HFN Staff Report
What’s the best thing incoming president Barack Obama can do to help the industry?
Rich Roman
President
Revman Industries
“I’m more concerned about what he might do rather than what he could do, especially in changing NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement]. We do a lot of manufacturing in Mexico, and any restraint of trade could hurt the home textiles business as a whole. The only suggestion I could make is that he give the home textiles industry a $1 billion bailout, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Brian Maynard
Director of brand marketing
KitchenAid
“Moving the economy as a whole back to positive territory is critically important to the housewares and appliances industry. A number of people have suggested specific actions, but I’ll leave that to the economists and those who train in that particular field. He needs to create an environment that urges consumers to come back to retailers through boosting consumer confidence, easing up credit, and creating and stabilizing jobs.”
Alan Steel
Executive vice president of the business-to-retail division
DMG World Media
“The first and most important thing is to give us all the proverbial pat on the back and tell us it will be all right. What we lack is confidence. What we need is confidence. That is not a single action—it is a series of actions that will make us feel more safe and more secure.”
Mark Buss
President, chief executive officer and general manager, Americas region
Saeco
“There are two broad-based factors that Obama needs to address: restoring consumer confidence and restoring America’s international credibility. We’ve seen in the past few weeks that he hasn’t moved too far to the left, and he’s putting people that are intellectually capable of handling these issues. This speaks volumes to the country and the international community. More specifically, I would like him to address tort reform to address the ridiculous amount of lawsuits, especially those that affect small businesses. Also, he needs to look at “death” taxes, which hurt the independent family-owned retailers that are an important part of our business. He also needs to address the cost of health care, which is a concern to consumers, manufacturers and retailers.”
James Bell
CEO
Protect-a-Bed
“To me, the major thing is housing. What he needs to do is really get a handle on the foreclosure business. Try to reduce the number of foreclosures. This will subsequently lead to improvement for all home-furnishings companies.”
Jeff Hollander
CEO
Hollander Home Fashions
“I believe it is important that President Obama realize that all industries are not affected by imports in the same manner and that under current immigration laws, the needletrade industry will never rebound in the United States. As such, President Obama should meet with union leaders to explain why we are only hurting the American consumer by looking at high duty rates [and possibly quotas] on our products, and that they should communicate this reality to the American consumer. In addition, President Obama should stand up to the unions and acknowledge that passing the Employee Free Choice Act, which allows unions to be acknowledged without a secret-ballot election by potential members, is an unfair abuse of union intimidation, prevents free choice by employees and will result in higher prices for the consumer.”
Mike Nemoir
Executive vice president of home
Bon-Ton department stores
“To directly help the home business, the housing market has got to get better, by [taking steps like] reducing mortgages, for example. We’ve got to be able to buy and sell homes.”
Gil Harrison
Chairman and founder
Financo
“Obama has made an illustrious start in trying to restore confidence. He’s taking initiative to create leadership. It’s fabulous that he’s being proactive. When it comes to purchasing product, be it home or apparel, you need the consumer to feel about themselves and the world. The 2.5 million people that he wants to put back to work by rebuilding infrastructure is going to be an extremely effective [step] that will create more permanent income. We have so many workers today, but are there blue-collar workers to do this work? Whether it’s rebuilding roads or rebuilding schools, these are the types of things you have to get Obama to concentrate on. So far, the people that he’s put together on his team are outstanding. He’s been able to combine the left and the right of the liberals together—that to me is something that is totally essential, and what it does is create consumer confidence. In my opinion, we’ve had the worst leadership vacuum for the past eight years with a president who doesn’t inspire the population.”
Sal Gabbay
President
Gibson
“I think what he’s doing [in terms of laying out a plan and making appointments] is the right sequence. He has appointed good people, I believe he’s making the right moves. Early gestures will pay off. This correction in the market was long overdue and was delayed by the availability of cheap money and liberal lending laws. I believe the economy will recover from it and things will improve. The key to do this is build consumer confidence by improving the unemployment rate and showing improvements in the economy and financial sector, and to be focused on real values in life and not living on a borrowed income.“
Patricio Barriga
President
Fagor
“In a recent weekly radio address, Barack Obama stated that he intends to save or create 2.5 million jobs in the next two years. The recent spike of major layoffs nationwide has made a direct impact on consumer confidence and the ability of people to invest money in the types of goods we provide. I believe that a robust job market will have an immense effect on consumer demand for our products.”
Barry Leonard
President
Croscill, Ex-Cell Home Fashions, Glenoit
“I’d make sure that smaller banks that are loaning money to small businesses get part of the money from the bailout package, not just the large banks. Then hold the big banks’ feet to the fire to make sure they put money toward loans to small businesses. A lot of the businesses in home furnishings are small and need this money. Also, 98 percent of all new jobs come from small businesses and the big businesses aren’t creating jobs, they’re getting rid of them.”
Kevin Aylward
Owner
Prairie Rugs
“Barack is the man for the times. The thing he offers is hope, and he is going to ask of us sacrifice and service, which has not been asked by any president since probably John F. Kennedy, who said, ‘Ask ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.’ We have to all work and give for the good of the country and the world. That’s the change he promised.”
