Monday, March 19, 2012

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 33, No. 8 | $8.00

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Inside This IssueWestPoint Looks for Improvement in 2nd Half ......................................................................... page 2

NYIGF to Present Home Furnishing Trends in New “Open House” Exhibit ............................ page 2

The E-Game ...................................................................... page 4

Merchant in the Middle ................................................... page 4

YoPros Mix it UpWith Textiles Vets

When it Comes to the Future, it’s All Material

NEW YORK — The Home Fashions Product Association’s Young Pro-fessionals group — also known as the YoPros — hosted a panel dis-cussion earlier this month during which they presented a volley of questions about the industry and its future to a quartet of home tex-tiles ceos.

The panelists included:Chris Baker, ceo of Hollander Home Fashions;Louis Hornick II, chairman and ceo of Louis Hornick & Co.;Barry Leonard, president and ceo of Welspun USA;Norman Savaria, president and ceo of WestPoint Home.The YoPros were ready for them with queries about a host of

subjects.One of the first questions addressed the recent wave of de-

BY JILL ROWEN

NEW YORK — Window makers are basking in the glow of the upbeat New York Home Fash-ions Market two weeks ago. In-creased attendance and ready-to-buy retailers converged to create the positive mood, suppliers told HTT.

After seasons of safe selec-tions, suppliers reported that buyers were venturing outside their comfort zone, looking for more fashion in prints and col-

ors and newness in technology and design, rather than the sta-tus quo basics from previous sea-sons. The best news for suppli-ers was that higher prices were in the mix and retailers were ac-cepting them.

“It was a great market, and we were actually writing or-ders in our showroom,” noted Louis Hornick III, Louis Horn-ick & Sons, which showcased its Firefend line. “We focused on our best attributes,” he said.

Window Makers Feel Post-Market Success

SEE YOPROS PAGE 10

NEW YORK — JCPenney’s deci-sion to ditch coupons and pro-motions continues to generate skepticism in many corners, but there are also signs its messaging may be reverberating into its ri-vals’ marketing plans – and be-yond.

Days after JCPenney began promoting its “Fair and Square” pricing in early February, Macy’s 16-page Sunday circular touted “Everyday Value. Great Prices You Can Count on Every Day. Only at Macy’s!” Boscov’s circu-lars of late have heralded a simi-lar theme, with covers declaring: “Honest Pricing.”

Going a step further, Stein Mart announced earlier this

month that it will return to an EDLP pricing strategy. During the retailer’s most recent quarter-ly call, interim ceo Jay Stein said couponing had “[gotten] out of hand” in the last 18 months and the retailer would be scaling it back by 50% to focus on every-day low pricing.

Like JCPenney, Stein Mart announced it would no longer publicly report its monthly sales.

During the recent New York Home Fashions Market, several suppliers told HTT another re-gional department store is pre-paring to pivot to EDLP. That retailer has not publicly an-nounced the strategy change. HTT

Is JCP Psyching the Competition?

BY JENNIFER MARKS

NEW YORK — On the eve of a week devoted to fabrics, con-structions, picks and piles, HTT devoted its second semiannual ConText session to a wide-rang-ing look at developments in ma-terials of all kinds on March 4.

The morning event took place at Material ConneXion on Madison Avenue at 27th Street, a global materials con-sultancy and library that tracks and compiles innovative mate-rials and processes. The com-pany was acquired last year by HTT parent company Sandow Media.

Dr. Andrew Dent, vp of li-brary and materials research,

circulated a number of unusual items through the gathering of at-tendees. ConText-goers handled a fabric made from peacock feath-ers, another made from stainless steel, and yet another made from the Pacifi c Hagfi sh, which resem-

bled a lightweight, supple leath-er. They passed around mock pony skin, a polymer panel em-bedded with lace and laser-cut horse hide.

“Not every fabric is [about]

Dr. Andrew Dent of Material ConneXion.

SEE CONTEXT PAGE 5

SEE WINDOW PAGE 2

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2 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comMarch 19, 2012

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

Window Fashions

NEW YORK — Although West-Point Home took a big hit in sales during the fourth quarter, the fi scal year decline was not as severe, and executives of parent company Icahn Enterprises said a shift away from commodity products combined with lower cotton prices should begin to positively impact results in the

second half of 2012.During the company’s quar-

terly call with analysts, Icahn Enterprises president and princi-pal executive offi cer said if West-Point can operate its bedding plant in Bahrain and its towel facility in Pakistan at full capacity with “rea-sonably profi table programs, this unit should be fi ne.”

Ichan executives pointed to the new management team put in place last summer – indus-try vet Norman Savaria, presi-dent and ceo, along with retail veteran Taran Chernin, execu-tive vp and chief merchandis-ing offi cer. They are focused on rebuilding customer relation-ships, exiting non-core product

lines and cutting costs.For the year ended Dec. 31,

WestPoint’s sales fell 25% to $322 million as gross margin declined 41%, Icahn Enterprises reported.

During the fourth quarter, sales dropped 49% to $63 mil-lion with gross margin plummet-ing 120%. HTT

WestPoint Looks for Improvement in 2nd Half

“We saw a strong interest in ‘made in U.S.A., and a lot of people were interested in the dot.com aspect and our ability to drop ship. Our dot.com busi-ness has grown tremendously.”

“Business has been better, and buyers were more apt to look at something new,” said Christine Bolton, president, Corona & Robertson, a division of Natco. “They were playing it safe the last few years.”

Among its hits: a patent-pending window covering that uses existing vertical blinds hardware. According to Bolton, the product was well received, with one retailer committed to testing the product, and addi-tional test markets pending. It

also featured a program using boucle yarn. “Not you’re grand-mother’s lace,” said Bolton. One gray area: juvenile business, which Bolton said stayed even, not growing signifi cantly.

“We’ve had the best fi rst two months in years,” said Loren Sweet, vp, Brentwood Original, who noted that buyers were also looking at higher prices point products. Brentwood’s outdoor programs garnered attention with fashion items – prints and bright colors – catching buyers’ eyes. “Decorative accessories naturally benefi t from the color and fashion trends,” he noted.

“It was a great market not only in terms of number of retailers; but also the length of time they were staying to talk to us,” noted Jason Carr, prin-cipal, Softline Home Fashion. “They had 15 minute appoint-ments and stayed for an hour.”

Carr noted that reaction to its outdoor line using Guardin nat-ural fabric protection “exceeded expectations.” The process helps make fabric stain and water repellent.

At El lery Home Sty les , revamped showroom space set the stage to showcase both its bedding programs and win-dow treatments, according to Angela Boswell, design director. “We were able to show a broad range of products from formal to casual and had a really exciting market.” Success in its Eclipse line included the Rough Luxe and Metallic looks. Boswell said its Historic Charleston line was also well received.

