Home Textiles Today March 11th Issue by Sandow Media

Monday, March 11, 2013

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY

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| Vol. 34, No. 7 | $8.00

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Monday, March 11, 2013

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY

Zappos Gets Serious About Domestics Plans to pick up the pace on bath, bedding and baby

BY JENNIFER MARKS H ENDERSON , N EV. — Online retailer Zappos has been selling bedding and bath for nearly five years, but in 2013 it plans to really make headway in both categories, and its buyers are coming to New York Home Fashions Market looking for brands and fashion. SEE ZAPPOS PAGE 30

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| Vol. 34, No. 7 | $8.00

Industry Bigs Move on Sustainability N EW YORK — A group of leading retailers and manufacturers recently founded The Sustainable Textiles Coalition to develop a common index to assess environmental and social performance across the home textiles value chain. Target, Yunus Textile Mills — Pakistan, Williams-Sonoma, and Coyuchi are among those backing the effort. Now the initiative is coming to New York during market week. Manufacturers and retailers are being invited to visit the Target TSS office at 500 7th Ave., 5th floor, on March 20 to learn more about the program, which is modeled on metrics developed by the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. There will be two sessions: 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Advanced registration is required at www.textilescoalition.org. Attendees will need a government-issued photo ID to enter the building. Scott Lercel, director of social responsibility & sustainability at Target, a founding member

of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition and of the new home textiles coalition, described the thinking behind the retailer’s involvement. “At Target, sustainability is an integral part of our sourcing strategy because the future of our business depends on taking care of today’s resources. Through the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index, we identified areas where we could improve our impact on the environment and drive operational efficiencies within our supply chain, and we’re excited to partner with the industry to evolve the Higg Index for the home textiles business.” Other organizations involved in the apparel coalition include several major players in the home textiles industry: Kohl’s, JCPenney, Walmart, LL Bean, Li & Fung, Lenzing, Invista, Clariant, Cotton Inc. and Oeko-Tex. As was the case with the apparel group, the new coalition will be supported in its developSEE COALITION PAGE 30

Harvard’s Salmon: Who’s Getting it Right…and Wrong In Retail BY WARREN SHOULBERG N E W YORK — Reports of the death of retailing may have been greatly exaggerated. Reports of the changes in retailing, however, may be vastly underestimated. So says one of the most eminent experts in retailing in a rare public speaking engagement

here last month. Walter J. Salmon, Harvard Business School professor of retailing emeritus, told a packed session at the Retail Marketing Society’s monthly luncheon meeting, that there are likely to be big changes in retail formats, pricing structures and even staffing in the years ahead. In doing so, he pointed to two

specific retailers, The Container Store and Nordstrom, as role models for the new way retailers will need to do business to survive in an age when online will continue to eat away at instore sales. “It’s an unavoidable conclusion that the internet’s share of market will continue to grow,”

The Future of Retailing

 Internet will account for 30%-40% of sales As a result, store formats get smaller. focus shifts away from basics toward more meaningStore ful merchandise. staff will need to be better trained and more Therefore, highly paid.  Hi-low pricing will be displaced by fair pricing.

SEE RETAILING PAGE 31

AFFORDABLE STYLES

Inside This Issue

NEW YORK

Soft-Tex Debuts Sustainability Program with Repreve ..................................................... page 2

7 W 34TH ST.

419

Fresh Air ............................................................................ page 4

COLORFUL TRENDS

Martha, Macy’s and the Plano Truth .............................. page 4

HIGH POINT

JCP Watch: Lead Stores Still Very Much Works in Progress ............................................................. page 12 February Comps Modest.................................................. page 32

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SHOWPLACE

FLAT WEAVE

INDOOR / OUTDOOR

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Home Textiles Today

March 11, 2013

News

Soft-Tex Debuts Sustainability 7W to Maintain Program with Repreve Showrooms Through W , N.Y. — Specialty tainability program that addressAt Least 2015 sleep product producer Soft-Tex es our customers’ and consumATERFORD

ers’ interests in reducing landfill waste. Using Repreve helps us provide our customers with a transparent solution without sacrificing the comfort or quality of our sleep products,” said Jeff Chilton, svp of sales for Soft-Tex. Bett Anderson, corporate marketing & communications manager for Unifi, noted: “With Soft-Tex being our first branded adopter of Repreve in this product category, we now have the opportunity to share the unique story of what happens to plastic bottles when you recycle them.” Brands already using Repreve fiber include Ford, Patagonia, The North Face and HON, among many others. Repreve is looking to raise its profile among consumers and recently unveiled its first campaign to that end during X Games Aspen. HTT

Manufacturing Company is embarking on a sustainability campaign aimed at reducing landfill waste. During the upcoming New York Home Fashions Market, Soft-Tex will introduce a line of mattress pads and bed pillows containing a fabric blend of cotton and Repreve recycled fiber. Made by textile manufacturer Unifi, Repreve is made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles that would otherwise wind up in landfills. Soft-Tex plans to further enhance its sustainable offerings by working toward a 100% application of Repreve into all pillows, bed toppers, mattresses and mattress pads within the next 12 months. “Unifi and the Repreve brand represent a 100% verifiable sus-

From left: Arthur Perry and Jeff Chilton, both of Soft-Tex; Larry Plyler, Unifi; Robert O’Connell, Soft-Tex; and Bett Anderson, Unifi.

Tracking Textiles REAL WINDOWS ONLINE Window Fashion – not computer software – sales online Hardware

Hard Window

Soft Window

48%

43%

Dollar Share of Total Online represents 11 percent of all window treatment dollars with hard windows representing a majority in dollar sales and soft windows half of all unit sales. Online shoppers tend to be older, and while women do most of the online shopping, men do more window-related shopping online than in a store. Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Consumer Tracking Service. 12 months ending December 2012

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What will be left by the end of the year will be 28 tenant showrooms, with textiles the single largest product classification represented. NEW YORK — The industry will still have the 7W showroom building to shop for at least several more years. While the building, which has housed a mix of home textiles, gift and tabletop resources since it opened in 2005, is in the process of consolidating wholesale showroom space to its lower floors, it is now confirming that it will maintain that space through at least the end of 2015. According to Chris Collins, vp and general manager for the building, showrooms will continue to operate on the lower concourse level, the main floor and floors three and four, tot aling about 120,000 square feet of space. The balance of the building, about 300,000 square feet on floors five through 12, is being converted into office space, though it has not been leased yet. 7 W, w h i c h i s owned by the large real estate operator Vornado, has been managed through the MMPI unit, which also ran wholesale showroom locations in other cities including Chicago, High Point, N.C., Los Angeles and Boston. All but Chicago and New York have been sold off, Collins said, as part of a corporate strategy to largely exit the wholesale showroom business. “This building, 7W, is in a very high profile location and it’s much more valuable as an office building than as a showroom building,” said Collins, who said it has been a two-and-one-half-year process to get to this point. During that period, Collins and the 7W staff have been relocating tenants within the building or helping them to find alternative locations within the area. What will be left by the end of the year will be 28 tenant showrooms, with textiles the single largest product classification represented. Space on the four remaining floors will be fully leased. As that happens, the building’s services and personnel will shift. Collins said he will stay through the transition, but “after that my intention is to return to the wholesale side of the trade.” Other members of the marketing and leasing team will be leaving during the course of the year, though Vornado will continue to manage the facility. For the physical building, it will be the latest transition in a history that stretches back more than a century. Built in 1901, the structure had a long run as retail space, most notably as the fabled New York retailer Ohrbachs. In 1989 it was converted to office space and in 2005, with the closing of the 225 Fifth Avenue gift-oriented showroom building, it began a new life as a showroom building, a role it will now continue at least partially through 2015. HTT

