Home Textiles Today August 16th Issue

BY CECILE B. CORRAL

PLANO, TEXAS — Soft home is showing “new signs of life” at J. C. Penney Company Inc., as a revamp of the business under new leadership is pay-ing off in bedding and bath.

During the 1,107-unit de-partment store’s second quar-ter earnings call last week. chairman and ceo Mike Ull-man credited JCP’s recent-ly appointed svp and gener-al merchandise manager of home, John Tighe, and his team with “doing a very good job of getting [home] more organized in a more logical manner.”

Ullman singled out some of soft home’s recent high-lights, including increasing

JCP’s Bed and Bath Biz Making Strides in 2Q

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 31, No.20 | $8.00

SEE JCP PAGE23

Kohl’s 2Q Gets Boost from Home

BY CECILE B. CORRAL

CINCINNATI — Thanks to high-er-than-expected sales, improved margins, a reduced expense rate and more disciplined in-ventory management, Macy’s Inc.’s second quar-ter exceeded expectations on several fronts, and earn-ings per share surged to 35 cents from 2 cents in the year-ago period.

“We believe our busi-ness is beginning to hit its stride after implementing signifi cant structural and organi-zational changes over the past two years,” said Terry Lundgren, chair-man, president and ceo, in state-ment. “While the economic en-

vironment remains uncertain, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s have a terrifi c opportunity to continue to take market share and grow our business profi tably.”

During the 850-unit department store chain’s earnings call last week, cfo said quar-terly results “exceeded our expectations in all key components of our performance,” and added that home was “strong,” particularly in the luggage, furni-

ture and mattress categories. “Private brands and exclusive

products also achieved terrific growth throughout the store dur-ing the quarter,” she added.

For the quarter, ended July 31, sales rose 7.2% to $5.5 bil-lion, with consolidated comps up 4.9%. Combined online sales for macys.com and bloom-ingdales.com jumped 28.1% in the quarter.

“Our internet continues to grow…Both Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com are prov-ing how important they are by driving store traffic…,” Hoguet explained, adding that the company “now has the ca-pability in all Macy’s stores to access the dot-com inven-tory to satisfy a customer. We are fi nding tremendous excite-ment for it both among store associates and customers.”

With Strong Q2, Macy’s ‘Locked and Loaded’ for 2nd Half

SEE MACY’S PAGE 18

MENOMONEE FALLS, WIS. —The home business at Kohl’s enjoyed several gains during the second quarter, as the some of the mid-tier department store’s private brands experienced double-digit sales increases and the overall category saw comps bump up as well.

The overall home business, along with women’s and acces-sories, reported comp sales in-creases in the low- to mid-single range for both the quarter and year to date.

But more notably, sales in-creased by 20% for Kohl’s three largest private brands combined

– Croft & Barrow, Sonoma and Apt. 9, of which the latter two’s mix includes soft home product offerings. And among the re-tailer’s exclusive brands, Food Network and Simply Vera Vera Wang as well as Elle and Fila Sport reported a 30% total sales increase.

Kohl’s total private and ex-clusive brands penetration in-creased more than 300 basis points to reach 49.1% of total sales for quarter.

Building on its momentum in home, 1,089-unit Kohl’s is ex-panding the category next month

SEE KOHL’S PAGE 23

BY CAROLE SLOAN

NEW YORK — Lord & Taylor, one of retailing’s most venera-ble department stores, is reen-tering the home furnishings arena in a major way, with a full fl oor in its Fifth Avenue fl agship planned to opening October.

The approximately 20,000-square-foot ninth floor will be dedicated primarily to Calvin Klein Home’s White Label pro-gram, including home textiles, rugs, tabletop, accessories, table linens and furniture, and Lau-

ren by Ralph Lauren home mer-chandise from home textiles to furniture and related tabletop, and decorative accessories.

The Calvin Klein White Label offering “will be the fi rst time we have been able to clearly showcase the brand as an entity rather than in classi-fication product categories,” explained Bentley Hardwick, vp, managing director, Calvin Klein Home.

“It will be a major opportu-nity to have the largest Calvin

SEE HOME PAGE 23

Monday, August 16, 2010

KAREN HOGUET

Macy’s

Lord & Taylor Heading Back into

Home Category

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2 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comAugust 16, 2010

Target Readies Another Limited Edition Collection

Decoupage artist John Derian will do another lim-ited run collection of home décor pieces for Tar-

get. This marks the third collection of John Derian for Target, which consists of nearly 100 skus all priced under $25, including decorative trays, wall art and coasters, as well as stationery items such as mini jour-nal sets and paper organizers.

Claiborne Apparel Rollout Begins at JCP, Home Coming up

The rollout of Liz Claiborne and Claiborne as JCPenney exclusives is now underway in women’s

and men’s apparel, with home slated to hit stores in January 2011.

The full program will cover 30 product categories in apparel, home and accessories, positioned to hit the “better” and “best” tiers. Under the agreement, Liz Claiborne Inc. handles design while JCPenney performs sourcing, merchandising and marketing.

Sam’s Club Adding Wi-Fi

By November, Wi-Fi service will be available in all Sam’s Clubs, allowing customers use of their Wi-Fi

enabled smart phones and Sam’s associates to demo internet TVs and other internet-connected products.

Sam’s will also introduce an app for iPhone, Black-Berry and Droid that provides extra discounts as well as product information and reviews.

Dillard’s returns to profi tability

Fatter margins and lower inventory rates helped push Dillard’s second quarter net income into the

black.For the quarter ended July 31, net income was

$6.8 million, or 10 cents per share, compared to a year-ago net loss of $26.7 million, or 36 cents per share. Gross margin improved by 270 basis points of sales and inventory was 6% lower.

Total sales – which include the company’s CDI Con-tractors, a construction business – declined 2.8% to $1.389 billion. Merchandise sales slipped 1% to $1.37 billion.

July spending lackluster

July retail sales rose 3.1% compared to a year ago, according to the National Retail Federation.

Sales at furniture and home furnishing stores rose 0.4% year-over-year but declined 0.3% from June

RetailBriefs

Protect A Bed.indd 1 4/8/2010 11:41:56 AM

BY CAROLE SLOAN

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM — Hopeful but not overly positive, Ameri-can exhibitors at Mood, the for-mer Decosit decorative fabrics show held here annually in mid to late September, point to a small uptick globally in this seg-ment of the business.

In several past years, timing overlaps with Ramadan kept many Middle Eastern buyers from attending. But this year, the observance ends three days before the show’s Sept. 12 kick-off.

Compared with the show here in 2009, exhibitors feel that business generally has improved and will result in better busi-ness. There also are companies that stayed out of Decosit or Mood to show in nearby hotels, and now have returned to the exhibit. Still, the American pres-ence among exhibitors is signif-icantly smaller than in the last decade or more.

One plus that most refer to is that it is a strong point of assem-blage for many of their global customers in a venue that is visi-tor friendly, offers a good climate and is timed right for their busi-nesses, whether jobber, retailer

or product manufacturer.Add to that, several noted, is

the focus on a single element of the decorative fabric business as in the burgeoning outdoor fab-ric segment or slightly recover-ing contract business which is seeing some signs of pickup.

