PR Resource – Muarateweh.net

Home sales are slow, and furniture retailers are feeling the pinch. So is this a good time to launch a new furniture empire?

Joe Carron thinks so. He and partner Anand Patel plan to turn a Brandon’s Home Furnishings store in Wellington into a SoHo Living warehouse store.

The pair also has taken over an existing SoHo Living store on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach. Right now the store’s focus is sleek, contemporary furniture for small-scale homes, such as condos. But Carron and Patel plan to expand the store’s offerings, too.

Expanding a furniture business now seems risky. After all, the housing market is expected to get worse before it gets better, and experts predict an uptick is still a couple of years away. Already, there are casualties in the furniture industry: Earlier this year, veteran retailer Modernage closed its doors after 67 years in business. (continue reading…)

Once upon a time, beer drinkers only had three major choices when looking to pop a cold one: Budweiser, Miller and Coors. Now the market is flooded with imports, seasonal brews and variations of the old classics. Choosing which beer to drink may have been easier back then, but now it’s much more fun.

The U.S. beer market is a $94 billion industry, according to the Brewers Association, far eclipsing sales of spirits, wines and other alcoholic beverages. But thanks to years of lowbrow marketing tactics–think bikini-clad girls dancing around beer-filled ice chests–and ads touting it as the everyman’s beverage, beer is facing a major image problem. Today’s middle-class consumers don’t want to be seen as an average “everyman,” and are turning to affordable luxuries that will elevate them to a perceived higher class status.

“Beer marketers are fighting back the best they can, but it’s tough because a newer, younger generation of drinker has been very much marketed to and enthused with the cocktail culture,” (continue reading…)

Ignore the gold medals and red-white-and-blue ribbons from beer competitions that decorate Mad Anthony Brewing Co.’s walls.

It’s not about the brewpub’s award-winning crabcakes or deep-dish Chicago pizza.

Quite simply, it’s about the beer – the craft brews the Fort Wayne establishment, 1109 Taylor St., has been producing since 1995.

“When I am on this side of town,” says Rodney Luckie of Fort Wayne, “I have to stop in here for the Old Fort. It’s that good. It’s worth the trip over here just for it.”

When Luckie’s friend, Clarence Wilkes, a Detroit resident, visits the Summit City, he usually takes a case of beer back with him.
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The 5th International Craft Biennale, hosted by Cheongju City and organized by the Cheongju International Craft Biennale Organizing Committee, is held every other year at the Cheongju Arts Center, Cheongju High Tech Cultural Industry Complex. It is being held as we speak for 27 days from 2nd -28th October, with 50 participating nations from all over the world and no less that 3000 artists.

Biennale Promoter Park Ji-Eun says “Visitors can experience works by Korean artists as well as artists from all over the world. They can also try making things for themselves in the Hands-on Experience Area, where specialists are around to assist. This area is for learning and relaxing, and emphasizes the importance of fun.” Main creative activities include paper craft, making aromatic candles, making natural soap bars, amongst others.

Ms Park would also like to recommend the ‘Special Exhibition of Korean Intangible Cultural (continue reading…)

Paul Johnson is good at what he does, so good that he might be the best that has ever been.

At least that’s the opinion of Coach Jim Grobe, whose Wake Forest Deacons will face Johnson’s Navy Midshipmen at 1 p.m. today at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md.

Wake Forest, riding a four-game winning streak, is 4-2. Navy, riding a three-game winning streak, is also 4-2.

Johnson’s expertise is coaching the triple-option offense, something he has been doing since he was an offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern in 1985. Practice makes perfect, and Navy’s offense is close enough to perfect to lead all Football Bowl Subdivision teams with 345.5 rushing yards a game.

The Midshipmen also happen to be last in passing with 109.7 yards a game, mostly because they’ve thrown only 69 passes – 54 fewer than any other team in major-college football. (continue reading…)

Les Casteel thinks a true artist creates for art’s sake. Casteel wants his woodworking to be more. He wants to marry high function to allure, whether it’s a rocking chair or a bowl.

Vendors succeed when they can put those two aspects into their work, he said at his booth at the Spanker Creek Farm Arts, Crafts and Gifts show in Bentonville.

Depending on where residents venture over the craft fair weekend in Northwest Arkansas, they may encounter someone like Casteel, who’s spent years perfecting his “old world” craft, he said.

Casteel, a carpenter for six years, operates Wood That Rocks out of his home in Harrison, and spends hours carving or turning wood sculptures and furniture.

He said he’s seen the trend of craft fair vendors migrating toward buying and reselling retail items.
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(PR.com)– The Lasting Expressions e-book launched a new blog on Ideas for craft which add to their focus on titles, quotes, phrases, captions, sayings and more ideas for crafters.

In today’s society, believe it or not, there is an increase in hobbies, like scrapbooking, card making, rubber stamping, journaling and many more crafts that make use of clever words to portray their message and it is getting increasingly more popular. While there are those that believe it is a picture that speak a thousand words, there are those that get inspiration from popular authorities like Mark Twain, Shakespeare, Bill Gates and many more. Some interior designers have used the art of letters and inspirational sayings and phrases to their advantage in creating a space of tranquility. The use of words play a big role in today’s society and being able to use it cleverly can add wood to a burning fire.

Precious time and energy can be saved on the purchase of this e-book as it is an endless (continue reading…)