Towels
Bed Bath & Beyond Overhauls C-Suite
Amid a Q1 sales decline of 25 percent, Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. has made significant changes to its senior leadership to focus on reversing recent results, addressing supply chain and inventory and strengthening its balance sheet. Sue Gove, an independent director on the company’s board of directors and chair of the board’s strategy committee, has been named interim CEO, replacing Mark Tritton, who has left his role as president and CEO and as a member of the board.
“After thorough consideration, the board determined that it was time for a change in leadership,” said Harriet Edelman, independent chair of the Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. board of directors. “Our banner’s heritage is built on the premise that when customers are shopping for the home, Bed Bath & Beyond is the perfect destination for unique solutions and inspiration. We must deliver that proposition for customers, drive growth, and unlock the value of the banners.
“Today’s actions address company performance, the macroeconomic conditions under which we are operating, and the expectations of the Board on behalf of shareholders. We are committed to addressing the urgent issues that have been impacting sales, profitability, and cash flow generation. We are confident Sue brings the right combination of industry experience and knowledge of Bed Bath & Beyond’s operations to lead the Company, focus our resources, and revise strategy, as appropriate.”
The company has named Mara Sirhal as executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. Sirhal will be responsible for driving the company’s omnichannel merchandising, planning, and owned brands strategies, while also retaining her position as general manager for the Harmon retail banner. Sirhal will report directly to Gove. She replaces Joe Hartsig, who is leaving the company.
The board has retained Berkeley Research Group, a leading retail advisory firm, to focus on cash, inventory and balance sheet optimization. In addition, Russell Reynolds, a nationally recognized search firm, has been retained to commence a search process for the permanent chief executive officer role.
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Pretty and Practical Tea Towels from KC
By Lorrie Baumann
Green Bee Tea Towels is a maker of hand-printed cotton tea towels owned by Rena Krouse. From her studio in Kansas City, Missouri, she and the four other members of her team have been putting out a line of functional, decorative cotton towels with a vintage feel for the past four and a half years. This year, she’s expanding the business with an aggressive sales strategy and a new showroom at the Dallas Trade Center.
“I like the idea of having practical decorations,” Krouse said. “I’m not big on knickknacks or things just lying around.”
Practicality for her products means that the tea towels are made of 100 percent cotton that Krouse imports from India and screen-prints in Kansas City with nontoxic, water-soluble inks. “They won’t peel or fade or crack,” she said. “They require no care at all. You can stain-treat, bleach or wash them however you would like.”
The company offers more than 100 designs in multiple color variations, all on a white background. Many of the designs have a vintage feel to them. “You can use them every day,” Krouse said. “They’re not a product that goes out of style, and they work as bathroom hand towels as well.”
With exponential growth in the past year, Green Bee Tea Towels now has distribution available throughout the U.S., and she’s hired several sales representatives and opened a showroom at the Dallas Trade Center where visitors to the Dallas markets can see and touch the towels for themselves. “I’m looking for showrooms and reps for the rest of the U.S.,” she said. “We’re growing as fast as we possibly can. The biggest challenge has been hanging on for the ride, keeping up with the demand and learning how to scale the business. It’s been eye-opening. There are so many things we thought we knew how to do, but this year’s increase in production has taken the business to a whole other level.”
Cracker Barrel Adds Home Goods Line
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® and Country Living magazine have announced the launch of a licensed home goods and apparel collection, available exclusively at Cracker Barrel locations nationwide and online. Starting December 20, the line of products will be available at all Cracker Barrel locations, just in time for last-minute holiday shopping and to kick off the new year.
The collection features unique products including rustic home décor, kitchenware, exclusive apparel and accessories and toys for pets. The collection, which includes more than 80 items, has a modern farmhouse feel.
“The Cracker Barrel and Country Living brands are rooted in creating inviting and comfortable environments that focus on family and friends,” said Laura Daily, senior vice president of retail for Cracker Barrel. “Together we have designed an assortment that we hope our guests and Country Living readers find to be a timeless and beautiful addition to any home.”