“One of our bright spots is our international business. It took a dip but not like hospitality,” said Stan Fradin, president, Rockland. “In fact, international is pretty damned good.” Residential busi-

ness, he termed “pretty good.”As for the customer base

expected, Fradin sees strong groups from South America, Mexico and Canada, all econ-omies he said that “are pump-ing along.”

“We have a lot of new prod-uct from our facility in China that enables us to offer a broad new spectrum of product — dye-ing and printing on cotton, cot-ton/linen and embellishments,”

American Exhibitors Hopeful for Positive Mood

SEE MOOD PAGE 13

Imperial from Covington, is a feminine Chinoiserie-inspired floral on a high blend linen/viscose/cotton base cloth. See page 12 for additional introductions.

COLUMBUS, OHIO — With con-sumer confidence lagging, it may come as no surprise that back-to-school season could be “hit or miss for some retailers,” consumer research firm Big-research noted in its most recent Consumer Intentions & Actions (CIA) survey.

Almost half, or 44.8%, of con-sumers still say they’ll remain practical and realistic when spending. But the good news is that this fi gure has lowered four points from July when it was 49.1% and declined a year ago when the rate was 48.2%.

“Students headed back to school may have an eas-ier time this year convincing penny-pinching parents that

they need a new notebook, e-reader, or mobile device,” said Bigresearch. “More than half (53.5%) still say they’re focused on necessities when shopping, but this percentage has lowered from July (58.0%) and August ‘09 (55.9%).”

Bigresearch’s CIA survey mon-itors more than 8,000 consumers monthly. Some of the highlights of its most recent survey, con-ducted August 3 to 10, included the following fi ndings:

• Consumer confidence remains fl at at 27.8% in August;

• Fewer shoppers are feeling practical;

• Two in five said they are “worse off” fi nancially compared to August 2009;

• Target, Sam’s Club, and Costco are among the stores shopped most for groceries lately;

• The 90-day outlook is up from July 10 and August 2009.

Retailers can look forward to some favorable results. While consumers may feel like they don’t have much money in the bank, 16.9% reported that new-est fashion trends and styles are important to them. That is an increase over the 13.0% recorded a year ago and is the highest read-ing since October 2008 when it was just 18.5%. Half – 50.1% – still think fashion is less impor-tant than value and comfort, while 33.0% prefer a traditional, conservative look. HTT

Bigresearch Finds BTS “Hit or Miss”


4 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

7 W Plans Events, Perks for This Week’s Market

August 16, 2010

NEW YORK — A slew of spe-cial presentations and events are planned at showroom hub 7 West 34th Street during the Gift & Home Textiles market week Aug. 16-18, which runs in tandem with the building’s NYC Baby & Kids Fair.

On market kick-off day, Aug. 16, HTT sister publica-tion Gifts & Dec will sponsor the Retailer Roundtable from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on the 11th fl oor Event Space. Past winners of the Retail Excellence Awards will take center stage to discuss store design, marketing, visual merchandising, and use of the internet to have an award-win-ning business. The discussion will be moderated by editor-in-chief Caroline Kennedy and a complimentary lunch will be served.

On opening night 7W will host two special events. One is its “On the Board Walk” from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the building. There will be food, raffl es and games, and attendees can enter a contest to win a “Boardwalk Weekend Vacation” for two in Cape May.

The other is the NYC Baby & Kids Fair opening night party, also from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the building. Cock-tails and hors d’oeuvres will be served for manufacturers, buyers and experts in the baby and kids fashion accessories, furnishings, gifts and textile industries.

The Baby & Kids Product Profi les event, scheduled from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in the 11th fl oor Event Space, takes place Aug.17. Presenting product on

the podium during lunch will be owners, sales reps and man-ufacturers of some of the latest products being showcased dur-ing market week. Moderator Mary Gerlach, associate edi-tor of Baby & Kids, will give an overview of more than a dozen different products during the five minute speed selling pre-sentation.

Amenities at 7 W for market attendees include complimen-tary lunches and free transpor-tation via bus to and from the Jacob K. Javits Center, limo to and from the Passenger Ship Terminal Piers/ Pier 94, and taxi rebates to 7W from other locations in the city.

In addition, market goers will receive free market week admis-sion to the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway. HTT

DALLAS — Feizy Rugs is plan-ning a celebration for the open-ing of its new permanent show-room in New York City during the New York Home Fashions Market, Sept. 13 to 17.

The new space is in suite 904-5 at 230 Fifth Avenue. It will house the company’s growing line of area rugs, accent rugs, bath rugs, dec-orative pillows and throws made to service mass mer-chant retailers. The compa-ny’s prior showroom in New York was in 267 Fifth Ave-nue.

In line with the market and the showroom debut, Feizy will also present sev-eral new collections of area rugs. At the forefront is Escape, the fourth lifestyle trend collection being added to the company’s Mystique theme. Escape encompasses a large grouping of rugs that also coordinate with a line of accessories – accent rugs, decorative pillows, throws,

quilts and bath rugs, made in a variety of constructions and styles.

“We’ve done a lot of design development with our buyers in mind,” said Jamie Jones, key account manager. “We’re infusing upbeat hues into eye-catching designs. With the wide selection of products we’re offering, Feizy has really become a one-stop shop.”

Five new creels and a myr-iad of designs in the Saphir construction will also be shown. These rugs are power loomed of faux silk in a high-low construction and are densely woven.

Feizy will also debut a large collection of quilts and coordinating pillows featur-ing decorative stitching and lively designs. These pieces are infused with the ener-gizing color and clean pat-terns that are seen across the Escape collection’s product assortment. HTT

Feizy Rugs to Fete New Showroom in

New York

CHICAGO — Amity Home and Saro Trading were among 10 compa-nies taking Best in Show honors at the recent market here at the Chi-

cago Merchandise Mart.Amity, which produces fine

linens, was Best of Show in the Home category.

Saro Trading, supplier of both traditional and contemporary home textiles, received an award for Best Showroom Display.HTT

ROCKVILLE, MD. — Blissliving Home launched its first table linens collection at the Atlanta Market last month.

The collection echoes the soft cotton embroidery used in Blissliving’s Samsara decora-tive pillows and includes a table runner, square placemats (sold

in sets of four) with cotton twill backing and dyed linen napkins with a hemstitched border.

The table linens are avail-able in two colorways: turquoise, coral and yellow ocrhre embroi-dery on a storm grey linen or white embroiderly on a warm grey linen. HTT

Blissliving Home Debuts Table Linens

LOS ANGELES – The Millwork Group will debut a studio collec-tion of art printed on oversized decorative pillows designed by company founder Andrea Ber-nstein under the brand “Mill-works” at the New York Inter-national Gift Fair, which begins Aug. 14.

The colorful print pillow designs evoke a mix of Warhol and Pucci.

Bernstein, the former head of design and merchandising at Chris Stone fabrics, said: “I love modern prints, and we did big collections of these at Chris Stone. I think these new ones

are more whimsical and some are great for kids.”

She added the company will also sell the prints as fabric.

Price points on the over-sized pillows will range from $20 to $60.

