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NYSE Puts Furniture Brands on Notice ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
From Furniture Today
New York Stock Exchange officials have notified Furniture Brands International that it could be delisted from the exchange if its common stock fails to meet its continued listing criteria over the next six months.
The manufacturer and retailer's common stock price fell below the required $1 for a 30-day consecutive trading period, officials said.
Furniture Brands responded on December 21 that it plans to regain compliance with the NYSE price criteria within the six-month period. This could involve a reverse stock split, a move that would require approval of the company's board and shareholders at its next annual meeting.
In early trading today, the company's stock was up about five percent to $1.01. It has hovered just below $1 since late November.
Furniture Brands can regain compliance with the NYSE listing criteria during the six-month cure period if it has a closing price of at least $1 per share on the last trading day of any calendar month and an average closing price of at least $1 over the 30-trading-day period ending on the last trading day of that month, or on the last day of the six-month period.
The NYSE said the stock will remain listed during the six-month period.
In a statement, the company said the notification doesn't affect its business operations or its Securities and Exchange Commission reporting requirements. The company said the notification doesn't conflict with any of its credit agreements or debt obligations.
Furniture Brands' key brands include Broyhill, Thomasville, Lane, Drexel Heritage, Henredon and Maitland-Smith.
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Vermont Entrepreneur Enters
Wood Kindling Business MIDDLEBURY, VERMONT
From the Barre Montpelier Times Argos
A new business is just starting to heat up for Paul Ralston, founder of the Vermont Coffee Company in Middlebury. But it has nothing to do with coffee - unless you want to heat your coffee over a wood fire. Ralston, who has a passion for wood heat, has launched his latest venture, Vermont Sweet Maple Kindling. Like many Vermonters, Ralston has been burning wood for a long time.
"Vermont was really the place where the modern wood stove was designed," he said. "(That was ) Vermont Castings. But firewood has not really come into the modern age, so that's what we're trying to do."
For Ralston, there's run-of-the-mill kindling and then there's premium kindling that cleanly and quickly can start a fire in a wood stove or fireplace. Ralston spent some time experimenting to come up with the best kindling, made from maple hardwood.
"The difference between hardwood and softwood kindling is our maple kindling has about 65 percent more Btus in the volume than pine would have," he said. "You would have to have a lot more pine kindling to get the same heat value."
Ralston's kindling is precision manufactured so it's uniform in size and shape, and he said it's "extremely dry, down to six percent moisture content, so it's drier than even the furniture in your house."
To produce the right kind of kindling, Ralston imported equipment from Europe, which has far more experience with wood heat than the United States.
"If you've got good kindling that produces hot, long-lasting coals, then when you start to put on your firewood chunks, they will ignite more quickly, they will burn cleaner," he said. "So you're putting less emissions into the air and ... you don't deposit as much creosote in your chimney."
Made from firewood logs and not scrap wood, Ralston's kindling is eight to 10 in. in length and the size of a nickel or quarter in diameter. He said the kindling is made according to U.S. Department of Agriculture standards, so it's heat treated to eliminate any mold and insects.
Ralston is leasing additional space in the J.P. Carrara building in Middlebury for his new venture, next door to where the Vermont Coffee Company is located. Six new employees have been hired, and several coffee company workers also pitch in to help. A box of kindling retails for between $10 and $11 and will start between 15 and 20 fires.
Vermont Sweet Maple Kindling is sold at major grocery chains and at natural food and convenience stores throughout Vermont.
It's also sold through The Vermont Country Store.
Ralston estimates he'll produce 20,000 boxes this season.
But kindling is just the start of what he envisions as a year-round business. Ralston has plans to produce "Fire in A Box" - a self-contained wood fire for summer picnics, and Vermont Sweet Maple Charcoal for barbecues and grilling. He is donating the fuel wood by-products from his kindling business to the Vermont Food Bank for their "Fuel Shelf."
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Gel Fuel Explosion Claims Another Victim JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA
From First Coast News
A Jacksonville family wants retribution after they say a candle exploded and set their 33-year-old daughter on fire. They're now fighting the manufacturer while their daughter fights for her life.
"It's unbelievable, man. If they see pictures of my daughter, they wouldn't sell it again." Bill Plato struggles to keep his composure as he talks about his daughter, Mandy.
