Lalique has introduced a range of Art Deco-inspired furniture and accessories, part of its evolution as a lifestyle brand.

By Andrea Lillo
For those consumers who need stylish seating for small spaces, the answer has increasingly been the pouf.

Proliferating in a vast range of materials, colors, designs and price points, the powerful pouf has proven irresistible to manufacturers and retailers as well, as many have jumped into this category of casual yet chic accent seating.

At a loss for words? Take a look at the growing trend for text appreciation in home décor. Whether the words are used as inspiration or as a design element, they all make for great conversation starters.—Andrea Lillo

1 | Vietri
The Metro collection was inspired by Vietri founder Susan Gravely’s world travels. Each mold is handcarved from Italian stoneware and glazed in white or neutral taupe. vietri.com

A Slice of “Pi” from Gilt Home
Those who loved “Life of Pi”—the fictional story of the Indian boy who was lost at sea with a Bengal tiger now in theaters—had a chance to recreate the adventure for themselves, as several props from the movie were offered in a limited sale to members last month on Gilt Home’s website. Clothing, furniture—such as this tiled table—and the 25-foot lifeboat (tiger not included) were on sale. gilt.com/home

JANUARY

Well Heeled in Paris
Everything about the Palace of Versailles is larger than life, and that includes “Marilyn,” a public work piece by Joana Vasconcelos. Part of a recently ended exhibition at Versailles, the giant pair of high heels was made with 312 pots and 670 lids and displayed in Versailles’ renowned Hall of Mirrors.

Caracole

Christine Lemieux, founder and creative director of DwellStudio, has made Fortune magazine’s 2012 list of most powerful women entrepreneurs.

Lemieux is the only honoree from the home furnishings category. Fortune recognizes 10 female entrepreneurs each year “who are outstanding game changers, groundbreakers and innovators,” according to a DwellStudio statement.

It may be centuries old, but the rich history of handcrafted work in Mexico provides a fertile resource for today’s designers and manufacturers. Whether made in Mexico by local artisans or inspired by them, these products incorporate the intricate patterns, saturated colors and traditional motifs for which the country is known. —Andrea Lillo

See http://hfnmag.com/product-gallery/2622 for more Mexico trends

The mirror and wall decor categories continue to attract new players, and Safavieh is the latest manufacturer to break into this category. At the Las Vegas Market Safavieh debuted its mirrors and wall candle holders, a grouping of about 100 SKUs strong, said Jonathan Yaraghi, furniture manager. The addition was due to “customer demands,” he said. Overall the company has 30,000 SKUs, and the new mirrors and wall decor bring “another element to customers.”

Along with its new showrooms this year—first in High Point, then in Dallas and Las Vegas—Adesso also continued to add new collections as well as expand existing ones. The Danbury and Brookfield torchieres both use mercury glass as a shade in a newly developed process, said Paul Berk, vice president, sales. They received a good reaction at market because they offer a variety of styles and finishes, from contemporary to transitional, he said. There is also an inside shade, which can be removed if the consumer wants to use a specialty bulb. “It’s the beginning of a new series.”

Lauren Ralph Lauren Home’s Willowwood Road furniture collection recently launched exclusively at Havertys.

By Jessica Goldbogen Harlan

As the season for swimming pools and parties on the patio kicks into high gear, retailers of outdoor furniture are ready to serve with well-stocked stores, good deals, and plenty of decorating ideas.

The Summer Classics showroom in Roswell, Ga., for instance, boasts a beautifully merchandised sales floor and a wide range of high-end deep seating pieces, dining sets and decorative accessories.

Elementa Design
The Winnetka Collection echoes American historic design handcrafted of teak in a distinctive mission style.  The collection is designed to be equally at home inside or out.  Included within the collection are deep seating units; three-cushion sofa, lounge chair, ottoman and three occasional table designs. elementadesigns.com

By Duke Ratliff

In the public eye for decades, Priscilla Presley is known for a lot of things. Most obviously, she’s the former wife of Elvis Presley and the mother of Lisa Marie Presley. She’s acted in a slew of television shows and movies; as a businesswoman she helped turn Graceland into a moneymaking powerhouse; and most recently she competed in Dancing With the Stars.

