Long-time industry veteran Jim Green is set to debut Furniture Retailing 101, the only comprehensive information resource for the retail furniture industry, during the Spring High Point Market here.

The three-volume set was written for any individual new to the retail furniture business; for retail executives, management, sales staff and entrepreneurs, along with manufacturer sales reps, university students and journalists. As Pat Norton, chairman emeritus of La-Z-Boy Inc, who wrote the forward for Furniture Retailing 101: The Business, relates, “Furniture Retailing 101 could be a text book dealing with the practical side of the retail side of our industry because it is a very basic, no-nonsense book distinguished by its completeness and its real-life experience content. Many of the words, phrases and processes, which are unique to the furniture industry, provide a great foundation for the reader learning the details of our business.”

Green is already garnering kudos for the work from industry executives asked to review pre-publication copies. “This book is just the kind of thing we need,” notes Clive Lubner, CEO of Robb & Stucky, Florida. “Jim Green knows this business.” Jena Hall, vice president of merchandising and design for Aspenhome, agrees: “I wish I’d had a reference like this when I was getting started,” she says. “I would have saved hundreds of hours on the learning curve.”

“Upon entering the retail furniture industry in 1975, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t have an inkling of an understanding about this business—about its language, about how it operates—and there is no resource available to acquire even an introductory foundation,’ ” the author says. “Today, in a new millennium, there still is very little available. I wrote these three volumes to fill the void and provide new entrants into our industry a place to begin.”

In addition to a special appearance at Showplace on Thursday, April 10 from noon to 2 p.m., Furniture Retailing 101 will launch with a full schedule of book signing events throughout the Market. As of this writing, the following dates and times have been set:

MON, 4/7, Noon to 2 pm
Lee Industries Inc
Building: Lee Industries Inc
Location: 100 S. Lindsay St

MON, 4/7, 3 to 5pm
Sligh Furniture Company
Building: Hamilton
Location: 310 N. Hamilton. St., S-204

TUES, 4/8, 10 to noon
Universal Furniture International, Inc.
Building: Universal Furniture International, Inc.
Location: 2622 Uwharrie Rd.

TUES, 4/8, 2 to 4pm
Broyhill Furniture Industries, Inc.
Building: IHFC
Location: C600

TUES, 4/8, 5 to 7 pm
200 Steele
Building: 200 Steele
Location: 200 Steele - Lobby

WED, 4/9, 10 to noon
Southern Furniture Co Inc
Building: Southern Furniture Co Inc
Location: 205 Model Farm Rd.

WED, 4/9, 1 to 3 pm
Coaster Furniture
Building: Coaster Furniture
Location: 111 E. Commerce Ave.

WED, 4/9, 4 to 6 pm
Highland House Furniture
Building: Market Square
Location: 414

THU, 4/10, noon to 2
Showplace
Building: Showplace Entrance
Location: 211 E. Commerce Ave.

FRI, 4/11, 8:30 to 11:30 am
Thayer Coggin
Building: Thayer Coggin
Location: 230 South Rd.

Additionally, on Friday, April 11 at 11:30 am, Green is scheduled to give a special presentation to this year’s Celia Moh Scholars. These exceptional students, representing eight colleges and universities with home furnishings programs across the nation, will attend High Point Market to visit showrooms, network for future employment and observe the biannual tradeshow firsthand. For six years, the Celia Moh scholarship has funded this unique educational experience. Students will enter a free drawing to win a set of Furniture Retailing 101 books at the event.

Furniture Retailing 101 will be sold in single volumes and as bulk orders beginning April 7, High Point Market’s opening date. Quantity discounts will be available. A Web site will launch at the same time this Spring at: www.furnitureindustry101.com. The books will additionally be sold at each of the eight Bienenstock Furniture Library kiosks during the Market.

The three-volume set includes The Business, The Merchandise and The Strategic Concepts in which Green outlines the business functions that must be accomplished by nearly every retail company. In The Business, Green covers retail organization along with manufacturing processes. He also delves into merchandising, marketing and sales of the main furniture product categories. In The Merchandise he takes a closer look at each of the furniture categories. In The Strategic Concepts, Green addresses the financial elements of retailing. This book is additionally devoted to the concepts of change, competition, and balance.

Green earned his MBA in management after almost 30 years of hands-on experience in both the retail and manufacturing sides of the furniture business making him an ideal candidate for authoring a book of Furniture Retailing 101’s scope. “I hope the three volumes of ‘Furniture Retailing 101’ will serve as reference for anyone wanting to learn the basics of the furniture business,” Green says, adding that experienced retailers and others who work in the industry may find useful information in the books as well.