SEVERAL patrons visiting the Grand Market at CARIFESTA IX have expressed their pleasure with the display of the Barbados stall, which features textiles, condiments, handicraft, hand-painted ceramic figurines, basketry and jewellery, among other items. Chief Cultural Officer with the National Cultural Foundation (NCF), Andrea Wells, said the booth had been ably co-ordinated by Cultural Officer, Special Projects, Ashanti Trotman, ably assisted by Ms. Undine Rouse of the Barbados Crafts Council (BCC). According to her, there was a very stringent process of selection of the items which are on display in the boot at CARIFESTA IX. For several years, the things we have done for the development of the craft sector have been done in collaboration with the BCC. What we did was send out letters to the general craft community, and once work was submitted which reached the required standard, we agreed to take it to represent craft in Barbados, she said. Miss Wells opined that CARIFESTA was not only about promoting the arts of Barbados in an effort to create a greater demand for them. She said, It is also exposing our artists to a wider community of artists and getting them to share experiences, exchange Read more…

LACEY - Furniture Factory Direct is the latest company to try to turn a corner of Martin Village into a successful destination for home furnishings.
The Olympian - Click Here

The furniture store, which also operates a distribution center in Kent and stores in Tukwila and Tacoma, has opened in the former 55,000-square-foot home of Home Furniture.

Home Furniture, which also was based in Kent, closed its Lacey store in July because of owner John Rohrbach’s decision to retire. Read more…

Vietnamese traditional handicraft products are being showcased at the APEC Local Cultural Industry Virtual Exposition (ALCIVE) at http://www.alcive.tw .

Vietnam has contributed embroidery paintings from southern An Giang province, silver carved products from northern Thai Binh province, Dong Ho paintings from northern Bac Ninh province, Bat Trang ceramics and rattan and bamboo from Hanoi.

Vietnam and 12 other participating APEC economies have their own online exhibition halls at the website, showcasing their products through photos, pictures, text, animation and video footage.

It’s not too easy for Chinese furniture manufacturers to open exhibition space in U.S. furniture markets, much less set up operations here - just ask the Chinese.

During an informal dinner before the recent Furniture China 2006 International Expo began, Chinese furniture industry officials, meeting with the trade delegation from Mississippi, North Carolina and other Appalachian Region states, expressed frustration at getting Chinese firms to set up shop in the states, chiefly citing bureaucratic red tape. Read more…

Simply Rhino Limited and McNeel announce Rhino v4.0 in Architecture - “Shape to Fabrication”

This technology update day will include information on the upcoming Rhino 4.0 release, presentations and in-depth architecture and engineering Rhino user stories.

When: November 8

Where: The Orion Building London Metropolitan University 166-220 Holloway Road London N7 8DB United Kingdom Read more…

Northwestern architects, who used to celebrate cedar as a warm, graceful and regionally appropriate building skin, are increasingly getting the metal urge. Corrugated steel, to be precise, which is turning fashionable for everything from office and retail buildings to brewpubs and gyms. And private residences, as well, although mass-market homebuilders haven’t been brave enough to try it yet.

The good news is that it works. Poetry can reside in ordinary materials, and corrugated steel offers more artistic opportunity than you might expect. It also has the virtues of being tough, maintenance free and virtually 100 percent recyclable. The only disappointment is that Seattle architects aren’t using it as creatively as they could. Read more…

Shares of Furniture Companies Decline After Ethan Allen Follows Trend, Reduces Outlook

Shares of home furniture makers declined Monday, after Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. followed two rivals in cutting its quarterly revenue forecast, citing an industry-wide slowdown in demand.

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. said it a slowdown in sales for big ticket items and ongoing restructuring will dampen sales in its first quarter ending Sept. 30. The company forecast quarterly sales of $240 million to $245 million, down from its prior view of $264 million to $269 million in sales, and missing Wall Street’s target of $263.8 million, according to Thomson Financial. Read more…

ALTHOUGH the growth of the local furniture exporting industry has plateaued, the industry remains to be one of the country’s top export producers, according to an official of the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation (CFIF).

CFIF president Michael Basubas said the entry of new players, particularly in Metro Manila, contributed significantly to the country’s export.

“We are an industry with the reputation of refusing to die despite high labor and material costs” Basubas told Sun.Star Cebu. Read more…

There is no doubt that the economic situation of the country is unfavourable to a larger population of Nigerians- looking at the growing rate of unemployment and unfriendly business climate. But, those who have taken advantage of the situation to start something on their own, no matter how little, are better placed, economically, today than those doing nothing, and this explains the reason for the growing rate of small scale business initiatives all over the place.

Mr. Henry Martins Ejere, who is in his early thirties, owns one of those small scale business ventures located along the road, beside M.K.O. Abiola Gardens, Ikeja Central Business District (CBD), Alausa in Lagos State. The story of Ejere, who has been in the business of making furniture, tomb stones and pulpits (with marble and granite) for four years now, could be described as a dream come true. Read more…

A £14M retail and luxury residential scheme at the former David Morgan department store in Cardiff has signed up two new tenants.

Rossiters and Moss Bros have joined the project’s anchor tenant Borders - the book and music retailer.

Rossiters of Bath is a specialist furniture and home furnishings retailer.

Borders has already agreed a 26,000 sq ft letting at the scheme, spearheaded by Helical Bar. Read more…