The best of the best in the decorative accessory and lighting industries were honored in at the 23rd annual ARTS Awards. Awards in 26 categories in retail and manufacturing were presented, as was the Academy of Achievement Award, given to Allan Palecek, founder, CEO and lead designer of Palecek, for his impact on the industry.

Accessories Resource Team (ART), the association for the home accent and accent furniture industry, will hold its 20th annual conference in New Orleans this year, from May 17-20, at the Ritz Carlton. This year, the program has been enhanced to incorporate more speakers and, for the first time, attendees will participate in a community project.

World Market Center Las Vegas has named Jamie Drake as its 2012 Design Icon. The award, which recognizes an interior or furniture designer who has made a significant contribution to the industry, will be presented at the Winter 2012 Las Vegas Market.

“Each year, as a market, we strive to deliver what’s new on every front,” said Robert Maricich, CEO of International Market Centers, parent company of World Market Center Las Vegas. “We’ve seen Jamie Drake do the same with his bold, colorful designs and believe he is very deserving of such accolades and industry recognition.”

Last month, LaZBoy held an event in Manhattan where reality show celebrity/designer Jillian Harris showed off various La-Z-Boy products. Nine hand-selected vignettes were designed to showcase La-Z-Boy’s wide range of customizable furniture with over 900 fabrics and 100 leathers options available on sofas, loveseats, and ottomans and chairs-allowing for a perfect fit in any home. Key trends showcased were preppy, menswear-inspired, and hot colors including blues, grays and deep greens and reds.

As usual, next year’s six-month trade show calendar starts with a bang with a plethora of January events. Trade shows from Hong Kong to High Point, N.C., beckon members of the home furnishings industry through June. Here’s a partial list of trade show happenings. See the full calendar of events at hfnmag.com.

Agio

The Del Sol is an all weather wicker collection. The Dining set has a woven rim that holds a glass top table. It is also offered in a Chaise lounge and a 6-piece Deep seating collection, which includes a swivel glider allowing for 360 degree and gentle rocking motion, an ottoman and side and coffee tables. The Sunbrella cushion fabric is specifically designed for outdoor use. agio-usa.com

Pride Family Brands

Lexington Home Brands is acquring Sligh Furniture Company.

The transaction, slated to close this month, will give Lexington a major presence in the home office and home entertainment categories while adding a well-respected brand to its portfolio which includes Lexington, Tommy Bahama Home and Henry Link Trading Co.

Sligh Furniture Company was founded in 1880 and is known for its innovation in the home office and home entertainment categories. Sligh designers have earned seven Pinnacle Awards for outstanding design from the American Society of Furniture Designers.

The outdoor furniture industry converged on Chicago’s Merchandise Mart last month for the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market with a singular purpose: to take advantage of the continuing consumer trend to take the inside outdoors. Exhibitors responded with new showrooms, more motion furniture, plenty of firepits, and in some cases, lower priced collections. Here are some of the highlights of the show.–Duke Ratliff

Pride Family Brands

Craig Wilson was named executive vice president of sales training at Kingsdown, succeeding Tom McLean, who is retiring after 42 years with the mattress manufacturer.

Wilson assumes responsibility over delivering sales training and education to Kingsdown’s retail customers. He has been working with McLean over the past year, coming to the company from Simmons where he was vice president of sales training and development. Wilson reports to Kevin Damewood, executive vice president of sales.

McLean will remain a member of the Kingsdown board of directors.

Don Coleman, president and CEO of Hickory Springs Manufacturing Company, announced his plans to retire this December after 39 years with the company. He has been president and CEO of the company since 1996.

“Hickory Springs has been my ‘life away from home’ for almost 40 years—and what a great life it has been,” Coleman said.

Bush Expands my/space Collection
Bush Furniture added six new items to its my/space collection to address what the company said has been a strong consumer response to the brand.