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March 11, 2013

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OPINIONTodaY Fresh Air

V ER Y BODY E X PECT ED JCPenney’s fourth-quarter and fiscal year numbers to stink, and they did. Nonetheless, an interesting tidbit emerged from ceo Ron Johnson’s Feb. 27 webcast following the release of those results. On the subject of the shopper JCP has (Boomer) vs. the one it wants (Millennial) and the potential impact of new brand rollouts, Johnson told analysts that Liz Claiborne is the retailer’s best-selling brand. (One assumes he meant apparel brand or women’s apparel brand.) In the days after the Millennial-oriented Joe Fresh ads broke during the Feb. 24 Oscar telecast, said Johnson, jcpenney.com was getting EDITOR-IN-CHIEF seven times more hits for Joe Fresh than Liz Claiborne. Joe Fresh conversions were running 10% higher than Liz Claiborne conversions, and 60% of the people buying Joe Fresh merchandise were first-time jcpenney.com customers. Only three days after the Joe Fresh marketing began, it was already well on its way to finishing out the week as the top-selling brand on JCP’s website. Here’s the $64,000 question: As Joe Fresh merchandise arrives at stores (it was scheduled to set mid-March), will those Millennials actually step into a JCPenney to check it out? If they do, will they stop to look at anything else? It matters because if Millennials are only encountering Joe Fresh in the virtual world, they’re not walking by the Levi’s shop, arguably the smartest of the eight shop-in-shops that have rolled out so far. They’re not going to see the Pantone bedding and bath display, which clearly is not a pitch to Penney’s gray-haired customers. They’re not going to be hanging out at the promised wifi stations and coffee bars. In short, they will not be converted to full-on JCP customers. There is a distinction, and Johnson makes it frequently. JCPenney is the old store, the one the company is transitioning into the new store known as JCP. During my most recent trip to Penney in mid-February, there were a surprising number of people in the store, even folks lined up at the register. They all appeared to be mid-40s and older. I did see one twenty-something in the bedding department. She was accompanying her mother. HTT

Jennifer Marks

Martha, Macy’s and the Plano Truth

AY T H IS A BOU T our lovely Miss Martha: She is always predictable. Her testimony last week in the trial trying to figure out the rights to her brand between Macy’s and JCPenney was classic Martha: Equal parts intelligent, arWarren charming, rogant, amusing, reeking Shoulberg of entitlement and altoPUBLISHER/ gether entertaining. EDITORIAL DIRECTOR If you want all the juicy details, go get the transcript. Her four hours on the witness stand following similarly marathon sessions by JCP ceo Ron Johnson and Macy’s ceo Terry Lundgren constitute retail soap opera drama perhaps unprecedented in our business lifetimes. Jacqueline Suzanne couldn’t have done any better. It’s still anybody’s guess how this will all be resolved, and one gets the feeling that whatever the outcome in court, there may very well be another outcome in the real world afterwards. The judge’s decision will only be the starting point for the next round of negotiations between the assorted — and sorted — parties. But on the eve of the New York textiles market, this whole thing carries serious ramifications for the home textiles industry. With $150 million in wholesale sales of Martha product at Macy’s and the potential for at least that at JCP, who gets what means a lot to the vendors involved in these programs. Just as importantly, where Martha eventually settles in with her brand will impact how competing retailers counter-merchandise their

own assortments and strategies. If the brand somehow ends up staying at both stores, that makes it even more complicated. The possibilities are more complicated than the recipe for one of Martha’s dinners. What’s to come is the great unknown. But we do know what’s happened so far. We do know that Martha was on her merchandising butt before Macy’s came along, her Kmart deal winding down and not many suitors out there courting her. We do know that Macy’s took a big gamble in signing a brand that was so identified with another big retailer, one that was much more down-market. Macy’s had been doing a good job building its own private label business — one that didn’t require royalty payments — so this was a break from its game plan. And we do know Martha at Macy’s has been a success. While Martha in her testimony said she expected to do $400 million a year at retail there, the actual $300 million is nothing to sneeze at, especially considering how fast the business was going downhill at Kmart at the time. Lastly, we know JCP was counting on Martha to be the cornerstone of its revised home business. Should it lose this suit and, even more importantly, should the restraining order prohibiting the sale of even any Marthadesigned product be continued, Penney will have a huge hole on the home floor, one that will be virtually impossible to fill in the time frame the store has to turn around its business. For the parties on the inside of this love triangle, this is a tough time. For the rest of us, it’s pretty riveting stuff. Ménage à Martha. HTT

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Hong Kong Fair Expects Strong Turnout

Retail Briefs

HONG KONG — The fourth edition

of the HKTDC Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair will take place here April 20-23 with more than 220 exhibitors from seven countries and regions. At the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, manufacturers will be sorted into several zones, including: window fashion and accessories; bedroom and baby textiles; bathroom & kitchen textiles; carpet & floor coverings; and upholstery & furnishings products. In addition, the Hall of Glamour will feature an array of top quality, trendy and branded towels, bedding, curtains and carpets. Key exhibitors include A-Fontane from Hong Kong, Disney (US) and Hallmark (US). Product Demo and Launch Pad sessions will provide suppliers with extra opportunities to announce their newest products in an interactive setting with buyers. The show, which runs in tan-

JCPenney Has Laid off 19,000

Last year’s fair drew nearly 16,000 visitors, including more than 8,800 from overseas.

dem with the HKTDC Hong Kong Houseware Fair, will also present forums and seminars on a variety of issues including European trends and overall home textiles trends. T h e f a i r ’s “ S m a l l O r d e r Zone” will highlight products from more than 300 exhibitors across both the home textiles and housewares shows that can

handle small minimums. The voting game “My Favourite Homeware” will return this year to spotlight creativity and innovation in the market. International buyers will be invited to vote for their favourite products online in eight categories. For additional information, visit www.hktdc.com/hkhometextilesfair. HTT

Big Lots Sees Sales Lift in Q4 C OLUMBUS , O HIO — A “decent”

and a senior merchant who realsales performance from domestics ly understands that business.” Taand linens was not enough to help bletop — cutlery, dishes, etc. — Big Lots’ lagging home “is also a place where we business in an otherwise have a very senior merstrong fourth quarter. chant who has many, Repairs to faulty segmany years of experiments with in home — ence. We need to inparticularly home décor crease some quality and items — are underway value there [in the prodand expectations are high uct mix].” STEVE that home will at some The company reFISHMAN Big Lots point this year become one ported strong results for of Big Lots’ best performthe quarter, including ing divisions, noted Steve Fishman, a better-than-expected income chairman, ceo and president. from continuing operations of “My call is that home will be $120.3 million, or $2.09 per [one of our] leading businesses this share, a 19% increase from the year,” he said during Big Lots’ earn- year-ago quarter. ings call last week. Sales for U.S. operations grew The mending of home includes 4.4% to $1.7 billion, although comimprovements in quality and value parable store sales for U.S. stores in decorative home merchandise, open at least 15 months decreased like candles and other accessories. 3.5%. “We have some exciting proFrom a merchandise perspecgrams in there and you will see tive, the strongest category was us take some bold steps in the bal- seasonal, up in the mid-single digance of Q2 to alleviate the inven- its and aided by the company’s tory that has to go away,” Fishman Trim-A-Tree program. Also strong added. were jewelry and apparel, driven He said the domestics part of by special closeout opportunities. home “has been pretty decent, and But food and consumables were we have a very strong focus there down in the low single digits, and

