SLIDESHOW

Vera Prior defines herself as a “village girl.”

She grew up in a small English village in Northumberland. Now, home is in one of West End Richmond’s “retirement villages.” Randolph Square is designed to meet the needs of the 55-plus age group.

Paintings by artist John Haskins in the dining room depict the “disappearing England,” with its stacked hayfields and peaceful way of life, Mrs. Prior said. She’s an artist herself, and her bright red poppy painting is the focal point in the master bedroom suite on the main level.

Tole trays and wooden boxes that she painted are beautifully displayed against a dark Jacobean shelf in the entryway, and her still-life pictures and paintings of flowers accent many rooms throughout the house. Read more…

The nation is on track to posting earnings of US$500mil from the export of wooden furniture in the first four months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 7%, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.Industry watchers say the figure could exceed $2bil by the end this year.

European Union markets are expected to become increasingly important for the industry. With rising demand for furniture imports in the second and third quarter of 2005, the bloc imported $150mil of Vietnamese furniture, according to statistics revealed by the Ministry of Trade.

Industry watchers said domestic furniture producers should step up trade promotions to spur sales, especially in other EU markets such as Latvia, Malta and Estonia, which remain untapped by Vietnamese exporters. The trade ministry said France, Britain, Germany, Holland and Spain were the union’s top importers of Vietnamese-made wood furniture. Read more…

Home Credit, one of the largest companies on the Czech hire-purchase market, financed purchases worth CZK 1.272 billion in the first quarter of 2006, a decline of 18 percent against the same period last year, spokeswoman Andrea Dobsikova told CTK today.

The company’s competitors have not published their first-quarter figures yet.One-off consumer and revolving loans were the biggest contributor to Home Credit deals, amounting to CZK 1.181 billion, up nearly seven percent on the year. Read more…

State export officials urged furniture makers to look beyond High Point and increase their overseas business.

“We are looking at a changing world of furniture,” Charlie Greene, chairman of the N. C. Furnishings Export Council , told furniture makers Tuesday at a breakfast. “Our opportunities are in export.”

Established by Gov. Jim Hunt in 1995, the export council works to increase home-furnishings exports to international markets from North Carolina. Read more…