“We saw great attendance,” agreed Barry Goodman, vp, Commonwealth Home Fash-ions. “It was certainly up over the last few markets, but in the end it all comes down to

product. Our customers were pleased with our new concepts and our price points.” Among its hits for this market: a burn-out motif coming in at a $29, new paisley designs in its Ther-mologic brand, a Market Square jacquard on a solid color base, and Commonwealth’s popularly priced Prelude program of insu-lated panels.

Duck River Textile sees the window category “going through a t ransformation, becoming more fashionable than in the past,” said Joel Bren, executive vp of market-ing/special projects.

“New multipurpose curtains that feature an intrinsic value – such as energy saving – are cur-rently in product development and being tested. The curtain industry is moving forward and faster in [tapping] the high tech world of today,” he said. HTT

WINDOW FROM PAGE 1

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — The New York International Gift Fair will host a new “Open House” exhibit that will showcase 2013 home furnishings trends, from materials and color to com-merce and branding.

Presented in partnership with One Kings Lane, Pantone, and Home Textiles Today’s parent company Sandow Media, the display will illustrate products in

six key trend categories, followed by an online fl ash sale of featured merchandise to benefi t Gift For Life, the home, gift and statio-nery industries’ charity partner.

The 72-hour sale will begin on Aug. 19, on www.oneking-slane.com.

Sandow editors will forecast home market trends, Pantone will provide color direction, and One Kings Lane’s mer-

chandising team will illustrate the trends in a curated display at the NYIGF.

I t w i l l be open dur ing NYIGF show hours, from Aug. 18-22, at New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Center.

In connection with the dis-play, a seminar titled “Open House –What’s Hot in Home Design?” will explore trends influencing home products

– from materials and color to commerce and branding.

Warren Shoulberg, HTT publisher/editorial director, will moderate the panel discussion. It will include Susan Feldman, co-founder of One Kings Lane, and Laurie Pressman, Pantone vice president, fashion, home + interiors. The session is sched-uled Aug. 19 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Javits Center. HTT

MINNEAPOLIS — Value Vision, the electronic retail company that does business as ShopNBC, said the partnership it launched with Macy’s last month to offer the department store’s house brand home textiles and cook-ware could be expanded.

Speaking during last week’s

quarterly conference call, presi-dent Bob Ayd said: “As with any new business relationship, this is a test.” He added, “I am gener-ally pleased with it, and I expect to further build on it.”

The company is looking to broaden its home goods port-folio, in part to off-set the wan-

ing sales contribution it previ-ously enjoyed from consumer electronics. ShopNBC’s home department team is focused on expanding the breadth of prod-uct being offered, he said.

For the quarter ended Jan. 28, the company reported a net loss of $8.3 million vs. a net loss of $1.4

million in the year ago quarter. Sales tumbled 17.4% to $147.5 million primarily due to slower sales in its consumer electronics business. For the full fi scal year, net loss was $48.1 million from $25.9 million in the previous fi scal year. Sales were relatively flat, down 0.7% to $558.4 million. HTT

ShopNBC/Macy’s Alliance off to Promising Start

NYIGF to Present Home Furnishing Trends in New “Open House” Exhibit

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4 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

OPINIONTodaY

H OW A BSOLU T E LY fascinating that as American society gets ever more divided to the extremes — fi nancially, politically and morally — it is the retail businesses that appeal most to the middle of the marketplace that are the most interesting to watch these days.

While the stores at both ends of the spectrum no doubt attract their share of cus-tomers from up and down the shopping food chain, it is the stores in the middle – namely JCPenney, Kohl’s and Macy’s — that are getting a lot of attention right now, particularly at the just-concluded New York textiles market week, albeit for entirely different reasons.

For Penney, of course, it was the fi rst market visit following the unveiling of the Johnson Doctrine, new president Ron Johnson’s manifesto on everyday value pricing, simplifi ed merchandising po-sitioning and a clever if infi nitely less-in-your face ad campaign.

There were different takes on exactly how this new Penney will buy home textiles products, but virtually every company you ran into had high hopes that their new whatever was exactly what Ron-Jon was looking for. If JCP ended up buying all of the stuff vendors were sure they absolutely needed, those stores would be even more junked up with merchandise than they ever were.

Kohl’s was in for market, too, and there was just as much curios-ity about them. The posse from Menomonee Falls no doubt spent some serious time talking about what is suddenly broken at Kohl’s

after a long, long streak of success going back 20 years or more. Everyone had their own theory about what caused the recent fl at sales there, from

an inbred-we-don’t-need-no-stinken’-ideas-from-the-outside mentality to bad house-keeping in the stores to just a general fatigue on the part of shoppers with the endless 70%-off routine. No doubt it was some combination of all of the above.

And then there was Macy’s, which has been the strongest player in the middle tier, fi nally getting the balance of promotion and product right for the fi rst time in a long time. But the sneak attack on the Martha Stewart franchise there by Penney certainly has the potential to upset that equation. Vendors said the Macy’s people were asking for Martha product for the fi rst quarter of 2013, which is about the time her program is scheduled to debut at the other end of the mall at JCP.

How the Great Siege of Stewart will eventually play out remains to be seen but, to quote my old friends at the Firesign Theater, “How can you be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all?”

All in all, these are interesting times for the merchants in the middle. You can bet none of them wants to be made a monkey of. HTT

Merchant in the Middle

TH ER E WA S A LOT of buzz about ecommerce during the New York Home Fashions Market two weeks ago — a signifi cant, eyebrow-rais-ing amount of talk.

Ecommerce buyers I heard mentioned most often included Am-azon, macys.com and Overstock. There was also a fair amount of chatter about the appearance of Groupon in New York showrooms during the week.

Increasing numbers of suppliers are talking about their fl ash site accounts such as OneKingsLane, Gilt and HauteLook. It’s not steady like replenishment business, but you can drop a container or two in one go and with decent mar-

gins, they say.Some manufacturers used the occasion of market week

to unveil their in-house e-improvements. Cambridge Tow-els, Kassatex and Loftex each relaunched their websites with the type of enhanced content ecommerce purveyors prize, while Blue Ridge Home Fashions announced a new quick-ship program for ecommerce fulfi llment.

On the retail side, the past month brought word of a new iPhone app for Neiman Marcus, a new Facebook page for Macy’s and a new expectation from Williams-Sonoma Inc., which said non-store sales will account for 50% of its reve-nues in the next three years. TJX Cos., which dipped a toe into ecommerce for a half a heartbeat fi ve years ago, said

2012 will be the year it rejoins the fray.A new survey from BigInsight found that mobile shopping — or m-commerce

— is higher than the national average among customers of Nordstrom’s, Macy’s, Dillard’s, TJMaxx (ironic, see graph above), Amazon and Target.