Millwork Group is showing at Pier 94. HTT

Millwork Group Debuting Studio Collection at NYIGF

HONG KONG — B-to-B trade facilitator Global Sources will launch five sourcing fairs in Miami next year targeting North American and Latin American buyers.

The China Sourcing Fairs are scheduled for July 11-13, 2011 at the Miami Beach Con-vention Centre. The scheduled shows include: Gifts & Premi-ums, Home Products, Fashion Accessories, Garments & Tex-

tiles and Baby & Children’s Products.

“Everyone understands the huge potential in North Amer-ica but for many exporters, the Latin American opportunity is an equally exciting aspect of the new shows,” said Tommy Wong, president of Global Sources Exhibitions.

According to Global Sources, the Latin American market for imports is growing at roughly

twice the size of the Indian and Russian export markets com-bined. Latin American imports in 2009 from all sources totaled $642 billion, and in 2010 and 2011 the World Bank estimates Latin American imports to grow by 10.3% and 5.6%, respectively, led by Brazil and Mexico.

More information about the China Sourcing Fairs is avail-able at: www.chinasourcingfair.com. HTT

Global Sources to Launch China Sourcing Fairs in Miami

Amity Home, Saro Trading Win in Chicago

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8 Home Textiles Today News

Manhattan Properties.indd 1 11/16/2009 3:28:48 PM

NEW YORK – Wellington & Cas-tle Purple is a new division of Ashley McBride designed to en-able retailers to buy less than container quantities.

“We’re going to start stock-ing goods at better price points. There are lots of accounts that can’t buy containers, and they need to buy inventory, so we’re going to work with them in this regard,” said Barry Shapiro, ceo.

“We’ll be showing live stock – not closeouts – in 10 designs to start,” he said.

The constructions include a polyester jacquard base cloth and dupioni weave polyester.

“We will drop ship to a spe-cific store or a warehouse, but not yet to a customer,” Shapiro said.

A minimum pick will be three for queen sets, two for king sets. The four-piece comforter set is $40 coast; the seven piece comforter set is $50 cost.

In the offi ng, he added, is the opportunity for a similar pro-gram in window coverings. HTT

Ashley McBride to

Serve Smaller Quantity

Orders

PLANO, TEXAS — Abhishek In-dustries Ltd. was presented with the 2009 Quality Award for Home during JCPenney’s an-nual Supplier Summit here in May.

The company, parent of

home textiles division The Tri-dent Group, earned the hon-ors for product quality, includ-ing that of its Pure Perfection towel program. Pure Perfection is made of 100% cotton and is designed to be extra absorbent,

soft and plush.The award is the most re-

cent of several the company has earned from JCP. In recent years, Abhishek was also recognized by the retailer for product develop-ment in bath towel programs.

Abhishek honored with JCP 2009 Quality Award for Home

“We’re really honored to have received this award,” said Joanne Krakowski, U.S. sales and mar-keting manager. “We have en-joyed working with the JCPen-ney team, and we look forward to a continued partnership.” HTT

From left to right: Ken Mangone, JCP vp product development design; Pankaj Joshi, Abhishek Industries/Trident Group vp of marketing and sales for home textiles; Dale Wright, Trident Group account executive; and John Tighe, JCP svp and gmm of home.

August 16, 2010

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BY CECILE B. CORRAL

NEW YORK — The cost of doing business continues to increase at all levels — from the fi ber to the fabric, the manufacturing process to shipping the goods — taking a steady climb over the past several months and affecting all aspects of the home textiles industry, even “reces-sion-proof” decorative pillows, suppliers say.

But while decorative pillow suppliers are not exempt from paying higher tickets, many are finding ways to deal with the issue thanks to decent sales trends for the category at retail.

Decorative pillows are one of the home textiles segments enjoying the strongest turns at the cash register, helping sup-pliers offset pricing hurdles.

“Decorative pillows is with-out a doubt the most success-ful category for us — our big-gest category of business and also the one we’ve seen the most increase — percentage increase in business,” said Corey Faul, president of 56-year-old New-port/Layton Home Fashions, which also produces top of bed, bath, and table linens. “We are showing increases every month this year. We are really pleased with the fi rst seven months.”

The trick is creating goods that can justify higher retail price points.

“Everyone is dealing within the same prices, and retailers don’t want you to have price increases. But if you have to maintain a profit margin, you will have to have a price increase at some point,” said

Neil Zuber, evp, New York-based Westgate. “We price everything as we sell it now. We have pillows in our line that go back fi ve years, and we can’t still be selling them for $10. But if we’re dealing with a customer who has a long-term running style with us, we main-tain the price and just work on a lower margin. We make it up with other businesses we do.”

The pricing pressure “has always been there, and this year it has been more,” attested Rekha Gadhvi, design direc-tor, New York-based RR Design Concepts, formerly known as Décor By Beader’s Touch.

Helping to keep a balance is the “very good response” retail-ers are giving the company

on some of its newest decora-tive pillows “due to our design strength,” she continued. “Today, although some retailers go direct overseas to factories to buy, we are offering the same direct pro-grams with the design team here in New York to help put together this private label program to vol-ume retailers, thus offering the best of both worlds.”

Arlee Home Fashions has not yet raised the prices of its pil-lows, remaining within $9.99 to $19.99 brackets that have per-sisted for several years now, even though “cotton prices are up and poly is up,” explained Lisa Batta-glia, director of product develop-ment.

As one way of coping, the New York-based company is asking its vendors “to quote us

for six to eight months out,” she said.

Another is Arlee’s latest push for

higher-priced goods.

For the

com-ing New

York Home Fashions mar-

ket in Septem-ber, the company

is launching a line of pillows that carry

more embellishments and better fabrics to be able to retail at the top half of its price structure.

“It ’s more fashion-influenced than our regular lines,” she said. “It uses a lot of ruffles, florals, sequins — it is very apparel driven. We designed them so they can cross over to our regular line but at the same time offer a different look than what we usually carry.”

Newport is also taking a patri-otic approach to business. “An advantage we have over our competitors is that more and more customers and consumers are interested in ‘Made in the USA’ products,” said Faul. “We get at least a dozen letters each month from consumers telling us how happy they are that we support the U.S. economy, how great the product quality is, how much they like the products.

They are very supportive, and retailers as a result are becom-ing more and more committed to this effort.”

Newport domestically man-ufacturers about half of its total decorative pillow line at its Port-land, Wash., headquarter facil-ities. The other half it imports from China and elsewhere.

As for production cost hikes, Newport is “certainly subject to the same price increases as every-one else. The price of fiber fill and raw materials has gone up, the price of feather inserts is up, and the price of working overseas has signifi cantly gone up,” Faul acknowledged. “Fabrics that last year were $6.95 are now $7.95. Cotton prices have absolutely been impacted, and silk prices are crazy-high right now.”

Faul does not pretend to be blind to the difficulty of U.S. manufacturing, noting that cut-ting and sewing domestically “has always come with the trade off that it is a little more expen-sive. But the advantage is the creative process. Design capabil-ities are superior domestically, and we are able to work with minimums and offer shorter lead times.”

