We have been selling worldwide for 4 years. Recently opened a showroom to showcase our products. I have tried every form of advertising possible, but still cannot get right clientele to come in to see amazing and beautiful furniture. I am at a loss of what to do. I network 4 nights a week, website, trade shows, local newspaper has written editorial twice, postcards to upscale homes, blogs, brochures. I am off the beaten path, but still on a major road. Is there something I am missing?

Asked by: vegassuzi63

Speaking of transitional, Lexington followed its resumption of issuing brands under its own name last fall with the spring introduction of Hancock Park, an elegant collection both traditional and modern.

Features include black and gold finishes, scalloped designs and jewel-like hardware.

The striking Whitley Heights Mirror, with dark-finished Indonesian mahonie wood surrounding concave glass, can dominate a living room horizontally from above a couch but can also be flipped vertically and displayed more modestly.

Lexington also showed Kingstown, a new licensed Tommy Bahama Home collection that debuted in January in Las Vegas. Pieces evoke the West Indies, Africa and the Caribbean, with British Colonial, Campaign and Safari influences.

The leather and hardwood Tortola Chest features nail-head trim, etched metal escutcheons on the drawers, bronze/copper-like porter’s handles on the sides and bun feet.

Showcasing the most elite in the gourmet and high-end design products industry for 32 years, The Gourmet Housewares Show continues to add to the excitement of taking the show back to Las Vegas. A growing list of exhibitors and programming additions ensure the show will be a must-attend event.

The Gourmet Housewares Show has long prided itself on appealing to the highly selective and discriminating buyer interested in upscale products for the kitchen and dining room. Among the growing list of upscale exhibitors-some new and others well-known-are Palate & Plate, Diva Chocolates, TableTops with a Twist, Tastefully Unique, Yamazaki Tableware, Samantha Grace Designs, Pasabahce, Haute Cuisine, and Wilton Armetale. Read more »

Pedro Rivera Wiener has dreams for your lifestyle that include subtle doses of bling. His Crystal Furniture Collection, peppered with Swarovski crystals, combines clean lines and smart decorative elements, such as inset leather panels, strings of jeweled effervescence and thoughtful detailing.

Within Wiener’s RW Lux showroom in the Design District, which reads like a chiaroscuro of rich-toned wood and pale leather, the 50 pieces in the new line include sofas, chairs, tables, beds, mirrors and accessories — all treated to four layers of polyurethane polished to a high sheen and lavished with white leather.

”I chose white leather for the showroom pieces because it’s very Miami,” Wiener remarks; “but special orders can be placed for leather in more than 15 different colors.” Read more »

A group of furniture manufacturers gathered in High Point this week to make plans for the next Pre-Market, scheduled for March 3-4.

Pre-market happens in between the twice-yearly High Point Market wholesale furniture trade shows, and gives buyers and sellers an opportunity to preview new introductions and make last-minute changes for the big shows.

During the past several years the future of Pre-Market has been uncertain with the opening of the rival Las Vegas Market, but last year a group of 16 manufacturing companies partnered to bring a new structure and formality to the event.

That group expanded to 25 manufacturers this year, according to Brian Casey, president of the High Point Market Authority, who serves as a spokesperson for the group. The Market Authority does not have a direct role in planning Pre-Market. Read more »

It’s a modest goal Lauren Russell has set for herself and her family’s handcrafted furniture business.
“One day I want Russell and Mackenna to be to Severna Park what L.L. Bean is to Portland, (Maine),” she said. “It’s a great little town.”

From Lauren Russell and her husband Kevin’s Severna Park garage three years ago, the couple has grown a multimillion-dollar custom cottage-style furniture firm, Russell and Mackenna, with 30 dealers up and down the East Coast.

This summer the factory doubled its space by moving to a 6,000-square-foot production facility in Jessup, and the Russells opened their first showroom in Severna Park, which is already outselling the other licensed dealers.

The burgeoning furniture empire was born of vanity. Or at least one vanity. Read more »

The 2007 Las Vegas Summer Furniture Market, July 30 – August 3, 2007, will feature a three-part series by furniture industry gurus entitled ConsumerWatch, ColorWatch and TrendWatch. The series is designed to help buyers see the full gamut of trend – from color palettes to consumer preferences – for the year ahead.

“These seminars will prove to be very valuable for buyers and designers who want to get a broad view of what’s happening in the world from design, color, retail and consumers to demographics and societal shifts,” said Dana Andrew, director of marketing and public relations for World Market Center.

At this summer’s Market, Maxine Lauer, founder and president of Sphere Trending LLC, will present a ConsumerWatch seminar on Tuesday, July 31 at 10:00 a.m. in World Market Center’s Building B that will cover big-picture macro trends that cause consumers to shop, think and live differently, and how that affects the future. Sphere Trending brings together macro and micro trend information and focuses on the “why” behind “what’s new.” Read more »

In a move to establish a significant presence of sustainability, Channel Logic and Sustainable Furniture Council join with World Market Center to create the inaugural Living Green Pavilion. As part of the Design and Living section at the Sands Convention Center, Living Green will showcase stylish and functional home furnishing designs available from several manufacturers. Channel Logic Inc, has positioned themselves as the leading sustainable products resource and representation firm, and is working hard to establish a viable presence in the marketplace for eco-conscious purchasers.

Channel Logic, Inc. is a sustainable furniture manufacturer representation firm, founded in March, 2007, by Tim Loveday and Mark Gruman. With the sustainability movement rapidly gaining momentum, Loveday and Gruman recognized an opportunity to advance the presence of sustainability within the furniture industry. Read more »

Auction firms may not be associated exclusively with distressed property sales any more. But they aren’t exactly a sign of prosperity either.

This week, Oak Brook, IL-based Inland Real Estate Auctions, Inc. formed a venture with Alpha World Properties to promote auction sales of real estate assets associated with North Carolina’s furniture industry.

The firms said the newly-announced venture is intended to offer a prospective disposition option to owners of real estate facing vacancies as a consequence of the more challenging economic conditions facing furniture makers resulting from falling demand for furniture and more manufacturing business moving overseas. Read more »

GRID2 International, which provides brand identity development and retail store design services, has named Jennifer Magee senior associate, with responsibilities for developing a furniture retail store-specific division that will provide concept exploration, planning, design and presentation services.

Previously, Magee was an independent consultant executing contract-based design work for Lacina-Heitler Architects and Gensler, both of New York, and HKS Architects in Dallas. She also taught as an adjunct professor for the Pratt Institute’s department of interior design and as an associate professor at the University of Tennessee’s College of Architecture and Design. Read more »