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furniture was off in the mid-single digits. Even so, mattresses were “strong” and case goods especially fireplaces, were positive. Toys continued to downtrend, and “the home business remained below last year,” Fishman said, blaming the assortment for not being what customers were looking for in the period. Big Lots’ Canadian operation posted its first profitable quarter since its acquisition in July 2011. Sales totaled $48.6 million and net income was $200,000, or $0.00 per diluted share (non-GAAP), compared to net sales of $36.6 million and a net loss of $5.1 million, or $0.08 per share (non-GAAP) a year ago. For the full fiscal year 2012, results included: income from continuing operations of $177.2 million, or $2.93 per diluted share; adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $2.99 per diluted share (non-GAAP); and a 3.8% increase in total sales to $5.4 billion. For 2013, Big Lots has a slew of plans being put in place, including new test stores, executive shifts, merchandise mix changes, and other efforts. HTT

hen JCPenney ceo Ron Johnson took the stand March 1 to testify in Macy’s lawsuit over the Martha Stewart brand, he publicly disclosed how much further staff cuts have gone since JCP announced the initial elimination of 1,000 employees in April 2012. CNBC report Courtney Reagan reported Johnson testified to 19,000 layoffs thus far. The first wave of layoffs spanned store associates, headquarters staff, call center workers and salon workers. Last July, JCP said it had eliminated an additional 350 jobs, which it described as the “final round” of headquarters layoffs. Johnson has dismissed recent reports of additional job-shedding as “rumors.” During his quarterly webcast two days ago, he said JCPenney employees understood some adjustments would need to be made as the company evolves to a new format. “We have promoted nearly 400 employees,” he added.

Kohl’s Readies New Message

ohl’s will introduce a new marketing message, making greater use of television and de-emphasizing print. The target: moms aged 35 to 55. “We will position Kohl’s as the savings leader,” said Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo during the company’s recent earnings call. “We will own savings.” The project will require improving both style and quality, he said. Kohl’s tested some format tweaks last year, but they didn’t deliver the hoped-for results, especially in home. While the formats won’t go forward, they did generate some ideas that will be adopted, he said.

Target Canada Opens its Doors

arget Canada opened its first test units in the country, three of 124 stores it will launch in Canada this year. The company will soft open a total of 24 stores in Ontario this month. The stores opened last week are located at Stone Road in Guelph, Milton Mall Shopping Centre in Milton and Gates of Fergus in Fergus.

Lampert: Sears/Kmart Becoming a Membership Store

n his annual letter to shareholders, Sears Holdings chairman and ceo Eddie Lampert announced the company is evolving into “a membership store” via its shopyourway.com platform. “Shop Your Way is more than just a typical loyalty program,” Lampert wrote in the letter, which was released Feb. 28. “It is a comprehensive platform that transforms customer transactions into relationships and allows us to know our members better and to serve them better as well.” The company reported that Shop Your Way members accounted for more than 50% of revenues at Sears U.S. and Kmart stores during the fiscal year and fourth quarter.

3/6/2013 3:14:28 PM

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March 11, 2013

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FIRST MONDAY:

Gramercy Goes Viral With Luxury Linens BY CECILE B. CORRAL ATLANTA — While most inde-

pendent luxury linens retailers successfully do business the old-fashioned way — from their stores — Gramercy Fine Linens & Furnishings is navigating into the 21st Century via the leadership of its tech-savvy co-owners. Call them the “Gramercy Girls.” Thirty-something friends and colleagues Cam Reynolds and Jenny Taubel were both in

JAVITS CTR

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working in “Corporate America,” far away from the world of fine linens and furnishings. “We were wanting to do something more creative, and it led us to each other,” explained Reynolds, who is the mother of two boys ages 2 and 4. Taubel has two girls, ages 1 and 3. “It is wonderful to have a partner — we could not imagine having this shop without each other,” she continued. “We’re family now.” Today, they rely on their mutual fondness for linens and

décor paired with their innate good taste and, importantly, their web know-how, to guide them in their business. Both women are fluently bilingual in two business languages: that of their store clientele who visit Gramercy’s 2,000square-foot shop located in the affluent Buckhead neighborhood; and that of their more contemporary online shopper set. The team works with blogs,

social media and popular web-based sources like Pinterest to engage luxury linens shoppers locally and nationwide. A n d i t ’s w o r k i n g , more and more with each passing day, they agreed. While Reynolds and Taubel admit their online business currently accounts for only about 10% of total sales, it’s a

At right: Cam Reynolds and Jenny Taubel, co-owners of Gramercy Fine Linens & Furnishings. Monogramming is a niche business as well as a key driver to its website, www. ShopGramercy.com.

AUG 17-21

NYNOW.COM

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figure that is rapidly expanding and growing as the store’s shopper base is increasingly turning to the web to fi nd unique and finer products than those typically available throughout the traditional retail landscape. “We are involved in all social media outlets,” Taubel said. “We do Facebook, Twitter, all the social media sites.” “And Pinterest has become a great director to our website,” Reynolds added. “We really do a pretty good web business. We have customers across the country, so our website and blog have been very beneficial to our business.” Gramercy opened in May 2008, and its e-commerce site — www.shopgramercy.com — launched in 2010. Taubel handles a lot of inven-

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tory and some of the design for new product interests, and Reynolds handles part of the accounting and the e-commerce site and social media work. “But to be sure, we are both really involved,” Taubel noted. “We collaborate on every aspect, and the ladies who work with us are very helpful and a very important part of our store.” Reynolds said the store’s blog, which is updated three to four times each week, is a key driver of business. “We update regularly, feature new content, talk about the latest trends in design, and share information about the products we carry,” she explained. “And it’s a collaborative effort. All of us here at the shop work on the blog and social media to keep it fresh so that people keep com-

ing to us over and over.” Together, the online efforts have helped generate buzz about Gramercy beyond Atlanta’s borders. In fact, about 75% to 80% of their online business stems from non-local clients. “We rarely ship product to people in Atlanta,” Reynolds said. “I think there are a lot of people living across the country who are familiar with the types of products we sell, but don’t have any place in their town to get them. So because it is so easy to just go online and look around, social media has helped us find a lot of our customers.” Monogramming has proved to be another major driver of shopper traffic — near and far — to both the shop and its website. Gramercy has “Monogram Mondays” weekly when it fea-

tures new and popular monogramming designs and customwork offered by the store. Of Gramercy’s offerings online, its best sellers include monogrammed pillows, and Matouk-branded linens. The physical store at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center is situated near other boutique-like shops. The assortment includes fine linens for bedding, bath and table as well as decorative furnishings pieces and small accent furniture. There are four display beds featured on the selling floor, which are changed and updated every six weeks or so. One is typically put together by a local designer, artist or decorator who either assembles the bed with his/her own linens or includes

