The long-term partnership marks the first-of-its-kind in the furniture and mattress category for both teams, owned by Ilitch Sports + Entertainment and aims to engage their fans by offering unique experiences, while leaning into the brands’ shared mission and commitment to positively impact their communities. As part of the partnership, awareness and funds will be raised to help children in the foster care system find a permanent home.

“We are thrilled to partner with these two iconic Detroit teams,” said Todd Garten, Chief Marketing Officer of DSG. “We love the passion of the fan base and see this as a tremendous opportunity to enhance the fan experience, while also making a significant impact in the local community. We are committed to working with local organizations and agencies to help find a permanent home for every child in Michigan.”

To kick off that commitment, Ashley DSG will be donating 124 beds to Detroit-area foster children through their “Hope to Dream” initiative, which works to ensure all children have access to a safe place to sleep at night.

To celebrate the game-changing news and the Tigers 124^th season this summer, Ashley will be giving away over $124,000 in furniture, mattresses, team merchandise, and fan experiences in July and August. As part of the giveaways, one sweepstakes winner will receive a $24,000 Ashley shopping spree and four (4) tickets to the Detroit Tigers game of their choice.

The brand will be holding a series of themed events in their 7 metro Detroit locations, including:

●     July 12: 124 FREE rides with Lyft to/from the Tigers’ home game at Comerica Park

●     July 13: Shop Detroit’s “Local Love Days” Presented by Ashley

●     July 27: First 124 guests at each Ashley Detroit location and the Windsor, ON location will receive a free branded Detroit Tigers x Ashley Stanley Tumbler

●     August 10: Detroit Tigers x Red Wings Alumni Meet & Greet

○     Dearborn store only

●     August 24: FREE Detroit Tigers + Red Wings Swag All Day

○     All Detroit stores: Westland, Woodhaven, Auburn Hills, Madison Heights, Novi, Dearborn, Sterling Heights, and Windsor, ON location

In addition, from July 1 to August 31, shoppers in the Detroit market can mention Ashley’s exclusive partnerships to receive 20% off their purchase*.

For additional details on the partnership and its corresponding events, please visit https://ashley-dsg.com/detroit.

* Minimum purchase of $1999 required to receive 20% off. Valid at participating Ashley locations only. Not valid on previous purchases and cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion. Exclusions apply. Ashley Exclusive products may be excluded from some discount & promotional offers, varies by store location. See store for details. Offer valid 7/1/2024-8/31/2024.

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HIGH POINT — Upholstery manufacturer Man Wah USA is implementing a 3% increase on the FOB pricing of its products shipping starting July 8.

The increase is meant to help retailers control retail price points and prevent overpricing on products during a period of rising freight rates.

“We believe that this increase will help ensure that sales are not impacted, while also addressing the challenges posed by increased freight factors,” company director Gabriele Natale told dealers in a June 28 letter obtained by Home News Now.

Natale further explained that the increase aims to address current freight rates of up to $9,000 per container shipped from Asia to the West Coast and as high as $10,000 to the East Coast.

“The contracts are not being honored so we end up tending to go and buy outside the contracts,” Natale said. “It is very expensive.”

He added that the company is eating some of these costs to help keep the increase in the low single digits. It is similar to Ashley’s 3% increase on all products except domestic case goods and bedding, which takes effect July 15 on all new orders.

At Man Wah, a 3% increase on a $350 starting priced leather motion sofa with basic function would raise the cost by just over $10. On a $600 sofa with better leathers and expanded function, it would raise the cost by about $18.

“So instead of putting out a surcharge for people we are managing freight for, we put out a 3% price increase which is a very modest increase,” Natale said.

The container pricing situation has resulted because of issues ranging from ships being diverted around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid attacks in the Red Sea, to port congestion in Singapore, not to mention a flurry of shipments of consumer electronics and solar panels in May to avoid additional China tariffs.

But Natale noted that the current demand in the marketplace does not support the return of higher container rates, which industry officials say are three times or more what they were earlier this year.

“There is not enough demand to justify these prices,” Natale said. “There is plenty of capacity out there, and that should tell us that we will see freight rates leveling out soon. That is the general consensus. Now the shippers and steamship lines will try hard to pretend that is not the case, but eventually it is going to level off.”

Natale said the increase also runs counter to surcharges that the company implemented for about three years during the pandemic. This was largely in line with what other importers were doing during this period to address high freight rates, some of which exceeded $20,000 per container.

But some industry resources have said that surcharges — often shown at the bottom of an invoice — were unpopular with retailers who wanted to know the actual cost of landed product. Thus some industry resources say they are looking to avoid surcharges this time around.

“Us not putting out a surcharge is a defensive move because we need to protect the business that we have and possibly expand it,” Natale said, adding of the 3% increase, “This is a very small upcharge. We don’t want to change retail price points.”

