Home Textiles Today - January 21, 2002

Getting a big assist from strong sales of home-related goods — electronics and home furnishings — December retail sales slipped just 0.1 percent from November levels, a better-than-expected performance, said the Commerce Department.Although most economists had been forecasting a 1.

• Business Today
• Brentwood shifts mgmt.
• Redbook average gains momentum
• Sears sees 4Q profits grow by 12%
• ATMI says '01 sales hit 13-year low
• Downgrades

• News
• Down Inc. adds Hathaway bedding
• Segal gets NRF thinking global
• Domestic fiber makers feel foreign influence
• Retail briefs
• Pillowtex inks quilt deal
• Guilford Mills warns of bankruptcy possibility
• Kmart starts at the top with executive changes
• Philippe Starck enters bed, bath
• Ames looks to emerge from Ch. 11 this year
• Federated to pull plug on Fingerhut division
• Richard Fischer accessories unveiled

• Opinion Today
• Design shift
• A new low

• Special Report
• National Retail Federation
• Linking Internet sales
• NRF attendees tout sales of home category
• Going through the life cycle
• Veteran Loeb tries to squelch rumors
• National Retail Foundation
• Finding new business opportunities
• Turnaround hinges on increased store spending
• Differentiation holds key to success
• Tighter U.S. customs threaten supply chain
• Retailers should proceed with caution