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INDUSTRYNEWS
WAVERLY, ELLERY PARTNER IN HOME FASHIONS
BUSINESS
Waverly®, New York, NY, has announced that Ellery Home Brands
Co., an affiliate of Ellery Homestyles LLC, has entered into a long-term
licensing agreement to manufacture Waverly branded home fashions
products including bedding, window treatments and other home categories.
Ellery will utilize Waverly’s vast design archives, thus converting
the Waverly Home Fashions business to a licensing model.
Gerald Puschel, president and CEO of parent company F. Schumacher
& Co. comments, “Our home fashions business has grown
to the point where it is beneficial to bring on a partner to allow
us additional opportunities in the finished product arena.”
Waverly will continue to concentrate on its core competencies of
design and marketing for the Waverly brand, in addition to continuing
its various licensing partnerships in other key product categories.
Ellery Home Brands Co. will utilize its expertise in sourcing and
execution to further increase the multi-channel distribution of
the home fashions business.
Carolyn D’Angelo, vice president of marketing and licensing
adds, “The partnership with Ellery Home Brands will allow
us to focus on design and marketing, an expertise for which Waverly
is known. With a strong partner known for its worldwide sourcing
capabilities, Ellery Home Brands will enable us to take Waverly
to the next level.”
Waverly, a division of F. Schumacher & Co., has played a role
in home decorating for more than 75 years. As a premier home furnishing
brand, Waverly offers consumers fabrics, wallpaper and a multitude
of coordinated home fashions available at various retail channels.
Waverly now licenses its designs and brand name to more than 20
manufacturers of high-quality home furnishings and related products.
Established in 1924, Ellery Homestyles supplies private label home
fashion products including window treatments, decorative pillows
and throws, bedding, slipcovers and blankets to major retailers
in all channels of distribution. Headquartered in New York City,
with international offices around the globe, Ellery Homestyles continues
to meet the demanding needs of today’s retail environment.
INTERIOR DECORATING FRANCHISE FORMS
CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
Décor & You®, Southbury, CT, has formed The Decor
& You Charitable Foundation as a private organization to help
the company facilitate charitable giving in the communities where
its designers and regional directors live and work.
“Our mission is to help improve the lives of families and
pets by planning fund-raising events for various related causes
across the country,” said Josie Cicerale, COO and co-founder
of Decor & You.
At its annual conference in September, Décor & You co-sponsored
an art party with Art in Motion and several other vendors where
they auctioned donated art and accessories to raise money for victims
of Hurricane Katrina.
The silent auction raised $5,570 for the foundation. Half of the
proceeds were donated to the Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.org)
and the other half to Noah’s Wish (www.noahswish.org),
a nonprofit animal welfare organization.
3 BLIND MICE WINS 2005 BBB AWARD FOR
MARKETPLACE ETHICS
San Diego, CA-based, 3 Blind Mice Window Coverings, Inc., received
the Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics by the Better Business Bureau
(BBB) of San Diego. The BBB’s Annual Torch Awards program,
presented by SDG&E, recognizes local businesses and charities
that have demonstrated exemplary ethical business practices in their
relationships with employees, vendors and customers. The entry process
for the Torch Award is extensive. Winners are selected by a panel
of independent judges.
“The Torch Awards publicly recognizes and celebrates those
companies that are making a conscious choice to conduct their businesses
in an ethical manner,” said Sheryl Charleston, local BBB president
and CEO. “This award distinguishes companies that adhere to
the ethical standards of the BBB and have achieved a strong competitive
advantage as a result.”
3 Blind Mice received the award in the category of five to 10 employees.
More than 500 business professionals and community leaders attended
the awards luncheon at the San Diego Convention Center.
EXCITING WINDOWS! HOLDS SECOND ANNUAL
CONFERENCE
The main themes of Exciting Windows! 2nd Annual Conference, held
at the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, NV, January 28 to 31, were building
a high-quality business through preferred customer marketing, branding
for profits and building a sales team.
Conference attendees joined seminars sessions with industry experts
and networked with members while gaining access to education and
marketing programs, advanced selling techniques and new, exclusive
products.
