when they walk into a room, and they only have to spend very little money.”

He would not say what retail price point Century 21’s poufs sell at best, but he did offer insight into chang-es in price in its sister category, dec pillows.

“Five years ago, the average dec pillow sold for $9.99. Today, they average is $20 to $25,” Weiss said. “Peo-ple want nicer goods these days and they are willing to pay a little more. They want feather fi lled, instead of 16-inch they want a 20-inch square, instead of knife edge they want cord.”

“Poufs can seamlessly go from room to room to out-doors. They have become a nice staple in the home tex-tiles category along with [decorative] pillows because of their fl exibility and affordability.”

Building on that notion, Gilt Groupe’s vp, divisional merchandise manager, Alex Ogof, described the retail-er’s pouf business as “meant to be a multiple purchase because they are fantastic pieces that coordinate with any interior.”

Recognizing that poufs have rapidly become one of its top-selling product categories in home, Gilt Groupe is on the brink of unveiling a new in-house collection of poufs under its Gilt Home Collection.

“We are going after poufs in private label,” Ogof told HTT.

Gilt Groupe’s creative director of home, Tom Dela-van, is working with “one of the top domestic suppliers in the marketplace” to design and produce “a unique, hip, fresh pouf assortment” that will launch before the end of June, said Ogof. The poufs are the latest addition to the Gilt Home Collection, the online membership retailer’s exclusive house-branded line that launched in fall 2012 with furniture, rugs and decorative pillows.

“Tom and his team have been designing all year to cre-ate new products, using new fabrics and designs, so that this summer we can roll out the poufs, and then in the fall we can come out with our second collection for Gilt Home,” Ogof said.

Details are still in the works, but Ogof estimated that the private label pouf program will span two to three sizes and shapes of poufs, and styles that will be available across fi ve to six colorways each.

“All of the products [in Gilt Home Collection] work together but not as direct matches. They are meant to mix and match so that the customer can create her own look with our pieces,” he added.

Working on a similar effort is design-driven Fab, which includes in its existing pouf line a foam Andy Warhol Brillo Box pouf, created by Quinze & Milan via Fab’s collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Josephine Minutillo, Fab’s director of merchandising, said the fl ash retailer is now “developing our own Fab-branded line of poufs” for launch later at a later date.

Poufs are a popular product category for Fab, which has successfully sold poufs “in all kinds of fabrics, includ-

ing leather,” Minutillo said. “But we have some great chunky knit ones coming up.”

Since Fab opened its online doors in June 2011, poufs have been part of the merchandise offering, not only because they are affordable and offer “a great way to add a pop of color to a space, and color is what Fab is all about,” but also because poufs are easy to ship.

“[Ottomans/poufs] are fun and flexible and can be used in a variety of ways and can move around without effort,” she added. “This is not a purchase that requires a lot of deliberation, but one that instantly updates a space.”

As Fab puts it in its product verbiage, poufs are “packed with potential” in terms of their use inside and outdoors.

Interior designer and luxury home furnishings retailer Barclay Butera has long seen the benefi ts of pieces like poufs in his decorating and product design, which is why he includes a variety of looks in the category in his own shops as well as in his branded program with rug house Nourison.

“Traditional seating layouts can always benefi t from a versatile ottoman or a fun storage cube,” he told HTT. “I love having a set fl oor plan, then adding pieces that can completely reconfi gure the space to accommodate guests. Our ottomans are the perfect extra seating for last min-utes guests and kids hovering around the television or playing video games.”

Butera said his hide skin multi-colored cubes made

by Nourison, which also produces his line of area rugs, “serve as fabulous, great looking pieces to store throws, board games, electronic ‘clickers’ [remote controls] what-ever you want, handy but out of sight.”

HauteLook is also revving up for an upcoming launch of new pouf products in June. The Nordstrom-owned fl ash sale retailer is set to unveil a new and exclusive line of poufs as part of the company’s private label strategy in its home department.

Working with a specifi c group of vendor partners for the program, HauteLook’s soon-to-come offerings will be merchandised as open stock but will work with also-new decorative pillow styles as mix-and-match coordinates, Hielscher said.