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The new store is owned and operated by 3G Ventures, who own two additional Ashley stores in the surrounding region. This is the second Ashley Outlet in the state of Idaho. The Twin Falls Store will employ approximately 25 people.  

“We are thrilled to bring the number one furniture store brand in North America closer to our customers here in Twin Falls and surrounding areas,” said Jared Goody, general manager of 3G Ventures. “We look forward to offering a wide variety of home furnishings and mattresses to this market at exceptional values as well as providing the best customer service in the industry. Our Ashley family is incredibly excited to share this beautiful store with our guests in the area.” 

Ashley Outlet is a new store concept focusing on guest convenience and providing comfortable and quality products. With hundreds of home furnishing products, many of them being ‘grab and go’ so guests can take it home the same day, Ashley Outlet provides an easy shopping experience from start to finish.     

The new Ashley Outlet showroom design features products by category including motion and stationary upholstery, dining, bedroom, outdoor, home office, mattress and accessories. This layout makes the store easy to navigate and help customers quickly find what they are looking for. 

Ashley Outlet hours are Monday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Follow Ashley Pocatello Twin Falls on Facebook and @ashley.idaho on Instagram to stay up to date with products, promotions, and events. 

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According to the Bloomberg report Conn’s (NASDAQ:CONN) is readying a potential bankruptcy filing as the company faces sales declines and struggles to integrate a rival chain.

Sources close to the retailer also told Home News Now that said Conn’s has been looking for both operational and financial help from several advisors, including the Berkeley Research Group and Houlihan Lokey Inc.

Late last month, Home News Now’s Tom Russell, reported that the Nasdaq Stock Market has given specialty furniture, bedding and home goods and appliances retailer Conn’s Inc. 60 days to submit a plan to regain compliance with a rule related to the timely filing of its quarterly reports.

In that article, Russell noted that, on June 11, the company notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it was unable to file a timely 10-Q financial report for its fiscal first quarter ended April 30. The company said the delay was because it had been unable to complete disclosures related to possible amendments to, or the refinancing of its revolving credit facility that were required to be included in its 10-Q.

Last year, in an effort to grow storefronts and increase volume, Conn’s acquired 120-yer-old W. S. Badcock LLC from Franchise Group LLC.  Despite that move, Conn’s has faced 48-months of losses.

At press time, Conn’s shares, which fell 77% this year, took another nosedive and is currently trading at $0.6576.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A division of Asian furniture manufacturer Green River Group has purchased full line furniture resource Hillsdale Furniture, a move that gives the company a new chance at success in the U.S. marketplace.

Company Senior Vice President John Elting announced to dealers on Monday that Mellow River, a division of the manufacturer has finalized the acquisition and that the company’s name is being changed to HH2 Home, a nod to its beginnings as Hillsdale House more than 30 years ago. The company also has named Angela Hsu as its new chief executive officer, a position held by Brian Hendricks for the past five and a half years.

Hsu is the daughter of Steve Hsu, a top executive at Green River Group and the son of founder Omori Hsu. Angela Hsu is also executive vice president of Green River Group according to her LinkedIn profile.

“This will bring us so much more opportunity as we will not only be able to continue the businesses in which we excel, but potentially enjoy efficiencies created by vertically integrating into their manufacturing network, which includes everything from lumber and kitchen cabinets to bathroom vanities and mid-priced and high-end case goods,” Elting said. “ The best news is that much of our core team will remain intact, and we will be able to return some of our valuable employees who are already off to seek new opportunities.”

The announcement ends weeks of speculation about the future of Hillsdale Furniture, which industry officials speculated had closed its doors in recent weeks. In late May, Hillsdale announced to local government officials in Vietnam that it was closing its Vietnam office, “due to the difficult business situation of the parent company, leading to the inability to maintain the management and operation of the representative office in Vietnam.”

In his July 1 letter to dealers, Elting added that members of the HH2 team recently were able to meet with Angela Hsu and her team, which includes Sandy Hu, the company’s new chief financial officer, as they were able to communicate a new vision for the company moving forward.

“We have a lot of work to do, but we are excited to move forward,” said Elting, who added that the company “recently experienced a firestorm of unfortunate circumstances that led to a choice — liquidate or look for an acquisition. Obviously we looked for an acquisition.”

Elting also said that with the transition to new ownership, its systems, retailer IDs, item numbers and product descriptions will remain in place.

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“As the key buying destination for outdoor furnishings, Universal is excited to be a part of Casual Market,” said President Sean O’Connor. “It provides us with the opportunity to gain exposure to new potential customers.”

Universal will showcase multiple designs from its Coastal Living Outdoor collection, which includes dining and lounging furnishings in multiple weather-resistant materials such as powder coated aluminum, grade-A teak, cast concrete and all-weather wicker.