Session leaders included Len Casey, two-time recipient of the DuPont
International award for Marketing Excellence; Harvey Nudelman, president
of Fabricut, a leading fabric distributor; and Neil Gordon, columnist
and national director of design for Exciting Windows!
“Window covering business owners today are looking for ways
to attract better customers at a lower cost of advertising and tie-in
with a national brand identity,” said Steve Bursten, co-founder
and chairman of Exciting Windows! “That’s what the Exciting
Windows! Annual Conference is all about.”
Exciting Windows!, Bethesda, MD, is a nationally-advertised brand
for exceptional shop-at-home window fashions service. The company
provides homeowners with a unique guarantee and dealers with support
for marketing, sales, training, technology and profit management.
COMFORTEX ADDS FOUR FABRICS TO ROMAN,
ROLLER SHADE LINE
Comfortex Window Fashions, Maplewood, NY, has introduced four new
fabric collections to its Serenade™ line of Roman and roller
shades.
South Pacific Stripe fabrics are woven to look like true woven woods;
Polynesian Sands calls to mind sandy beaches seen around the world
with variegated and contrasting threads; Tranquil Sheer combines
today’s most popular patterns with gently filtered light;
and SilverScreen™ are technologically advanced and energy
efficient sunscreens.
These exclusive fabrics are available now and are showcased in the
updated Comfortex and Comfortex BlindCrafter™ editions of
the Serenade sample books.
NORMAN RELEASES INFORMATIONAL CONSUMER
SHUTTER BOOKLET
Norman Shutters, Santa Fe Springs, CA, has released a 28-page color
booklet on the many attributes of its Sussex Shutters. The booklet
is intended for use by retailers who sell Sussex Shutters and helps
explain the many advantages of owning these custom hardwood shutters.
The booklet features 27 full-color photos that retailers may employ
in assisting consumers to visualize how the shutters will enhance
their homes.
“This new booklet reveals details about our unique manufacturing
and handcrafting processes that contribute to the high quality of
our shutters. Once consumers understand the quality and value benefits
of Sussex Shutters we feel that their choice will be to order Norman
Shutters,” said Paul Shih, senior vice president of sales
and marketing.
Among the booklet’s highlights are discussions of quarter
sawn louvers, mortise-and-tenon joints, multiple-step hand-finishing
process, Prescription Wood Conditioning™ and reinforced engineered
stiles. It also is available online at www.normanshutters.com.
AIA SUPPORTS FUEL USE REDUCTIONS,
STANDARDS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Washington, DC, has
adopted position statements to promote sustainable design and resource
conservation to achieve a minimum reduction of 50 percent of the
current consumption level of fossil fuels used to construct and
operate buildings by the year 2010. In order to accomplish this
goal, the AIA will collaborate with other national and international
organizations, the scientific research community, and the public
health community. As part of this initiative, the AIA also will
develop and promote the integration of sustainability into the curriculum
for the education of architects and architecture students so that
this core principle becomes a guiding mindset for current and future
architects.
“Buildings account for 48 percent of U.S. energy consumption
and generate far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector,”
said R.K. Stewart, FAIA, facilitator of the AIA Sustainability Summit
Task Force. “As architects, we must accept responsibility
for our role in creating the built environment.”
The AIA also supports the development and use of rating systems
and standards that promote the design and construction of communities
and buildings that contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally
conscious future.
SUMMIT LAUNCHES TWO WOOD COMPONENT
COLLECTIONS
Summitt Forest Products has launched its Natural Elements™
and Private Reserve™ collections of in-stock wood blind components.
The Natural Elements lineup features basswood finished in five decorator
paint colors (including sandblast) and six beautiful, scratch-resistant
UV top-coated stains.
The Private Reserve Mendocino collection showcases premium woods
such as knotty pine, red oak and Jatoba. The Private Reserve Sonoma
collection features beautifully refined furniture-quality finishes
on select handcrafted basswood components. Standard and customized
sample decks are available.
Private Reserve also offers fabricators innovative new concepts
in ordering and inventorying wood blind components with Exact-Pack
zero-inventory and Easy-Pack low-inventory programs.
Both collections are in-stock and ready to ship from the company’s
new distribution center in Chino, CA.
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