LEXINGTON HOME BRANDS GALLERY TAKES CENTER STAGE IN FURNITURELAND SOUTH EXPANSION

The family of personality-rich home furnishings lines from Lexington Home Brands is the first thing to greet visitors entering Furnitureland South, the worlds largest home furnishings showplace, with over one million square feet of home furnishings and accessories.

LEXINGTON HOME BRANDS GALLERY TAKES CENTER STAGE
IN FURNITURELAND SOUTH EXPANSION

JAMESTOWN, NC (PRWEB) September 25 2003
The family of personality-rich home furnishings lines from Lexington Home Brands is the first thing to greet visitors entering Furnitureland South, the worlds largest home furnishings showplace, with over one million square feet of home furnishings and accessories. Lexingtons portfolio of highly recognizable name brands is anchoring the new entrance to a 60,000-square-foot, three-story expansion underway at the massive furniture retailer here.

A display sampling each Lexington brand-among them Betsy Cameron, Bob Timberlake®, Nautica, Palmer Home, Tommy Bahama®, Southern Living®, Susan Sargent, and Waverly®-graces the foyer surrounding Furnitureland Souths main reception area, tempting visitors to continue into the adjacent 15,000-square-foot LHB showroom. There, each brand receives a state-of-the-art presentation, expressing its unique personality in room settings fully accessorized with Lexington Home Accessories from John Richards. Through carefully coordinated furniture, upholstery, lighting, tabletop, and even sumptuous bedding, visitors can experience for themselves the authentic eighteenth-century American lifestyle of Bob Timberlake, the relaxed, coordinated look of Waverly, or the laidback island style of Tommy Bahama-to name just a few.

Consumer asset
The new Furnitureland South gallery is the essence of what branded marketing can do for the consumer," says Lexington Chairman and CEO Bob Stec. Each of the extensive presentations tells an immediate story. They make it easy for the consumer to identify a style that fits her home and personal taste; they give her confidence that what she is purchasing is right for her-and then they offer her appropriate accessories to capture the whole look."

A major Lexington presence is not new to Furnitureland South shoppers. An LHB gallery has long been a mainstay for the store, but, according to company Executive Vice President Jason Harris, Lexington was given its new, prominent position because the company ranks among Furnitureland Souths top vendors and because the companys branded strategy offers eye-catching displays that are easy for customers to understand and shop. In addition," Harris says, having such a wealth of a single brands product in one place makes it easy for customers to see the actual piece of furniture that interests them first hand, to touch it, to sit on it-not just view it in a catalog."

In addition to its foyer display and 15,000-square-foot gallery, Lexington home office, contract, youth, and Henry Link Trading Company lines are displayed within their respective categories elsewhere on the Furnitureland South campus.

All the bells and whistles
The relocated gallery presence and other displays have been given a state-of-the-art makeover, re-merchandised and refreshed with totally new product and the latest accessories. The project is the combined effort of the Furnitureland Souths design staff and Lexington designers, who created a custom showroom layout for the new space that included placement of casegoods, upholstery, and accessories to capture each brands distinctive look.

Brand signage clearly guides shoppers around the space and identifies each brand, while a fabric work area within the gallery makes it easy to plan coordinated fabric selections, even using computer software to preview options on a selected piece.

In addition, an interactive kiosk allows consumers as well as sales and design staff to access tens of thousands of products and to plan rooms right from the Furnitureland South Website. The online room planner enables customers to build rooms according to their own specifications and see exactly what the furniture would look like in the room.

To help them in guiding store visitors through Lexingtons brand concepts, Furnitureland Souths sales and design staff receive ongoing training on Lexington products and features.

Furnitureland South, which in August and September experienced one of its strongest sales periods in recent history, according to Harris, expects the relocated and refreshed Lexington presence to have a very positive impact on sales.

The new Lexington gallery opened to the public on Labor Day weekend; additional presentations for other manufacturers will open as construction on the new Furnitureland South building is completed. The retailer expects to celebrate completion of its expansion project with a 35th Anniversary Grand Expansion Event in early 2004.
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Furnitureland South
Furnitureland South was founded in 1969 as a small family-owned business in High Point, NC. Today, the company remains family run, but has grown into a shopping destination," with quality home furnishings, accessories, and rugs from over 400 manufacturers, displayed in over one million square feet of showroom space. It is located in Jamestown, NC, just up the road from its original site.

Lexington Home Brands
Lexington Home Brands is a leading global marketer and manufacturer of branded case goods and upholstery, with the industrys largest brand portfolio. Well-known consumer brands include Nautica, Bob Timberlake®, Tommy Bahama®, Waverly®, Woolrich®, Palmer Home, Southern Living®, Susan Sargent, and Betsy Cameron. In addition, the company announced in July 2003 a partnership agreement with Liz Claiborne, Inc., to launch Liz Claiborne Home in April 2004. LHB also markets products under two house brands, Haley & Carter and Henry Link Trading Company, as well as youth brands, Bob Timberlake® GrandKids, Betsy Cameron, and Lexington® Kids. The privately held company was acquired from Lifestyle Furnishings International in 2002 by company management and Sun Capital Partners, Inc.