skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Paslode introduced its "Let's Nail the Cure" Tool Graffiti to help promote breast cancer awareness. The company will donate 25 percent of its profits from the "Let's Nail the Cure" Tool Graffiti to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
These decals or skins fit right on the body of the tool. Represent!
New orders in March were 9 percent higher than March 2009 and up 2 percent over February 2010, according to Smith Leonard’s Furniture Insights, a monthly survey of residential furniture manufacturers and distributors.
March 2009 orders were off 17 percent from March 2008. Approximately 61 percent of the participants had increased orders over last year with several up nice double digits. The 61 percent was up from 58 percent last month.
Shipments in March were 5 percent higher than March 2009 and up 12 percent over February. This marked the fourth straight month that overall shipments have increased. Approximately 61 percent of participants reported increased shipments year-to-date, up slightly from last month’s results.
Backlogs remained strong – up 34 percent over last March and up slightly over February. This was similar to the February to February results. As imported products begin to flow after the Chinese New Year, it’s expected that backlogs will work their way back down some although backlogs in March 2009 were down 21 percent from March 2008.
As the furniture industry enters into the school and government buying season, typically from June to September, OFM, an office and school furniture manufacturers and distributor, is seeing five emerging office furniture trends. Blake Zalcberg, COO of OFM, lists the five emerging office furniture trends:
1. Dark woods are making a comeback. People are choosing darker walnut colors over lighter woods as many are drawn to the natural, earthy look that dark woods give.
2. Technology is being infused into office furniture designs. Electrically-wired tables and cut outs for computer hardware are becoming popular to accommodate demands for employees to easily plug in their laptop or other devices.
3. Contemporary office spaces are replacing traditional work environments. There is less use of panel workstations and more use of community spaces so people work in closer proximity to each other with less privacy, with a focus on collaborative instead of individual.
4. An increased demand for white laminate desktops. Productivity is key with any piece of office furniture. The white laminates provide a clean, blank workspace that can spur creativity for the user.
5. Government-affiliated groups are asking for more green products. This group of purchasers wants to make sure the office furniture they buy practices what they preach to the larger public, which is why there is an increased demand from government agencies for sustainable material and green certified products.
Home sales and housing starts staged an uneven comeback starting in early 2009, according to the State of the Nation’s Housing report released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.
Even if the recovery in sales and residential construction flourishes, the report warns, the adverse consequences of the recession and the financial crisis will linger. An estimated one in seven homeowners have homes worth less than what they owe on their mortgages and nearly 5 million need their home prices to rebound by 25 percent before they are back above water. In addition, it will take time to work through all the homes in foreclosure.
Despite falling home prices, loan modifications, and softening rents, the downturn did not reduce the number of households spending half or more of their income on housing—18.6 million in 2008. Instead, the share with such severe housing cost burdens climbed to a new height.
Is a recovery coming? Hooker Furniture announced reported net sales of $51.4 million and a net income of $1.1 million. The profit reversed a $456,000 loss in the comparable quarter a year earlier. While this may not signal unbridled consumer spending, purchases can only be put off for so long.
Stay tuned.
Paslode introduced its "Let's Nail the Cure" Tool Graffiti to help promote breast cancer awareness. The company will donate 25 percent of its profits from the "Let's Nail the Cure" Tool Graffiti to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
