COVID: More News

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “burnout” as “chronic stress that is not successfully managed.”

The global pandemic has forced dealers and vendors to respond to supply chain disruptions and COVID outbreaks in creative and often dramatic ways.

After his obituary was published, Mark Twain famously wrote “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

As we enter year two of the coronavirus, we think it’s worth recalling FurnitureToday’s recent account of how two upholstery manufacturers faced the pandemic’s labor and supply-chain challenges head on.

Despite a two-month deadline extension, to May 31, time is nonetheless running out for members who wish to apply for a forgivable loan under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The Senate last week approved extending the deadline for loan applications under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) from this Wednesday to May 31.

The experience of a small powder coating company in Minnesota can serve as a cautionary tale for PPP recipients who thought their forgivable loans came free and clear.

The National Retail Federation (NRF), the world’s largest retail trade association, has petitioned the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to include retail workers in the early phases of COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

The new $900 billion COVID stimulus package passed this week by Congress contains a number of new provisions that could directly affect BrandSource members, including additional Paycheck Protection Program funding (PPP) and relaxed deductibility rules.

Over 500 state and national trade associations, including the National Retail Federation (NRF), the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are pressing Congress to restore tax deductibility for business expenses paid with forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

In the wake of criticism for issuing Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to financially viable companies like Shake Shack and the Los Angeles Lakers, and amid suspicion of widespread program abuse and fraud, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is seeking permission to question borrowers who received $2 million or more in PPP loans.

A renewed wave of COVID-19 is surging across the country, and BrandSource members are not immune.

The United Appliance Servicers Association (UASA), a BrandSource partner and arguably the nation’s largest appliance repair trade group, has pulled the plug on next February’s Annual Service Training Institute (ASTI) due to COVID-related health concerns.

Tempur Sealy plans to employ an antimicrobial and antiviral technology to select Sealy, Tempur-Pedic and Stearns & Foster mattresses in 2021.

Here’s another interesting effect of the coronavirus that we didn’t expect or at least use in our estimates for economic expansion or contraction: COVID-19 has greatly reduced the time we spend on the highways.

I have been following America’s economy for more than 60 years and have documented some extraordinary events over that time, but nothing prepared me for what I have witnessed in 2020.

As we continue to navigate our way through business during COVID-19, we have to remind ourselves that it’s imperative to make sure our shopping environments are always safe, informative and upbeat, whether we’re in a pandemic or not. It just makes long-term sense to operate this way.

It was just ten short years ago when businesses had the upper hand in hiring, and finding good employees was as easy as putting up a “Help Wanted” sign or posting something on social media.

In his keynote address at the 2020 Virtual Convention, AVB Merchandising VP Chad Evans suggested that COVID would quell the Black Friday queues that traditionally circle box stores on Thanksgiving.

COVID-19 has certainly altered the retail shopping landscape, at least for the time being.

Replacement sales of home goods have soared during the health crisis, as consumers spend more time at home and imperfections in their appliances and home furnishings become more apparent.

It is a new way of life in America since February of 2020 and I am trying to make predictions about the U.S. economy while I shelter in place here at my home in Washington. Our economy is opening up, but the news has not made it any easier to gaze into the old crystal ball and tell you what is going to happen.

Tom Balistreri and his team at Colders Furniture and Appliance in Milwaukee embraced a new maxim when the COVID crisis first hit these shores: “We need to be flexible; we need to be resilient; and we need to persevere!”

As Congress still wrangles over the next stimulus package and COVID flares up in new parts of the country, economists, executives and independent owners are expressing their concern for the well-being of small businesses.

While Congress wrangles over the next phase of pandemic relief, BrandSource reminds members that there are still plenty of federal funds out there just waiting to be dispensed.

In an open letter to retailers this month, Serta Simmons’s Chief Sales Officer Derek Miller said the company is committed to absorbing cost increases caused by the global pandemic.

The spread of COVID-19 has done more than put a crimp in vendors’ second-quarter earnings.

Despite what it describes as extreme and costly disruptions to the bedding industry’s supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, Serta Simmons said it would absorb the higher costs it has incurred rather than pass them along to retailers.

The U.S. moved closer to a national mask mandate this week as some of the country’s largest retailers including Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Kroger, Kohl’s, CVS and Walgreens joined three more states — Alabama, Colorado and Montana — in making face coverings a must indoors.

Serta Simmons Bedding has partnered with Swiss textile chemistry firm HeiQ to create a mattress that can reportedly kill the COVID-19 virus.

The following reflection is reposted with permission from BrandSource member Michael Grossman, President of Kensington Furniture.

In a rare instance of swift bipartisan cooperation, the federal government has extended the deadline to apply for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) until Aug. 8.

For many BrandSource dealers, it’s all they can do to keep inventory on the floor.

The federal government has revised some of the more onerous stipulations of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and has provided new application forms for the loans, which remain available through June 30.

These are difficult times for our country and the world around us. Difficult yes, but not completely unfamiliar.

Consumer confidence, as measured by The Conference Board’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index, stabilized in May following a sharp decline in April.

Making good on its imperative to support its servicing members, the BrandSource Service Committee has forged a formal partnership with the Professional Service Association (PSA), the leading trade organization dedicated to the long-term success of the appliance repair channel.

Longtime Whirlpool and Maytag sales executive Mark Hecht has announced his retirement and will be stepping down from his post at the end of the month.

David Jones knew that digital promotions were successful in other places; however, the owner of Jones Appliance & TV was skeptical that they would be as effective in Iowa Falls, a town of 5,000 just big enough to poke through the corn stalks.

The world’s largest retail trade association has thrown its support behind national legislation that would help businesses obtain insurance coverage for pandemics.