Home Furnishings bedding Essay

Home furnishing has many areas that furnish bedrooms with frames, comforters, sheets and dressers and much more. A home furnishing is a way to personalize the house whether it’s with the help of professionals or simple your own ideas. The company Polo Ralph Lauren founded in 1967 and their main headquarter is currently in New York. Ralph Lauren was the one who founded the company which he is the CEO, Chairman, and chief designer for the company. The company also sells products for men, women, and children, accessories, fragrances, and home furnishings. It operates in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Ralph Lauren first launch his home collection in 1985 including bedding, including bedding, towels, area rugs and much more. Home furnishings include bedding and with the bedding department it has mattress size, pillows, sheets and blanket, and quilts. The mattress size is important because it depend the size of the sleeper and the dimensions of the bedroom. The smallest size of the bedding dimensions is the twin size which has a dimension of 39 by 76 inches. The next size is the full size mattresses measure 54 by 75 inches and â€Å"queens add an extra 6 inches to the full-size width and 5 inches to the length. Standard king mattresses have ample room with a 78 inch width and 80 inches in length. †(ProQuest) The pillows come in different size to match the bed and all the pillows are 20 inches in width and in length it varieties. Pillow cases and sheets are sold in pairs or separately. They are sold separately because it allows the customers to pick their own design, how they want their sleeping environment to look like. They sell separately because something consumers does not like the designs so they rather buy the design that they are comfortable. The construction of pillowcases, sheets and shams varieties and the most popular fabric use in this is woven. The next fabric is â€Å"Cotton and cotton/poly dominates the market. Cotton gives absorbency while polyester gives durability and wrinkle resistance. Most sheets are made with spun yarns. †(Hoovers) Muslin and percale sheets are the most common. Muslin sheets are made from carded yarns while Percale is made out from combed yarns. Other type of fabrics is sateen, satin, flannel, or knitted jersey or tricot. It’s important to pay attention the caring part because there are some sheets, pillowcases that can easily get damaged. The white sheets should be machine was only and dry according to manufacturer’s instructions. Do not combine dark colors with beach and only apply beach on white sheets. It’s good to rotated and avoid using the same set also using a mattress pad or covers to protect the sheets will extend the life of the bottom sheets. â€Å"Ralph Lauren has grown from being a mono-brand US centric menswear wholesaler to designer manufacturer and wholesaler of global luxury lifestyle brands for men, women and children. † (Business source Swot analysis). Ralph Lauren has many products that can offer to their customers because it’s a growing industry. Some of the brands and names of Ralph Lauren include Polo by Ralph, Lauren, Purple Label, Club Monaco, Rugby, Ralph Lauren Women’s Collection, Black Label, Blue Label and Lauren by Ralph Lauren, among others. The successes of the brands are due to the official outfitter of the 2008 US Olympic and Paralympics teams by the United States Olympic Committee in 2008. It has sign a five year contract with R&A to outfit all the members staffing and all the officials in the Open Championship up to 2016. Ralph Lauren distributes their products through and foreign and domestic network. It has a successful global distribution network which allows â€Å"its merchandises to be sold in a total of nearly 9,000 retailers worldwide, ranging from high-end department stores such as Neiman Marcus to discount retailers such as TJ Maxx. † (Business source). Ralph Lauren is divided into three segments the first one is wholesales, the second one is retail, and the third one is licensing. Licensing is very important because any product whether in-house produced or licensed, have to be designed by Mr.  Lauren and his design staff. All of his home furnishings products are produce by his licensing partners who has the right to sell them whether it’s internationally or domestic. It has multiple channels where they distribute their products. Ralph Lauren has 201 factory stores worldwide and 178 full-price retail stores. It also has â€Å"474 concessions-based shop-within-shops, and six e -commerce websites. The full-price retail stores range in the size of approximately 800 to 38,000 square feet and are situated in major upscale street locations and upscale regional malls in large urban markets. (Business Source). Most of these factory stores are located in outlet malls. Some of the factories have a length of 2500 to 20,000 feet in the Americans 1,400 to 19,700 square feet in Europe and from 2,800 to 11,800 square feet in Asia. It also operates a concessions-based shop-within-shops that has around 209 retail locations dedicated to Ralph Lauren-branded products. Most of the shops-within shops are located in Asia and the size of this concessions-base is