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pieces from their collection, or uses the store’s merchandise to create a unique look. Bedding brands carried by Gramercy include Matouk, Sferra, Peacock Alley, Hamburg House, Yves Delorme, Designers Guild, Legacy Linens, and John Robshaw, to name a few. Bath linens brands include Abyss & Habidecor, Christie, Matouk, Yves Delorme, Sferra, Labrazel, Mike + Ally, and others. Price points average $250 to $1,500 for sheets, $20 to $75 for bath towels, and $50 to $150for a set of four napkins. This year the store celebrates its fifth anniversary in business, and the Gramercy Girls are planning a special event. Details are still being finalized. HTT

3/6/2013 10:23:23 AM

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March 11, 2013

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Frette Returns To Italian Roots N EW YORK — Frette’s spring/

summer collection is inspired by the writings of two ex-patriots who fell in love with Italy: Elizabeth von Arnim, the Australian author of “The Enchanted April,” and British memoirist Daphne Phelps, author of “A House in Sicily.” Frette’s Couture collection includes Boiserie, which keys off Sicilian stucco wall decorations; Contessa, featuring hibiscus blossoms on ornate baroque frames; Baglio, which ocminbes baroque and geometric elements; Maiolicato, a bi-color cotton sateen jacquard with discreete Frette logos; and Illusione, a brightly colored geometric embroidery on white cotton sateen. Colors recall the hues of Phelps’ Sicilian home: blue sea and sky, lemon yellow, hibiscus red, beige and stone. Everything in the collection is grounded in white. Also in Couture, Paraggi features plumbago blossoms and

Ligurian pittosporum leaves on a geometric trellis in all-over or border designs. Caruggio is inspired by cobbles lining the streets in the Ligurian villages of von Arnim’s book. The design also appears on embroidered cotton satin quilts. Cammeo features a toile de jouy design depicting a pastoral river scene. Paraggi Pizzo, an unusual colored macramé lace, replicates Pittosporum flowers in beige, or plumbago and pale green, on a white ground. Frette has also added to its season-to-season Essentials collection with Baia, a simple graphic using strips of colored fabric sewn into white sateen cotton sheets and shams, creating two-tone frames or stripes. The design provides an alternative to Essential’s line embroideries. Colors are opal, beige, sunny yellow, ultramarine or plumbago. Mirasole is the new Essentials print, with colours inspired by vintage Portofino. This cot-

ton duvet set, quilt and comforter features a painterly, 1950s floral design with pink and blue

In addition to Couture linens, Frette introduced luxury pieces inspired by Portofino, including Cammeo, left, and Palmeto, right, which coordinates with Taormina.

irises sweeping across a faded yellow ground. The new Permanenti or ‘Permanents’ range complements Essentials with a season-to-season collection that lets customers build a set of classic linens over several years. Designs

include Illusione, a rhomboid geometric in sateen jacquard, and Weave, a looping embroidery on bed and bathroom sets. Macramé Pizzo, a classic Sicilian lace trim with interlocking diamonds, completes the collection. HTT

VHC Brands Launches Corporate Website B R ANSON , M O . — Multi-line

textile designer VHC Brands has launched a corporate website at corporate.vhcbrands.com to “enhance the quality and availability of information to interested third parties,” according to a press release. “As we continue to grow our business, we feel that making information about VHC more accessible to clients, potential clients, and the media and in a single format is a logical extension of our brand and identity,” said Ken Kline, ceo. “While our wholesale e-commerce traffic continues to grow on our transactionbased sites, www.mybellataylor. com and www.vhcbrands.com, we see a gap that this new site will help fill in.” Kline noted that VHC now does business with a variety of different retailers in multiple for-

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mats. What is relevant to specialty or independent retailers with the company’s standard e-commerce sites, such as checking on specific product availability or order entry, does not address the needs of some other partners including media, chain store buyers and all types of vendors, he said. The corporate website highlights basic company information, personnel details, policies/procedures and a new blog, “Behind the Seams,” among other features. A monthly “Featured Retailer” section is also new with the launch of the site, as well as media relations tools and sample or catalog request forms. The goal of “one stop shopping” for information on VHC will be the basis for enhancements and changes to the corporate site as the company continues to grow, the release states. HTT

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Home Textiles Today

March 11, 2013

News

Nourison Fetes Waverly’s 90th Anniversary With New Collections SADDLE B ROOK , NJ — In tan-

dem with Waverly’s 90th anniversary, Nourison is launching four new area and accent rug collections with the home brand at the New York Home Fashions Market in mid March. “Our Waverly collections have a unique space in our vast product line,” said Steven Peykar, co-ceo of Nourison. “Their color palettes are classically ori-

ented while the designs incorporate nearly a century of iconic styles that have been adapted to appeal to the contemporary customer.” Nourison is spotlighting the collections with a new conceptual display in its windows looking out on Fifth Avenue from its New York City showroom in the lobby of 295 Fifth Avenue. The four new Waverly collec-

tions are: • Global Awakening, an ethnically inspired collection of rugs that balances design and texture on a 100% polyester, hooked construction. The rugs are machine printed in China. • Artisanal Delight, which mixes classic and stylish floral patterns combined with trendy, current graphic designs. The rugs are made of 10% polyester cut pile and are accented with hand carving and machine printing in China. • Indoor/Outdoor Rugs, a 100% polyester machine printed grouping of durable rugs featuring new color palettes and myriad designs that are all UV protected, mildew proof, and fade-resistant. • Aura of Flora, a collection of modernized floral and ikat designs made of polyester and machine printed in China. HTT

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Revman to Debut Kevin O’Brien Home N EW YORK — Revman International has partnered with artisan textiles designer Kevin O’Brien to introduce a bedding collection during next month’s New York Home Fashions Market. The Philadelphia-based Kevin O’Brien Studio is best known for accessories products featuring hand-painted velvets and printed fabrics for interior designers and high-end department stores and boutiques. Said O’Brien: “With Revman, we are able to RICH ROMAN bring our beautiful fabrics and design style to Revman nearly everyone.” The new home collection for Revman, named after O’Brien’s daughter, will be branded as The Tallulah Collection by Kevin O’Brien. The inaugural group will consist of four duvet ensembles with coordinating decorative pillows and a signature burn-out velvet coverlet and shams in several colorways. The designs will be global, contemporary and eclectic. “Kevin is a uniquely talented artist and KEVIN O’BRIEN designer who brings a wealth of experience and a distinctive point of view to designing home fashions,” said Rich Roman, president and ceo of Revman. HTT Khaya is one of Kevin O’Brien’s new bedding ensembles for Revman.

Nourison is celebrating its 90th anniversary with four new collections at this month’s New York Home Fashions Market.

Hudson’s Bay Co. names Eileen DiLeo evp of stores BY MICHAEL J. KNELL TORONTO — Eileen DiLeo will become executive vice president of stores for both Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor when Debbie Edwards retires from the position on May 1, the Hudson’s Bay Co. has announced. DiLeo, who had been senior vp in charge of store operations for the two department store banners since last year, will report to HBC President Bonnie Brooks.