Running a lean, low-over-head operation is the modus operandi for Ewing, N.J.-based Alpha Home Fashions. The sys-tem works especially well in a challenging business climate, said partners Elaine Pankowicz and Tom Klenert.

“We are a low-margin com-pany,” Pankowicz said. “I work very closely to the margins, and if they go slightly under what we anticipated, we just absorb it. We have not raised our prices — you really can’t right now.”

That fl exibility makes today’s business conditions “right for companies like ours — without a doubt. Our customers know that we are holding the line. They know that we are getting squeezed and still we are not squeezing them. Smaller guys like us can get squeezed a little and hold the line because we don’t have all that overhead,” she explained. “Retailers are not all these big giants with no understanding and no feelings. They are people, too.” HTT

Dec Pillow Business “Recession Proof” But Still Hurdling Price Hikes

Westgate

Newport/Layton Home Fashions

RR Design Concepts

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11 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com August 16, 2010

SHANGHAI — Intertextile Shang-hai kicks off here from Aug. 24 to 26 at the Shanghai New Inter-national Expo Centre with more than 950 home textiles exhibi-tors from 24 countries.

The show will also feature a Designer’s Studio in Hall W1 with 23 home fashion design-ers from France, Italy, Japan,

Korea and the UK.A seminar series will exam-

ine home décor and textiles trends:

• Ornella Bignami from Elementi Moda, It aly, pre-senting: Interior Trends 2011-2012;

• Nelly Rodi from Nelly-Rodi AgencyTM, France, pre-

senting: Décor & Atmosphere 2011 Spring Summer Trends;

• Kai Chow from Doneger Creative Services, US, present-ing: 2011 Home Textile Con-cept and Trends;

• Valerie Wilson Trower from Stylesight, Hong Kong, presenting: A/W 2011 Interior and Home Textiles. HTT

Intertextile Shanghai Ready to Go

Yada Tissue

Darly

Linkvox, Inc.

Amante

Casablanca Home Dinosaur

Al-Abid Silk Mills Limited

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12 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

1 2

August 16, 2010

1 2

1 2

Mood2

3 4

5 6

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13 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com August 16, 2010

1. Chateau, an Outdura brand outdoor acrylic print from Shuford Mills, is solution-dyed acrylic, in special weaves and fashion forward pattern work.

2. Waverly, a brand of P/K Lifestyles, features Fishbowl, part of its 70s inspired collection of fantasy underwater themes is printed on a cotton slub fabric.

3. Sunbury is showcasing its new Premium Linen jacquards and now adds other premium fibers including baby alpaca, silk noil and lamb’s wool.

4. Florence from J.B. Martin is reminiscent of a silk shantung or ottoman with a rich rayon pile and specialty filling yarn.

5. Silver Threads is a contemporary geometric on an opulent velvet with a metallic shimmer from the Braemore division of P/Kaufmann.

6. Serena from Weave creates a velvet look with a washed damask and a rich chenille pile.

7. American Silk is showcasing Avignon, a 73% silk, 27% linen blend.

8. Microfibres features its three pattern English Garden collection of prints on its Mystique base cloth.

noted Mike Czarnecki, senior vp, Microfibres. The program will be stocked in the United States and will be prepackaged for top-of-bed and juvenile bed-ding in wide and narrow fabric constructions.

This, he pointed out, is an addition to Microfibres’ new flocks with different base cloths as in the Teahouse Collection — “a niche business of fl ocked prints on linen/cotton.”.

As for visitor expectations and business, Microfi bres sees West-ern European business as ahead about 50% — bringing more of this region to the show. “Most other areas are way off,” he said.

For Robin Slough, president of American Silk, this year’s Mood marks a return. “We’d been at a nearby hotel, and we’re excited to be back. We think the timing is good. People are resetting their business plans and buying new things.”.

Covington sees Mood “as one of our biggest shows,” commented Tom Bruno, vp, “with a major base of European and South Afri-

can customers.” As for attendance from other areas, Bruno sees it “as the same as ’09 — and they come in spurts.”

“We’re continuing to support the show,” remarked Tom Notaro, vp, Sunbury, a longtime supporter of predecessor Decosit. “We’ll see how it morphs.” But overall, Notaro says, “There are too many shows and are the promotional efforts here enough?”

P/Kaufmann still views Mood as a good show. “It’s another opportunity to see people more frequently,” president Neil Pal-adino pointed out. Mostly, the company sees a core group of good customers internationally “but we also get a few new ones — and our export business is growing.”.

Looking to this Mood specif-ically, Paladino said, “We have appointments set, and there is a business pickup in Europe. We had second thoughts a few years back about continuing here, but we changed our minds.”

“We’re expanding our interna-tional marketing efforts,” said Nat-alie Scott, vp, marketing at Shu-ford/Outdura — “and we really see it better than it was in ’09.”

But given the state of the busi-ness then, “we really had a good show, considering. Australia was big; Asia and Europe were OK.” For Mood, “our design team took a residential approach for our out-door fabric. We’re relatively new to the market, but this is a good opportunity.”

“We have high expectations for Mood,” said Robert Lachow, vp, J.B. Martin. The company has two major advantages, he pointed out — “the lack of quality velvet capacity world wide and the large amount of new product we’re offering.”

Mood this year has switched to a three-day format from four days and with a mid week start, which most exhibitors applaud. “It forces concise thinking and seriousness in visits,” Lachow noted. For American Silk’s Slough “the dates are fi ne in terms of expense and just time waste, and we hope for more European customers with the mid week timing.”

Covington’s Bruno is also in favor of the three-day event, com-menting that “every show seems to be shortening its timing. Buy-ers are more frugal and are bring-ing fewer people.” HTT

7

8

Mood

MOOD FROM PAGE 2

Mood

htt100802_012_013 13htt100802_012_013 13 8/13/2010 4:21:13 PM8/13/2010 4:21:13 PM

14 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comAugust 16, 2010

1. Pine Cone Hill features new bedding in a persimmon palette. Erika Persimmon duvet cover and shams offers a bold, modern vine pattern while Embroidered Hem Persimmon shows a delicate and traditional scroll edging. It is seen here with Herringbone Persimmon Matelasse Coverlet.

2. Liz Saintsing introduces 14-inch-by-72-inch table runners hand printed onto dupione silk.

3. Urban Hues offers organic cotton hand-block printed duvet covers made from 100% organic cotton fabric. All prints have been made with azo-free dyes or low-impact dyes. .

4. Aceco Mills Inc.‘s Athena, shown in beige, is an 11-piece bedding ensemble.

5. Donna Sharp adds the Bruce Wedding Ring quilt. It features a soft neutral background and an intricate

stipple in pale brown thread. Each ring is made of eight alternating fabrics, cut to make a complete circle. The oversized full/queen quilt measures 96 inches by 96 inches.

6. Alexa Lixfeld introduces a handmade cashmere collection made from 100% cashmere that is handwoven and individually dyed. Colors available include shades of grey, blue, violet, and black.

1

NY Gift/Home Textiles

3

5

4

6

2

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15 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com

7 8

August 16, 2010

9

10

11

7. Bella Notte Linens introduces Colette curtains in seaglass.

8. Caron Miller Collection features dinner napkins and table runners in crushed rayon shimmer fabric. Dinner napkins measure 17-and-a-half inches square and are available colors include dark gold, wine, tangerine, lime green and plum. Runners are 17-inch-by-70-inch and available in dark gold and wine.

