ZEELAND, Mich. – Herman Miller, the furniture company, is releasing a new version of the mid-century modern furniture classics of Charles and Ray Eames. The new line, which interprets Eames classic designs in new colors, is made with the collaboration of the Danish brand Hay. “Herman Miller is built onMORE HERE
Minwax and parent Sherwin Williams have shuttered the beloved Homer Formby furniture refinishing brand. With the closing, a whole approach to conserving furniture has disappeared. An online search for the brand, eponymously named by America’s most famous furniture fixer, refers customers to a defunct web page for the Sherwin WilliamsMORE HERE
This week, John Kelly of The Washington Post reminisced about the clear Nescafe globe mug, famous from 1970s commercials. Kelly was kind enough to mention a column on General Foods International Coffee, which is still sold as Maxwell House International Coffee. One of Kelly’s readers, in a comment, mentioned theMORE HERE
LINDEN, N.J. – The west coast lighting retailer Lamps Plus has struck an exclusive deal to market classic Stiffel Lamps, a brand that has returned production to the U.S. recent years. “Stiffel is a brand with a great history. The lamps are truly unique and considered works of art,” saidMORE HERE
LEXINGTON, Ky., – The plain old quilted mattress is becoming less and less of the main type of mattress. Last week, the nation’s pioneer maker of mattresses, Tempur Sealy International, Inc. (NYSE: TPX) introduced a new portfolio of products. They said that the offerings provide “enhanced support and durability” andMORE HERE
BROOKLYN – In the 1950s, when television watching began, people left the dining room, but still wanted to eat “properly” in a civilized way. The people of American aspiration, namely upper middle class Americans, ate at dinner tables, a habit of generations, the emblem of upward mobility and respectability. RadioMORE HERE
The inventiveness of the 20th century left us with many viable, yet sometimes overlooked, genius brands. One such brand is the Heatilator, a fireplace heating system that gets more efficiency and safety out of the fireplace. Heatilator was the idea of making a cast iron wood stove look like aMORE HERE
WAYNESBORO – Perhaps the greatest American brass company of the 20th century was Virginia Metalcrafters. The company started as a stove manufacturer, early on making, of all things, the Hotpoint brand. Begun by William J. Loth as the Waynesboro Stove Company, it was born at a time when there wereMORE HERE
DUBLIN – On Jan. 9 Waterford Wedgwood UK Plc announced that they have entered into a letter of intent with KPS Capital Partners LP, a New York-based private equity limited partnership. The luxury lifestyle group, that includes Waterford Crystal, Wedgwood and Royal Doulton hopes to be in new hands byMORE HERE
DUBLIN – The Irish-based owners of Wedgwood, Waterford, Royal Doulton and Rosenthal have put the company into receivership, the British word for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 1986 merger of the two into Waterford Wedgwood PLC, with ticker WTFU, was a mistake; a company like Waterford or Wedgwood is NOT aboutMORE HERE