Retailers whose customers evince lower-than-average mobile aptitude include Walmart, Sears, Kohl’s and JCPenney. (Paging the JCP team: That list runs from closest to the norm to farthest from the norm.)

Even through the worst of the recession, ecommerce remained a growth chan-nel. And tech-savvy Millennials are being followed by a generation of kids who learned their way around a keyboard as toddlers. If you want to see the future, visit YouTube and check out a video titled: “Baby Thinks a Magazine is a Bro-ken iPad.”

To not have an ecommerce strategy in place today is as fool-hearty for suppli-ers as not having an offshore sourcing strategy was circa 2003/2004. We all know how that story ended.

You gotta be in it to win it. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The E-Game

March 19, 2012

Warren Shoulberg

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

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5 Home Textiles TodayNews

thinking: ‘What can I make of it?’ ” Dent said.

It’s more important to decide what properties a product needs to have, then fi nd a material or process that already offers those properties – which may require looking to other industries.

“Everyone is taking from everyone else. It’s a big mash-up,” said Dent, who earned his Ph.D. in materials science from the University of Cambridge in England.

From his perspective, there are fi ve key trends now occur-ring in materials development.

• Finishes: The merger of handmade and industrial tech-niques is creating products with unique properties and visual ef-fects. Dent is seeing “explosive” strides in digital print, which he said has the potential to eventu-ally replace dyeing.

• Textures: New methods

of creating materials from un-tapped natural materials — such as fabric rolls made from salmon skin and leather made from cow stomach — are also introducing textures into the design lexicon.

• Environmental control: Here, Dent discussed new de-velopments such as function-al materials that address Sick Building Syndrome by absorb-ing toxins from the atmosphere,

recently developed self-clean-ing fabrics and a new range of super hydrophobics (i.e., water repellants) that repel just about everything.

• Sensory: “There are now fabrics that look translucent, al-most diaphanous, but can still absorb sound,” Dent said.

• Sustainability: The trick with sustainability, he noted, is that there’s always a trade-off. He pointed to the Boeing Dreamliner, which is most-ly plastic. The process used to make the plastic “is awful,” he said. But the lightweight air-plane is also 20% more fuel efficient, making it more en-vironmentally friendly than tra-ditionally constructed jets in its class.

Although there are a slew of new products, treatments, coat-ings and the like in the pipeline, what is most critical remains the performance attributes needed for a particular product.

“One cannot be an evange-list when one has clients,” Dent said. HTT

March 19, 2012

A ConText attendee gets his hands on a sample board for a cow stomach — one of several interesting and unusual items passed around to the audience during the presentation.

CONTEXT FROM PAGE 1

Making ConneXions

> hometextilestoday.com

Macy’s & Martha: The Sequel?

Despite mutual lawsuits surrounding Martha Stew-art Living Omnimedia’s new deal with JCPenney,

MSLO’s president suggested recently that the rela-tionship with Macy’s may not be over.

“At Macy’s, textiles were our top sellers for the quarter, and in January Macy’s informed us of their plans to extend our partnership for the Martha Stew-art Collection,” president and coo Lisa Gersh told ana-lysts during the company’s quarterly conference call.

Several suppliers who produce pieces of the Mar-tha Stewart Collection for Macy’s told HTT during the recent New York Home Fashions Market week they have been instructed to keep moving forward with new lines.

Study Finds That Younger Shoppers Value Retail Experience

Anew study by Brodeur Partners fi nds what it calls “a practicality divide” between Boomers and 18-

to 34-year-old shoppers. “For Boomers, the ideal shopping experience is

about getting a good deal on a decent product. For Gen Y, it’s more about a stimulating, sensual, ‘shar-able’ experience,” according to the Boston-based stra-tegic communications company. “Think sensible shoes vs. smart phones.”

The study of 2,000 American consumers found that when it comes to retail outlets, the sharability of the experience and “association” (I’m ok if people know I’m associated with it) are twice as important to Gen Y (18-34) as to Boomers (55-plus). Practical decisions drive choice of retailers for 8 out of 10 Boomers, but only half of the Gen Y respondents.

Neiman Links Customers to Associates with New App

Neiman Marcus is trying out a new iPhone app that allows customers to interact directly with its

sales associates.NM Service, as the new app is dubbed, is being

tested this spring at four store locations: two in Texas - one in Dallas and another in Austin; and two in Califor-nia - one in San Francisco and another in Palo Alto.

Williams-Sonoma Looks for Further International Growth

Williams-Sonoma Inc. said it will expand its inter-national shipping operation from 75 countries

to 99.“The largest new opportunity that we see in our

future is global expansion,” and president and ceo Laura Alber said during the company’s quarterly con-ference call recently “We currently attract a signifi cant number of foreign nationals to our stores and web-sites, who frequently encourage us to open in their communities.”

The company will also add to its 13 franchise loca-tions in the Middle East with fi ve more stores, includ-ing the fi rst Williams-Sonoma, PBteen and West Elm stores outside of the Americas.

RetailBriefsNEW YORK — The longtime relationship between

Maples Rugs and Invista took a softer approach at the recent New York Home Fashions market.

Looking to offer “the softest fi ber in the mar-ket,” Maples has developed new high-end bath and accent rugs that employ Invista’s new Tru-Soft fi ber brand.

Making these new products even more special is that Maples developed two proprietary process-es — one for bath and the other for accent — to be able to print designs on these ultra-soft rugs.

Available in a wealth of colors, Maples’ TruSoft collections come in solid, tonal border and overall pattern looks that mix and match easily by palette — both for the bath and accent offerings.

Wade Maples, co-owner of Maples Rugs, ex-plained to HTT that the TruSoft rugs are designed to target a higher-end customer.

A 21-by-34 bath mat is priced to retail for $29.99 and a 24-by-40 bath rug is set at $39.99.

On the accent rug side, a 21-by-24 will retail for $19.99, while a 30-by-50 is set at $39.99.

The TruSoft-branded accent collection from Maples is dubbed Hooked on You as these piec-es refl ect a natural fi ber look and hand-hooked construction — even though they are actually ma-chine-made printed rugs produced domestically at Maples’ Scottsboro, Ala.-based headquarters, like their bath rug counterparts.

“We created a proprietary printing technique for this collection that is done in the details of the printing,” Maples noted. “It makes the loops look like they were put in there by hand.”

Maples Rugs sought to develop these new, higher-priced goods for market in response to “the

movement away from opening price points in the marketplace,” Maples said. “All of our new intro-ductions for this market fall under better and best. The opening-price-point segment is pretty much full. So everything we wanted to show is about in-novation and better product.”

Also new at Maples for market were new de-sign trend stories for its accent rug line. Employ-ing a variety of tufted constructions — level cut and loop, cut and loop, loop and loop, etc. — these rugs come in an equally diverse number of patterns. Design themes include: World Bazaar, Natural Elegance, Tea Garden, Beacon Hill and Good Earth. HTT

Maples Rugs Turns to a Softer Side

Wade Maples with the company’s TruSoft bath rug collection.