The collection will include “some exclusive shapes and patterns of poufs,” she continued. “It’s a pouf focus for us, and it will include a cross range of different fabrics and trends, solids, fabulous constructions.”

Hielscher noted that some of the program’s details are “still being fl eshed out” before the launch this summer. But she said HauteLook is in the process of performing quality and product performance tests to fi nalize the fi nal offering.

“We are testing them now to be sure we have the very best in quality. We want to be sure our customers can sit on them, that they won’t fall off, that the poufs we select are comfortable, that they have the right fi ll, and that they can endure the test of time,” she explained. “Once we lock that down, we have a full range of fab-

Poufs

May 27, 2013

POUFS FROM PAGE 1

Andy Warhol Brillo Box by Quinze & Milan, offered by Fab (via its collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts).

Rizzy Home

Softline Home Fashions

d ch

htt130502_020_021 20 5/22/2013 5:25:58 PM

21 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com May 27, 2013

rics to offer a mix-and-match collection that is right for our customer.”

Looks will include botanicals, abstracts, solids, as well as several indoor/outdoor varieties and even a back-to-campus grouping for the fashion-conscious college set.

Some of the best pouf sources for these and other like retailers are rug vendors, many of whom lately have expanded their assortment to include more decorative accessories.

Among the favorites are Surya, Momeni and Majestic Home Goods as well as Jaipur and Rizzy Home, along with several others.

“Surya has done a great job of really having a lifestyle look,” noted Janee Ries, svp/dmm, merchandising, New York-based fl ash sale retailer ideeli. “It’s not just the rug. They have artwork, furniture, pillows and poufs in a range of looks. Momeni also does a good job with its more one-of-a-kind pouf styles, they are a little more traditional than contemporary, which is good for us.”

Just as ideeli looks to appeal to younger tastes among fi rst-time apartment dwellers, the retailer also courts more traditional consumers so that its mix serves a broad gamut of shoppers. That effort extends throughout its home offer-ing, including poufs, Ries noted.

“What is really working for us is incorporating poufs in our multi events or curated events to help us tell spe-cifi c stories meant to inspire our members to decorate,” explained Stephanie Crepea, textiles, furniture, lighting, and beauty buyer for ideeli. “We’re calling out key trends in the home market, calling out different ways to acces-sorize the home, and including poufs in that story has really worked for us.”

Ries added that home has consistently been a strong business for ideeli, and as the market demands and

responds to new and innovative products, including poufs, the fl ash sale retailer will react with new and expanded offerings.

On average, poufs retail between $45 and $200 at fl ash sale retailers. But some hit more promotional as well as far higher ticket levels.

To meet these and other retailers’ needs for the income spectrum of shoppers, suppliers are expanding their assort-ments almost constantly.

Surya recently debuted its fi rst upholstered accent fur-niture collection during the April High Point Market. A natural extension of the brand’s popular pouf collection, the 50-plus piece series’ components — spanning otto-mans, benches and foot stools — are handmade in India and are positioned to retail on the loftier side, from $199 to $1,499.

For Jaipur, poufs “are playing a big role,” said Asha Chaudhary, president and ceo. “It’s a new investment cat-egory for us, and going forward poufs will continue to play a huge role in our growing assortment as an extremely versatile room accessory that blends and accents our other categories.”

Rizzy Home is expanding its pouf-and-pillow combos that marry to rugs “for a whole lifestyle scene for furniture store customers,” said vp Mark Ferullo.

“And from there, we’re getting into different shapes and constructions, and we’ll play off the old days when bean bags were so popular,” he added. “Poufs are the next generation of the dec pillow, and we’re seeing it grow into a nice business for us.”

Outside the rug suppliers, other home textiles suppli-ers are quickly discovering the benefi ts of poufs.

Domestic curtain, dec pillow and fabric house Soft-line got into the pouf business almost accidentally.

As Jason Carr, co-founder and president, explained to

HTT: “We sell fabrics by yard, and sometimes we have some extra inventory. We needed to fi nd ways to clear that inventory, so decided to make some fabrics into pil-lows and from there, into poufs.”