9. Eastern Accents introduces its La Maison collection of decorative pillows. Shown is

Eiffel Tower, a 20-inch-by-20-inch block printed designer pillow. It is fully lined with a zipper closure.

10. From the Marlo Lorenz line at Thro Ltd. the Luv Muffins pillow is offered. The 18-inch-by-18-inch pillow is 100% cotton with wool appliqués and beading.

11. Cuddledown offers a paisley pillow that is handcrafted with 300 thread count sateen and 100% combed cotton downproof fabric. It is filled with hypoallergenic 600 fill power white goosedown.

htt100802_014_015 15htt100802_014_015 15 8/13/2010 1:17:49 PM8/13/2010 1:17:49 PM

16 Home Textiles Today August 16, 2010

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BERMUDA — “Standards, Perspectives and Around the World” was the theme of the annual conference of the NAFD held here earlier this month. The 41st annual event was designed to give members insights on writing a sustainability standard and design perspective for the dec-orative fabrics industry.

Carol Derby, Designtex and former ACT board president, discussed the overall situation and then led a panel discussion on the various ele-ments with Chuck Stretch, Spradling Intl., Rob Mayer, Mayer Fab-rics, and Blake Millinor, Valdese. Jana Schiowirtz, Hospitality Design Magazine, discussed design perspectives.

The association’s annual awards were presented this year to associ-ated members Coated Fabrics, Nassimi LLC, Textile Mill, Crypton, Sample Maker, and Acme Sample/ASB Graphics.

Offi cers elected for 2010 to 2012 are Anna Stinson, cfstinson, 1st vp/co-chair conference, Jim Ennis, J.Ennis Fabrics. 2nd vice presi-dent, membership, Debbye Lustig, 2nd vp, co-chair conference, Lance Keziah, Cryptron, secretary treasurer, Kathy Gowdy, Momen-tum Group, past president, and Rob Mayer, Mayer Fabrics. The con-ference was held at The Fairmont Southampton here. HTT

PEOPLETodaY

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kathryn Bufano has been named pres-ident and chief mer-chandising officer at Belk department stores.

She joined the company as presi -dent o f merchan-dising and market-ing in January 2008. She succeeds H.W. McKay Belk, who has decided to extend a year-long sabbatical that began last August and transition into the role of vice chairman.

Prior to Belk, Bufano was ceo of the Vanity Shops, a 200-store juniors specialty retail

chain based it Fargo, N.D. Before that, she held executive

merchandising positions at Sears Roebuck and Co. (now part of Sears Holdings Inc.) , The Dress Barn, Macy’s East and Lord & Taylor.

Ti m B e l k , c h a i r -man and ceo of Belk, described Bufano as “an outstanding mer-chant who understands our Southern lifestyle

and is providing excellent stra-tegic leadership to enable Belk to deliver the fashion, style and service that our customers expect and deserve.” HTT

Bufano is new Belk President, Chief

Merchant

KATHRYN BUFANI

Belk

YoPros Industry Group Seeks

Donations for Scholarship Auction

NEW YORK – YoPros (Young Professionals of the Home Fashion Products Association) are organizing the association’s third annual HFPA Founda-tion online auction with Char-itybuzz.com to raise money for scholarships.

YoPros are asking industry companies to donate a “one of a kind” experience to the auc-tion, which will take place dur-ing market week. Charitybuzz will feature the donor’s text, logos, photos and web links for the donation. Donations will be promoted ahead of market week with email blasts to members of the home fash-ions industry as well as Chari-

tybuzz’s more than 50,000 bid-ders.

S u g g e s t e d d o n a t i o n s include brief internships with the company firm, a meet & greet or meal with a compa-ny’s celebrity designer, golf with the company ceo, a behind-the-scenes showroom tour, seats to sporting events from season tickets, boutique gift certifi cates, restaurant cer-tificates and theater tickets, among others.

For information, contact Cheryl Thompson at (203)226-8306 or [email protected]. She is also available to brainstorm for other dona-tion ideas. HTT

NAFD Holds Annual Event in Bermuda

Incoming NAFD president Anna Stinson, left, cfstinson, with Rob Mayer, Mayer Fabrics, the group’s outgoing president.

Above: Douglasa Inds.’ Harvey Giberson, left, with his wife Mazry, Frank Governal and Jenny Owens, Burch Fabrics Group. Below: Chuck Streich, left, and Kathy Streich, Spradling Intl., Edward Nassimi, Nassimi LLC, and Glenn Stinson, cfstinson.

htt100802_016_017_020_021 16htt100802_016_017_020_021 16 8/13/2010 3:00:20 PM8/13/2010 3:00:20 PM

FALL MARKET KICKOFF PARTY

PENTHOUSE LOUNGE & ROOFTOP CLUBSunday, September 12, 2010 6pm – 8pm Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres

Industry business card required for admittance.

For sponsorship information, please contact Joe Carena at 203.321.0232

Sponsored by:

htt100802_016_017_020_021 17htt100802_016_017_020_021 17 8/13/2010 3:08:31 PM8/13/2010 3:08:31 PM


BUSINESSTodaY

NEW YORK — Sales tax holidays in 11 states helped push same-stores ahead during the fi rst week of August, according to the Johnson Red-book.

Comps for the week ended August 7 rose 3.0%, with department stores up 2.0% and dis-counters gaining 3.5%.

“The tone of the week’s business was satisfactory, al-though some retailers said it had begun slowly before im-proving toward the weekend,” said Catlin Levis, Redbook an-alyst.

Many retailers were still

transitioning from summer clearance into back-to-school, she added.

“The full impact of back-to-school will not be seen until later this month or early Septem-ber,” said Levis.. HTT

Same-store sales

August Comps Off to Solid Start

CALHOUN, GA. — Mohawk In-dustries Inc. delivered a 48% earnings jolt during its second quarter, generating a $68 mil-lion profi t and its highest oper-ating margin in two years.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter ended July 3 were 99 cents, which included non-re-curring tax benefi ts, charges for redemption premiums on bonds and restructuring activities. Ex-cluding those unusual, net earn-ings and EPS would have been $53 million and 77 cents per share, the company said.

Operating margin improved by 6.4%, or 6.8% adjusted.

Sales in the Mohawk seg-ment fell 3%, but parent Mo-hawk Industries Inc. experi-enced flat year-over-year net

sales of $1.4 billion.“Profitability has improved

as price increases, product mix, productivity improvements and cost reductions resulted in high-er margins” in the Mohawk seg-ment, the company said. Res-idential product introductions shipped earlier this year and should improve the segment’s volume in the second half of the year.

“Our commercial team’s sell-ing efforts are focused on the government, healthcare and education markets. Our focus continues on improving quality, product management, service and costs. Our second price in-crease this year of 5% to 7%, an-nounced in April, is being im-plemented to offset higher cost

raw material,” Mohawk added.Chairman and ceo Jeffrey

Lorberbaum said Mohawk’s earnings were better than antic-ipated due to higher sales in the company’s laminate fl ooring di-vision, Unilin, as well as an im-proving product mix in Mo-hawk, price increases and cost reduction programs.