“This has been a very popular collection for Bush Furniture,” said Jim Sherbert, CEO of Bush Industries. “We’re confident that these recent additions to the line will continue to attract customers seeking attractive furnishings, but may be challenged by smaller spaces and budgets.”

By Duke Ratliff

This year’s International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, scheduled for Sept. 12-15 at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, will look to address—and benefit from—consumer trends.

At the same time, the show will include a slew of new vendors—both permanent and temporary—to expand the market’s already significant offerings of outdoor furniture and a vast selection of accessories of every kind.

By Jessica Goldbogen Harlan

With sunny skies and 80 degree temperatures, it’s beginning to seem a lot like summer in Atlanta—and two furniture store outlets here have taken advantage of the mini heat wave by promoting their outdoor furniture selections. Macy’s Furniture Gallery, a returnee to the casual furniture category, and Room & Board, a high-end furniture chain with 12 locations across the country, both played up their patio furniture with prominently situated vignettes and a wide variety of offerings to suit every taste.

By Duke Ratliff

With spring in the air, specialty retailers Restoration Hardware and Crate & Barrel are emphasizing outdoor collections like never before.

Both stylish companies are taking a double-pronged marketing approach this season with outdoor goods placed prominently in their catalogs and on their websites.

Consumers are focusing on their outdoor spaces with the same attention that they have been giving to their indoor rooms. Indeed, with many new decor products available specifically for the outdoors—or, in some cases, intended for either indoors or outdoors—the outdoor “room” has become just as important in terms of decor as the living room, bedroom and dining room.

By Andrea Lillo

Murray Feiss—the man—has returned to the lighting industry. After several years off, the founder of lighting company Murray Feiss is set to debut his new lighting venture, Authenticity, with his sons-in-law Ron Hersh and Robert Greene.

They enjoyed their time off, Feiss said, and while coming back into the category was actually “not the first thing on our minds,” it ended up being the logical spot for them. “We love the business,” said Feiss, who started Murray Feiss 55 years ago.

By Andrea Lillo

Changes are afoot within wall decor, as some manufacturers at High Point will break into the category for the first time to complement their product lines. Other companies will debut new showrooms or recently acquired companies.

It’s summertime and the casual living’s easy

By Duke Ratliff

Outdoor furniture makers and sellers have lots of reasons to be optimistic as they enter the height of their selling season.

First, the weather has been cooperating in most parts of the United States.

“As you might guess, weather is very important to the category,” said Joseph P. Logan, executive director, International Casual Furnishings Association. “We’ve generally had a good spring, with some regional exceptions. It should be reflected in sales for 2010.”

The furniture industry responded to the first signs of a recovery in its business with a plethora of product at this past High Point Market, making the HFN Award of Excellence process all that much more difficult. Selecting the outstanding new products from the market is always a challenge when there are 11 million square feet of showroom space to cover, but when much of it featured new product the task got even harder. Undaunted, HFN’s editors picked a cross-section of significant introductions to feature on the following pages.

BEDDING

After a 25 year absence from the category, Macy’s is testing the casual furniture waters with a launch of outdoor furniture collections in some of its Northeast stores.

With a wide variety of furniture designed to convert outdoor space into an extension of the home, the Macy’s Outdoor Furniture Collection is debuting in 20 Macy’s Department Stores and furniture galleries in New York, New jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware and Virginia.

By Warren Shoulberg

If there was any irony in the fact that the grand reopening for the Fortunoff Backyard Store had to be postponed for a day because of a blizzard that hit the New York area, it certainly didn’t seem to bother any of the people on hand for that opening.

Fortunoff was back.

The legendary New York home furnishings retailer, which passed from family hands to several investment groups and ultimately into liquidation, returned—at least partially—last month with the opening of seven Backyard Stores.

Accessories Resource Team will hold its an-nual industry conference May 20-23 at the Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
The annual conference is designed to inspire active participation and encourages collaboration while imparting timely information for decorative accessory businesses, organizers said.

 Joining the lineup of speakers this year are Leslie Newby, Brand Communications;  Randy Eller, Eller Enterprises;  Warren Shoulberg, HFN Magazine; and Fashionsnoops.com.

