Industry News

Move Makes Family-Owned Concern Largest Furniture Carrier in the State Los Osos, CA,

As of the first of the year, American West has assumed control of all the services, equipment and facilities of Worldwide Logistics in the state of California–making the family owned concern, repurchased just four months ago by its founder Josh Brown–the largest furniture carrier in the state.

As part of the latest move, American West will exclusively service all of Worldwide Logistics’ customers in the state of California for outbound shipping from California to all states across the country. American West has also entered into an agreement to service Worldwide Logistics’ East Coast customers shipping into California. Under the terms of the agreement, Worldwide Logistics will continue to act as a pick-up agent for American West, while American West will provide line-haul and all distribution within California using its own trucks and terminals. Customers will be billed directly by American West.

American West is also now servicing all of Worldwide Logistics’ pool distribution customers into the State of California, including major furniture and office furniture manufacturers. The company previously entered into a service agreement with Worldwide Logistics to service all pool distribution and 3PL customers in the state of Texas when Worldwide Logistics closed its Dallas facility last Fall.

According to Josh Brown, founder and chief executive officer of American West, the company has moved all of Worldwide Logistics’ Riverside, CA-based operations to the 285,000-square-foot American West facility in Ontario, CA. “

We are pleased to report that we have hired many of the employees from the Riverside facility, both as drivers and in key management positions,” Brown relates. “Additionally, we have purchased Worldwide Logistics equipment from the six companies that were merged into Worldwide Logistics four years ago, including tractors and trailers from Four Truckers, Rudisell Transportation and KKW among others.”

He continues, “Unfortunately, we expect the current economic environment to continue adversely impacting the transportation industry as a whole, and we expect the contraction of the quality carrier base to continue. That said, we repurchased American West for cash, we carry no debt, and thanks to more than 20 years of experience in the business, we have grown the company into the largest furniture carrier in the State. We look forward to continuing to enhance and expand our services to the furniture industry as we move ahead, and to capitalizing on additional opportunities for growth as they arise.”

For more information about American West’s LTL services into or out of California, contact Noah Brown, vice president of the Western region at (909) 728-5458. For questions regarding distribution in the states of California or Texas, contact Reed Collum, vice president of the Eastern region at (817) 946-1516 or John Naughton, vice president of corporate development (909) 208-6884. For information regarding import and container devanning, or major client relationships, contact Josh Brown at (805) 235-5773.

It’s been a part of South Florida furniture history for nearly 100 years. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were among its first clients. It’s survived furniture fads, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, hurricanes and even a very public bankruptcy. Today Robb & Stucky International announces that it’s back with the grand opening of a new 60,000-square-foot design studio and retail showroom in Fort Myers, Fla., on Thursday, Jan. 12, under the leadership of Steven Lush, President of Robb & Stucky International.

“This is a new beginning for a great retail brand,” says Lush. Since the acquisition of the Robb & Stucky name and intellectual properties in March 2011, Lush says the focus has been on restoring the brand equities inherent in the Robb & Stucky name.

“We are reinventing Robb & Stucky,” says Lush, “with a great team and smart strategies that are relevant for today’s consumers. We have hired many of the employees that made a significant contribution to the previous Robb & Stucky, and have also brought in several key executives from outside the former company to bring a fresh perspective. We look forward to creating many more jobs as our growth continues.”

“As consumers ourselves and business people too, it’s our view that the historic economic events of the last few years have changed the way people shop and buy furniture,” says Lush. “Home is still the center of our personal universe; we are fortunate to be in a category that will always be important to consumers. The challenge is to ensure that Robb & Stucky meets consumer needs and expectations.”

He adds that as the recovery continues, consumers will expect more value, more style, more selection and more authenticity in the shopping experience.

“We believe our Fort Myers showroom is unlike anything else in Florida,” says Lush. “We’ve created a store that is friendly, welcoming and easy to shop. Our buyers have chosen the very best products from America, Canada, Europe and around the world. The merchandise is displayed in seven unique lifestyle shops – each one is an adventure into a design perspective. And our selection is not just about style – we offer a variety of prices as well. We believe great style doesn’t have to be expensive.”

The store will offer expert interior design assistance, a longtime staple of the Robb & Stucky experience, but with a new twist. “Our customers are passionate about their homes, but their furniture and service needs may vary,” explains Lush. “In our new model, design services are right-sized for the customer, so whether the object of desire is a great lamp or a new home makeover, Robb & Stucky designers are ready, willing and able to assist.”

Enrolled sales associate can win a best-selling Amazon® Kindle Fire, or one of 3 other exciting prizes! 

