Cost Plus banks on home furnishings

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/2/2002 12:00:00 AM

New York — Home furnishings sales are beginning to accelerate at specialty retailer Cost Plus World Market, a positive sign for margins after 2001's consumables-driven sales shift, president Murray Dashe told investors at the Lehman Brothers Retail Seminar earlier this week.

He also addressed the company's textiles assortment, which debuted in fall 2001 along with the introduction of bedroom furniture.

Bedding accessories such as duvets, comforters and shams offer a "unique look," said Murray Dashe, president. The retailer already carries rugs, decorative pillows, table linens and kitchen textiles, along with food, wine and baskets. Dashe later told HTT that the bed linen assortment is very limited and serves only to accessorize the furniture. It also expresses an exotic look from the Far East that fits in with the store's merchandise.