Meet Our Team of Reporters
The research team for Home Accents Today also provides original research to Furniture/Today, Casual Living magazine, SoHo Today, Kids Today, Home Textiles Today, Gifts and Decorative Accessories magazine and Playthings magazine.
The research group is responsible for all original survey research appearing in the these publications including the Top 100 Furniture Stores, the Top 25 Department Stores, the Top 25 Furniture Manufacturers, the Top 50 Home Textiles Retailers, the Furniture Store Performance Report and industry economic outlook, advertising and style surveys. In addition, the research staff reviews a multitude of research reports each year, helping to select and present those which will provide the best and most useful information to the furniture and home furnishings industry. Researchers maintain extensive files of financial information on publicly held furniture companies and have a primary role in preparing financial analyses that appear in the paper.
The research team is headed by Kay Anderson, kanderson@reedbusiness.com, a 25-year furniture and home textiles industry veteran. Before joining Furniture/Today in 1979 to establish its Research section, Anderson was librarian at the Southern Furniture Manufacturers Association (now the American Furniture Manufacturers Association). Prior to entering the furniture industry, Anderson was Director of Staff and Community Services for the Southeastern Regional Economic Development Commission based in Taunton, Mass. and a technical assistance planner for the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments. She also worked briefly as the librarian for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Center for Research in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Anderson holds a Master of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has done post-graduate work at the Boston Architectural Center, The Center for Creative Leadership, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Wake Forest University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and the Burke Institute, Center for Applied Marketing Research.
Senior Research Specialist Janice Chamberlain, jchamberlain@reedbusiness.com, joined the research staff in 1992, bringing wide-ranging experience from the housewares and lighting industries where she worked for General Electric as a communication specialist. Immediately prior to joining Furniture/Today, Chamberlain ran her own management consulting business for four years. Her MBA comes from Indiana University.
Prior to joining the research staff in 1999, Research Specialist Dana French, dfrench@reedbusiness.com, was a Research Analyst at Carolina Biological, a leading educational science supplier. While at Carolina Biological, French was responsible for competitive analysis studies, sales analysis studies and customer satisfaction surveys. Her undergraduate degree in Business Administration comes from Queens College and her master's degree in Public Administration is from the University of Kentucky.
Research Specialist Judi Fulbright, jfulbright@reedbusiness.com, joined Cahners early in 1999. With an undergraduate degree in Interior Design and a Master of Science in Housing and Interior Design, Fulbright brings more than 20 years of experience from the School of Human Environmental Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. At UNC-G she researched issues such as consumer behavior and concerns as they relate to housing, textiles, clothing and family and human development..
Research Specialist Daphne Garland-McLean, dgmclean@reedbusiness.com, joined Cahners in 2000 after 10 with Bank of America where she held various positions including Bankruptcy Support Manager. She holds a MA in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her undergraduate degree in Sociology and Business Administration is from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Research Specialist Diane Hoth, dhoth@reedbusiness.com, has been part of the research team since 1993. Hoth honed her extensive research skills while working for M/A/R/C, one of the ten largest marketing research firms in the U.S. Hoth holds a Master's degree in marketing from Texas A & M University and has done post-graduate study at the Burke Institute, Center for Applied Marketing Research.
Managing the research databases is Database Coordinator Cynthia Myers, cmyers@reedbusiness.com, who has substantial experience in database design and management. She has been with Furniture/Today over fifteen years. Before entering the furniture industry, Myers worked for R. J. Reynolds in the Database Management Center. She has studied computer maintenance and programming at High Point University as well as in special courses at Computer Tree, ExecuTrain, The Minich Group, Lan Technologies and Piedmont Associated Industries.