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With 30 years’ retail experience, DiLeo worked at Bloomingdales and then May Department Stores, where she rose to store management and senior operations roles at Lord & Taylor. The company noted she “has been integral over the last year in introducing best practices and creating synergy across the banners.” HBC thanked Edwards for “a remarkable 39 years of dedication and success with the company, and wishes her the very best in her retirement.” HTT

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Home Textiles Today

March 11, 2013

News

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WATCH

Pantone is the first of the new major brands to roll out in JCP stores, here shown as a wall in the Collin Creek store.

The Collin Creek store features an extremely wide-open floor plan based around this very wide center aisle.

JCP Lead Stores Still Very Much Works in Progress

f you want to see the cutting edge of the JCP transformation — and you can’t get into the closed-door test store in Dallas — then the two Penney stores in Plano, Texas, are ground zero. Two locations flanking company headquarters here — in the Stonebriar and Collin Creek shopping centers — are believed to be about four weeks ahead of other stores in the 800 units

The bright colors of the Pantone bath program are set on this end cap/display table pairing but neither store visited featured any hard-walled shop-in-shops, which are planned to be the cornerstones of the new JCP merchandising plan. At right: Despite all the changes in progress, the retailer still calls attention to its 1902 founding on this plaque at the entrance to the Stonebriar mall store.

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being converted into the brand new retailing format being led by company president Ron Johnson. The new stores are set to have as many as 100 individual shops, segmented by both brand and classification, with an emphasis on more contemporary designs under a variety

of labels. Home Textiles Today shopped both stores recently to see how the transformation was coming along and while it was difficult to immediately understand which portions of the remerchandising process were completed and which were still works in progress, several pieces of the new Penney pie seem to be taking shape: • The new Pantone Universe bed and bath program is on display, positioned on walls rather than in a shop concept. Oversized signage calls attention to the dramatic bright colors of the products. Neither store contained any of the hard-walled shop-inshops JCP has said would be the foundation of its new merchandising strategy. • The first Martha Stewart products, window treatments, are now on the floor in the SEE PROGRESS PAGE 21

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Great American PuzzDleemographic THE

A Geographic and Shopping Study

Presented by

y Sponsored b

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Home Textiles Today

Special Report

March 11, 2013

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SPONSORED BY:

Greatan ic Amerzzle Pu

THE

BY DANA FRENCH Americans buy plenty of home textiles products, but a new exclusive Home Textiles Today survey on how different demographic and geographic groups make those purchases paints a fascinating picture from which there is much to be learned by retailers and suppliers alike. More than 20 million U.S. households bought top-of-bed linens in 2012; nearly 28 million bought sleep pillows, and nearly 13 million purchased mattress protectors and encasement product. This new special report, The Great American Puzzle, derives from HTT’s 2013 Consumer Buying Trends Survey. The exclusive, nationally-representative survey asked 3,000 U.S. households about the fashion and utility bedding products they bought in 2012, how much they spent and what they plan to buy in 2013.

All Textiles Buyers Are Not Created Equally Utility bedding has the best shop-buy ratio, per the data. Last year, only 5% of households shopping for a sleep pillow didn’t buy one and only 10% of all mattress protector shoppers didn’t pull the purchase trigger. Top-of-bed linens reveal a different story. In 2012, 4.5 million of top-of-bed shopping households didn’t buy. In other words, 18% of all shoppers went away empty handed. These nearly one-in-five shoppers form the top-of-bed Buying Gap. The age, income and other demographic characteristics of Buying Gap households closely follow those of actual buyers. So, why did the Gap occur? While our data doesn’t fully explain that, several reasons are probable. Undoubtedly, the sluggish economy and still high unemployment figures were to blame in some instances and maybe some consumers chose to buy something else with their money. HTT

Consumer Buying Practices % of households Shopped for in 2012

21.5%

Bought in 2012

25.7% 24.3% 26.4% 17.6% 19.1% 12.5% 11.2%

Top-of-bed

Sleep pillows

of the households that shopped for each product in 2012 % that bought

Lower income

Top-of-bed

18%

Sleep pillows

95%

Mattress protectors

90%

10%

Middle income

The Affluent

36%

43%

21%

% of total dollars spent in 2012

24%

45%

31%

Lower income

Middle income

The Affluent

% of households who bought in 2012

40%

20%

% of total dollars spent in 2012

29%

43%

28%

Lower income

Middle income

The Affluent

% that didn’t buy

82%

Mattress protectors

% of households who bought in 2012

Mattress protectors/encasements Top-of-bed

8.3%

Buying Trends by Income

Sleep pillows

The Buying Gap

Plan to buy in 2013

% of households who bought in 2012

37%

43%

20%

% of total dollars spent in 2012

31%

42%

27%

SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY CONSUMER BUYING TRENDS SURVEY 2013

Terms used in the report Households are all those living together in one housing unit. They may be related family mem-

bers or unrelated individuals sharing housing as partners. Median is the measure that divides the response into two equal portions.

About the data In this exclusive report, Home Textiles Today presents detailed information on consumer shopping and buying plans. The data originates from the responses of 3,000 U.S. households to an online survey conducted in December 2012. Home Textiles Today worked with TNS, a Kantar Group Company. U.S. households told Home Textiles Today if they shopped for each product in 2012, if they purchased, how much they spent and if they plan to buy in 2013. Because of the sample size and a respondent profile closely matching the demographics of all U.S. households, survey data can be projected nationally with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8%.

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Household income is the total combined income of all household members. The Buying Gap is percentage of households that shopped for a category in 2012, but did not buy. Lower income households have incomes less than $50,000. Middle income households have incomes between $50,000 and $99,999. Affluent households have incomes of $100,000 or more. Millennials are born between 1981 and 2000. The data includes adult Millennials only, those be-

tween the ages of 18 and 32 in 2013. Generation X are born between 1965 and 1980 and are ages 33 to 48 in 2013. Younger Baby Boomers are born between 1956 and 1964 and are ages 49 to 57 in 2013. Older Baby Boomers are born between 1946 and 1955 and are ages 58 to 67 in 2013. Seniors are born in 1945 or before and are ages 68 or older in 2013.

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March 11, 2013

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Younger Baby Boomers Will Top Top-of-the-bed for 2013 BY DANA FRENCH Younger Boomers, middle income, Millenials and westerners: They are likely to be the best customers for top-ofthe-bed products this year. The youngest Boomers, ages 49 to 57, plan to buy at a rate 1.14 times greater than their presence in the population. Last year, this group spent slightly more than the average buyer, a median of $62. All top-of-bed buyers spent a median of $60 and households living in the New England states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont spent the most last year, a median of $80. Overall, 7% of buyers spent less than $25; 26% between $25 and $49; 22% between $50 and $74; 26% between $75 and $149; and 19% paid $150 or more. Millennials and Generation X households also plan to buy at above average rates. The much-talked about adult Millennials are between the ages of 18 to 32 and total 65 million in number. As the Great Recession hit this generation the hardest and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just starting careers and going out on their own, they spent the least of any generation, a median of $50. Members of Generation X, ages 33 to 48, spent a median of $64 last year. In 2012, 24.7 million U.S. households shopped for topof-bed linens and 82% of shoppers, more than 20 million, bought top-of-bed. This year, another 19.1% of households, nearly 22 million, have top-of-bed products on their shopping lists. HTT

Top-of-bed % of households

By region

Median $pent in 2012 19.6%

Plans to buy in 2013

19.7% 17.5%

$50

$55 Mountain

16.7% 19.1%

West North Central

21.8%

$55

18.2%

$80

East North Central

New England 16.7%

19.6% 18.2% 17.9%

$60 $60

Pacific

Middle Atlantic

17.8% 19.3%

$77 South Atlantic 15.7%

14.7%

19.0%

18.4%

$50

$60

East South Central

West South Central

Target populations These demographic groups plan to buy top-of-bed linens in 2013 at a rate higher than their proportion of the population Plan-to-buy index Younger Baby Boomers Household income $75,000 to $99,999

112

Millennials

111

Households living in the West

110

Generation X

105

A plan-to-buy index of 100 indicates the group plans to buy the product at the same rate as all U.S. households. An index number greater than 100 indicates they plan to buy the product at a rate higher than all U.S. households.