The collection, created and designed by Cracker Barrel and Country Living, features items that appeal to every guest and ranges in price from $0.99 to $149.99. More information is available online at shop.crackerbarrel.com.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. offers guests homestyle food and unique shopping – all at a fair price. By creating a world filled with hospitality and charm through an experience that combines dining and shopping, guests are cared for like family. Established in 1969 in Lebanon, Tenn., Cracker Barrel and its affiliates operate 657 company-owned Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations in 45 states and own the fast-casual Holler and Dash® restaurants. For more information about the company, visit crackerbarrel.com.
Country Living is a shelter-lifestyle magazine focusing on a variety of topics including decorating, antiques, cooking, travel, remodeling and gardening. In addition to its U.S. flagship, Country Living publishes a United Kingdom edition.
Merchandising for Gift Sales
By Micah Cheek
Jill Foucré, Owner of Marcel’s Culinary Experience, has a tried-and-true strategy for last-minute gift sales. She has arranged the front of her store to be accessible to customers running in for a quick hostess gift or holiday item. “We do a ton of walking in and not knowing what [they’re] looking for,” says Foucré. “We have an array of products that cover an array of price points. If you come in and say, ‘I want to do something super special,’ we can cover that too.”
Marcel’s specializes in arranging little collections of two or three items arranged by theme. A food product like artisan dried pasta or a spice blend can make a nice centerpiece for some small items. “I love really great quality food products, [like] a really nice olive oil. Not so much a bottle of wine, but something I would cook with. Something you wouldn’t buy for yourself,” says Foucré. “We also have things like salt boxes – we’ll do that with a nice salt, or a mill. We have a lot of cocktail accessories, and we’ve got some really fantastic bitters that we can build into a cocktail thing.”
For folks who don’t know what they are looking for, Foucré recommends having some go-to items to recommend. “One of the things we always tell our staff is, ‘Always have three or four things in mind.’ I don’t want the staff there hemming and hawing. Because we carry a lot of local artists and food, we really try to be unique,” says Foucré. Handmade or unusual items are good suggestions, because it lowers the chance of the gift receiver getting multiples of the same gift. Handmade serveware has that individual look, and also makes itself a handy container for other items. “We carry a lot of different ceramic bowls – some of them are dipping dishes, some of them are ice cream bowl-sized – and we do tons of stuff with those. We’ll take a bowl, we’ll put in maybe a salt or herb blend and an olive oil, or something like that. Those tend to be very popular,” says Foucré. “The vessel will be part of what they bought. It they’re doing a baking thing, a glass bowl becomes part of the gift.” Bowls from ceramic companies like Carmel Ceramica can make a statement. Inspired by the beautiful gardens seen over Carmel, their porcelain Flower Garden collection has a hand-carved design and is safe for use in both dishwashers and microwaves.
Having a range of seasonal items available is an easy way to supply this need during the holiday season. “I love seasonal things. I love the things that you put away and bring out again,” says Foucré. “We generally have a very good selection of seasonal home décor things.” Even seasonal items aren’t needed, something printed with a statement shows that the consumer put some thought into what the receiver likes. “We have a lot of kitchen towels that aren’t seasonal,” says Foucré. “ellembee, they do towels with saying on them, and we sell literally hundreds of those. When you’re going to your book group and want to bring a little something, they’re great and a little irreverent.”
Candles on their own can seem like bland gifts, but a little something extra can make them special. “We sell a lot of scented candles in jars. We have them from a company called Lasco, Detroit Rose, we have a lot of different kinds that are great for hostess gifts,” says Foucré. “They can be a standalone, and we have a lot of fun matches we can sell them. Skeem [Design] sells some pretty matches in jars, we almost always will sell them.” Skeem Designs has matches in multiple colors and designs, packaged in tins and jars with different symbols and sayings on them. Some sets even have lines of poetry printed on the individual match sticks.
