Cover Factor
Brent Felgner is an award-winning reporter and editor whose experience spans business and daily newspapers, magazines, radio and wire service. He has covered the home textiles industry for HTT for 18 years.
Tales From the Secret Shadow Market
The story used to be, "Take me to your factory," when retailers wanted to bump their U.S. middlemen and go direct to the source, usually in China or India. The result was something out of a soap opera love triangle, with the U.S. supplier in the role of the spurned lover as the retailer and factory hopped into bed together (or bath or windows or whatever). Sometimes it even happened as the suppli... Read More
Comments (3)Overcoming the Fear
For years, we’ve been writing about the unique challenges faced by an industry in transition. They’ve often been excessively painful, and they’ve certainly been tumultuous. And for months, we’ve been writing about an economy in crisis. No one is even willing to guess where the bottom is. For retailers, in particular, it’s become something of a siege mentality. When you look at the store closings... Read More
Comments (3)Learning Curve
Learning Curve It was a rare moment, but Lowe’s didn’t have what I was looking for, so I went to Home Depot again today — for the first time in, I don’t know, six months — and of course, I was disappointed again. I’m learning. Sooner or later I will get it right and no matter what the circumstance, I’ll know not to waste my time by going there. It’s not just the out-of-stocks, it’s the HD key guy... Read More
Comments (0)Sustainability
Sustainability Here’s President-Elect Barack Obama on NBC’s Meet The Press this morning: “Well, I think that the Big Three U.S. automakers have made repeated strategic mistakes. They have not managed that industry the way they should have, and I’ve been a strong critic of the auto industry’s failure to adapt to changing times — building small cars and energy efficient cars that are going to ad... Read More
Comments (0)Redfining Black Friday
Redefining Black Friday It’s the day after Thanksgiving and retailers from sea to sea opened in the dark this morning as they usually do on Black Friday. Only this year, it’s different. We’ve been through downturns before, but this economic cycle is promising to be deeper and longer than anything most of us have seen in our lifetimes — worse than anything since the ’30s. And, unless their name... Read More
Comments (0)Yes We Can
Yes we can History — of monumental proportion — was made last night. Now the work begins, and it is daunting. For many in the business community and its constituent industries, it might also offer an opportunity for renewal and progress. There are opportunities to be created and realized under the coming administration, so maybe now is a good time to begin a quiet, serious discourse on the real... Read More
Comments (2)And the winner is...
And the winner Is… All right, are you ready for the answers to this edition of Know Your Retailers? Here we go. Among Wal-Mart, Kmart and Target in pre-Father’s Day Sunday FSIs: The retailer with the lowest average price point (to no one’s surprise, I’m sure) was Kmart, at an average of $46.96 per item. If you got it right give yourself 1 point; if you got it wrong, subtract 20 and consider ano... Read More
Comments (0)Let's play: "Know Your Retailers!"
Let’s play: Know Your Retailers! So you think you know all there is to know about your biggest competitors or customers? Think again. Some of the big retailers ran Sunday FSIs on the weekend before Father’s Day — not a particularly big holiday for the home textiles industry. Nevertheless, the ads offered the opportunity for some interesting side-by-side comparisons of how these companies positio... Read More
Comments (0)Linens 'n Things 'n Bears, Oh My
Linens ‘n Things ‘n Bears, Oh My As Linens ‘n Things readies its quarterly report for release tomorow (March 20), the noise surrounding this company is getting louder. During Tuesday’s Icahn Enterprises conference call, the WestPoint Home parent answered an analyst’s direct inquiry by saying it had limited "balance sheet exposure" to LNT but that it was continuing to monitor the situation. That,... Read More
Comments (1)Part II: Why Icahn Needs WestPoint
Part II: Why Icahn Needs WestPoint There’s money to be made with WestPoint International — above-market returns to be scratched out as it is cleaned up, refocused and (pick one) spun off or sold off, in whole or pieces. Carl Icahn makes money; that’s what he does perhaps better than anyone else. Ever the strategist, Icahn trumped the other secured lenders nearly three years ago by taking his j... Read More
Comments (3)Why Icahn Needs WestPoint
Why Icahn Needs WestPoint (Part I) In late June, 2005, when Carl Icahn emerged from bankruptcy court with the free-and-clear remains of WestPoint Stevens in his pocket, the very first question I asked him was, “Now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?” He answered by talking about the $200 million cash infusion he was going to make in the company and about the possibility of a pu... Read More
Comments (0)The Day After
The Day After By Brent Felgner Bank of America has made an investment in Countrywide Financial, the country’s largest mortgage lender that laid off employees last week and reportedly dipped into its credit facility to buck up liquidity. That’s a big vote of confidence for housing and credit markets, which need all the good news they can find. It’s also one more in a string of contradictions — m... Read More
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