Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. announced that its third quarter earnings will be negatively impacted by lower sales levels and slightly reduced margins, compared to the year ago period.

Third quarter sales for the three month period ended August 26, 2006, are expected to be approximately seven percent below third quarter 2005 levels. This shortfall is primarily due to soft retail conditions especially in the past two months which has impacted both retail sales and wholesale shipments. The decline is also partially due to the sale of the Company’s Weiman Division at the end of April 2006.

“Like many other retailers, we have seen a softening in consumer traffic as higher interest rates and higher gasoline prices are obviously having an impact on the discretionary spending of many consumers,” said Robert H. Spilman Jr., Bassett’s president and chief executive officer. “We have several marketing and merchandising initiatives underway which we believe will positively impact Bassett’s sales performance in future months.” Read more »

La-Z-Boy Residential has appointed Chuck Seilnacht to the newly created position of director of Furniture Galleries Excellence. In this role, Seilnacht will lead the continuous development and implementation of the Furniture Galleries Excellence (FGE) performance improvement system to drive consistency and operational excellence within the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® store network. Seilnacht will report directly to Mark Wagner, vice president of store development and marketing.

“Furniture Galleries Excellence provides our proprietary dealers with the tools and support programs necessary to drive continuous and focused improvement,” said Wagner. “Chuck has the retail performance improvement experience and need assessment techniques required to ensure that the FGE program continues to provide our stores with an incredible advantage.”

In addition, Seilnacht will lead all retail training and education programs to achieve company goals and growth initiatives among all La-Z-Boy distribution channels. Read more »

La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries, one of the world’s leading residential furniture producers, was recently honored as a recipient of the Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services Client Award.

The annual award recognizes select clients for success achieved with their consumer private-label credit card program through Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services. The award is based on program participation and credit card sales volume.

“We are honored to receive this award from our financial services partner Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services,” said Mark Wiltshire, president of La-Z-Boy Retail Division. “Our partnership and collaborative efforts have allowed all La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries the opportunity to provide their customers with financing options that suit their needs. The strength of the Wells Fargo Financial Retail Services and La-Z-Boy brands will continue to provide customers quality, comfort and convenience.” Read more »

On April 21, Interlude Home Inc. announced its acquisition of contemporary upholstered furniture leader Weiman/Preview, formerly a division of Bassett Furniture Inds. Inc.

“We know it’s bold for a company specializing in accessories to buy one that designs and manufactures furniture,” said Carl Phillips, President of Interlude Home. “But the challenges we’ve met in growing Interlude Home have been extremely complex and similar to what we face with Weiman. It’s a very natural, strategic step.”

Bassett Furniture executives are confident about the transition, and plan to focus on the company’s current business and its growth strategies. “We are pleased Interlude Home made this move, and we are confident that Weiman’s strong brand name and dedicated workforce will continue to thrive with this dynamic company,” said Robert H. Spilman Jr., President and CEO of Bassett Furniture. “Our focus is our core Bassett business and growing our Bassett Furniture Direct retail store network.” Read more »

La-Z-Boy, a leading manufacturer of upholstered furniture, has announced the opening of a La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® store in Brookfield, Wis., located at 16130 W. Blue Mound Road. The store boasts the design-focused format of the company’s “new generation” stores, which help customers in every step of their furniture shopping and home decorating experience.

The new 17,500-square-foot store features the full selection of stylish La-Z-Boy® furniture, beautiful accent pieces, and a professionally staffed design center to help customers put it all together. Read more »

Bassett Furniture News Release
Bassett Furniture Industries Inc. (Nasdaq: BSET) announced today its earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended November 26, 2005. Sales for the fourth quarter of 2005 were $88.6 million, up 10.6 percent from fourth quarter 2004 levels, led by an $8 million increase in shipments to Bassett Furniture Direct (BFD) stores. This 17% increase in BFD shipments outpaced approximately $5 million of expected attrition with traditional furniture stores. Additionally, the acquisition of 15 BFD stores in Dallas, Atlanta, and upstate New York (the “BFD acquisitions”) increased net sales by approximately $5 million in the fourth quarter of 2005. For fiscal 2005, sales were $335.2 million, up 6.2 percent from 2004 levels. Wholesale shipments to the BFD channel for 2005 were up $32.5 million (18%) more than offsetting $22.6 million in expected attrition from traditional stores and other channels. The remaining increase in net sales for 2005 resulted from the BFD acquisitions.

The Bassett Furniture Direct retail store program continues to grow with 132 stores currently in operation. Licensees opened three stores during the fourth quarter of 2005. The Company expects licensees to open 18 new BFD stores in fiscal 2006, including three opened in December. BFD stores accounted for 68 percent of total wholesale shipments in 2005, compared to 60 percent in 2004. During the year, the Company acquired 15 BFD stores in Dallas, Atlanta and upstate New York bringing the total number of Company-owned stores to 27, more than one-fifth of the BFD store network. “We are pleased with our improvement in continuing operating earnings and the solid performance posted by our upholstery division and imported products within our wood division,” said Robert H. Spilman Jr., president and chief executive officer. “We remain squarely focused on retail, using our expanded Corporate store program to build a platform for providing solutions to ourcustomers and to develop best practices which will serve the entire BFD store program.” Read more »

La-Z-Boy, a leading manufacturer of upholstered furniture, has announced the opening of a La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries® store in Lynnwood, Wash., located at 19230 Alderwood Mall Pkwy. The store boasts the design-focused format of the company’s “new generation” stores, which help customers in every step of their furniture shopping and home decorating experience.

The new 17,700-square-foot store features the full selection of stylish La-Z-Boy® furniture, beautiful accent pieces, and a professionally staffed design center to help customers put it all together.

“La-Z-Boy offers furniture for any home, whether you are looking for something contemporary or classic, casual or traditional,” said Andy Spotts, store owner. “The style, quality and comfort of La-Z-Boy furniture combined with the design expertise and customer service we provide make an easy, enjoyable furniture shopping experience for any customer.”

The La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries store network numbers 329 locations, representing one of North America’s largest furniture retailers and the fourth largest U.S. furniture retailer.

Headquartered in Monroe, Mich., La-Z-Boy is North America’s largest manufacturer of upholstered furniture and the world’s leading producer of reclining chairs. It is a division of La-Z-Boy Incorporated, (NYSE: PCX: LZB) one of the nation’s largest furniture manufacturers and marketers.