Ray Allegrezza

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Indoor luxuries migrate toward the outdoor room

The ongoing uptick in home sales coupled with the gains being reported by many of the large home centers points to a renewed emphasis on the part of homeowners, both new and established, to spruce up their castles.Meanwhile, a number of recent surveys strongly suggest that consumers are spending a large portion of their time and money focusing on the outdoor room.For example, a recent survey in Re... More

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Aspirational shopping gains strength

A few weeks ago, Furniture/Today produced a special section that took a look at the opportunities for selling high-end/luxury furniture.The impetus for the section was prompted in part by a headline I spotted in a recent issue of the Wall Street Journal that read: What Recession? Americans Regain a Craving for Luxury. I was also intrigued by the luxury/high-end segment because even during the toug... More

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Homeowners favor easy, sustainable features

Homeowners are upping the ante when it comes to adding and/or augmenting their outdoor rooms, according to the recent 2013 Residential Landscape Architecture Trends survey, an annual poll taken by the American Society of Landscape Architects.When this year's survey asked landscape architects specializing in residential design to rate the anticipated popularity of various residential outdoor elemen... More

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Set realistic expectations for social media

If you've been losing sleep worrying that your social media mojo may not be up to snuff, you may be burning the midnight oil for naught.According to a new survey conducted with 11,000 shoppers globally, while digital technology continues to influence the way consumers interact, social media is not displacing the in-store shopping experience.In fact, according to the report, released last month, wh... More

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Production chain shifts may favor American jobs

When Wal-Mart speaks, I usually listen.Typically, when the big boy of Bentonville (or bad boy to some), announces a new initiative, it inevitably seems to impact retail in some manner, shape or form.So, not surprisingly, my ears perked up when I heard Wal-Mart announce that it would buy $50 billion worth of American-made products over the next 10 years.Obviously, any news of this sort is good for... More