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6 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

Pem America Emphasizes Broader Range

NEW YORK — Pem America has long been known for its prow-ess in doing private label for a price, but it turned up the vol-ume on its brands and designs for the better segment of the business at this month’s market

T h o s e i n c l u d e V i n c e

Camuto, the co-founder of Nine West who also design-ers for Tory Burch and Jessica Simpson; Carolyn Westbrook, the Texas designer known for romantic motifs; Steven & Wil-liam, Brooklyn-based artists who specialize in recycling discarded

items; and the new Jackie col-lection launching this market based on the designs of Jackie McFee, whose colorful products for back-to-school and office supply are sold everywhere from Walmart to Staples.

Many of the brands are posi-tioned to offer queen comforter sets in the $250 range, accord-ing to Harry Kartus, senior vp of marketing. “Growing with this market is going to be very important,” he added.

In the Vince Camuto line, all comforters are overfilled, overstuffed and reversible. Caro-lyn Westbrook features comfort-ers designed to look like duvets and boast a lot of yardage in ruffles. Steven & William has an organic feel, exhibiting the handcrafted appeal of Anthro-pologie looks minus boho fem-ininity.

Pem America is also spot-lighting its own better brands — Black Label and Details — which are positioned to retail at $200 for a four-piece set.In addition, the company is introducing Keith Kimber-lin in accessories. Kimberlin’s photos of puppies and kittens – big sellers in the poster word – are being shown on dec pil-lows and throws. HTT

Palm Springs from the Vince Camuto Collection

Revman Takes on Eddie Bauer HomeNEW YORK — Revman Inter-national has become the new licensee for Eddie Bauer Home and showed a broad line of bed-ding and accessories at market earlier this month.

“We are really excited about this,” said Rich Roman, Rev-man’s ceo.

In addition to top of bed, the collection includes fleece sheets, fl annel sheets and quilts, as well as a wide variety of down alternative comforters, throws, blankets and pillows.

Camp blankets reverse to a water-proof backing. Down alternative comforters come in three fi nishes: suede, velvet and mink (microfi ber). In addition to solid color throws, Revman is also doing sherpas and printed fl eece.

“It’s a great cold weather brand,” said Diane Piemonte, Revman’s vp of creative services. “A lot of these ancillary products are really core products.”

Revman also spotlighted its quilting designs, featuring them on top of bed for brands such as Laura Ashley and Tommy Bahama rather than layering them into the bedding ensem-bles.

“Quilts are becoming more and more import ant,” said Piemonte. “They all have a dif-ferent feel to them for each of the different brands.”

In Laura Ashley bath, Rev-man is for the second season offering a few novelty looks in bath accessories. The reaction to the first grouping — which featured birds — was suffi ciently

strong that this market Rev-man has re-interpreted the design in a quilt and shams.

The main thrust of Ash-ley top-of-bed programs puts a more modern spin on tra-ditional motifs, although Revman still creates a few straight-down-the-line tra-ditional looks for hard-core fans.

“You’re always going to tread that bridge between the master bedroom and the younger customer,” Piemonte said.

The Steve Madden line has always been color-for-ward. With big color coming back across other consumer products in a big way, Mad-den is particularly well posi-tioned, Piemonte said. HTT

Hunts Point interprets the Eddie Bauer brand for the master bedroom. The collection also includes lodge looks.

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — Sleep Innovations, the sleep solu-tions and comfort products manu-facturer and marketer, is building up its memory foam-made “MAT” bath product program with new sizes and colors that help it move more easily to other areas of the home.

Made of premium memory foam, MAT was designed by Sleep Innovations to “provide superior pressure-point relief while also adding a touch of luxury to the home,” the company said. “MAT products guard feet against mold, mildew and fungus with its anti-microbial-treated foam.”

Available in mat, runner and

area rug sizes, the MAT works in front of showers and sinks in the bathroom, as well as the bedroom or any area of a house that needs more comfort, according to the company.

“We designed the MAT for the bath to provide the perfect combi-nation of luxury and comfort with the same level of support found in our popular bedding prod-ucts,” said Boris Katsnelson, Sleep Innovations’ vp of sourced prod-ucts and strategic planning. “After receiving rave reviews from con-sumers, we are excited to extend the MAT product line to include new sizes and colors inspired by today’s design trends.” HTT

Sleep Innovations Expands MAT Line

NEW YORK — Building on the momentum of its EZLon collec-tion of micro-polyester bath rugs, Faze 3 Ltd. came to market with new fiber and design construc-tions.

“The new products dem-onstrate the capabilities of our equipment,” explained Joe Shafran, vp.

Another new collection also shows Faze 3’s expanding capa-bilities. Employing new equip-ment, the company “for the fi rst

time, can make patterned bath rugs in multiple colors and pat-terns with a full rubber back — not just a tufted cotton back,” Shafran said.

Furthermore, he added, “we can make these rugs at the same prices as a cotton duck-backed tabletop item.”

A grouping of brightly colored, novelty styles in assorted shapes, including squares, spheres and butterflies, among others, are also new to bath. HTT

Faze 3 Expands EZLon Launches Patterned Bath Rugs

March 19, 2012

htt120303_006_008 6 3/14/2012 2:52:04 PM

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NEW YORK — Avanti Linens’ lineup of new products for mar-ket included the addition of sev-eral licensed styles.

The company explained that over the past couple of months it has acquired the licenses for “several established styles that were available in the market-place due to the bankruptcy of Blonder Home Accents.”

T h e s e f o r m e r B l o n d e r licenses include: Adirondack Pine, Black Bear Lodge, Taking Care of Business, Outhouses, Rather be Fishing, Blue Waters and Camping Trip.

Additionally, Avanti has

acquired the licenses for a num-ber of seasonal/Christmas styles, which the coo and president Jeff Kaufman described as “a good complement to what we currently run in Avanti and strengthen our position in the regional looks that have performed very well for us. Blonder had a big following in the independent channel and we expect to acquire a number of new customers with these new licenses.”

Avanti is featuring eight for-merly Blonder styles in its new 56-page, 2012 catalog for its embellished towel and bath accessory designs. HTT

Avanti Takes on Licensed Styles from

Defunct Blonder Home

NEW YORK — Hollander Home Fashions wrapped up its fi nal market at its long-time showroom on 6th Avenue here.

This summer it will relocate to a new 10,000 square-foot space at 440 Park Avenue South between 29th and 30th Streets. The compa-ny’s new showroom will be located on the 10th fl oor. HTT

NEW YORK — Veteran home textiles designer George Whyte has partnered with Venus Home Fashions to extend his hospital-ity-oriented fashion bedding pro-grams for the first time to the retail side for consumers.