The new Saratoga Collection, introduced at spring High Point Market will be featured in the space. This modern Adirondack-inspired collection features outdoor seating, lounging, and dining furniture characterized by its angled seat back and classic wide planking. Crafted from solid teak (with a warm weathered-teak finish) and cast aluminum, accented with cast concrete details, each piece exudes a sense of rustic elegance and simplicity.

The antimicrobial foam cushions in the Coastal Living Outdoor collection can be customized with one of more than 500 fabrics, including both Sunbrella brand fabrics and InsideOut performance fabrics. And customers can opt for COM upholstery to tailor their pieces to specific preferences.

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HIGH POINT — Natuzzi’s Reimagined Gallery program announced last fall is starting to gain traction around the globe, with 113 retailers signing up globally, including 21 in the U.S. and Canada.

This represents about 121 gallery locations in development worldwide, with 29 in the U.S. and Canada, Codrin Coroama, chief wholesale officer, told Home News Now.

In North America, the company has updated 12 of its existing galleries thus far, with another 18 currently in the development process.

Since the program was first announced, the company has made some tweaks, including to the sizes. Initially, for example, they were in 1,200-, 2,000- and 3,200-square-foot sizes, representing small, medium and large. They have since been expanded slightly to 1,300, 2,200 and 3,500 square feet in size.

Coroama said that 2,200 square feet, which features about 10 room settings, has been the most popular size. The cost of this footprint is $48,000, which includes products and display systems that are delivered to the retailer and ready to place on the floor. By comparison, the 1,300-square-foot gallery offers six room settings and is available at $30,000, while the large gallery offers 20 room settings and starts at $82,000.

He added that the company has enhanced the merchandising aspect of the galleries with new products that include its Natuzzi Editions Houston New Generation Zero Gravity collection and the Roma, a sofa with an adjustable armrest and backrests and standard and extra-deep-seating options.

“Both models were introduced at the April High Point Market and received fantastic feedback, thanks to their Italian-inspired design and innovative features,” Coroama said.

Another new offering that can be showcased in the gallery footprint is what he described as the concept of Space Performance, which offers room-set options tailored to the needs of the retailer.

“The classic room set focuses on space efficiency, while the power-pad room set emphasizes versatility, functionality and customization, inspiring consumers’ creative expression,” Coroama said.

He also noted that on July 1, gallery partners will have access to a digital marketing platform that is “designed to amplify their marketing campaigns across digital channels.”

“This platform will be integrated with Natuzzi’s marketing planner and digital content database, providing support to drive local engagement and ultimately boost sales,” he said.

Retailers and their customers can also look at products on the Natuzzi website, where a number of custom configurations, fabrics and leathers are available, allowing them to pick and choose the look and design footprint they want. Upholstered beds also are available in multiple configurations and fabrics, also shown in detail on the website.

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MONROE, Mich. — From La-Z-Boy’s latest earnings call for its fourth quarter and full fiscal year ended April 27, it’s clear that retail development — both new store openings and acquisitions — remains a core part its strategy moving forward.   

Of course, none of this is new given the number of stores the company has in place currently. But it appears to be positioning itself for even further growth in the months and years ahead.  For example, during its latest earnings call, company President and CEO Melinda D. Whittington noted that the brand is looking to have about 400 La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries over the next several years, up from 355 at the end of its latest fiscal year.

The 355, which is up six locations from the prior year, brings the number of total company owned stores to 187, including the six new store openings and 11 acquisitions during the full year, including the acquisition of a two-store independent network in Florida during the quarter. And in May, she said, the company also signed an agreement to acquire an additional one-store market from an independent dealer in the Midwest that’s set to close in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025.

Bob Lucian, senior vice president and chief financial officer, noted that the company plans to open 12-15 new stores — separate of any acquisitions — mostly in the second half of the year as part of a planned $70 million to $80 million in capital expenditures during the fiscal year, which he noted “includes land and building investments and stores to maintain the growth of our retail network.”

Obviously, the company is bullish on its store network during a time when furniture retail is struggling amid an environment of high interest rates that are hampering existing home sales, combined with consumers tightening their belts with high-dollar purchases.

During the call, Whittington noted that while total written sales for company-owned La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries were up 1% for the quarter, written same-store sales for the entire network of 355 stores were down 3% for the quarter compared to the prior year and down 2% for the entire year. But she also noted that this performance is still better than the industry overall “against a backdrop of 8% industry contraction” during the quarter and down 6% for the year “as our significant outperformance versus the market persisted throughout the year.”

“Despite ongoing challenging traffic trends, our stores continued to execute very well, with higher conversions, higher ticket and design sales partially mitigating the traffic headwinds,” she noted.