Mohawk Industries’ year-to-date net earnings were $89 mil-lion, or $1.29 per share, com-pared to a net loss of in the fi rst six months of 2009 of $60 mil-lion, 87 cents per share. Exclud-ing the unusual items from sec-ond quarter, net earnings would have been $77 million and EPS would have been $1.12.

Sales for the fi rst six months rose 5% to $2.7 billion. HTT

Mohawk Industries 2Q Sales Flat But Earnings Jump 48%

Johnson Redbook IndexFirst week of August, year-over-year % change

WEEK ENDED 8/7 8/14 8/21 8/28 MONTH TARGET

Department stores* 2.0 2.0 1.5Discounters 3.5 3.5 3.4Redbook Index 3.0 3.0 2.8Source: Johnson Redbook Index

August 16, 2010

Year to date, Macy’s sales rose 7.2% to $11.1 billion, and comps increased 5.2%. Online sales for both macys.com and bloomingdales.com jumped 31.0%, positively affecting the company’s same-store sales by 0.5 percentage points in the second quarter and 0.8 per-centage points in the year to date. Online sales are included in the same-store sales calcula-tion for Macy’s, Inc., the com-pany said.

“Year to date, all 69 of our districts were at or ahead of ex-pectations,” Hoguet added. “This widespread success is very encouraging.”

First-half earnings per share were 40 cents, compared with a loss of 19 cents per share in the first half of 2009. Exclud-ing restructuring-related costs of $172 million ($97 million after tax; 23 cents per diluted share), earnings were 4 cents per diluted share in the first half of 2009.

Buoyed by this upswing and stronger sales expectations, the company increased its full-year 2010 earnings guidance to $1.85 to $1.90 per share. This compares with previous guidance of $1.75 to $1.80 per share, and initial earnings guidance of $1.55 to $1.60 per share provided at the beginning of the year.

Hoguet summarized the performance of the company’s nameplates during the quar-ter. At Macy’s, the My Macy’s approach has contributed to “stronger sales and gross mar-gin rates.” Bloomingdale’s, she said, “produced great sales in the quarter and continued to outpace its nearest competi-tor.”

By this fall, Macy’s Inc. will open its fi rst four Bloomingda-le’s Outlet stores, “about which we are very excited,” Hoguet said.

Each slated to measure about 25,000 square feet, the four new sites will be locat-ed in: Bergen Town Center in

Paramus, N.J.; Dolphin Mall in Miami, Fla.; Potomac Mills in Woodbridge, Va.; and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise, Fla. The out-lets will offer a range of appar-el and accessories, including women’s ready-to-wear, men’s, children’s, women’s shoes, fash-ion accessories, jewelry, hand-bags and intimate apparel.

Additional Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores are expected to roll out to selected locations across the country in 2011 and beyond.

Also this fall, the company said it is adding “one more el-ement to our efforts which we expect to further drive our top line — a more engaged selling season in our stores.”

By early September Macy’s expects to have trained approx-imately 130,000 sales associ-ates and managers on selling engagements.

The task is a fi rst for the re-tailer, Hoguet noted.

“We have never done such a comprehensive training ef-fort before, and we are very ex-cited about the feedback we are already getting from our as-sociates and our customers,” she continued. “A key compo-nent of the program is more in-tense coaching of our associ-ates on an ongoing basis by our stores and district management teams.”

In anticipation of the fourth quarter, the Macy’s team is “more ready than ever before,” Hoguet said. “We have rein-vented our gift strategy and will have a whole new level of new-ness, distinction, and value in all of our doors, along with a terrific marketing campaign. We don’t have a crystal ball on the economy, but we do have confi dence that we can contin-ue to gain share profitably no matter the environment.”

Still, when asked by an ana-lyst during the conference call’s question-and-answer session about fourth-quarter expecta-tions, Hoguet admitted: “This business has been very promo-tional for very many years, and we don’t expect that to change. So I expect this fall to be pro-motional, and we are locked and loaded.” HTT

Macy’s Quarter

MACY’S FROM PAGE 1

GONZALES, LA. — Crown Crafts’ net income rose 35% in what is traditionally a diffi cult quarter for the company.

Net income was $726,000, or 8 cents per share for the fi rst quarter ended June 27, com-pared to a profi t of $538,000, or 6 cents per share in last year’s

1Q. Sales fell 5.7% to $17.2 mil-

lion, a fact the company attrib-uted to seasonal weakness and the decision by a major ac-count to push a $1.4 million order from June to July.

“We have already seen a typ-ical rebound taking shape in

the second quarter on strong July results, primarily driven by strengthening demand from a major customer, which has put us on target to reach our pre-vious 2011 guidance for net sales,” said Randall Chestnut, chairman, president and ceo. HTT

Crown Crafts Sees Quarterly Profit Jump

htt100802_018 18htt100802_018 18 8/13/2010 12:28:16 PM8/13/2010 12:28:16 PM

There are more than 500 million active users on Facebook and more than 70% of retailers are now on

Facebook or MySpace. You can’t afford to ignore this important communications channel.

Benefits of a social media program include:

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• Generate viral buzz through contests and videos• Enhance customer service

Supima_Welspun.indd 1Supima_Welspun.indd 1 8/13/2010 3:39:45 PM8/13/2010 3:39:45 PM


Calendar

August24 – 26 Intertextil Shanghai Home Textiles, ChinaShanghai New International Expo Centre, Shanghai, China(852) 2238 9983www.messefrankfurt.com/hk

September3 – 7Meuble Paris / Maison & ObjetParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, Paris, France(888) 522-5001www.maison-objet.com

11 – 13Atlanta Fall Gift & Home Furnishings MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com

11 – 13Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(800) DAL-MKTSwww.dallasmarketcenter.com

11 – 13F!NDS Dallas Temp ShowWorld Trade Center, Market HallDallas, (214) 655-6116www.dmcfinds.com

11 – 15JSWB Shanghai Furniture Sourcing ShowJSWB Global Home Furnishing Center, Shanghai, China

12HTT Market Kick-Off Party6 p.m-8 p.m.Penthouse & Roof, 230 Fifth Ave.(646) 746-7421 www.hometextilestoday.com

13 – 18New York Home Fashions MarketHome Fashion Products AssociationN.Y. Showrooms and hotels(212) 297-2122 (Kellen Co.)www.homefashionproducts.com

13 – 14HD Boutique Exposition & ConferenceMiami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, Fla.(770) 291-5400www.hdboutique.com

14 – 16Mood BrusselsTextirama, vzw34 9 243 8450www.moodbrussels.com

14 – 16Heimtextil RussiaIEC Crocus Expo Exhibition Center, Moscow, Russia+7 (495) 721 1058www.messefrankfurt.ru

14 – 17Indigo (Home Furnishing Edition)Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium+33 (0) 1 70 38 7000www.indigo-salon.com

14 – 17Expolfil DecoBrussels BelgiumPremier Vision S.A.33 (0) 4 72 606500

15 – 17 Textile Expo UzbekistanUzExpo Center, Tashkent, Uzbekistan+998 71 113 01 80www.textileexpo.uz