Lee Harounian
Principal
Harounian International
“I think housing is the biggest issue here. Our whole economy depends on home purchases. If housing picks up, mortgages stop falling through and prices adjust, people will start buying houses; that will help the home furnishings industry. If banks would lend money for this purpose—put more money into mortgages and make it easier for people to get mortgages—this is the most important thing we can hope for.”
Jim Joseph
President and CEO
Oneida
“We agree that it is vital that President-elect Obama do all that he can to stimulate the economy. In our industry, lowering tariffs, expanding free trade and keeping medical insurance affordable are business priorities, in addition to boosting consumer confidence.”
Bonnie Mackay
Director of merchandising, creative and marketing
MoMA Design Stores
“I thought it was very interesting that Obama felt very strongly about bringing back [the manufacturing] industry to America. I’m thinking about my old business, textiles. It would be very interesting to bring manufacturing back to America. That would really be great.”
Reza Momeni
President
Momeni Rugs
“Our industry—rugs and home furnishings—is closely related to the home building industry. The administration can try to help people with their mortgages. People are in need of help so they can stay in their homes. If they can stay in their homes, they can think of decorating and furnishings. Also, save the finance and other industries. There are so many jobs being lost, which affects high-end consumer buying.”
Elay Doyle
Principle
Peel & Co.
“Clearly we are directly affected by problems in the mortgage market, and I think lowering interest rates for home loans is going to go a long way in getting people to take up the slack. There are just so many houses on the market right now. To me that is going to be the most important step to take. We need to prevent some of the foreclosures.”
Asha Chaudhary
CEO
Jaipur
“Obama will have to take some bold and immediate steps. I firmly believe that Obama’s first, most major task is to stop the bleeding in the current financial situation. Obama needs to work hard at developing a plan to keep people in their homes and stopping the foreclosure landslide that we’re in by maintaining faith in banks and the financial system. Not to mention working on maintaining the liquidity of banks to still allow small businesses and homeowners to thrive. It is the homeowners and small businesses that are the lifeblood of the area rug industry, and one of our most important assets.”
Gary McCray
President
Laneventure
“The first step that President Obama’s administration should do for the overall economy is to develop a major fiscal stimulus plan to get spending going again. Specific to our industry, steps need to be taken to reduce the number of foreclosures going forward and to stimulate sales of the existing home inventory to reduce the downward pressure on home prices. These steps are needed immediately to increase confidence in the economy and improve credit availability, both of which are desperately needed.”
Jamie Lowsky
CEO
Pride Family Brands
“This is a tough question; especially if you are a believer in free market economics and therefore, the belief that government should not be involved in business. However, the bottom line is that our business involves two hot topics: housing and credit. If both are frozen, we need help getting these markets moving. Banks need to be lending. Initiatives to stimulate this movement would assist our industry and many other industries as well.”
Bruce Hric
President and CEO
Capel Rugs
“President Obama must inject confidence into the U.S. economy with fresh, innovative leadership. Immediate steps must be taken to strengthen our credit and housing markets. The home furnishings industry will be a direct beneficiary of his actions.”
Steve Elias
President and CEO
Louisville Bedding Co.
“What Obama is doing now, before he’s taken over, is all positive in the transition. He’s involved and it doesn’t seem political. Everybody seems to be pulling together. To me, the big factor is the lack of manufacturing in the U.S. We have to make things because that creates jobs and enable people to go to the stores and shop. I’d like to see an effort to keep manufacturing here and create new manufacturing companies.”
Emmanuel Plat
Vice president
Conran Shop in the U.S.
“If he would tackle the situation with the economy and the housing market, and try to turn things around, that would be a lot already. That would restore consumer confidence and revive consumer spending. To me that’s more important than industry-specific measures. The restoration of the dollar is important. For people like us who are importing a lot of goods, we have been suffering a lot in recent years because of the weakness of the U.S. currency.”
Henry Vanderminden
President
Telescope Casual
“I think the most important thing is the economy. If the president can get the economy up and running, that is going to be the best thing for our business. Our country was built on ingenuity and a strong manufacturing base that not only provided jobs and raised standards of living, but drove the economy. If the president is focused on manufacturing and value-added businesses, for example if every time he makes a decision he considers how it will help or affect manufacturers, there will be a positive economic ripple on all sectors of the economy. If the new presidential administration is focused on manufacturing in the U.S., this will help our business more than anything.”
Joe Laneve
Senior vice president and general merchandise manager of home
Bloomingdale’s
“Obama has really got to deal with the components of what will get the economy turned around, and really think it through and look at all the different elements so we can have a solid foundation: from the stock market to people living beyond their credit means and people borrowing against their over valued homes. [There needs to be] checks and balances.”
Chris Horvers
Retail analyst
J.P. Morgan
“Clearly the ability of the consumer to get access to credit—from credit cards to home equity loans to student loans—that should be a top focus. We’ve built a society that lives on financing our purchases, and now people’s credit lines are being cut, and that will have a significant impact on spending. If credit jus goes away with this downturn, that will be really bad.”