HFN Staff Report
The home furnishings industry is getting ready to spin the business wheel again in Las Vegas this month and while no one is expecting to hit the jackpot, most suppliers are hoping for at least a modest payoff.
The Las Vegas Market at the World Market Center convenes for its tenth time amidst some encouraging, if not overwhelmingly positive, signs that the worst may be over and the recovery is in its slow but steady climb out.

By Jennifer Boncy
Despite the ongoing effects of the recession, the casual furniture market is pushing ahead with new looks, often using materials from traditional wicker on aluminum or wood frames to banana-leaf weaves or Batyline fabric with wood.
Manufacturers are offering retailers looks and materials that are on-trend and are known sellers, but they also have ventured to design pieces that catch the eye with new silhouettes and updated colors. Also driving the market this spring will be consumer demand for value and budget friendly options.

By Duke Ratliff
While brick-and-mortar stores throughout most of the country pull back on their casual furniture offerings for fall, Internet-based merchants continue to devote lots of cyberspace to the outdoors—even during the offseason.
Not surprisingly, e-tailers pack their sites with items that reflect the overall casual furniture trend to bring the indoors to the outdoors. Collections with various seating opportunities vie for space with more traditional dining sets.

With the economy still on the bumpy ride that began a year and a half ago, vendors of outdoor home furnishings are intensifying their focus on the strengths that they bring to this increasingly important segment.

Lots of CEOs say they know their customers. Steve Crowder REALLY knows his customers.
Earlier this year, Crowder, president and CEO of GuildMaster, the accent furniture and decorative accessories resources, set out on a cross-country odyssey to meet the company’s retail customers, find out how business was and generally get the lay of the land.
Some 15,000 miles and 32 states later, Crowder had 152 retail notches on his belt, giving him one of the most special perspectives on business conditions and what makes good retailers good—and bad retailers bad.

AmericasMart’s outdoors/gardens area, called Living. Outdoor/Indoor. The Gardens., is poised to be the center of attention in Building 2 WestWing during this month’s Atlanta Gift & Home Furnishings Market.
The two-floor (9th and 10th), 200,000 square-foot product center is 100 percent leased and fully occupied with more than 100 companies offering innovative products, many exclusive to AmericasMart. Products in The Gardens include everything from casual furnishings to pottery and statuary to patio-room and sunroom accessories.

Considering the furniture industry is a pretty accurate reflection of the entire American economy, the just completed fall High Point Market wasn’t too bad at all.
While it was clear that quantitative attendance numbers weren’t going to be impressive, many exhibitors surveyed informally by HFN said their business during market was OK, some even going further and claiming gains in orders.
The fact that any business was being done at all could be viewed as surprising given the overall state of the industry.

HFN Staff Report
LAS VEGAS–The Las Vegas Summer Market was a sea of newness.
New Building C, new exhibitors, new products and new promotions to spur sales were the talk of the desert.
In addition to some 300 new exhibitors, many existing tenants have relocated, expanded or otherwise remodeled their spaces, often with dramatic results. And while most of that activity is in the new building, there were some serious upgrades of spaces in buildings A and B as well.

HFN Staff Report
LAS VEGAS–It may not be the greatest retail climate for home furnishings right now, but you wouldn’t necessarily know working the Las Vegas Market here in late January.
Vendors and retailers alike agreed that buying activity was strong at the market, held at the World Market Center and elsewhere. Retail remains tough, but the chance to get new product was the strong draw.

By Nancy Meyer
The Las Vegas Market kicks off here this week with lots of new products, new exhibitors, giveaways, and business and educational seminars.
The winter edition of market, which opens Monday at the World Market Center and Tuesday at the MGM Grand, will seem decidedly “greener,” as the sustainable living exhibitors roster and educational component continues to grow.

By Nancy Meyer

NEW YORK--While India has a long tradition of supplying fine textiles to the U.S. market, the country is a significant untapped resource for decorative accessories and lighting products.

To put India into the context of the overall industry, one need only look at the figures for imports of portable lamps and lighting fixtures.

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The first few lines of the story go here, and serve as

a tease...