On November 11, the Plato's say a gel-fuel firepot - a decorative candle - exploded in Mandy's mother's hand as she tried to relight the flame at her Westside home.
"Maureen took the bottle; she took off the cap and poured the fuel gel into the empty pot," explains the family's lawyer, Curry Pagcic. "At that time, it was like a napalm bomb went off. The vapors flashed back into the bottle, exploded and spewed the fiery napalm-like gel all over her daughter and the bottle shot backwards like a rocket behind her," he says.
Mandy's mother, Maureen, says doctors say it will take years for Mandy to recover from the burns that scorched over 40 percent of her body.
"If she can't lift her arm, they may have to go back in to cut more to expand that area," she says. "If she can't stretch her neck all the way back, they'll have a need to go back in and re-graft, so things like that we're not going to know for the next couple of years they said. That's going to be on-going."
In October 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and manufacturer, the Marshall Group, recalled nearly 40,000 bottles of the product the Platos used, called PatioGlo bio-fuel gel, because of fire and burn risks. However, on the notice, the company told retailers only to post the recall until Jan. 12, 2012.
Pagcic says despite the recall, the products are still being sold online and in stores in Jacksonville. According to an investigator working with the family, he was able to purchase the gel at a local store on December 20.
First Coast News tried to contact that store and the Marshall Group, but neither could be reached for comment.
Though Mandy's story is painful, the Platos say their main goal is to make sure hers is the last one told, like this.
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BBQ Relief Receives Wal-Mart Grant KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI Wal-Mart Foundation announced on Monday that Operation BBQ Relief, a 501c3 not-for-profit disaster relief organization, will receive a $15,000 grant as part of the foundation's "12 Days of Giving" program. For 12 consecutive days, Wal-Mart will award a total of $1.5 million to 140 organizations across the country that are providing basic needs and services such as food, shelter, clothing, disaster relief and medical care. The program resulted in more than 21,600 nominations from Facebook users who submitted descriptions of each non-profit's impact in its local community. Submissions were initially reviewed by Wal-Mart associates from across the company and then a panel from the Wal-Mart Foundation selected the winning organizations. "It was a great honor to be nominated by people who support this organization and then to be one of those selected to receive a grant was a real blessing," said Stan Hays, co-founder of Operation BBQ Relief. "These funds will allow us to purchase some much-needed equipment to assist us during disaster responses." Most recently, Operation BBQ Relief served more than 100,000 hot meals to victims and relief workers in New York and New Jersey in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The nonprofit was founded in May, 2011 when it planned and implemented a massive relief effort in Joplin, Missouri. Professional competition barbecue teams and other volunteers from eight states responded to Joplin in the wake of the deadly EF5 tornado that killed more than 150 people and destroyed a third of the city. The group served approximately 120,000 meals in 11 days to displaced families and first responders. Since then, Operation BBQ Relief has mobilized during floods, wildfires, hurricanes and tornado disasters in 14 states around the U.S., and in only 19 months has provided more than 306,000 meals. Operation BBQ Relief can mobilize with a consistent operations model to provide hot meals to people in need anywhere that natural disasters occur across the country. For additional information about Operation BBQ Relief, and to make tax-deductible contributions, visit the website or find the organization on Facebook. |
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Panama Jack St. Barths armless chair set.
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Panama Jack Outdoor to Open Mart Showroom CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Panama Jack Outdoor, the casual furniture brand licensed to furniture maker Pelican Reef, is opening a permanent showroom on the 15th floor of the Merchandise Mart.
The showroom is expected to be ready for a special event in February, says Allen Caldazilla, president of Pelican Reef.
Pelican Reef launched the Panama Jack Outdoor brand in January 2012. The brand has gained rapid acceptance with retailers and consumers, Calzadilla says.
Panama Jack Outdoor will occupy space 15-119, sandwiched between a new Pelican Reef showroom and the existing showroom of Ebel. Calzadilla says the Panama Jack Outdoor showroom will be open and staffed five days a week.
The Panama Jack Outdoor line made its Merchandise Mart debut in the Pelican Reef showroom at Premarket 2012. Pelican Reef previously showed the line at the Las Vegas Market in January, and at the High Point Market in April.
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