When Jolie Berry and her husband, Dr. Eugene Berry, purchased Wakefield Plantation in 1987, they also purchased some of the furniture in the home.

“We knew they were original furnishings,” Jolie Berry said. “We were just grateful to have something to put in the rooms.”

Imagine their surprise when New Orleans attorney Paul Haygood, the great-great-great-grandson of Wakefield’s original owners, dropped by to tell them that while researching a family piece he had recently acquired, he discovered that a small table at Wakefield was a real treasure, an authentic Duncan Phyfe piece.

Phyfe, who was born in Scotland in 1768, is recognized as one of America’s most important furniture-makers. Furniture produced in his New York shop is highly treasured. He is particularly known for his early furniture with decorative carving in English Sheraton and French Empire styles. The table at Wakefield is from Phyfe’s later period of design, his Grecian-style furniture.

The Berrys bought Wakefield, some eight miles north of St. Francisville, from Lilie Stirling Sinclair, the great-granddaughter of Lewis Stirling and Sarah Turnbull Stirling, Wakefield’s original builders. Read more »

Louisiana-based Home Furniture Company has been added to the “Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores” listing by Furniture Today, the leading industry trade journal.

The list is compiled each year and is considered a benchmark for excellence in the furniture business on a national level. This is the first time Home Furniture has been included in the list, which is based on sales of furniture, bedding and accessories.

Kurt Amico, President of MidCity Office Furniture announced today that J Suzan Ben has joined the company. J Suzan has been a prominent interior designer and educator locally for over 20 years. Her background includes interior design, space planning and education as a instructor at Villa Maria College.

“Our clients are no longer looking for products- they are looking for a complete solution, they want us to create a highly functional workplace that is very aesthetically pleasing,” says Amico. “J Suzan brings both of these objectives to the forefront.” Read more »

Despite declining sales, Champion Industries Inc. reported a second-quarter profit of nearly $1.4 million.

The Huntington-based commercial printing and business furniture supplier’s net income of $1,390,000 translated to 14 cents per share. Champion’s second-quarter net income was down from the same period in 2006, when the company earned a record $1.57 million, or 16 cents per share.

Revenues fell by 9.6 percent, from $37.4 million in the second quarter of 2006 to $33.8 million, Champion said.

Champion’s printing segment saw sales drop by $2.8 million, while the office products and office furniture segment’s sales fell by $2.1 million.

“Although our sales declined from the previous year, we were able to record one of our best second quarters from an earnings perspective, indicating improved flexibility and elasticity in our operating model,” said Marshall Reynolds, Champion’s chairman and chief executive officer. Read more »

Conn’s, Inc., a specialty retailer of home appliances, consumer electronics, computers, lawn and garden products, furniture and mattresses, announced its net sales results for the quarter ended April 30, 2007.

Net sales for the quarter ended April 30, 2007 of $181.4 million increased $9.7 million, or 5.6%, as compared with the quarter ended April 30, 2006, which, as previously disclosed, was positively impacted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Net sales represent net product sales (see table below), service revenues and commissions from service maintenance agreement sales. Revenues from finance charges and other for the quarter will be reported in the Company’s earnings release and conference call scheduled for May 31, 2007. Read more »

A national furniture retailer plans to build a regional distribution center and showroom that would employ up to 300 people at an industrial park near Pearl River, the latest development in a post-Hurricane Katrina residential and commercial construction boom for the once-sleepy town.

State Rep. Pete Schneider, whose family owns the industrial park and the adjacent St. Joe Brick Works, announced the deal Tuesday night when he asked the Pearl River Board of Aldermen to annex the 331-acre park.

The company, which Schneider declined to name pending completion of the deal in a few weeks, would generate between $225,000 and $450,000 a year in local sales taxes on estimated sales of $10 million to $20 million.

“I’m very proud of the fact that we were able to bring this business to St. Tammany Parish. It involved some very hard negotiations,” said Schneider, noting that the company considered four other sites, two in Mississippi and two elsewhere in Louisiana. Read more »

Vermont has long enjoyed an excellent reputation in the furniture industry. A company in the Northeast Kingdom is cashing in on that.

In a former Packard car showroom, machinists now drive lathes, turning out table legs by the tens of thousands. Matthew Burak says, “Usually they’re an inspiration from something historical.”

Burak designs the wooden pieces. A team of workers executes his vision. Burak says, “I basically saw a need in the marketplace that wasn’t being met.” Read more »

Libbey Inc. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary Libbey Glass Inc., commenced an offer to exchange up to $306 million in aggregate principal amount of its Floating Rate Senior Secured Notes due 2011, which have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, for its outstanding unregistered Floating Rate Senior Secured Notes due 2011. The exchange offer will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time on February 14, 2007, unless Libbey Glass Inc., in its sole discretion, decides to extend the exchange offer.

The exchange agent for the exchange offer is The Bank of New York Trust Company, N.A., Attention: Corporate Trust Department, Reorganization Unit, 101 Barclay Street – 7E, New York, NY 10286. For information by telephone, call 1-212-815-5920. Read more »

No matter where you looked in the parking lot at the Tupelo Furniture market you saw a vehicle tag from a different state.

They came from Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri, Alabama and other states to check out the newest design and fashion in furniture making.

In the booth set up for Gillespie Manufacturing, which makes and markets 18th Century reproductions, Ernestine Taylor from Decatur, Illinois was enjoying her seat on the luxurious cream-colored sofa.

Taylor, who owns E.T. Flowers and Home Decor Furniture Store in Illinois, said she comes to the Tupelo market every year. Read more »

For nearly half a century, furniture maker Buck Barnett handcrafted exquisite armoires, entertainment centers, tables, beds and other pieces.

The piece Barnett says he’s proudest of is an entry table supported by two hand-carved women. The piece is so detailed that Barnett styled the women’s “hair” with pin curls.

“I started doing this kind of work in 1960,” Barnett said. “I’d probably still be doing it if I hadn’t gotten sick.”

Barnett’s shop was a fixture on Britton Road east of Western Avenue for 25 years. He survived a heart attack in 1999 and continued working until two years ago, when he closed the shop. Read more »