Whyte, who for more than 40 years has been designing and developing bedding, drap-eries, pillows and fabrics, inked the licensing deal with Venus in mid January and from that point, he told HTT, “I got right to work designing and creating” his upscale bedding, decorative pillow and shower curtain line in time for launch this week at market.

Dubbed “Whyte Home Fash-ions,” his Venus program spans seven top-of-bed collections, 200 decorative pillows — based on 60 designs available in multiple col-orways, and eight shower curtains as well as Whyte’s patent-pending “Comforlette” product.

“This is the fi rst time Comfor-lette is being shown to the retail-

ers for the consumer market,” Whyte noted.

Comforlette is a comforter with a coverlet draped on top, fas-tened to the comforter at the top with hidden buttons. This design, Whyte said, was originally aimed at helping hotels save money and time in labor, laundry and water usage.

Whyte has already placed his Comforlette with many of his cli-ents in the hospitality market — “it’s been a hit, I’ve got it placed at hundreds of hotels already,” he said — and now hopes its design and easy-care and energy-saving properties will appeal to retailers and their shoppers, too.

The top-of-bed collections in the Whyte Home Fashions line are all subtly opulent and use rich fabrics for an across-the-board elegant story. Each of them including a bed scarf and matching dec pillows, the seven beds are: Impressions, Trudeau, Criss Cross,Refl ections, Whisper, Aspen, and Gladstone.

The broad decorative pillow line marries in part to the beds but also includes independent

looks in a variety of luxurious fab-rications and designs.

For the bath, Whyte’s eight

shower curtains are made to match directly with the beds for a uniform bedroom décor. HTT

Whyte Home Fashions Moves to Consumer Market Side via Alliance with Venus Home

March 19, 2012

Hollander R elocating New York Showroom

SUGAR VALLEY, GA. — Looking to strengthen its importing initia-tives with additional resources, Mohawk Home has promoted David Record to director of global sourcing.

Record, who has been with the company almost 10 years, was formerly product manager for Mohawk Home’s bath rugs division. He is being replaced by Patrick Douglass, who is return-

ing to Mohawk after being away several years — fi rst at Oriental Weavers/Sphinx as vp of product development, and most recently at Surya Inc., where he served as vp of printed rugs.

Record said Mohawk Home’s new global sourcing strategy is aimed at “ramping up our col-lections. We do what we do domestically, and the things that we don’t do here, we will

look to do elsewhere.”He added that the company

will continue to build on its core business — domestically produced area, accent and bath rugs and doormats — while explore new opportunities over-seas where it isn’t already doing business with partners to cre-ate products that will round out Mohawk Home’s soft fl oor cov-ering line. HTT

Mohawk Home Promotes Record, Welcomes Back Douglass

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Rio Home Fashions, a bedding source for basic and memory foam goods among other home textiles products, has signed a licensing partnership with Vogue-UK designer Iona Craw-ford to co-create a new lifestyle program for the home.

Marking Crawford’s foray into the home category, the venture was crafted by Prince of Scots — which represents Craw-

ford and aims at merging “tech-nology and fashion,” the compa-nies said.

“Our concept will be differ-ent and upscale from what is offered in the market place,” said Glen Sun, owner, Rio. “In a tough economy we will give cus-tomers the opportunity to buy smarter. Fashion, basic, com-fort and technology will all be in one product.”

Crawford’s vision of design

and color for the new line is inspired by Scotland’s natural beauty, she said, and “will trans-form basic product into lifestyle collections with more function for the home.”

The collection is set to hit retail this fall in both North America and Asia. Rio’s licens-ing agreement with Crawford includes the United States, Can-ada, Mexico, Japan, and China. HTT

Rio Home Fashions, Iona Crawford Partner for Fashion Basic Bedding Collection

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specing product to meet a pre-determined price. Had the practice fi nally hit a fl oor? The YoPros wanted to know.

The answer: Yes. The execs noted that soaring raw materi-al costs and higher labor prices in manufacturing countries had reversed more than a decade of steady price defl ation.

“I think what happened over the last decade was an anoma-ly,” said Baker. “I don’t think we’ll see it again.”

Added Hornick: “Nothing goes down forever.”

The panelists agreed that the good/better/best merchan-dising configuration is an en-trenched formula that is likely to endure.

“It’s an easy way to com-municate with the consumer,”

said Savaria. “If [the message] is clear, it’s going to win.”

A fair amount of time was spent on the subject of brand-ing. Do brands matter if they’re not already household names? What is the future of private label brands? How does one assign a value to a brand?

“It’s really about how the consumer values a brand,” said Leonard. He also cautioned: “Brands built around celebri-ties can be risky, as we’ve all seen. You have to have some-one you trust will be around.”

Baker discussed Holland-er’s launch six months ago of its own brand, Live Comfort-ably. He was a skeptic, he said. “Now we’ve got the brand in 12 retailers — with meaning-ful volume.”

Savaria offered three crite-ria for establishing a brand. “A brand requires discipline, vision and patience,” he said.

He noted that his daughter shops very differently than he

does. She doesn’t shop one brand. “She shops 10 different stores and puts together [her own brand].”

Hornick identi f ied new media as a game-changer for brand development. “The so-cial media phenomenon makes it much easier to promote a brand. You don’t have to spend $200,000 for a page in a shelter magazine,” he said.

When asked if they saw an-other big-box retailer emerging

on the horizon, all agreed the internet was the place to look.

“I think it’s more interesting to ask what Amazon is doing to Best Buy than what Best Buy is doing to other retailers,” said Hornick.

Added Baker: “For compa-nies like ours, the question is how to respond to that.” The in-ternet is increasingly the place to go for basic goods, “especial-ly if you’re buying solid colors and it’s not a fashion item,” he said.

It’s possible to grow a bricks

and mortar retail concept with a well-defi ned niche, said Leon-ard.

“Anna’s Linens is a good ex-ample,” he said. “They’ve got about 300 stores, but they’ve got a laser-like focus on ethnic consumers.”

None of the panelists be-lieve domestic production will return in any meaningful way. What they do here, each said, exists simply because it is the most cost-effective way of pro-ducing that particular product.

“It’s really the products of the future that you people need to think of and conceive that will create the opportunity for domes-tic production,” said Hornick, ad-dressing the young crowd.

Added Leonard: “You have so many ideas that we need, and you need to be bringing them forward all the time. Sit-ting up here as ceos, we’re great at history. You’re the ones who are going to bring us forward into the future.” HTT

YoPros Market Event

“Sitting up here as ceos, we’re great at history. You’re the ones who are going to bring us forward into the

future.”BARRY LEONARD Welspun

YOPROS FROM PAGE 1

> hometextilestoday.com

htt120303_001_010.indd 10 3/14/2012 4:21:39 PM

12 Home Textiles Today March 19, 2012 Events > hometextilestoday.com

Market Week Happenings

Springs Global’s Edward Cardimona, left, celebrated the launch of Pantone into home textiles with the color authority’s Lisa Herbert, center, and Bloomingale’s Joe Laneve.