The company started out by showing samples during market.

“They were well received,” Carr said, “so we went to work looking for a domestic foam supplier so that we would be able to make them here.”

The new business segment began to grow rapidly, and Softline has responded by expanding its offerings continu-ally into new constructions and new styles. Outdoor vari-eties, made with Sunbrella-branded, UV-resistant fabrics have been especially popular for the company, as have the different sizes — 16-by-16 squares, 16-by-16 cylinders, and 24-by-12 round lounge beads.

Carr said all of Softline’s poufs coordinate with the company’s curtains and other accessories, and the sweet retail spot has been in the $100 range.

When Softline previewed its first poufs, one retailer placed them in many of its stores, Carr said. “From there, we were pushed to take poufs more seriously. Then we had a couple more retailers who wanted them. And now, we’ve had an overwhelming response to our poufs. It’s a real growth category for us going forward.” HTT

Momeni Missoni, offered by Gilt Groupe Barclay Butera Collection, offered by Nourison

JaipurSurya, as offered by ideeli

htt130502_020_021 21 5/22/2013 5:26:20 PM

22 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comMay 27, 2013

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News

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Show-time fabric fair sponsored by the ITMA is welcoming eight new exhibitors and planning a vari-ety of events for the show, which takes place here June 2-5.

The newest members of the International Textile Market Association, which produces Showtime, include:

• Bella-Dura Fabrics, pro-ducer of high-end performance fabric for use indoors and out-doors. Showing location SMS 1-466;

• CeCe Design Group, a solor line management and trend consultant. Showing lo-cation SMS 1-602;

• Crypton Fabrics, producer of moisture-resistant and easy-to-clean fabrics. Showing loca-tion MSTT, 2nd Floor;

• Euroleather Inc., produc-

er of upholstery leather. Show-ing location SMS 1-318;

• Ingrid and Audrey, a new fabric company based in Los Angeles that offers eco-friendly fabric and wall coverings made in America. Showing location SMS 1-443;

• Novita Industries, Inc. Showing location SMS 1-SMS 1-918;

• Sandown & Bourne, which is relaunching the Sandown & Bourne brand in the USA with a new range of prints and wo-vens created in England. Show-ing location SMS 1-428;

• Textile Creations Inc., a fabric wholesale company spe-cializing in providing exclusive and artistic textiles to indepen-dent quilt shops, fabric stores and manufacturers. Showing location SMS 1-742

The 47th Showtime market will also include social and edu-cational events. On opening day, June 2, the International Mar-ket Centers will host the “Inter-national Pavilion at Showtime” reception at 4 p.m. in the Suites at Market Square. The event will welcome exhibitors from India, Taiwan, and China.

Showtime’s popular “Run-way Fashion Show” will take place June 3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Suites at Market Square. Participating sponsors include DeLeo Textiles, Glen Raven Custom Fabrics-Sunbrel-la, High 5, Home Secrets, Key-stone Weaving Mills, Inc., P. Kaufmann Fabrics, and Valdese Weavers. Models will show off clothing made from the sponsors’ fabrics by the University of North Carolina - Greensboro’s Threads

Department. The event will also include food and drink.

In addition, the International Market Centers will hold “Suite Libations” each evening from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. throughout the Suites at Market Square.

The show’s series of educa-tion events will take place on the top floor of the Suites at Mar-ket Square 1-200 / 1-300 aisles. They include:

• “US Market Trends and Color Direction for 2013-2014” sponsored by Furniture/Today and Home Textiles Today on June 3 at 8:30 a.m.

• Made in USA panel discus-sion hosted by Fabrics & Fur-nishings International on June 3 from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. To RSVP email cmorsell@itmashowtime.com.

• “Inspirations for Swarovs-

ki Elements: Spring/Summer 2014” on June 3 at 10 a.m. and June 4 at 2 p.m.

• TrendPul se ’s “Re t a i l Round-Up: What you need to know for Spring Home Interiors” and Design Options: “The West Coast Point of View on Color and Home trends for Fall 2014” on June 3 at noon and June 4 at 10 a.m.