15 – 17CAITMEUzExpo Center, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

+998 71 113 01 80www.textileexpo.uz

16 – 18China Textile & ApparelTrade ShowJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(718) 261-1181www.nychinashow.com

20 – 23China (Dalian) International Garment & Textile FairWorld Expo Center (Dalian)Dalian Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation Bureauwww. Cigf.com.cn

26 – 28Cmc Gift & Home MarketLos Angeleswww.californiamarketcenter.com

October6 – 8 Interstoff Asia Essential – Autumn Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong(852) 2238 9917www.interstoff-asia.com

4 – 6Heimtextil IndiaBombay Expo CenterMesse Frankfurt Trade Fairs India, Pvt. 91 (0) 22 2202 [email protected]

10 – 13ABC Kids ExpoLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, (210) 691-4848www.theabcshow.com

16 – 21 High Point MarketInternational Home Furnishings Cen-ter (IHFC), High Point, N.C.(336) 869-1000www.highpointmarket.org

November8 – 11 Index DubaiDubai International Exhibition Centre, DubaiUnited Arab Emirates+971 4 885 0854www.indexexhibition.com

13 – 16 International Hotel / Motel ShowJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(914) 421-3200www.ihmrs.com

24 – 25 The Sleep EventBusiness Design Center, London, UKwww.thesleepevent.com

December5 – 8 Showtime Fabric FairMarket Square, Textile Tower, High Point, N.C., (336) 885-6842www.itma-showtime.com

January 201110 – 11Dallas Fabric ShowDallas Market Hall, Dallas, TX(214) 655-6100www.dallasmarketcenter.com

10 – 13 National Retail Federation ConventionJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York202-626-8162www.nrf.com

12 – 19 The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com

htt100802_016_017_020_021 20htt100802_016_017_020_021 20 8/13/2010 12:43:51 PM8/13/2010 12:43:51 PM

21 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com

SUBSCRIBEHome Textiles Today is the

fashion and business source

home textiles industry

executives turn to every week

to learn the latest developments

bound to affect their businesses.

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excellent commissions.Email: [email protected]

Benson Mills, the fastest growing table linens company in the USA seeks TOP talent in the table linens industry. Salaries are above average per industry, with high growth potential. We are in search of 3 positions• DESIGN DIRECTOR - must have EXTENSIVE table linens experience • ASSISTANT TO CO- CEO - must have high powered assistant job currently with some table linens experience• IN HOUSE SALES EXECUTIVE - with extensive table linens experience selling to MAJOR accounts

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12 – 15HeimtextilFrankfurt Fair & Exhibition Center, Frankfurt am Main, Germany(770) 984-8016www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt

13 – 16 The Atlanta International Area Rug MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com

15 –18The Canadian Home Furnishings Market (TCHFM)The International Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada(514) 866-3631www.tchfm.com

15 – 18DOMOTEX Hannover / Contract WorldHannover Fairgrounds, Hannover, Germany (609) 987-1202www.domotex.de

18 – 23imm cologneThe Exhibition Center, Cologne, Ger-many(773) 326-9920 or +49 221 821-0www.imm-cologne.com

18 – 20 Texworld USA Jacob Javits Center, New York(770) 984-8016www.texworldusa.com

19 – 25 Dallas Holiday & Home ExpoDallas Market Center, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dmcfinds.com

19 – 25Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dallasmarketcenter.com

21 – 24 F!NDS Dallas Temp ShowWorld Trade Center, Market Hall,

NEW YORK — The Home Fash-ions Products Association has set Nov. 16 as the date for its annual membership meeting here.

The meeting will take place at showroom building 7 W New York, 7 W. 34th St.

Breakfast and networking

will be offering from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., to be followed by a half hour meeting.

At 10 a.m., Janine Finkle, vp of Market Intelligence Design Research Reports, will give a one-hour presentation about societal trends and their impact

on products. Finkle has worked for 20

years in the home furnishings, home décor, housewares, lux-ury goods, bridal and gift mar-kets. Prior to that, she was direc-tor of strategic research at Lenox. HTT

Consumer Trend Talk to Follow HFPA annual meeting

Dallas(214) 655-6100www.dmcfinds.com

21 – 25 Meuble Paris / Maison & ObjetParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Vil-lepinte, Paris, France(888) 522-5001www.maison-objet.com

23– 26Interiors Birmingham

The National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham, UK+44 (0) 20 7921 8408www.interiorsbirmingham.com

24 – 28 Las Vegas MarketWorld Market CenterLas Vegaswww.lasvegasmarket.com(888)962-7469

30 – February 2IntirioFlanders Expo, Gent, Belgium+32 09/24 38 450www.intirio.be

August 16, 2010

htt100802_016_017_020_021 21htt100802_016_017_020_021 21 8/13/2010 3:12:17 PM8/13/2010 3:12:17 PM


OPINIONTodaY

A S T H E R E POR T S F ROM the major players at retail emerged in the last week, it appears that home was hardly a standout in building the gen-erally positive but not awesome stats.

There seems to be a major chasm in the mind-set of top level retail management regarding their home business. We all know that home textiles, espe-cially, has been considered a key traffi c builder for retailers, no matter their economic strata.

But virtually everything in this home textiles world has disintegrated to a lowest of the low promotional level that formerly was the prevue of the so-called bottom feeders. Today, it’s virtually impos-sible to segregate the bottom feeders from what had been viewed in the marketplace as retailers hoping to project a new product image, perhaps a fashion-forward image as well as a highly focused promotional (aka – lower than low price point) message to customers

Today, the retailing community doesn’t even comment on why this product or that is appropriate for the price-down event. Instead we get an image of a bed, a stack of towels or a pillow duo, with an urgent message “save $XX

until XX.” It appears there are a great number of customers apparently ignoring or — ever worse — not understanding the value of a 12-piece bed set versus a seven-piece bed set with a disparate pricing range and no explanation about any of the elements involved.

Talking with suppliers about September kick-off plans for both major players and some in the so-called second tier, it doesn’t look like things will be changing dramatically or soon.

And one hears the big guys talking about their exploits into the new social media arena. But is there ever a comment about the opportu-

nities in home textiles — perhaps the easiest of the myr-iad home products out there — furniture, rugs, tabletop, accessories, and miscellanea — to entice a younger cus-tomer? Seems not.

There’s a lot of good stuff out there being developed by suppliers, large and mid-size — but many are fi nding few retailers interested for a plethora of reasons — from ego to fi nancial to logistical. And in the world of home textiles 2011, those three will be the key determinants of how busi-ness is done. HTT

“We all know that home textiles, especially, has been considered a key traffi c builder for retailers, no matter their economic strata.”

CaroleSloanFOUNDING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Business of Home

MAC Y ’S, KOHL’S, DIL L A R D’S and JCPen-ney all turned out pretty decent second quarter numbers last week, but only Macy’s raised its outlook for the second half. Kohl’s

and JCPenney were less rosy in their expectations, and Dil-lard’s didn’t address the issue either way.