December 20, 2011, North Logan, UT – The Furniture Training Company has announced that a contest for sales people subscribed to the www.furnituretrainingcompany.com website will be held during the month of January, 2012. Each week during the month people who complete at least one interactive training module are automatically entered into that week’s prize drawing. Sales people can learn from nearly 100 interactive online training modules that teach furniture product knowledge, sales skills, room design, and telephone and prospecting skills

How to Win

One winner will be selected by random drawing each Friday in January 2012 from the pool of sales people who have completed an interactive training module during the preceeding week. There are four weeks, four prizes, and four chances to win! (Limit one entry per week.)

Prize Awards

Week 1 – Amazon Kindle E Ink reader w/built in Wi-Fi to access millions of E books

Week 2 –Canon Powershot A2200 14.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

Week 3 – $100 Amazon.com gift card redeemable for millions of items at Amazon

Week 4 – Kindle Fire color tablet for accessing digital music, video, magazines, and books

The contest is an incentive to motivate furniture sales people to embrace the attitude that successful people train year-round. Salespeople participating in the weekly contest will get in the habit of studying weekly to improve in the knowledge and skills they need to meet confidently every customers needs and to sell more furniture.

Mark Lacy, President of The Furniture Training Company said, “employees as diverse as teachers, real estate agents, auto mechanics, and burger flippers are all constantly trained and retrained to stay effective and up-to-date in their jobs. Unfortunately, many furniture retailers tell me that their, sales people have been trained and don’t need or want any more training. Furniture stores will continue to struggle if they aren’t able to help consumers purchase comfortable, functional, and satisfying living spaces. Sales people must make a commitment to continuous year-round sales training if they want to reach their full potential.”

Homeowners shift focus on home remodeling and decorating activity per the season; Houzz 2011 remodeling and decorating study shows priorities vary widely by city and region

According to the 2011 remodeling and decorating study released today by Houzz, Americans increase their home improvement activity around closets and entryways in the fourth quarter, while pools, patios and landscapes fall off the radar until spring. A leading community and platform for residential design, Houzz analyzed the behavior of the company’s website and mobile app users in the U.S. and Canada to develop the study. The data provides unique insights into the type and relative volume of planning and research activity occurring for specific home improvement projects, insights that can help guide the marketing efforts of home design professionals, retailers and manufacturers. The findings also reveal that while kitchens and baths top the list for home remodeling and decorating in most cities, other priority projects, like family rooms and outdoor spaces, vary by city and region.

The recent study by the Joint Center  for Housing Studies of Harvard University stated that home remodeling activity is expected to remain weak through the first half of the New Year. So in this economy, where are people focusing their home improvement efforts? Regional Preferences and Priorities In North America in 2011, kitchens and baths are the first and second most popular areas of the home for remodeling and decorating projects; bedrooms and living rooms rank third and fourth, respectively.

However looking at the data by market reveals some striking differences:

• Most major metros make kitchens the top priority, but Los Angeles and Miami gave bathrooms the top spot;
• In fifth place of the top five home improvement priorities: ○ Dining in style takes the cake in Dallas, Miami and New York;
• Family rooms are the focus for Boston and Chicago;
• Landscaping is big in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco;
• Minneapolis and Seattle residents are thinking about home design and curb appeal
• San Francisco, Seattle and Miami prefer modern or contemporary kitchens; other metros opt for more traditional styling.

“Our remodeling and decorating user study suggests that despite a weak forecast for home improvement, people are still actively researching, planning, and moving forward with remodeling and decorating their homes,” said Liza Hausman, Houzz vice president of marketing. “Consumer activity on Houzz.com reflects how people are prioritizing their projects. Closets and entryways have climbed five spots in the rankings during the fourth quarter, which leads us to believe that Americans are prioritizing entertaining and organizing for the holidays, creating a warm and welcoming entrance and de-cluttering for the New Year.” “It is our hope that home design and building professionals, retailers and manufacturers will be able to use these insights to better market to their target clients, build their business and succeed in a tough economy,” Hausman added. About the Houzz 2011 Remodeling and Decorating Study The Houzz study analyzed aggregated activity of users of the Houzz website and app from January through December 2011. Data sampled was between 10,000 and 50,000 users for each of 50 North American metros. About Houzz Houzz is a leading online community for home design enthusiasts, bringing together homeowners and home design professionals of all disciplines across more than 50 U.S. and international metros. The Houzz site  and mobile app feature more than 200,000 high-quality interior and exterior photos, thousands of engaging articles written by design experts, product recommendations, social tools to manage the remodeling and decorating process, and information on more than 30,000 design professionals who can help turn ideas into reality.