Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) announced today positive feedback about the attendance at the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market, which was held at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Ill., September 20-23. Show management reported strong attendance of qualified buyers, retailers and other industry professionals who were placing orders onsite.

“At this year’s show, we saw an increase in attendance as well as the amount of order writing and highly qualified attendees,” said Jaclyn Kelly, senior director of marketing for the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market / MMPI.

Many showroom representatives echoed this comment. The personnel in permanent showroom…

Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI) today released a special preview of the upcoming International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market’s New Product Gallery and innovative product and style trends that will be seen at the market event later this month.

The New Product Gallery will present a wide range of casual outdoor furniture and accessories from Casual Market showrooms and exhibitors, including furniture designs, shade systems, new colors and fabrics, and other items. “This year’s New Product Gallery is being designed to give retailers, buyers and other attendees the opportunity to easily view new products as they enter the Chicago Merchandise…

Napoleon® Fireplaces and Napoleon® Gourmet Grills (Napoleon Group of Companies) today announced that Ron McArthur has been named President of the Napoleon Group of Companies.

Over the past 35 years, the Canadian fireplace, barbecue, and heating and cooling manufacturer has expanded into a successful North American company with a growing international presence.

“Ron McArthur’s experience of leading strong, world-class brands will be a valuable addition to the Napoleon family,” said Wolfgang Schroeter, CEO of Napoleon. “Napoleon has been growing steadily over the past three decades and we are very excited about the future of the company,” said Schroeter.

McArthur…

Tri Vantage®, in collaboration with Meliar Design, has added elements of MPanel Shade Designer software to Awning Composer, enabling users to create 3-D shade sail models for visualizing the effects of shade sails on outdoor spaces.

“Connections between our two programs will allow users to easily create designs in MPanel Shade Designer and transfer them to Awning Composer,” said Mark Stiver, Awning Composer manager for Tri Vantage. “Companies that make shade sails or with plans to expand into the shade sail market will benefit from this unique selling tool that allows customers to see exactly how shade…

After a successful introduction at the HD Expo in May, outdoor furniture producer Oxford Garden has officially released its new products for the 2013 season.  The introductions, which include new collections and additions, will be on display in the company’s Casual Market showroom, 8-6082, this month.

The introductions feature a new collection entitled Vancouver, crafted from preweathered teak. In addition to Vancouver, Oxford Garden will be introducing wood alternative materials to its popular Travira Collection, as well as expanding the collection to include bar and bistro elements. Finally, the company will be releasing deep seating items to its Siena Collection.

New figures released Wednesday indicate that the housing marketing is on the rise. In August, residential construction rose 2.3% and sales of existing homes rose 7.8%. For more on this story, check out this article from the LA Times.

Jamestown Pellet Stoves has added S&M Distributing to its growing list of partners as the company builds its U.S. division and focuses on growth in the American market. Scott Weldon, president of the U.S. division of Jamestown, says the company is thrilled to partner with S&M Distributing. “Jamestown is producing some of the cleanest-burning and most affordable pellet stoves on the market today,” he explains, “and partnering with S&M gives us the opportunity to offer more people the chance to save money on their heating bills.”

S&M Distributing is based in Greenville, RI, and operates a network of hundreds of…

Jamestown Pellet Stoves, manufacturer of one of the most trusted stove brands, has expanded operations to focus on growth in the US market. Scott Weldon, an American entrepreneur with more than 20 years in the energy industry, became a partner, Chief Sales Officer & President of Jamestown US Division, and is projecting steady, sustainable growth in market share, as well as an increase in manufacturing, sales, and service jobs.

“Jamestown has been making top-of-the-line pellet stoves for more than thirty years,” says Mr. Weldon, a track record he says he’ll be proud to help uphold. In fact, the company…