If we don’t learn from the past, we’re bound to repeat it. But in some cases, that may be just what we need to succeed. Take mattress ads, for example. In the past, mattress ads focused on how people live, sleep and interact with their beds—something many mattress companies continue to focus on today. Read More
Talk to any business owner about new technology, and one of their first questions is sure to be, “what’s the ROI?” However, with the explosion of social media, influencer marketing, and other tech-based marketing techniques, businesses are learning that some ROI is not measurable. Read More
Alarmed by an increase in new cases of the Covid-19 virus late last month, China created a painful new kink in an already dysfunctional supply chain by implementing a seven-week mandatory quarantine for cargo vessels and their crews hoping to return to China. Read More
After Hurricane Mathew devastated parts of the Carolinas in 2016, Keith Moneymaker, owner of Sweet Dreams Mattresses & More, created the Dreams 4 All Foundation to give back and support the recovery efforts. Read More
If there’s one thing almost everyone in the furniture industry is talking about these days, it’s container prices. While the average price for a 40-foot container in the home furnishings industry ranges between $4,000-$5,000, they’ve skyrocketed over the last year and a half to $20,000 or higher. Read More
The fact that the pandemic has kicked butt and taken names up and down the furniture industry is hardly breaking news. However, a just-tabulated survey of members of the International Home Furnishings Representatives Association sheds some new light on where and how the Covid-19 virus has hurt independent home furnishings reps the most. Read More
With all of the issues the home furnishings industry is facing, you might think things are slowing down. And while that's true in some regards, many retailers and manufacturers are still reporting high sales numbers. Read More
Do you like Dream pop music? If you haven’t heard of it, you might want to get hip, as #Dreampop has gathered more than nine million views on TikTok, and r/dreampop subreddit subscribers have grown by ~400% over the last four months. Read More
Would it surprise you to find out that more than 60 percent of shoppers use their smartphones when they’re in a store? Read More
I recently found an old passport that reminded me I had taken my first business trip to China early in 2002. In the almost 20 years that have transpired, I’m certain I would no longer recognize many of the industrial hubs I visited, including Jiangsu, Guangdong, and Zhejiang. Read More
Never say, "Thank you for your time." Sometimes we say things we don't mean. Other times, we say things we do mean but in a way that isn't believable. Then there are the times when we do a bit of both. Read More
It’s 3 a.m. and you just heard a strange slurping noise in your house. No, it’s not the Boogeyman. It was just your dog licking himself. You roll over and close your eyes, and then after 10 minutes, you realize you can’t get back to sleep. Read More