From left, Budd Goldman and Susan Lazor of Ellery debut the Historic Charleston collection with the historical foundation’s John Keleher.

The Northwest Co. gets in the spirit. From left, Katherine Knarr and Kim Rizzardi, both of Northwest; Maggie Gratzer of Nickelodeon; Stanley Mieszkowski of Northwest; and Rachel Leber, also of Nickelodeon.

From left, Amy Present, Michael Liu, and Vincent DeRosa, all of Present Living Home, celebrate the company’s market debut.

Brunton International cheers its new showroom space. Front, from left, Carolyn Myers, Ross Stores, and Marty Hirsch, Brunton. Back row, from left, Colleen Hoffman, Ross Stores; Roy Brunton, Brunton; and Brad Goldman, Ross Stores.

From left, Next Creations’ Michael Vidra, Ying Shen, and Stacey Testa toast the company’s latest Raymond Waites collections.

htt120303_012_014_016.indd 12 3/15/2012 10:55:49 AM

EXTRALIFE

14 Home Textiles Today Events > hometextilestoday.comMarch 19, 2012

1. From left, Supima’s Robert Reus, Jesse Curlee and Buxton Midyette.

2. From left, Alan Eisenberg and Kyle Borreggine of Protect-A-Bed.

3. From Softline Home Fashions – from left, brothers Rodney and Jason Carr and Gene Ober.

4. From left, Louise Brown of Beddazzle Inc.; John Cohen of St. Geneve; and Janice O’Neill of Beddazzle Inc.

5. Sinomax’s Steven Romera, left, and Lonnie Scheps.

6. Shaniqua Simpson of Royale Linens, left, and Dabney Zanders of JP Morgan.

HTT Hosts Market Kick-off Party1 2

3 4

5 6

htt120303_012_014_016 14 3/15/2012 4:04:10 PM

Thank You

Once again this market, more people in the industry chose Home Textiles Today

than all other publications put together for

our ConText Open House with Material ConneXion and for their networking needs

with our Big Market Kick-off Party.

Thank you to our readers, our customers and the home textiles industry.

Textiles is our Middle Name

HTT SP2012 Market thank you.indd 1 3/13/12 10:27 AM

their marketing needs in print and online advertising, for their educational needs with

16 Home Textiles Today Events > hometextilestoday.comMarch 19, 2012

1. The Chortex USA team: from left, Onur Uyanik, Claire Smithson and Eric Vergucht.

2. Muhammad Ibrahim of Gul Ahmed, left, and Shahrez Khan of CotCom.

3. From left, Richard Silvia, Classic Slipcovers; Don Tweel, Avanti Linens; and Rahul Singh, Vallabh Textile Co.

4. From left, Tracey Eller, Anita Zampino, Harvey Wooding and Lisanne Scafine, all of AQ Textiles.

5. From left, Tony Caldeira, Lindsey Bonney, Lucy Nesbitt and Carolyn Winderbaum, all of Caldeira USA.

6. East came West during Sunday night’s HTT Market Kick-off Party thanks to Messe Frankfurt, which promoted its Intertextil Shanghai Home show in lively fashion.

Kicking off New York Market Week1 2

3 4

5

6

htt120303_012_014_016 16 3/14/2012 2:15:48 PM

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Keynote Speaker: Bill Lindler, CEO of United Steel Storage, is a man leading retailers routinely refer to as ‘The Lynchpin of Logistics.’ Bill will share his decades of experience as he explains key paradigm shifts that are likely to alter the logistics landscape.

Ocean Freight: Smooth sailing ahead, or waves of change? A panel of experts from companies including Furniture Brands, Havertys Furniture, American Global Logistics and Stanley Furniture will do a deep dive into this sector.

Home Delivery: Leading home delivery experts at Cory 1st Choice Home Delivery and 3PD will share the podium with key retailers from Bob’s Discount Furniture and Haynes Furniture/The Dump, to discuss segment challenges as well as logistics solutions.

Trucking Update: Segment executives including Bryan Beam of American Signature and Stan Froneberger of Sunbelt Xpress, will update you on many of the key drivers impacting this segment. You’ll hear about fuel costs, hours of service regulations, the dwindling driver pool and much more.

Retail Panel: Key brick and mortar retailers including Badcock Home and More will be joined by pure-play Internet retailers to talk big-picture challenges and best-practice logistical solutions.

Suppler/Importer Panel: Logistics experts from Stanley Furniture, Hooker Furniture, Linon/Powell and others will evaluate the logistics landscape from the supplier’s perspective.

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18 Home Textiles Today Design Today > hometextilestoday.com

In-Store ReviewHome Textiles Today continues the new series In-Store Review this issue, critiquing branded private and captured label programs in home textiles stores and departments. Each month, our reviewer visits an individual store as well as the website and evaluates a single pro-gram on fi ve criteria: 1. Design/creative/aesthetic of the product; 2. Visual presentation in the store; 3. Packaging of the product; 4. Relevance of the program to the store’s core tar-geted customer base; 5. Value of the program relative to the store mix and its customer base. Each can be ranked from one (least) to fi ve (most) stars and the overall score is an average of the fi ve individual evaluations.

1 Design“It’s a collection with balls that just says, ‘Pay attention, I’m good for you.’ This is a strong, almost retro collection of powerful patterns and colorings meant for people who like sheets that make them smile. I must admit on a very personal level that I am and have been for many years a great fan of Diane von Furstenberg. I’ve always admired her focus and here the power of the DVF designs and colorings sing out.”

Rating: ★★★★★

2 Visual Presentation“Concise takes on a whole new meaning; the collection is shown in a tight, controlled space that I hope will work for it. BBB has pretty much invented its own store model, and while it’s not easy to shop if you haven’t pre-determined to buy what you want, its customer is apparently willing to move from huge room to huge room to fi nd what they are looking for. Another half-star would come with another bed and/or an oppor-tunity to show the rest of the accessories.”

Rating: ★★★★

3 Packaging“Packaging is fi ne and functional with no unnecessary gimmicks. Springs Global (the licensed producer of the DVF program) proudly proclaims it imports from Pakistan with clear details.”

Rating: ★★★★

4 Relevance to Store Customer“There’s nothing else like it, and for BBB that’s a good thing. This is about an easy, uncomplicated way to dress a bed. This collection can be headquarters for anyone in a fi rst apartment or university housing.”

