Furniture Brands Expands Licensing Program

Furniture World Magazine

Furniture Brands International announced that, as part of its strategic plan, it is expanding its licensing program to include its other brands in addition to the current Thomasville program, and to additional home furnishings categories. Shelley Peters will lead the new licensing program as Furniture Brands' director of licensing. In her most recent post as the leader of Thomasville's brand licensing operations, Thomasville has expanded beyond home furniture into residential flooring, lighting and kitchen cabinets, according to a release. Peters now also will coordinate licensing for the company's Lane, Broyhill, Drexel Heritage and Henredon brands. "A robust licensing program will focus on leveraging the power of our market-leading brands into new and adjacent home furnishings categories," Furniture Brands' Chairman and CEO Ralph Scozzafava said in a statement. "This increases consumer awareness for our core furniture offerings and creates an additional income stream that provides a tangible return on our brand equity." The company's brands "form the perfect cornerstone for a national licensing strategy," said Alex Hodges, Furniture Brands' chief marketing officer, in a statement. "...We are rapidly expanding our presence in new sales channels such as big-box retailers and national chains." About Furniture Brands: Furniture Brands International (NYSE: FBN) is a vertically integrated operating company that is one of the nation’s leading designers, manufacturers, and retailers of home furnishings. With annual sales of approximately $2 billion, it markets through a wide range of retail channels, from mass merchant stores to single-brand and independent dealers to specialized interior designers. Furniture Brands serves its customers through some of the best known and most respected brands in the furniture industry, including Broyhill, Lane, Thomasville, Drexel Heritage, Henredon, Pearson, Hickory Chair, Laneventure, and Maitland-Smith.