Next Dimension closes, auction set

After nearly a decade of supplying wall decor, Next Dimension Studios, a Kathy Ireland Home Collection licensee, has closed its Covington, Ky.-based business. The Bank of Kentucky, which forced liquidation, has scheduled an auction for Aug. 11.

About 25 employees lost their jobs when the company shut its doors in early May, following a dismal April High Point furniture market.

In October 2002, Next Dimension launched the first 120 pieces of wall art for Kathy Ireland. As of press time, Kathy Ireland, CEO and chief designer for Kathy Ireland World Wide, said no new wall decor licensee has been named as replacement.

"We are in negotiations with another partner for this category but, of course, our greatest concern was for the wonderful people, suppliers and retailers who have been impacted by this very unfortunate circumstance," Ireland said.

"The import business was a direct contributor," Next Dimension vice president Randy O'Hare said. "We normally write $300,000 to $400,000 a show in High Point, and this last show we didn't write more than $30,000 to $40,000. You tend to wonder what the heck happened? So you do some investigating and you find out some of the major importers that were at the show had started filling their empty containers with pictures. One guy showed pictures for the very first time and wrote over a million dollars (in orders.) He went right into our pockets."

Next Dimension's earlier attempts at importing wall decor were abandoned after production failed to match the quality of samples, O'Hare said. "We were too far behind the curve," he said. "It takes so much money to get into that, and time, too. We decided just to fold it up."

Former President Eric Moore declined comment.