Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., Bernhardt Furniture Company And Shaw Industries, Inc. Announce Expansion Of Martha Stewart Signature Program

Furniture World Magazine

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. (NYSE:MSO), Bernhardt Furniture Company and Shaw Industries, Inc. announced two multiyear merchandising partnerships through which furniture and floor covering products bearing the "Martha Stewart Signature" specialty brand label will be offered to consumers. MSO and Bernhardt entered into an agreement through which they will collaboratively design and market furniture products that Bernhardt will manufacture and distribute to department stores and furniture retailers nationwide. MSO and Shaw entered into an agreement through which they will collaboratively design and market floor covering products that Shaw will manufacture and distribute to floor covering retailers nationwide. The partnerships represent a significant expansion for the Martha Stewart Signature brand, which is MSO's specialty-tier merchandise offering and is focused on an integrated approach to the decorating process. These programs join the Martha Stewart Signature paint palette program currently available at 45 Sherwin-Williams Stores, and set to roll out nationally to over 1,500 Sherwin-Williams Stores in 2002, and the Martha Stewart Signature fabric program (launched in 1999 as Martha Stewart Home to be rebranded Martha Stewart Signature Starting fall 2002) available through interior designers and fabric retailers, including Calico Corners. The floor covering offerings will include area rugs, hardwood flooring, broadloom carpeting, laminates and ceramic tile, and are expected to be available at retailers in late 2002. The furniture offerings will include bedroom, dining room and living room collections and are expected to be available at retailers in early 2003. Martha Stewart, Chairman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc., said, "This expansion of the Martha Stewart Signature brand label represents a significant step toward our goal of providing specialty-tier consumers with the ability to decorate their homes in a thoughtful, comprehensive fashion using our unique approach. By offering consumers an integrated approach through our Martha Stewart Signature offerings, now including floor coverings and furniture, they will have the tools they need to decorate room by room, floor to ceiling, in a step by step program. By combining the quality, reliability and expertise of our new partners - Shaw and Bernhardt - with MSO's design expertise, knowledge and brand, we are significantly expanding the solid growth potential of our merchandising segment." "We feel combining the manufacturing and distribution strengths of Shaw Industries with the creative and branding talents of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is an exciting fit for the flooring industry. The partnership of Shaw and Martha Stewart will be a true benefit for the consumer," commented Bob Shaw, Chairman and CEO of Shaw Industries. Alex Bernhardt Sr., Chairman and CEO of Bernhardt, said, "We are very excited to be a partner in the new Martha Stewart Signature Brand. Martha Stewart is known as an authority on all things to do with the home, and it only makes sense that she offer a line of furniture to her consumers. Our alliance will bring those consumers the high quality product they expect from Martha Stewart and Bernhardt." Martha Stewart Signature (MSS) is a specialty-tier merchandise brand, positioned above the Martha Stewart Everyday (MSE) mass-market brand label, and is differentiated from MSE by price point, ticket sizes and in-store service levels. In addition, the MSS brand strategy is to use universal cooperative advertising programs and collateral materials to cross promote the brand across all mid-tier retail outlets irrespective of product offerings. In this way, the MSS label will emphasize and reinforce a "total room/total home" message for all the various categories of specialty home decorating merchandise. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is an integrated content company consisting of how-to information and products for the home, organized around four business segments. The company's Publishing segment includes Martha Stewart Living, Martha Stewart Weddings, and Martha Stewart Baby/Kids magazines as well as special interest publications; books written by Martha Stewart and the editors of Martha Stewart Living; and the syndicated Ask Martha newspaper columns and radio show. The Television segment includes a nationally syndicated, daily one-hour television program, Martha Stewart Living; a daily cable television program, From Martha's Kitchen, on the Food Network; weekly appearances on CBS's The Early Show broadcast; and periodic network primetime television specials. The Merchandising segment includes strategic retail partnerships through which merchandise designed by the Company's in-house creative experts is distributed and/or sold through Kmart, Sherwin-Williams, P/Kaufmann, and Zellers. The Internet/Direct Commerce segment consists of the company's high-end catalog, Martha by Mail, and marthastewart.com, which includes the Martha by Mail and Martha’s Flowers online stores, as well as eight linked content and community channels. This segment also includes The Wedding List, a wedding registry and gift business. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MSO. Shaw Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., is the world's largest manufacturer of tufted broadloom carpet (www.shawinc.com). Headquartered in Dalton, Georgia, Shaw sells carpeting and rugs for residential and commercial applications throughout the United States and exports to most markets worldwide. Through its network of commercial dealers known as Spectra Contract Flooring, Shaw sells flooring products and provides project management services. Shaw also offers hard surface flooring through the brands Shaw Ceramics, Decades Laminate Flooring, and Shaw Hardwoods. Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company owning subsidiaries engaged in a number of diverse business activities. The most important of these is the property and casualty insurance business conducted on both a direct and reinsurance basis. Founded in 1889, Bernhardt is one of the largest family owned and operated manufacturers of fine wood and upholstered furniture in the U.S. With an uncompromising commitment to high business standards and the principles of fine craftmanship, four generations of the Bernhardt family have led this American enterprise from it origins with 25 employess building simple chairs of native white oak to its current ranking among the top 10 U.S. furniture manufacturers in annual sales worldwide. Currently they employ more than 2,500 people and operate 11 plants in western North Carolina producing quality wood furniture for dining, living and bedrooms as well as a broad line of custom-built upholstered furniture in both contemporary and classic traditional styles. Their products are showcased in Bernhardt Home Furnishings Stores, Bernhardt Galleries, fine department stores, better furniture stores and through interior designers.