Rating: ★★★★

5 Relative Value“It sure perks up the selling fl oor and is stopping people. What really works is that with the fewest number of skus, each basic ensemble can be dressed up or down with either solid-color sheets or lightweight quilts. And it’s all edited to make putting a bed together simple, personal and fun. I give it the works.”

Rating: ★★★★★

Overall Rating: 4.2 ★★★★★

Program: Diane von Furstenberg StudioStore: Bed Bath & BeyondReviewer: Julian TomchinFormer senior vp for Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s West and Fieldcrest Cannon

March 19, 2012

htt120303_018 18 3/14/2012 2:13:30 PM

HAS THE ANSWER

Untitled-1 1 8/31/2011 12:50:57 PM

20 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

PEOPLETodaY

NEW YORK — A pair of WestPoint veterans are tak-ing the helm at top kitchen and table linen sup-plier Bardwil Linens.

Allen Kennedy has been named president, and Rick Rogers executive vp of sourcing. Both posi-tions are new.

Nancy Kristoff, president of sales and mar-keting, has left the company, as has coo Derek Pierce.

“We have a beautiful product line and good ven-dors,” Rogers said. “It’s an exciting opportunity.”

Kennedy was most recently senior vp of sales for WestPoint Home. A veteran of the blanket business, Kennedy worked for more than two decades with Chatham Mfg. and joined WestPoint when it acaquired Chatham in 2001.

Rogers in recent years has worked in an executive capacity with off-shore manufacturers looking to build their business with U.S. whole-salers and retailers. He spent much of his earlier career at WestPoint Pepperell and WestPoint Stevens, where he rose to vp of bed sourcing. He also worked at Comfort Fabrics and Joan Fabrics. HTT

Kennedy Named New President at

Bardwil Linens

ALLEN KENNEDY

Bardwil Linens

NE W YO R K — Richard Rae has been named senior vp of national sales and marketing, textile products, for Pacifi c Coast Home Furnishings (PCHF).

Rae joined the com-pany last summer as svp of national sales and market ing. He will be responsible for all company products, including bath. Rae has more than 30 years of experience in the industry and held pre-vious positions at India Ink, Home Innovations and Regal Rugs. In his new role, Rae led the launch of its lifestyle Austin Horn Classics brand in bath products at market earlier this month.

The Austin Horn bath intro-ductions feature fully coordi-

nated bath accessories, includ-ing ceramic, stoneware, glass and metal accessories, jacquard and embellished velour towels, shower curtains and rugs. Tow-

els were shown in four spring and four fall col-orways.

I n Au s t i n H o r n bedding , the com-pany showcased an expanded program of sheets with three layers of packaging. Its Ecru label features 300- to 500-thread-count cot-ton sateen sheets; its

black label features 500- to 800-thread-count offerings in sateens, Pima or Supima cot-ton; and the brand’s platinum label showcases 800-thread-count sheets or higher in Egyp-tian cotton. HTT

PCHF Promotes Rae; Launches

Austin Horn Bath

RICHARD RAE

PCHF

PLANO, TEXAS — JCPenney has promoted Liz Sweney to chief merchant overseeing all mer-chandise divisions.

She was previously execu-tive vp and gmm of women’s apparel, accessories, footwear, jewelry and children’s as well as the Sephora shop-in-shops.

Two other execs were pro-moted as direct reports to Sweney: Siiri Dougherty, now senior vp/dmm of women’s apparel; and Liz Asay, now senior vp for Sephora shps.

The retailer also announced the team that will create Pen-ney’s new brand strategy.

Brian Robinson joins the company as vp, marketing and design partnerships. He was most recently director of fash-ion and design partnerships at Target, leading initiatives with brands including Missoni and Liberty of London.

Katheryn Burchett has been

promoted to senior vp, mer-chandising and marketing inte-gration. Most recently divisional vp for merchandise strategy, she will be responsible for working with the retailer’s new strategic partners – many of whom have yet to be announced.

Anne Cashi l l has been appointed senior vp, strate-gic brands and will oversee the development of the Liz Clai-borne, Martha Stewart, l’amour Nanette Lepore brands along with “many more to come,” accdoridng to the company. She joins JCP from Coach, Inc., where she w as vp of merchan-dising. Cashill previously spent eight years at Liz Claiborne, Inc. as corporate vp, design and mer-chandising, as well as fi ve years as design director at Target.

Bill Gentner has been pro-moted to senior vp, strategic brands, responsible for private brands such as The Original

Arizona Jean Company and Xer-sion as they transition into in-store shops. He was previously senior vp of planning and pro-motion.

Steve Seabolt has been hired as senior vp, strategic brand alli-ances with a focus on leading the development of non-apparel partnerships. He comes from Electronic Arts, where he was vp, global brand partnerships.

On the marketing side, the company has hired Eric Hunter as senior vp, marketing. He was recently chief marketing offi cer for Kellwood Company. Greg Clark has been promoted to senior vp, creative. He had been vp of creative.

Mike Fisher has been named senior vp of visual presentation to oversee the company’s new store experience, including the Street, the Square and the Shops. He joins jcpenney from Apple. HTT

Sweney Named JCP’s Top Merchant

Company Assembles Exec Team to Lead Makeover

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. — Nouri-son has recruited Matthew Tolli-son as its new account executive for the North and South Car-olina territory, responsible for managing and developing busi-ness within the two-state region.

Tollison comes to Nourison with extensive rug and home furnishing experience, having worked in sales and sales man-agement positions in the past at

Delos, Jaipur and 828 Interna-tional Trading Co.

At Nourison, he is charged with promoting the company’s extensive rug line, which spans more than 70 active collections, as well as Nourison’s broadloom and runner lines, which include thousands of skus. He will also handle the newer but growing Nourtex brand of goods, com-prised of more moderately priced

decorative broadloom and run-ners, as well as the Mina Victory line of decorative accessories.

“Matt is a proven professional with strong skills and close con-nections in the territory.” said Gerard O’Keefe, vp of sales. “We are pleased to have him join our team and anticipate that he will make a meaningful, posi-tive impact in this vital territory.” HTT

Nourison Taps Tollison as Account Exec for Carolinas

FALL RIVER, MASS. — Chair pad and seat cushion source Klear Vu Corp. has appointed Erin Brinskele as the company’s new director of sales, based out of its New York offi ces.

She joins Klear Vu most recently from WestPoint Home, where she was account manager. Prior to that, she spent 13 years at Croscill/Ex-Cell/Glenoit, lastly as account manager.

“We are very excited to have Erin with us, and we look for-ward to the expertise she brings to our sales force,” said Bob Coo-per, president. Brinskele reports to Cooper. HTT

Klear Vu hires Brinskele to Head Sales

March 19, 2012

htt120303_020_022 20 3/14/2012 3:02:02 PM

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22 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

PL ANO, TEX AS — JCPenney has hired an executive whose background includes time at Nike, Apple and Disney to help develop its new center core strat-egy of installing attractions and services into the heart of the store to drive traffi c.