Amount spent on top-of-bed in 2012

Under 35

17%

13%

35 - 44

15%

13%

45 - 54

22%

55 - 64

21%

20%

65 and older

25%

32%

Under $30,000

17%

22%

$30,000-$49,999

18%

21%

$50,000-$74,999

23%

21%

$75,000-$99,999

21%

19%

$100,000-$149,999

16%

13%

$150,000 or more

$175-$249

12%

$250 or more

$75-$99

14%

Under $25 $50-$74

Age

Household income

Median $60 $100-$149

Demographics

Percent of Percent of 17.6% of 19.1% of households that households that bought in 2012 plan to buy in 2013

114

$150-$174

reat n THE G ica Amerzzle Pu

24.0%

Bought in 2012

$25-$49

22% 26%

SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY CONSUMER BUYING TRENDS SURVEY 2013

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MATTRESS PROTECTORS | MATTRESS ENCASEMENTS PILLOW PROTECTORS | KITS

Alan Eisenberg alan.eisenberg@protectabed.com Cell: (561) 906-8343 OямГce: (561) 793-1674 Fax: (561) 798-2837

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March 11, 2013

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When it Comes to Pillows, Less Sometimes Equals More in Buying Power BY DANA FRENCH Sometimes the unexpected turns up in purchasing patterns and when it comes to sleep pillows, that appears to be the case, according to this new HTT research. Lower-income households, those earning less than $50,000 are the best prospects to purchase sleep pillows in 2013. L a s t y e a r , l ow - i n c o m e households accounted for 40% of all sleep pillow buyers and our data shows they comprise 49% of consumers planning to buy this year. Nearly 28 million U.S. households bought sleep pillows in 2012 and more than 30 million U.S. households plan to purchase sleep pillows this year. That’s a key finding from Home Textile Today’s exclusive 2013 Consumer Buying Trends Survey. Lower income buyers spent a median of $20, on par with the majority of buyers, while those in the middle class, incomes between $50,000 and $99,999, and affluent consumers, incomes of $100,000 or more, each spent a median of $25. Households living in the Northeast are also excellent prospects, planning to buy at rates higher than their presence in the population. Overall, 29.1% of households living in the New England region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, plan to buy this year and 27.8% of those living in the Middle Atlantic states of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania say they’ll purchase. HTT

Sleep pillows % of households

By region

Median $pent in 2012 26.0% 23.0%

28.4%

$20 Mountain

Plans to buy in 2013

24.5%

$20

25.4% 28.7%

West North Central

29.1%

$20

18.2%

$25

East North Central

New England 26.3%

22.5%

$25

22.8%

27.8%

$25

Pacific

Middle Atlantic

23.5%

28.4%

$20 South Atlantic 23.9% 23.9% 23.0%

25.9%

$25

$24

East South Central

West South Central

Target populations These demographic groups plan to buy sleep pillows in 2013 at a rate higher than their proportion of the population Plan-to-buy index Household income under $50,000 Households living in the Northeast

106

Household income $50,000 to $74,999

105

Households living in the Midwest

104

Younger Baby Boomers

104

Amount spent on sleep pillows in 2012 $30-$49

17% $25-$29

$100 or more

$20-$24

16% $10-$14 $15-$19

10%

$50-$99

12%

11%

22%

Demographics

Percent of Percent of 24.3% of 26.4% of households that households that bought in 2012 plan to buy in 2013

110

Median $20

reat n THE G ica Amerzzle Pu

Bought in 2012

Under $10

Age Under 35

16%

13%

35 - 44

14%

10%

45 - 54

23%

21%

55 - 64

20%

19%

65 and older

27%

37%

Under $30,000

19%

25%

$30,000-$49,999

21%

24%

$50,000-$74,999

22%

$75,000-$99,999

18%

15%

$100,000-$149,999

14%

10%

$150,000 or more

Household income

SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY CONSUMER BUYING TRENDS SURVEY 2013

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Special Report

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Home Textiles Today

March 11, 2013

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Buyers Living in The West are This Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Mattress Protector Prospects BY DANA FRENCH

Mattress protectors/encasements % of households

By region

Median $pent in 2012

Bought in 2012

Plans to buy in 2013

16.6% 9.8% 10.8%

$28

7.9%

$30 Mountain

West North Central

$30

10.3% 8.6% 12.7%

$35

East North Central

4.8%

New England

$40

10.6% 8.9%

$35

Pacific

11.2% 9.0%

Middle Atlantic

10.7%

$30

8.2%

South Atlantic

$35 11.7%

$28

8.4%

9.2% 4.9%

East South Central

West South Central

Target populations These demographic groups plan to buy mattress protectors in 2013 at a rate higher than their proportion of the population Plan-to-buy index Households living in the West

114

Seniors

113

Household income $50,000 to $74,999

112

Younger Baby Boomers

105

Older Baby Boomers

104

Amount spent on mattress protectors in 2012 Median $30 $100 or more $75-$99

Under $15

$50-$74

17% $35-$49

15%

$15-$24

19% $25-$34

22%

Demographics

Percent of Percent of 11.2% of 8.3% of households that households that bought in 2012 plan to buy in 2013

Age Under 35

16%

35 - 44

13%

45 - 54

24%

21%

55 - 64

17%

20%

65 and older

30%

39%

Under $30,000

18%

23%

$30,000-$49,999

19%

21%

$50,000-$74,999

21%

23%

$75,000-$99,999

22%

18%

$100,000-$149,999

14%

12%

$150,000 or more

Households living in the West plan to buy mattress protectors and encasements at high rates in 2013, 1.14 times greater than their presence in the population. S p e ci f i c a l l y, 1 0 . 8 % o f households living in the Mountain states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Montana, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming, say theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll buy a protector and 8.9% of those living in the Pacific states of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii have plans to buy this year. Last year, 11.2% of all U.S. households, 12.9 million, bought a mattress protector or encasement and this year, 8.3% of overall households, 9.5 million, plan to buy. All told, buyers spent a median of $30 on new mattress protectors in 2012. Households living in the Pacific spent the most in 2012, a median of $40. Less than $15 was spent by 9% of buyers, while 19% spent between $15 and $24; 22% paid $25 to $34; 15% shelled out $35 to $49; 17% spent $50 to $74; and 18% of buyers paid $75 or more. Buyers belonging to the Seniors generation, currently ages 68 or older, also plan to buy at rates exceeding their population presence. Last year, Seniors comprised 19% of all buyers and in 2013, they account for 27% of those planning to purchase. This demographic group spent more than the average buyer last year, a median of $35. HTT