With the exception of Kohl’s, they were all up against some easy comparisons — a net loss in the 2009 quarter for Dillard’s, break-even results for JCPenney, and a miniscule year-ago profi t for Macy’s.

That JCPenney and Kohl’s regard the sec-ond half warily would seem to confi rm consum-er wariness, a scenario that has sadly been borne out by recent trends in consumer confi dence.

This week we’ll find out how things are going off the mall, with fi nancials coming from Walmart, TJX, Target and Ross Stores, among others. Target aside, the others had a relative-ly strong time of it last year as consumers went down-market.

While Walmart earnings didn’t show a lot of growth in last year’s second quarter (89 cents per share, up from 86 cents), it exceeded expectations. TJX’s earnings

shot up 35.5%, and Ross Stores’ profi t exploded 52%. There will be many tea leaves to pore over once all

the numbers come in to look for clues to the second half. In the meantime, in the independent retail sector, word coming out of the nearly concluded round of sum-mer shows indicates boutiques are not ordering at the same pace they were during the winter shows — when they were scrambling to replace absolutely depleted in-

ventories.So, the fi rst half wound up working out better

than many had expected six months ago, and the second half — which had been anticipated to de-liver more of a climb — is looking rather so-so.

It is probably for these reason we increasingly hear off-shore manufacturers talking about devel-oping business in their home markets. It also, I would think, explains why we’re not seeing non-U.S. manufacturers moving to open business here. The last one I met spent a week here talk-ing to various industry folk, then went home and decided to ditch the enterprise.

There’s some small comfort for suppliers who already have a piece of the market. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“There will be many tea leaves to pore over once all the numbers come in to look for clues to the second half.”

Readying for the Second Half

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August 16, 2010


23 Home Textiles TodayNews

September with another exclu-sive brand program – Elle Décor – which is set to roll out to 350 of its units and to its www.kohls.com site. The initial line will include contemporary design-minded home products such as decorative pillows, frames, can-dles and accent items.

Kohl’s overall second quar-ter and year-to-date results also gave the retailer reason to be pleased.

For the second quarter, ended July 31, net sales grew by 7.7% to $4.1 billion versus last year’s $3.8 billion, and comparable store sales increased 4.6%.

Net income rose 13.5% to $260 million, or 84 cents per share, compared with $229 mil-lion, or 75 cents per diluted share, a year ago.

Year to date, net sales in-creased 9.3% to $8.1 billion from $7.4 billion a year ago. Compa-rable store sales increased 5.9% for the same period.

Net income increased 25% to $459 million, or $1.48 per share, compared to $368 million, or $1.20 per share, for the fi rst six months of 2009.

“We continue to gain market share as refl ected in our perfor-mance in both comparable and total sales growth. This sales per-formance, along with strong in-ventory management, allowed us to continue to increase our gross margin rate,” said Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo, during the company’s quarterly conference call.

E-commerce was another strong contributer in the quar-ter, sales leaping approximate-ly 50% during both the quarter and the fi rst six months. It also contributed approximately 100 basis points to total comp sales in both periods.

“We think this performance supports the decision we made to make major new capital and infrastructure investments in this business,” Mansell said.

Kohl’s offered its updated guidance for the back half of

this year. For the third quarter, the

company expects total sales to increase between 4.5% and 6.5%; comparable store sales to increase 2% to 4%; and gross margin as a percent of sales to increase 20 to 40 basis points over last year.

“For the third quarter, we expect August to be below the quarter, September to be with the quarter and October to be above the quarter,” Mansell of-fered.

Kohl’s expectations for the fourth quarter include a total sales increase between 4.5% and 6.5%, comparable store sales to increase from 2% to 4%, and gross margin as a percent of sales to increase 20 to 40 basis points over last year.

The company’s updated guid-ance for fi scal 2010 is $3.57 to $3.70 per diluted share.

In other company news, Kohl’s reported during its quar-terly call that it has forged a new credit card agreement in partner-ship is with Capital One. HTT

Kohl’s 2QKOHL’S FROM PAGE 1

“tracks” in the more affordable items, new product innova-tions” such as the Pure Perfec-tion towel — a product made by Abhishek Industries Ltd.’s Tri-dent Group home textiles divi-sion — “which has done real-ly well.” Also helping home is the recent realignment of JCP’s bedding business, he said.

“So the soft home part of our business is starting to re-spond,” Ullman continued. “The stores are very enthusias-tic about what they saw for fall.

At our recent store managers’ meeting, one of the most well-received sessions was the pow-ering up of big, bold statements in soft home.”

Soft window coverings and furniture were less successful during the quarter. But both cat-egories are reworked in hopes of improved performance.

“We think the big ticket fur-niture and window coverings businesses will respond more slowly,” Ullman warned. “I think the reality of the housing slump protracted the vision. We think it is going to take another six months to see the full benefi t

of the changes they are making. But we’re starting to see signs of life in certain areas. We always look to our sales associates be-cause they are always the best customers we have and the best authority on how we are doing, and they feel very good about what they see on the fl oor.”

JCP had other reasons to feel optimistic about its sec-ond quarter. For the period, ended July 31, net income im-proved to $14 million dollars or 6 cents per share compared to break-even earnings per share in last year’s second quarter. Earnings for the second quar-

ter include a charge of approx-imately 5 cents per share for bond premiums related to the company’s debt tender offer completed in May.

Total sales in the second quarter were about flat, de-creasing 0.1%, compared to the year-ago period, having been negatively impacted by approx-imately 160 basis points due to the discontinuation of the com-pany’s Big Book catalogs this year. Internet sales through jcp.com were $317 million in the second quarter, up 4%.

Comparable-store sales were positive for the second consec-

utive quarter, increasing ap-proximately 1% from last year.

The strongest merchandise results were in men’s apparel and women’s accessories, and geographically, the best perfor-mance was in the Northeast.

Citing a skittish consumer, JCPenny cut its full-year earn-ings guidance to a range of $1.40 to $1.50 per share. It had previ-ously forecast EPS of $1.64.

For the third quarter, the company expects a comp in-crease of 2% to 3%. With gross margin rate anticipated to fall back slightly, EPS is projected to be 16 cents to 20 cents. HTT

JCP QuarterJCP FROM PAGE 1

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Klein White Label showcase in the world,” Hardwick added. “We will have close to 8,000 square feet, and we’re very excited about it,”

The plans call for an October launch gala, she said. “To ap-proach a brand this way is very exciting, and Brendan Hoffman (L&T’s ceo) has great vision.”

Lord & Taylor exited the home business in the 90s and earlier had been a dominant force for decades in high-end decorative fabrics, bed and bath merchandise as one of the coun-try’s quality home leaders. In the 90s it dabbled in seasonal gift items at lower price points.

The Lauren Ralph Lauren program also is designed to focus on all home categories, said

Liz Rodbell, executive vp, merchandising for the Lord and Taylor. “We’re really very excited about the opportunity,” noting that she has been with the re-tailer since it was a major force in better home furnishings.

Executives at Polo Ralph Lauren did not respond to re-

quests for comments. HTT

Lord & TaylorHOME FROM PAGE 1

Bentley Hardwick

August 16, 2010


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Home Textiles Today August 16th Issue

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