Laurie Beja Miller has been named executive vice president of The Square — the compa-ny’s name for the “gathering place” it plans to construct in the middle of its stores. She joins the company April 1 and will report to ceo Ron John-son.

Miller was most recently senior vp and gm, Americas, at Bare Escentuals, which she

joined in 2010. Prior to that, she spent three years at Nike as gm and vp, Nike Retail U.S.

She was previously vp, prod-uct development and merchan-dising, at Hallmark Cards, a role she took after serving as: vp, special projects, at Apple; senior vp and gmm at Pottery Barn; and executive vp at Dis-ney Stores, focused on product development.

She also spent more than a decade (1984-1995) at Spiegel, where she was gm of electronic media. Miller began her career working in department stores, f i r s t a t Milwaukee Boston Company and subsequently at Marshall Fields. HTT

JCPenney Adds Exec for New Store Center Strategy NEW YORK — Town and Coun-

try Living has appointed 34-year industry veteran Nancy Kristoff to the newly created position of evp, sales and marketing.

Kristoff joins the company after spending the past three decades at Bardwil Linens, where she started out as a sales representative and worked her way up to her last post there as president of sales and

marketing.Kristoff embarked her career at

Linens by Vera, where she spent four years before moving on to Bardwil.

In her new stint, Kristoff over-sees sales and marketing for all of the company’s categories, which span table linens, kitchen tex-tiles, bath coordinates and, most recently, accent rugs.

“We’re very excited to have Nancy as part of the Town and Country team,” David Beyda, principal, told HTT. “We respect everything she has accomplished over her many years in the indus-try. She is now a part of our man-agement team and will help us to continue to grow our business with our many retail partners.” HTT

EDISON, N.J. — Luxury lin-ens supplier Sferra Bros. has appointed Mary Shields as its director of marketing.

Shields, who reports to com-pany president Steve Schneider, assumed her new position on Feb. 28.

“Mary brings a unique and

creative perspective to both B2B and B2C communications, pub-lic relations, and promotions for the brand,” Schneider said.

Prior to re-joining Sferra, Shields worked at Martha Stew-art Living Omnimedia as senior copywriter on the company’s merchandising team for more

than four years.“We’re excited to have Mary

back on board,” said Sferra ceo, Paul Hooker. “She has a great understanding of branded com-munications, and will be work-ing with us on all aspects of mar-keting from advertising to social media.” HTT

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NEW YORK — Sales of seasonal products helped boost same-store sales 3.3% during the second week of March following a 3.0% gain the previous week, according to The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index.

Comps in the department channel rose 2.1%, while same-store sales in the discount sector in-creased 3.9%.

“Sales were mixed to modestly fi rmer in the second week,” said Redbook analyst Catlin Levis.

She added: “Many retailers have planned for a back-loaded month, with seasonal business ex-pected to improve in the second half due to grad-

ually warming temperatures and the gravitational pull of the early Easter holiday, which is typically a catalyst for spring sales.” HTT

Same-store sales

Spring Merch Lifts Comps

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

WEEK ENDED 3/3 3/10 3/17 3/24 3/31 MONTH TARGET

Department stores* 1.6 2.1 1.9 2.3Discounters 3.6 3.9 3.8 3.8Redbook Index 3.0 3.3 3.1 2.3*Including chain stores and traditional department storesSource: Johnson Redbook Index

YORK PA. — The Bon-Ton Stores reported decreased profi ts in the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28 2012, and cited this winter’s mild weather as playing a large role.

“Our fourth quarter sales and mar-gin performance were below our expec-tations primarily due to the adverse impact of milder weather in our mar-kets on sales of cold-weather merchan-dise as well as softness in our moder-ate traditional businesses,” said Brendan Hoffman, the company’s new president and chief executive. “We responded by

aggressively taking markdowns, result-ing in a reduced gross margin rate for the fourth quarter and fi scal 2011.”

“Sales were below expectations par-tially due to the mild winter,” added Tony Buccina, vice chairman and presi-dent of merchandising during the com-pany’s earnings conference call earlier this month. He said cold weather cate-gories were down by double digits, but new spring merchandise is selling well in the fi rst quarter because of the mild weather.

Profits declined 8% for The Bon-

Ton Stores Inc. in the fourth quarter as sales fell, in part because the rela-tively warm winter reduced sales of cold-weather merchandise, the com-pany said. Bon-Ton posted net income of $78.2 million, or $4 per share, com-pared with $85 million, or $4.41, in the fourth quarter a year earlier.

Sales fell 2.7% to $983.2 million from more than $1 billion in the same period in 2010. For all of 2011, Bon-Ton posted a loss of $12.2 million, or 67 cents per share, compared with profi t of $21.5 million, or $1.12, in 2010. HTT

BUSINESSTodaY

WASHIGTON — Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to increase 10% in March compared with the same month last year, and year-over-year gains should continue through mid-summer, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“Retailers are still watching all the economic indicators very carefully, but there are enough signs of improvement that stores are carefully stocking up,” NRF vp for supply chain and Customs policy Jonathan Gold said. “Retailers only import more if they expect to sell more, so these numbers are a sign that optimism is growing.”

U.S. ports followed by Global Port Tracker handled 1.22 million TEUs

in January, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 4.4% from December and 1.3% from January 2011. One TEU is one 20-foot cargo container or its equivalent.

February, historically the slowest month of the year, was estimated at 1.05 million TEU, down 4.2% from a year ago, and March is forecast at 1.2 million TEU, up 10% from last year. April is forecast at 1.26 million TEU, up 3.6%; May at 1.28 million TEU, the same as last year; June at 1.3 mil-lion TEU, up 4.2%; and July at 1.36 million TEU, up 2.8%.

The total for 2011 was 14.8 million TEU, up 0.4% from 2010’s 14.75 mil-lion TEU. The fi rst half of 2012 should total 7.32 million TEU, up 2.4% from the same period last year.

NRF continues to project 2012 retail sales will grow 3.4% to $2.53 trillion.

Despite the increases, ship own-ers have more vessels in service than cargo to fi ll them and are experiment-ing with “rate restoration” strategies that could impact retailers and other shippers, Hackett Associates founder Ben Hackett said.

“The maritime industry is in a quandary,” Hackett said. “As long as this imbalance exists, there will be vol-atility in the freight rates.”

Global Port Tracker covers the U.S. ports of Long Angeles/Long Beach, Oakland, Seattle and Tacoma on the West Coast; New York/New Jersey, Hampton Roads, Charleston and Savannah on the East Coast, and Houston on the Gulf Coast. HTT

Retail Container Traffic to Increase 10% in March

Bon-Ton Stores Cites Mild Winter for Decreased Fourth-Quarter Profits

March 19, 2012

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