Household income

Gr Amerei at Puzzlcean THE

SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY CONSUMER BUYING TRENDS SURVEY 2013

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Home Textiles Today

March 11, 2013

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PEOPLETodaY Midwest-CBK Adds Williams as Senior Director of Sales age to retailers. I’m really lookwest-CBK has hired Maria Wil- ing forward to helping our sales liams as senior director of sales. team work with our customers to With more than 30 years of ensure their success. “ In her new role, Wilexperience in the holliams will be responsible iday and gift industry, for day-to-day sales activWilliams is returning ity working with indeto Midwest-CBK in pendent retailers, and a newly created role. will manage the field She previously spent sales team including three years in the late regional sales managers 1990s as a regional account manager. MARIA WILLIAMS and account managers. “Maria is an outstand“I’m excited to Midwest-CBK ing leader with a broad return to Midwestbackground of experiCBK and work with general manager Dick Duff, ence in our industry, and she’s our fantastic customers — and the perfect fit for our customers the products,” Williams said. and sales team,” said Dick Duff, “When you walk into a Midwest- Midwest-CBK general manCBK showroom, it makes your ager. “I’ve worked with Maria heart skip a beat. The design, the in two previous roles including trims, the materials, the presen- when we first served together at tation — Midwest-CBK delivers Midwest-CBK, and I’m lookthe best, most complete pack- ing forward to working together

C ANNON FALLS, MINN. — Mid-

again and bringing her experience, insight and down-to-earth approach to our talented team and customers.” Williams has served in sales leadership roles throughout her career, most recently as the national sales director at Blue Mountain Arts, where she also worked with Duff. Prior to that, she served as the director of sales and marketing at Oriental Accents, regional manager at Midwest-CBK and Michel & Company, national account manager at Silvestri and regional sales manager at Applause. Based in Dallas, Williams is also an active volunteer with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Plano, Texas, where she mentors teenage mothers in job training, parenting and life skills. HTT

Calico Bestows Achievement Award on P/Kaufmann’s Garcy KENNETT SQUARE, PA. — Lance

Garcy, president of P/Kaufmann Fabrics, received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Calico during the textiles retailer’s national sales meeting late last month. “Lance takes exceptional care of his customers,” said Bert Kerstetter, Calico ceo, in remarks to the audience of 200 store executives from across the country.

“Aside from the fact that Calico lion, according to the retailer. has sold millions of yards “He makes sure of P/Kaufmann fabrics, that we have the best he never takes that for designs and have them granted.” first,” said KerstetGarcy started with ter. “He is responsive, P/Kaufmann in 1972 he is professional, he as an apprentice in the is fun to do business sample room. His saleswith, and he has made LANCE GARCY manship led to Calico P/Kaufmann an indelP/Kaufmann purchases with a retail ible part of the Calico Fabrics value of over $275 milhistory.” HTT

Lowe’s Names New Senior vp for Multichannel M OORESVILLE , N.C. — Lowe’s

has hired Lara Lee as senior vp, customer experience design to work on integrated, multi-channel strategies. “Customer needs and trends are constantly changing. In this new role, Lara will not only design

htt130202_022 22

experiences that support customers across every stage of the home improvement journey, but will also ensure that our employees’ abilities to deliver excellent experiences are evolving and improving to meet those ever-changing customer needs,” said Bob Gfeller,

customer experience design executive, to whom she reports. Named a “Master of Innovation” by BusinessWeek in 2006, Lee was most recently chief innovation and operating officers at global design and innovation firm Continuum. HTT

CHF Names Parker vp of Design N EW YORK — CHF Industries

has appointed Bryan Parker, the creator and creative spark behind the Bryan Keith, Bryan Keith Luxury and Parker Loft brands, as the company’s new vp of design for bedding. Parker will manage the development of several CHF brands, in addition to overseeing the 2014 launch of Bryan Keith and Parker Loft. He reports directly to Joan Karron, evp. “We are delighted to have Bryan join our creative team,” Karon said. “He is extremely talented and will bring his keen eye for design into our collections.” Parker said that creating stories for living spaces through home design “as always been a deep passion that has driven my career. I could not think of anywhere that was more fit-

ting for me to translate my passion and inspirations for home design than the brands and team at CHF.” CHF will become the licensee for Bryan Keith, Bryan Keith Luxury and Parker Loft home collections launching at retail in spring 2014. “We are thrilled to add these successful brands to our portfolio where they will provide a new and incremental product perspective across bedding, bath and window” said Spencer Foley, CHF evp. Bryan Keith Designs is a modern classic lifestyle brand spanning home décor, bedding, furniture and window treatments. Parker’s designs meld classic styling with modern expressions, with fresh, clean and uncluttered designs, CHF noted. HTT

Overstock.com Names co-presidents S A LT L A K E C I T Y — Stormy Simon and David Nielsen have been named co-presidents of Overstock.com. The appointments follow the company’s announcement Feb. 12 that Dr. Patrick Byrne, chairman and ceo, would taking a temporary medical leave of absence and that Jonathan Johnson, president of the company, would become acting ceo. Simon was previously senior vp in charge of customer and partner care at Overstock. As co-president, she will retain the responsibilities of the position and add oversight of warehouse logistics, press relations, social media and strategic marketing. Nielsen was most recently a senior vice president of mer-

chandising and supply chain with the company. He will retain those responsibilities and add international sales, talent management and information technology. C o m p a n y o f f i ci a l s a l s o said that Robert Hughes has been promoted to senior vp of finance and risk management, replacing Stephen Chesnut. Hughes was vp of fi nance and accounting. Saum Noursalehi has been named senior vp of marketing, a position formerly held by Timothy Dilworth, who is leaving the company. Noursalehi was most recently with OLabs, a research and development group within the company and worked with the Overstock.com marketing department. HTT

3/5/2013 10:29:53 AM

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March 11, 2013

BUSINESS TodaY Mohawk Finishes a Strong Year C ALHOUN, GA. — Price increas- product mix and retail sales cones, productivity improvements tinued to decrease our results,” and lower interest were all cred- he said. “Our new premium carited with contributing to Mo- pets have improved our overall hawk Industries’ selling prices and margins, favorable fourth however sales levels were quarter and full impacted by home center year results. product transitions that we The company’s expect to be completed durU.S. business Moing the first quarter.” hawk, which inTotal company fourth cludes the softquarter net earnings, excludJEFFREY flooring division ing restructuring charges, LORBERBAUM Mohawk Home, soared 40% to $70 million, Mohawk “improved our mix with earnings per share of as our higher value $1.01. Including the chargproducts gained greater trac- es, net earnings came to $66 miltion with consumers,” said Jef- lion, with an EPS of $0.95. frey S. Lorberbaum, chairman Sales in the quarter grew 4%, and ceo. to $1.44 billion. He added that Mohawk’s reFor the year, net earnings cent expansion into new inter- and EPS were $250 million and national markets “has generat- $3.61, respectively. ed additional growth in Mexico, Excluding restructuring Russia and Australia.” charges, net earnings jumped But by product category, rug 29% to $262 million and EPS sales did not impress as much of $3.78. as carpets. Sales for the full year grew “Our rug sales improved from 3% to $5.79 billion. last quarter, though they remain Mohawk recently announced below the prior year as lower a carpet price increase of 4%

to 6% to cover rising material costs, Lorberbaum said. “By applying the innovative processes used to develop SmartStrand Silk, we int r o d u c e d o u r We a r - D a t e d Embrace nylon collection in the fourth quarter,” he continued. “This extends our leadership position in the ultra-soft premium category.” Looking ahead, Lorberbaum warned the company sees some inflation in raw materials. “In the U.S., low mortgage rates, stabilizing home prices and improving employment should sustain the housing recovery,” he added. “We believe that U.S. residential remodeling should see improvement in the future and that the European economic conditions are near a bottom.” Guidance for first quarter earnings is $0.77 to $0.86 per share, excluding any restructuring, acquisition costs and interest on the new bonds for Italian ceramic tile company Marazzi. HTT