A World of Creativity at Las Vegas Market
Dorothy Belshaw, President Gift+Home Décor, International Market Centers, has been working overtime since she joined the organization upon her departure from the company that produced the NY NOW trade show to improve the selection of gourmet housewares and giftware that’s offered in the Las Vegas Market’s showrooms. Over the last year or so, we’ve seen those efforts come to fruition with expansive displays in the temporary booths in the Pavilions, a collection of exhibit spaces across the courtyard from the three main buildings that house the Market’s permanent showrooms as well as Building C, the permanent home of many gourmet housewares, tabletop and giftware collections. This year’s Winter Market offered an impressive array of hot new products.
Frieling launched the CASO German Design VC300 Vacuum Food Sealer, which the company is positioning as the premium quality choice for fresh food storage and sous vide cooking. The system provides an airtight seal every time, and a double sealing bar with electronic temperature control ensures the seal’s durability. The vacuum pump offers both power and precision, and the unit offers a vacuum roll storage box that eliminates clutter and simplifies use, while a snap-out bag cutter makes it easy to customize bag size. The unit retails for $199.99.
Frieling is also offering the CASO Air Fryer, a sleek countertop appliance that uses high volume hot air circulation technology to fry food with little or no added oil. The Air Fryer features digital touch controls with six presets for popular fresh and frozen comfort foods and a large LED display. Temperature is adjustable from 140 to 400 degrees F, and there’s a 60-minute timer with automatic shutoff. The removable parts are all dishwasher safe, and the stainless steel interior wipes clean. The unit retails for $199.95.
Capresso showed off its froth MAX Automatic Milk Frother, which offers patented frothing technology that delivers maximum milk froth at the touch of a button. There are three temperature settings and a large capacity – 8 ounces for frothing or 12 ounces for heating without frothing. The machine comes with two frothing disks and one heating disk and retails for $59.99.
The Capresso 8-Cup Perk features durable stainless steel construction with a glass view-through lid. It can brew four to eight cups of coffee in less than a minute per cup and has an automatic keep-warm function. The drip-free pouring spout and detachable power cord simplify serving, and it’s countertop-friendly, with a heat-resistant base that’s safe for any surface. It retails for $59.99.
The Kuhn Rikon Easy Cut operates with a pull mechanism that rotates the blades in the four-cup container to slice and grate cabbage, potato, carrots or cheese. This energy-efficient design is safe and incredibly fast, and the high-quality stainless steel blades on the cutting discs stay super sharp. The Easy Cut retails for $80.
The Kuhn Rikon Wine & Champagne Bottle Sealer is dependable enough to allow the wine bottle to be stored on its side. The sealer is made of stainless steel with an expandable silicone gasket that keeps flavor in and air out. It’s 1.5 inches in diameter and 3.25 inches high and retails for $10.
Peugeot’s Tahiti Duo Mills are now available in a fresh new color palette inspired by the seasonal colors of nature. Each set features gracefully curved 6-inch pepper and salt mills made from beech wood in France. Each set includes one mill with its mechanism optimized for pepper and one for salt. These mechanisms are highly efficient and fully adjustable, offering a consistent high-output grind. At $65 per set, they come in Spring (green and yellow), Summer (blue hues), Autumn (two shades of orange) and Winter (chestnut browns with red undertones). See them along with the Peugeot Whisky Set and Peugeot’s Mahe Mill, which features Peugeot’s iconic spice-specific mechanism in a simple design that has no shaft, which allows more room inside for a greater quantity of peppercorns or sea salt.
RSVP International, Inc. offers its Old Benson Bottle Butler. Available in chrome and brass finishes, this is a remake of a 1930s classic inspired by Rollin Kirby’s political cartoons of Senator Andrew Volstead, father of the Volstead Act that ushered in Prohibition. The RSVP Old Benson Bottle Butler is 6-1/2 inches tall and features a corkscrew and bottle opener that will provide a humorous focal point in gin joints, speakeasies, bars, kitchens and homes. Zinc alloy construction provides strength and resistance to corrosion, and it’s dishwasher safe. The Old Benson Bottle Butler retails for $16.95.
