Furniture Sofa

A rendering of Nashville’s medical mart

The Nashville medical mart has a signed five-year lease with another anchor tenant, publicly traded furniture maker Steelcase (NYSE:SCS).

Nurture, the healthcare-focused brand of Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Steelcase, plans to occupy up to 4,000 square feet of space in the Nashville Medical Trade Center, which is slated for a 2013 opening, according to a report in The Tennessean.

Steelcase, which posted revenue of $2.4 billion in its most recent fiscal year, is a solid pickup for Nashville, which has struggled to sign tenants in the two years since it announced plans to enter the medical mart competition.

Nonetheless, the property developer behind the Nashville medical mart, Dallas-based Market Center Management, has a long way to go. Market Center has said it needs to lease 60 percent of the approximately 1 million square feet of showroom space before it can secure the financing to begin construction of the 11-story mart, and it’s nowhere near close to that number, which raises doubts as to whether the projected 2013 opening date is still realistic.

Nashville has announced five tenants, but Steelcase is the first medical products or technology company that Market Center has landed. The other tenants are a healthcare trade group, a regulatory consulting firm, a Chinese business development group and a local university. The trade group, health IT advocate HIMSS, is another Nashville anchor tenant.

Steelcase’s Nurture brand sells a wide variety of furniture for use in health settings, including cabinets, chairs, carts and workstations. Steelcase launched the brand in 2006. In 2009, Nurture partnered with Mayo Clinic on a research study into how the design of a consultation room can improve the quality of an outpatient visit.

The HCA hospital chain and Vanderbilt University Medical Center are among the company’s local customers, according to The Tennessean.

“This permanent showroom in Nashville will help us reach an even wider audience with our vision to shape and improve the future of healthcare delivery,” said Kyle Williams, Nurture’s general manager, in a statement.

In contrast to Nashville, the developers behind Cleveland’s medical mart have signed more than 60 prospective tenants to letters of intent (LOIs). The Nashville project’s backers delight in pointing out that those LOIs aren’t legally binding and impose no penalties on companies that back out of them, as two prospective tenants have already indicated they’re likely to do.

Nonetheless, Cleveland looks far likelier to hit its projected opening date — Aug. 31, 2013 — than Nashville. Officials behind both medical mart projects have said the healthcare market is likely sizable enough to only support one of them.

Rose•Walker represents Southwest Furniture Brokers in courtroom win over Broyhill

DALLAS, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — A Dallas County jury has awarded more than $1 million after finding that Lenoir, N.C.-based Broyhill Furniture Industries Inc. failed to comply with the terms of a verbal contract it made with Tyler, Texas, furniture liquidator Southwest Furniture Brokers. The jury also found that a Broyhill vice president committed fraud and awarded $1,245,000, including attorneys’ fees.

In 2007, Southwest Furniture agreed to conduct a $20 million Broyhill Manufacturer’s Sale in Grapevine, Texas. In order to prepare for the six-month sale, Southwest was forced to close its operations in Tyler. As part of the agreement, Southwest was promised a 10 percent commission on sales.

Attorneys for Southwest Furniture argued that Broyhill breached the agreement by, among other things, failing to provide the amount of merchandise it promised to make available for the sale. Broyhill also conducted a competing $20 million sale at Big Lots.

“This is not the way you do business and I’m glad the jury saw it that way,” says Rose•Walker partner Ross Cunningham, who along with firm partner Chris McDowell represented Southwest at trial. “In business, if you promise to do something, you have to do it.”

The verdict follows a two-week trial in Judge Carlos Cortez‘s 44th District Court. 

“A deal is a deal,” Mr. McDowell says. “If you’re looking for a lesson in this verdict, that’s it.”

Rose•Walker, L.L.P. is a premier trial law firm, focusing on complex civil litigation. The firm represents businesses and individuals, and its many major courtroom victories have helped Rose•Walker earn a national reputation for excellence. More information about the firm is available at www.rosewalker.com.

For more information about the win by Southwest Furniture against Broyhill, please contact Mark Annick at 214-559-4630 or mark@androvett.com. 