Same-store sales

Home Goods Heat Up in Warmer Climates N EW YORK — Same-store sales rose 2.2% in

consumer basics and home goods,” she noted. March growth should benefit from an earthe fourth and final week of February following a 2.7% gain the prior week, according to ly Easter compared with a year ago. March is a five-week month on the retail calendar, endThe Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index. For the month, February comps were up 2.6% ing on April 6. Redbook’s preliminary target March is a compared to February of last year, missing Redbook’s target for a 2.9% gain. Month-over-month showed a Johnson Redbook Index Fourth week of February, year-over-year % change 1.3% gain, relative to a target of a 1.6% gain. WEEK ENDED 2/9 2/16 2/23 3/2 MONTH TARGET Redbook analyst Catlin LeDepartment stores* 0.5 1.5 1.7 0.8 1.1 1.5 vis noted February sales typDiscounters 3.4 4.0 3.1 2.9 3.4 3.7 ically account for a relativeRedbook Index 2.4 3.1 2.7 2.2 2.6 2.9 ly small proportion of annual *Including chain stores and traditional department stores Source: Johnson Redbook Index sales. “Demand was broad based, with early business in spring apparel and oth- 2.9% year-over-year comp improvement, which er seasonal categories, primarily in the warm- would result in a 0.9% gain over February, she er parts of the country, augmenting strength in added. HTT

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MSLO Merchandise Revenues Up 23.5% in 4Q N EW YORK — With testimony

in the Macy’s lawsuit underway at the time, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia execs had little to say about the merchandise division during the company’s fourth-quarter analyst call late last month. Ken West, cfo, said the rollout of Maratha Stewart merchandise at JCP — the subject of the Macy’s suit — remains on track, but won’t be beneficial to the company until the second quarter. At Home Depot, soft flooring and paint continue to show weakness, and the home improvment retailer will carry a smaller assortment of patio

goods this spring. All other retail partnerships are solid, he said. During the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, revenues in the merchandise division climbed 23.5% to $16.2 million. The company cited improved royalty revenues from Macy’s, design fees from JCP and contributions from the Martha Stewart Home Office line with Avery. Merchandise division operating income rose 23.7% to $11.3 million, and adjusted EBITDA jumped 29.1% to $11.4 million. For the full fiscal year, merchandise revenue increased 18.4% to $57.6 million. HTT

Burlington Coat Factory Reports Solid 4Q Sales B URLINGTON , N.J. — Burling-

ton Coat Factory’s fourth quarter sales rose 6.8% to $1.2 billion. Comps in the 14-week quarter rose 6.8%. Comparing samestore sales to last year’s 13-week quarter, comps slipped 0.3%. Sales for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2 climbed 7.2% to $4.1 billion. Comps for the 53-week period were up 7.2%. On a comparable 52-week basis, sales rose 1.2%. “Our fourth quarter sales results were negatively impacted by the effects of Hurricane Sandy and the unseasonably warm weather in December. We were very pleased with our

January sales performance, and we look forward to continuing to build on our comparative store sales and total sales growth in fiscal 2013,” said Tom Kingsbury, ceo. The company’s preliminary earnings estimate calls for fourth quarter adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $192 million to $203 million, an increase of 2.7% to 8.0%. For the full fiscal year, Burlington Coat Factory expects to report adjusted EBITDA of $348 million to $358 million, which would represent a range from a decline of 0.6% to an increase of 2.3%. HTT

Home Depot Sees Lift ATLANTA — Home Depot’s fourth quarter sales climbed 13.9% to

$18.2 billion during the fourth quarter, with U.S. comps up 7.1%. “We ended the year with a strong performance as our business benefited from a continued recovery in the housing market coupled with sales related to repairs in the areas impacted by Hurricane Sandy,” said Frank Blake , chairman and ceo. Net earnings for the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3 jumped 29.2% to $1.0 billion, or 68 cents per share. For the full fiscal year, sales were up 6.2% to $74.8 billion, and the comp for U.S. stores increased 4.9%. Fiscal year ESP rose 21.5% to $3.00. HTT

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News

> hometextilestoday.com

March 11, 2013

Home Textiles Today

WATCH JCP PROGRESS FROM PAGE 12

Stonebriar store. Labeled MarthaWindow, the curtains are offered in a variety of configurations and constructions. Signage at this point is restricted to POS panels, though one can reasonably expect overhead signs when the rollout is completed. • The Collin Creek store features an extremely wide center aisle down the middle of the home textiles department, and while it’s difficult to see if that will eventually be filled in with more product, the flooring materials suggest the central aisle will be much wider than anything that currently exists in most stores. • Both stores were very light on inventory. Again this could be a reflection of the changeover in products or it could signal the pared down inventory positions Johnson has talked

about publicly. • Other marquee home brand rollouts, including Conran and Jonathan Adler, had not yet arrived on the selling floor. JCP has talked about a May 1 completion date for its home furnishings reboot. • Elsewhere in the store, other branded shops representing fashion brands like Levi’s, Izod and Liz Claiborne were in place, though in total there did not appear to be more than 20 shops in total at either store. JCP has talked about its completed stores eventually having 100 shops. Signs indicated the Joe Fresh shop, featured prominently at the mall entrance to the Collin Creek store, would be opening later this month. HTT will continue to shop Penney stores to report on this ongoing transformation during the next several months. HTT

The Stonebriar location, the closest store to Penney corporate headquarters in Plano, Texas, is also one of the first stores in the chain to sport the company’s new branding logo.

The first appearance of Martha Stewart branded merchandise was in the Stonebriar window coverings department where more than a dozen skus were on display, all under the MarthaWindow name. Below: Elsewhere in the stores visited, branded shops were starting to appear, including this Levi’s men’s department, which sported iPads for browsing products, supplemented by a printed look book.

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3/6/2013 10:35:50 AM

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LIVE FROM THE NY HOME FASHIONS MARKET Look to our website www.HomeTextilesToday.com for our daily broadcast from New York with the latest news from the Home Fashions Market. Starting March 18, 2013, Publisher Warren Shoulberg will broadcast video coverage direct from the show.

See the best new finds at market, and hear what industry experts have to say about the latest trends and business forecast. Be sure to check back every day to catch all the latest interviews with attendees and exhibitors.