approximately 180 to 4,300 square feet. The company has a successful globe distribution that allows merchandise to be in 9,000 retails worldwide. Home furnishings by Ralph Lauren afford their customers a feature that has a â€Å"contemporary, creative style and also employs ticking-striped patterns, industrial accents and flea-market-inspired finds to create an unexpected rustic look. † (Ralph Lauren). The company wants their customers to be happy with their product and that’s way they offer the best quality with the best material so that their customers can come back to the company and purchase more. Polo Ralph Lauren’s status as a premier lifestyle brand supports higher product margins, product extensions, and consumer loyalty. The company long-term annually grow is 20% to 30 % on their distribution. This company has a price range to be higher because Ralph Lauren is one of the premier consumer lifestyle brands with considerable brand equity. The company has strong brand equity because it has â€Å"capitalized on its strong fashion design and effective marketing to build a premier lifestyle brand with global revenue exceeding an estimated $5 billion, including licensees. (Business Source). It also states that the company is one of the few† brands capable of developing a portfolio of products and brands ranging from the moderately priced Chaps by Ralph Lauren to the luxury priced Purple and Black Labels. † (Business Source). The company has many ways to merchandises their products which include websites, outlet malls, factories and much more. In addition to these, the company sells its products through three websites in the US, including ralphLauren. com, rugby. com and clubmonaco. com, the company has more websites in the European part. Only the Unites States the company has acquire new customers about 600,000 customers. Only selling from website in helps the company to reach wider customers and faster than any other companies. Not only do they sell their merchandise over the internet they sell it through catalogs, retail stores for example Macys and high ended department store. Not any department store can sell Ralph Lauren products because they must have a license with the company itself. The company chose high end department stores because they know their customers and also because they have loyal customers who love to shop in this high-end department stores. Also because the brand of the product will distinguish how the material is made and how good of a quality it is. There are many rules and regulations when it comes to â€Å"all products categorized as linens must be labeled in accordance with the laws that relate to the consumption of textile products. The Textile Fiber Products Act (TFPIA) requires that generic fiber names and fiber content be listed on the label and flammability standards for mattress†. (Hoovers). The company’s name is build around the highest ethical and legal standards.  Ralph Lauren is guided by the â€Å"California Transparent Act which states that all of its suppliers to prohibit the hiring of slave labor and prevent practices that could contribute to human trafficking. 1. verify product supply chains using third party auditors to ensure that our product supply chains are compliant with our Operating Guidelines and all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting slave labor and human trafficking; 2. conduct independent audits of our suppliers to evaluate their compliance with our Operating Guidelines and all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting slave labor and human trafficking; 3. equire certification by our suppliers that materials incorporated into our products comply with our Operating Guidelines and all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting slave labor and human trafficking in countries where our suppliers are doing business; 4. maintain internal accountability standards and procedures for employees and contractors failing to meet our Operating Guidelines prohibiting slave labor and human trafficking; 5. provide training for our supply chain executives and employees on the prevention of human trafficking and slave labor. †(RalphLauren. om) The company is always doing things to change the product and to promote new products to their loyal customers. Ralph Lauren will launch new lines and maintain brand strength. The company views the internet as the number one source of future growth that will increase very fast. They are advertising and marketing in a unique form associate with distinct design, luxury and quality. Retail stores are still very important because it’s the foundation and the growth of the company and it has given the â€Å"confidence to apply its expertise to wholesale business, including erchandise mix, visual presentation and excellent customer service. † (Valuation Reports). Ralph Lauren wants to expand to new products with new categories in different parts of the world. In conclusion the company has many things to offer to their loyal customers and expanding everything to new places and expanding new product will definitely have new customers. It’s important for the company to keep the good quality and good merchandise because it’s a way to stay in business for much longer.