SOURCE Rose Walker, L.L.P.

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San Francisco, CA (Vocus/PRWEB) June 07, 2011

San Francisco interior design specialist Christine Reddy, owner of Great Finds, a service that sells luxury brands of furniture samples at up to 80% off retail, is often consulted for her expertise in staging a home for sale. She offers steps homeowners can take to improve the look of their home, and explains why small investments like hiring a professional and purchasing a few, quality, discount furniture pieces can make a home much more attractive to potential buyers.

“Try to think of your home almost like a nice hotel-beautiful, light-filled, inviting and comfortable, without being too crowded or reminding you of other families and their personal tastes,” advises Reddy. She urges sellers to store away personal items like photos of trips and relatives, souvenirs, and excessive amounts of accessories. “You won’t believe how much larger your space will feel,” she promises.

Reddy also advises sellers to remove anything with lots of strong color or very busy patterns like rugs, draperies and artwork, and either leave an open space (remember less is more) or replace it with simple patterns, solids and neutral colors. “Color is subjective. Overuse of bold colors, uncoordinated color schemes, too many conflicting patterns, etc. is confusing and takes away from the message you are trying to send. People will be attracted to your home when they are able to envision their belongings there, which is the main objective, after all,” explains Reddy.

Another tip she offers is to cover up those dingy walls. “Paint, paint, paint! It’s inexpensive and covers so many minor flaws, visually and in terms of wall texture. A simple design solution for tired walls. If you don’t have time, hire a professional. It will pay off.”

The process of readying a home for sale can benefit immensely from hiring a design professional. “We often go to clients’ homes and assist them with their pre-sale design dilemmas. It is truly invigorating when we give their lives and homes a boost by transforming otherwise ‘invisible’ personal possessions, furniture and accessories and compose a completely different look,” said Reddy. “We can present a seemingly brand new space by using professional design techniques. Often this can be done without buying or renting ‘staged’ pieces, and just using what you already own.”

This process, which she refers to as “editing,” is highly effective, because the consultant is objective and can see things differently with the benefit of training, experience and good design perspective. This process, which Great Finds offers for a reasonable fee, can be essential to successfully preparing a home for resale, and can actually boost the sale price. Reddy points out, “When you consider that you are better equipped to sell your home faster and at a better price, hiring a designer to assist you with editing and space planning is more effective, easier and less expensive than a total redo.”

For those who need to remove dated and worn furniture, Reddy advises replacing old pieces with current styles that will be enjoyed in the next home. Just a few key pieces that are well-made will enhance the space and play up the great “bones” of a room.

“Great Finds is a super source for those readying their home for sale and looking to get a fresh new look without paying top dollar. We have tons of unadvertised designer furniture and accessory bargains otherwise unavailable to the public. Most nationally known brands of better quality along with designer-name lines are available. We have a shopping service to help you locate the perfect furniture floor samples, in perfect condition, at the right price” says Reddy.

Reddy’s service offers clients exclusive access to the “trade-only” discount furniture of San Francisco Design Center showrooms, where they can save thousands on better name pieces without having to wait for a sale or settle for a knockoff. Great Finds’ offerings are specially chosen for their high quality, super condition, and best value.

“The San Francisco Design Center showrooms have all the current fabrics and finishes that are in demand, only priced at thousands less,” she says. This is an excellent way to make a home for sale attractive to today’s market-savvy buyers without having to pay top dollar.

For more information on staging a home, professional design services, or personalized shopping trips to the San Francisco Design Center with Great Finds, call them at (415) 658-9304 or visit www.greatfinds-bayarea.com.

About Great Finds

Great Finds is an interior design company that specializes in a range of design services in San Francisco. They offer consulting, design, and shopping services as well as “Miraculous Home Makeovers Without Buying New.” Great Finds enables the public to purchase internationally-acclaimed brands of designer furniture at exclusive trade-only discounts. Great Finds serves all communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. They also ship out of state.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebpatio-furniture/bay-area/prweb8540474.htm