• “Pinterest, The New Retail Therapy” presented by web4re-tail on June 3 at 2 p.m. and on June 4 at noon.

The next Showtime takes place Dec. 8-11, 2013, with the following fair June 1-4, 2014.

For further information about Showtime, ITMA, and ITMA Educational Foundation visit www.Showtime-Market.com, email info@itmashowtime.com, or call (336) 885-6842. HTT

Showtime Touts New Exhibitors

htt130502_001_019_022_023.indd 22 5/23/2013 3:02:51 PM

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May 27, 2013

MINNEAPOLIS — ShopHQ is the new name for multichan-nel electronic retailer ValueVision Media Inc.’s ShopNBC brand.

The company made the announcement last week before releasing its fi rst quarter results,

ShopHQ can be accessed online at its newly dubbed website, www.shophq.com.

ValueVision Media has been operating under the ShopNBC brand since June 2001. The current license agreement expires Jan. 31.

A variety of on-air marketing promotions are planned over the remainder of the year to educate viewers about the tran-sition.

“The ShopHQ brand clearly communicates to current and potential customers that we aim to be their place for shopping, wherever they are and whenever they need us – on TV or online and across a broad array of merchandise cat-egories,” said Keith Stewart, ValueVision ceo. “

The ShopHQ brand will maintain the same multichan-nel electronic retail model as its predecessor, with a focus on fi ve core product categories: Jewelry & Watches; Fashion & Accessories; Home & Consumer Electronics; and Health, Beauty & Fitness. HTT

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — Aided by ongo-ing strength in sales for its linens and other home categories coupled with an 8.0% comp in April, Stein Mart was able to offset challenges cause by pro-longed winter weather conditions and the Easter holiday calendar shift dur-ing its fi rst quarter.

The off-price mid-tier department store chain, with 262 units, enjoyed a 36% jump in net income to $14.7

million, or 33 cents per diluted share. Total sales increased 3.8% to $321.4 million, and comparable store sales increased 1.2%.

“Our strong performance in home continues to carry over from last year, led by top of bed, dec pillows and sheets, particularly in bold colors,” said Greg Kleffner, evp of fi nance and cfo.

Added Jay Stein, ceo: “I don’t think there is a retailer out there who has

seen the linens [sales] increases that we are, bar none. It’s been successful.”

Kleffner noted home comps are outperforming the chain’s.

Other results from the quarter in-clude: a gross profi t increase to $97.9 million, or 30.5% of sales, from $91.9 million, or 29.7% of sales last year; and higher inventories – $278.4 mil-lion versus $262.8 million a year ago – to support higher sales. HTT

ShopNBC Changes Identity to ShopHQ

Stein Mart Home Hits Another Home Run in First Quarter

MINNEAPOLIS — Led by significant improvements in its home & con-sumer electronics category as well as strong results in its fashion & accesso-ries segment, multichannel electron-ic retailer ValueVision/ShopNBC churned double-digit sales increases during its fi rst quarter.

ValueVision Media Inc., which operated under the ShopNBC brand

until this week when the compa-ny change this name to ShopHQ, posted an 11% net sales increase to $151.4 million.

Net income reached $1.0 million, or 2 cents per share, a shift to the plus side from the company’s year-ago Q1 net loss of $8.7 million, or 18 cents per share.

Net shipped units jumped 12% to

nearly 1.5 million, refl ecting “con-tinued improvements to our mer-chandise mix and a modest decline in average price points,” the compa-ny said.

Internet sales penetration in-creased 30 basis points to 46.2%. Mo-bile transaction volume represented 23% of Internet sales compared to 13% last year. HTT

ValueVision Racks up a Strong Q1

htt130502_001_019_022_023.indd 23 5/23/2013 4:02:08 PM

ContaCt: Russ HolbRook, EVP 704-840-7305 • www.standaRdfibER.Com

We didn’t sell 100,000,000 pillows to retailers last year,but……. Suppliers

did buy 100,000,000of ourpillow shells

The (not-so) secret to supplier sourcing successSan FranciSco charlotte Shanghai Beijing neW Delhi lancaShire, UK