Bruce Kaminstein
President
Casabella
“If a company has a good track record but had a short blip of bad business, banks get nervous. [To help the economy] they should loosen credit to help companies survive. The government may bail out the car industry, but why can’t they help the small to midsized companies that make things people want to buy?”
Joel Kent
Director of marketing
Lite Source
“The housing market impacted so many industries—insurance, mortgage, lighting, furniture, lawn and much more. We didn’t realize how much it touched. [Obama needs to focus on helping] consumers not lose their homes or becoming able to buy them, and opening the credit market. Then we will see the beginning of the healing of our industry.”
Mark Henry
Executive vice president, product development
Füri Brands
“I’d love to see a reduction in general government compliance burden and import duty rates; probably the same as every other globally focused product developer.”
David Zrike
President
The Zrike Company
“Try to give back some tax benefits to struggling industries, maybe in the form of reduced duty tariffs to help until the economy gets better. Emphatically, I am against bailouts. It’s not a just or fair way to use taxpayers’ money.”
Jeff Reigle
President and CEO
Regal Ware
“Since all segments of the economy are being affected, we seem to be entering a self-fufilling spiral. If the president were to do one thing to help our industry it would be to stop this negativity and remind the country that we are resilient. We have been in difficult economic times before. It is our creativity, ambition and persistence that will keep us moving forward, allowing us to emerge as an even stronger country.”
Steve Johnson
President
Heuck
“It seems to me that the most important thing that our economy needs right now is some sense of stability. So many people have fears that they didn’t have a year ago—just sending a check to taxpayers isn’t going to change this sentiment. Proposals to spend government money on infrastructure projects will add to employment as quickly as the projects can begin—and the paychecks going to new employees will be spent. Our country has a lot of needs for road and bridge repairs, for example; it’s a good way to both stimulate the economy and create jobs.”
Joe Feldman
Managing director
Telsey Advisory Group
“Obama could do a lot to help fix this economic mess. Credit and housing are the big issues. He could do something that would be helpful for all Americans and help our industry [such as] reducing mortgage rates for people who have potential foreclosures, or all mortgage rates.”
Gerry Borreggine
President
Therapedic
“The new president needs to ensure that American manufacturers will be protected from foreign manufacturers who have been able to dump their goods on our shores at unfair market prices. American manufacturers need to be protected if this country is to maintain its base of manufacturing, both now and in the future. We are in danger of becoming a hamburger-making nation if our government does not step in and protect our manufacturing sector.”
Joseph Hodorowicz
Vice president, sales
Trudeau Corp.
“He really needs to restore confidence and stabilize the financial sectors. And also help create jobs—that puts cash in the hands of consumers and in turn helps us. When people are laid off, they’re fighting just to pay for staples. Stabilizing the economy will be a key element, especially for our industry.”
Frances Ro
Vice president
Fissler USA
“Obama is off to a good start in helping out our industry ultimately by focusing on the economy as a whole. A better economy, jump-started by his stimulus plan, along with a change in the current housing situation will both benefit the housewares industry.”
Marc Pfefferle
Interim CEO
Lenox Group
“The monies he’s putting into banks should have strings attached. When lenders are lending it helps the economy. If we’re giving billions out, we should be getting something for it. We need stability. We need to know the final shoe has fallen … [so] people don’t live in fear of what’s going to happen next. Uncertainty is our biggest challenge.”
Joe Barkley
Executive vice president
Kaleen
“First thing we have to do is put people back to work. There is no investor or consumer confidence. Those with jobs are battening down the hatches and those without are out there looking. The president has to restore that consumer confidence and the way to do that is by making sure our folks are working. Unemployment is not a forefront issue right now, but it’s the highest it’s been in over 20 years. We have to create jobs and keep them here in the U.S.”
Michael Harounian
Principal
Ebisons Harounian
“There are several areas he has to tackle. The first and foremost is the economy. The stimulus package that was approved by the current administration and Congress has to be put to work immediately. He should rush the dispensing of these funds. If the economy improves, people will be out spending money. The impact of what is going on on Wall Street and the general market discourages people from spending on luxury items and on anything that can be put off. If the economy improves, they will start spending and redecorating. It will improve the mind-sets of people. Psychological holdbacks to spending would be relieved.”
Ian Zucker
CEO
Ten Strawberry Street
“Our industry is effected by many different issues. However, I feel that no one is going to buy much of anything if they do not have a job or feel that their home or savings might be at risk, or they might lose their home or savings. So I feel one of the most important things that the president-elect can do for the country, not just our industry, is bring a state of direction for the country. We need leadership with a plan, not a promise. Let’s stop all the slogans and speeches and let’s get moving.”
Lynne Okulski
President
Denby
“The most important thing that can be done for our industry [and others] is to free up working capital so that good companies with strong brands can stay in business. It is a shame to see strong brands and profitable, cash generative businesses being forced to reorganize or worse because money is so tight. “