Endurance® Pilsner Glass from RSVP is made of dishwasher-safe 18/8 stainless steel with satin exterior and mirror interior and has a 16-ounce capacity. It retails for $19.95. For further information about the RSVP products visit www.rsvp-intl.com or email Krista Jenkins at kristaj@rsvp-intl.com.
Menus and Music was at the Winter Las Vegas Market with “Dining at Great American Lodges,” a cookbook with recipes from legendary lodges, national parks lore and wilderness art along with a music CD that blends bluegrass, country, western swing and jazz inspired by traditional American songs. Perfect for those who like to dance around the kitchen while stirring the stew and enjoying a nip of the cooking wine, “Dining at Great American Lodges” comes gift-boxed. For more information, visit www.menusandmusic.
Abbiamo Tutto brought new patterns in its ceramic glasses and coaster set collections, which now include 11 patterns. The glasses are 6.75 inches tall, and the coasters also act as lids. They’re designed by Donna Marie Territo, founder of Abbiamo Tutto, and made in Italy.
Widgeteer’s Rotating Vegetable Peeler is a smart peeler that adapts to the user’s preferred method of peeling and converts from a vertical position to a horizontal position with a simple sliding motion. Its stainless steel swing blade provides quick and effortless peeling for any kind of vegetable, and a built-in extractor removes potato eyes with ease. Comfortable to use, it’s also dishwasher safe. It retails for $12.99. For more information, visit www.widgeteerinc.com.
catstudio offers original designs featured on embroidered pillows, dish towels and drinking glasses. [Image: catstudio tumblers] The original Geography Collection by catstudio is comprised of all 50 states and an ever-expanding list of cities, international and favorite vacation destinations. The new, licensed Collegiate collection features a growing number of university campuses. In all, there are more than 200 designs.
The pillows retail for $158 to $228, the dish towels for $20 and the glasses for $14.75 to $16.25. You can find the company at www.catstudiosales.com.
The collections from B by Brandie include dinnerware and stainless steel flatware in designs that combine elegance with drama and the innovative Olivia Wine/Champagne Combo Glass pictured here. [Image: BbyBrandie] Each of the items exemplifies luxury presentation and a host who dares to stand out in a crowd. The five-piece flatware place settings retail for $84, the Olivia Wine/Champagne Combo Glass retails for $64 and prices vary for the dinnerware items. Visit wholesale@bbybrandie.com for further information.
byDesign Toasting Bottle Socks from DEMDACO protect and insulate wine bottles. They’re made with double knit construction and turn a bottle of wine into an inspired gift. They retail for $9. Also look for the Uncorked & Unwind wooden wine lanterns that elevate the wine gift bag by doubling as lighted home decor and wine gift packaging. See more at DEMDACO.com. [Image: Demdaco]
WellnessMats’ new Studio Collection challenges preconceptions about the “anti-fatigue mat” with striking scalloped and semi-circle shapes in stunning designs and a myriad of colors. WellnessMats are inherently antimicrobial, easy to clean and stain resistant, so Studio is ideal for the kitchen, especially for a smaller kitchen, but these mats will also work in any other room in the home. See them at www.wellnessmats.com.
Farmhouse Inspired Flour Sack Dishtowels from Park Designs are made of 100 percent cotton. These flour sack fabric dish towels feature designs that pair nicely with the trend for farmhouse-style living. There’s a Duck, Rooster, Pig and a Cow, each themed with the lyric from a nursery song. They each measure 19 inches by 28 inches and retail for $8. Visit www.parkdesigns.net.
Vestiges offers a kitchen towel collection featuring geographical designs created in collaboration with students from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. These 100 percent cotton pique towels are printed with environment-friendly inks for high quality products that can help you add local flavor to your product assortment. Get more information by emailing mary@vestigesinc.com.
The Bloom Apron, designed by Bonnie Christine, from Peking Handicraft Inc. is hand printed on 100 percent cotton and features dart detail on the front. It measures 28 inches by 32 inches and retails for $29. The Bloom Kitchen Towel, also designed by Bonnie Christine, carries out the cheerful spring floral theme and features crochet trim. The suggested retail price for the towel is $10. Email sales@pkhc.com.
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