Home Textiles Today - May 21, 2001

NEW YORK — Call it "occasion retailing": the strategy of directing consumers to products appropriate for common gift-giving events. It is also the single sphere in which retailers from all channels seem to have successfully integrated clicks and bricks, the holy grail of modern merchandising.

• Business Today
• Retail sales picture cloudy for April
• Month begins with comp-store spike
• Wal-Mart slowdown continues
• Ames cuts 1Q operating loss by 23%
• May Co. profits down 9% in 1Q
• Kmart's 1Q beats the Street

• Design Directions
• Quilt quotient makes a comeback
• Embroidery makes its 'mark' as more than a niche business

• Fabrics Today
• Swatches
• Kravet gives color to first lady luncheon
• Glen Raven shifts focus to high-performance fabrics

• News
• Shaw inks Tommy Bahama rug deal
• Latex Foam plant destroyed in fire
• House2Home rolls out Kathy Ireland rugs
• Pillowtex cuts losses with more closings
• For the record
• Haywin, Simmons ink licensing deal
• JCPenney home biz on plan
• Sure Fit looks to add some muscle to its slipcover lineup
• Conaway begins to 'execute' at Kmart
• Retail briefs
• HomeGoods opens fire on big-boxes
• Heimtex offers quality not quantity
• Federated brings home new Bloomies store plan

• Opinion Today
• 350 days — and counting
• It's all about presentation

• People Today
• Williams Sonoma taps new coo
• Donna Karan ceo to step down after acquisition
• The Rug Barn adds new exec, welcomes one back
• Gilmartin named pres. of Service
• Eugster named chairman of ShopKo
• WPS receives award