The high-quality craftsmanship and styling of Thomasville furniture has made it from inside the home to outdoor living spaces. This spring, the company introduced two lines of outdoor furniture with the durability to handle the elements. Both are available at Home Depot and www.homedepot.com.

The Nature’s Retreat line (pictured) is made from hardy eucalyptus wood with an espresso finish and all-weather wicker.

The Summer Silhouette collection has a slightly more contemporary look, with cool gray upholstery and a rustproof aluminum frame with slate patina finish.

Each collection includes weather-resistant cushions and offers a seven-piece dining set, chaise, side table and umbrella. Nature’s Retreat also is available as a seating set with four lounge chairs, two bridge tables and a coffee table, or as a half-set with two chairs and a bridge table. Summer Silhouette includes a sectional sofa with ottoman.

Prices range from $99 for side tables to $999 for large seating and dining room sets.

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Consumers looking to green up their patios with sustainable garden furniture have more products to choose from, but still face challenges finding them in stores, according to the National Wildlife Federation.

Crate & Barrel and Pier 1 Imports scored highest in the group’s first annual scorecard of major retailers of wooden garden furniture. Both, according to the survey, currently offer the largest selection of FSC-certified garden furniture compared with their total wooden outdoor furniture offerings.

Both clearly identify FSC-certified products in their catalogs and online and make sustainable forest management an important criterion for selecting product offerings. Conversely, Wal-Mart offers no FSC-certified products. Smith & Hawken and Restoration Hardware declined to participate in the survey. Read more »

Private equity firm Warburg Pincus is in advanced talks for acquiring a major stake in Chinese retailer Red Star Furniture Group, reports quoting sources close to the deal said.

Warburg Pincus expects to acquire a little less than 50 per cent stake in Red Star even as China’s fast-growing home furnishing market draws increasing foreign interest.

The Shanghai-based Red Star is privately owned and operates 33 outlets, mostly in the affluent east coast. It sells furniture and home furnishings, targeting mostly to homeowners who are spending heavily on decorating newly purchased apartments. Read more »

When manufacturers say “wicker,” they’re referring to every woven furniture product, said Georgel Miloje, of the marketing department at Designer Wicker & Rattan, a furniture manufacturer based in Orangeburg, S.C. Rattan is one of the materials most used for natural wickerwork.

However, demand for outdoor furniture made with synthetic materials is on the increase, and manufacturers are keeping pace. Miloje said his company sees surging growth in the demand for synthetic wickerwork, which people like because it’s weather-resistant. Read more »

Furniture Row® Companies is pleased to announce the grand opening of a new Furniture Row® Shopping Center in Conway, AR. The Center contains four specialty stores and is located at 200 Amity Road on Interstate 40, south of the Home Depot & Target. The stores brands include Oak Express®, Bedroom Expressions®, Sofa Mart® and Denver Mattress Company®. The Center will open on Saturday, April 6 and store hours are Mon-Sat 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. and Sun 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

“The Center will bring a unique furniture shopping experience to the area,” said Bill McKendry, Marketing Director for Furniture Row Companies. “Unlike other furnishings retailers, our centers have four specialty stores at one destination. Each store focuses on a particular category, and each store is managed and staffed with people who are extremely knowledgeable about their specific lines. And, best of all, they all guarantee their prices to be the lowest.” Read more »

Ikea’s affiliation with clean living suggested the Swedish furniture chain might gravitate to the suburban green fields of Interstate 75.

But it was a gritty industrial site between the Port of Tampa and Ybor City that Ikea named Monday as the future home of its third Florida megastore.

A $22-billion global company best known for its blond, assemble-it-yourself furniture, Ikea plans to open the 353,000-square-foot store by the summer of 2009.

The 29-acre site – boxed by Adamo Drive, 22nd Street, the Crosstown Expressway and 26th Street – would employ 400 and draw from the estimated 100,000 Ikea devotees living in and around the Tampa Bay area. Read more »

Painted furniture has become a popular option not only for the dull, ugly or tiresome pieces of furniture you were thinking of throwing away, but also for accent pieces to grace a formal living space.

A painted piece can add punch to an otherwise bland room or enhance a small sitting area. A distressed piece can add warmth to a kitchen or a sun room, while an elaborately designed and painted piece can be a room’s focal point.

“Painting furniture is a centuries old idea,” said Kevin Wood, who does a lot of special painting projects for Davishire Interiors in Nashville. “A lot of people couldn’t afford the better pieces of furniture so they would buy a less expensive piece and paint it.” He adds that painted furniture is gaining popularity again. “I am seeing a resurgence of it.” Read more »

The sluggish housing market has been blamed for everything from soft sales at Home Depot to less demand for full-sized pick-up trucks.

Here’s a new one: Office Depot says it’s selling less furniture and supplies for home offices because of a “soft housing market.”

The comment came from an Office Depot exec in an earnings call today. The Delray Beach-based retailer’s fourth-quarter profit was up 27 percent from a year ago, slightly less than analysts had expected.

Living Spaces Furniture, one of the largest furniture retailers in Southern California, purchased a 220,000-square-foot industrial building at 14400 Arminta Blvd. in Panorama City from S&V Van Nuys Associates. The sale price will remain undisclosed, but the property was originally listed for $24.2 million, or approximately $110 per square foot. Living Spaces plans to demolish half of the facility in order to construct a 103,000-square-foot showroom and 72,000 square feet of warehouse space for its inventory.

The building itself served as an assembly plant for General Motors and is within The Plant Phase II building park, which consists of five mixed-use buildings. The building park was a joint development venture by Voit Development Co. and Selleck Development Group, and boasts several national retail tenants such as the Home Depot, OfficeMax and Ross Dress for Less. Read more »

U.S. home improvement retailer Home Depot Inc. is to buy no more than a 50 percent stake in Chinese furnishing chain HomeWay, making its first foray into retailing in China, a source familiar with the situation said.

Under a deal to be announced later on Wednesday, Atlanta-based Home Depot holds an option to raise its stake to take ownership and management control of the Chinese firm, the source, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.

Privately owned HomeWay Co. Ltd., based in the eastern port city of Tianjin, plans to use part of the proceeds from Home Depot to pay down debts owed to its suppliers, the source added. Read more »