Susan Dickenson

JC Penney launches Linden Street home brand; California College of the Arts design event; Ikea to slow U.S. expansion; New Colonial Williamsburg store

JC Penney announced the launch of a new private brand of home furnishings and accessories called Linden Street. The most comprehensive Home brand launch in the company’s history, Linden Street will be available in-stores, online on jcp.com and via catalog beginning in July. Linden Street is a neo-traditional brand that includes contemporary interpretations of classic design with features built into the furniture such as hidden storage, electrical outlets and charging strips for PDAs, iPods and more. Designed, developed and sourced in-house, Linden Street joins the retailer's array of good/better/best priced lifestyle offerings in Home including: The JCPenney Home Collection, Chris Madden, Chris Madden Hotel, American Living for the traditional lifestyle customer, and Studio for the modern lifestyle customer. Linden Street will feature a complete line of bedding, bath, window coverings, area rugs, lighting and decorative accessories, along with furniture for all the rooms of the house. All colors, fabrics and textures coordinate to create a unique and personalized style, while furniture features both pine and cherry finishes. Retail prices range from $40-$400 for bedding; $40-$50 for window drapery; $100-$380 for lighting; $30-$400 for area rugs; $14 for bath towels; $19.99-$300 for decorative accessories; $7.99-$199.99 for tabletop; and $1,399-$1,959 for furniture.

Zinc Details invites everyone to a Musical Chairs party for the winners of the first annual California College of the Arts Eco-chair design competition Wednesday, April 16, 6-8 p.m. Winners of the competition, which is sponsored by Bevara Design House and Zinc Details, receive the ultimate prize - having their chair manufactured and sold through retailers. Party guests can participate by voting for the People's Choice Winner. Honorary judges for the design competition include Peter Stathis, Chris Deam, David Edwards, Ted Boerner and Eco designer Kimberly Rider. The Wednesday night event will be held at Zinc Details’ 2410 California Street location in San Francisco. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to chairs@bevaradesign.com.

 


Ikea CEO Anders Dahlvig announced at last week’s World Retail Congress in Barcelona that the retail chain is slowing future expansion due to the effect of the housing slowdown on sales of its flat-pack furniture. Dahlvig said the markets most affected are in the U.S., the U.K. and Germany. The retailer will continue to concentrate on emerging markets in Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Russia and China. However, closer to home, Ikea officially broke ground for its store in Charlotte, N.C., scheduled to open in Spring 2009 as the 5th Ikea store in the Southeast and 36th Ikea store in the United States. The 356,000-sq.-ft. store, with 1,600 parking spaces, will be built on 25 acres in the University City area, at the northeastern corner of I-85 and City Boulevard. After the store opens, Crescent Resources will develop the surrounding 175-acre mixed-use ‘Belgate’ development.

The Colonial Williamsburg Products Division has partnered with Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center to open a store in its new Washington, D.C., complex, the largest convention resort on the Eastern Seaboard. Colonial Williamsburg assisted in the design of the 650-square-foot store which is a colonial-inspired freestanding structure within the atrium of the resort. Located along the banks of the Potomac River in National Harbor, Md., Gaylord National is less than eight miles south of the nation’s capitol. The Gaylord National Resort offers 2,000 guest rooms and more than 470,000 square feet of convention, meeting and exhibit space. National Harbor is a new 300-acre waterfront community located in Prince George’s County, Md.

Posted by Susan Dickenson on April 15, 2008 | Comments (0)