Furniture Brands Broadens Supply Base For Contract And RTA Product Lines

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 2, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Furniture Brands International (NYSE:FBN) today announced that it has taken several steps to broaden its sourcing options for casegoods customers that it serves in the contract and ready-to-assemble (RTA) businesses. The company estimates that by mid-2011 it will offer these customers the widest selection of branded products in the industry, many of which have proprietary features and technologies.

The products will be sourced from Furniture Brands' domestic manufacturing footprint as well as from contractors in best-cost locations in Latin America and Asia. The company is one of the largest furniture suppliers to the hospitality markets, providing products to many of the nation's largest hotel operators. Furniture Brands is also a competitor in the branded RTA business and the only RTA supplier to offer Assemblease, a patented, quick-assembly locking technology that is revolutionizing the home entertainment and small office furniture category.

Furniture Brands has a long history of supplying the contract sector through its facilities in Lenoir and Thomasville, NC. 

As part of this supply chain strategy, Furniture Brands intends to close its facility in Appomattox, VA in early 2011 and transfer a portion of its production to one or more Furniture Brands facilities in North Carolina. This manufacturing realignment will result in more efficient overhead absorption and allow for a blended sourcing strategy for contract and RTA customers. Furniture Brands anticipates that the closure and sale of the Appomattox facility will result in restructuring charges totaling approximately $7 million with annual cost savings of approximately $5 million.

"Our manufacturing philosophy for the RTA and contract businesses is the same we've used for our core residential furniture production – consolidate facilities to rationalize overheads, obtain logistics synergies, and take advantage of our scale and global supply chain. By doing this, we can deliver to our customers the highest quality products at the most competitive costs," said Ray Johnson, senior vice president of global supply chain.