In addition, the company now owns 53% of the stores in the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries network for the first time in its history. Of course, some of this has to do with the acquisition of stores from independent dealers looking to get out of the business during this ongoing period of malaise. Perhaps company ownership will improve the performance of these locations as things start to turn around, but that largely depends on support from the economy.

For Whittington, the growth of the store footprint makes sense moving forward.

“We see meaningful opportunity to expand the company-owned portion of the network through new store growth and acquisitions,” she said, adding, “These store acquisitions are immediately accretive to our profitability, allowing the company to benefit from integrated wholesale and retail margins.”

She also noted that growing the company-owned store network is important “as it enables the brand to control the end-to-end consumer experience and leverage the strength of our vertically integrated model.”

Another benefit in the company-owned store approach? It also helps guide product development.

“We continue to shift organizational decision-making to be more consumer-centric while also leveraging a data-driven approach,” Whittington said, adding, “This is enabling us to develop more consumer-relevant, on-trend upholstered furniture, particularly in the motion and reclining categories where we are a market leader.”

Of course, this consumer-driven approach is not just beneficial to the development of upholstery and recliners, but also wood categories such as occasional, along with bedroom and dining furniture offered by its sister brands.

The success of this growth initiative also obviously depends on a number of factors, ranging from interest rates and housing sales to the consumers’ willingness to return to spending more on the home. Yet despite these uncertainties, Whittington was optimistic about the company’s strategy, not just in its retail store footprint, but also how it is serving consumers in the market overall, ranging from the agility of its supply chain to product development initiatives.

“We know there are consumers out there still investing in their home, even in a challenging economy, and we believe we are disproportionately capturing them,” she said. “But if I were to step back and say ‘what is the biggest pivot for us as a total enterprise?’ It’s really this focus on driving our own company-owned retail and the reason for that is two-fold. We can control that brand experience for the consumer end-to-end. We can avail ourselves of the data from that consumer by interacting with them directly, and from a financial standpoint, we can take advantage of that integrated margin of owning the entire chain, from pieces of fabric and steel all the way to putting that product in the consumer’s home. And we believe that’s good for the consumer, and that’s good for our financials as well. So really, I would call continuing to expand our reach of our own retail probably the No. 1 biggest driver.”

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Schumacher, who left his executive post at HFA at the end of May, recently posted on his LinkedIn page that he had joined the board of the lifestyle retailer.

In his post, he noted, “For years I have admired R&B’s commitment to their team, customers, sustainability and social responsibility. Their recent designation as a B Corp, which means Room & Board meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability, is a testament to the culture they have built.”

He also noted that in April, the company transitioned into a 100% Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), which gives its 1,100 employees a financial stake in the organization.

“The new board of directors is tasked with providing strategic direction and financial oversight for the company during this time,” Schumacher said. “I can’t express how honored and humbled I am to become part of the Room & Board team.”

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“Independent furniture stores selling Meridian have seen increased traffic with younger customers coming in to furnish their living space with more contemporary pieces,” said Michael Rosilio, president of Meridian Furniture. “Social media has made it possible to reach customers that otherwise might not have known about us.”

Best Buy Furniture, located in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is a three-store traditional brick-and-mortar chain that features the brand, promoted through leading influencers and a strong social media presence. According to Best Buy Furniture Chief Executive Jordan Lulu, Meridian Furniture, which offers top quality, trendy furniture with unique designs, has been a go-to partner, especially when targeting celebrity influencers.

“Not only were the product styles what they wanted, but the price points were unbelievable,” said Lulu. “Meridian gives us the designer looks influencers and celebrities want for half the price. We’ve done a lot of work on influencing. We had never seen such a big increase in sales before posting on social media and running ads on Instagram, Facebook and Google, and we do all that in-house. And it helps that Meridian has the overall aesthetic, appeal, and packaging that young consumers love.”

Influencers well-known to the TikTok generation such as “Food God,” formerly known as Jonathan Cheban, who made appearances on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” and YouTube star Jake Paul have taken to Instagram and TikTok to share their homes being furnished by Best Buy Furniture, and Lulu has furnished homes for free in exchange for social media posts. Part of why the 26-year-old’s marketing approach is successful is because he’s connecting with influencers that millennials and Gen Z are interested in. So far, Best Buy Furniture has garnered over 174,000 followers across all social media platforms, with at least one social media influencer—Ed Bassmaster—who pranked salespeople on the floor garnering more than a million views.

“We’re shifting a lot of our attention online, to our e-commerce website. Customers can purchase Meridian Furniture at any of the three Best Buy Furniture suburban locations, two in Pennsauken, New Jersey, and one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we can place an order and ship something directly to California or Missouri or Boston or any other city in the U.S. for really competitive pricing,” Lulu said. “It’s rare for manufacturers to give us that backend system and support to be able to cater to all these customers.” 

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