Julie Farby - AHN Staff Writer Beijing, China (AHN)—As IKEA launched a bid to expand its share of China's thriving home improvement market, thousands of shoppers thronged the opening of the Swedish furniture maker’s biggest Asian store in Beijing on Wednesday. According to the...

AP - Swedish home furnishings retailer IKEA on Monday unveiled a new outlet in Beijing that will be its biggest in Asia — a seven-story, $100 million facility that the company hopes will put it ahead in China's thriving but crowded market.

Reuters - Sweden's IKEA, the world's largest furniture retailer, said on Monday that it planned to open another seven stores in China over the next three to four years, bringing its total number of stores there to ten.

Reuters - Pier 1 Imports Inc. on Thursday said sales at stores open at least a year fell 2 percent in March, although its new line of modern furniture sold well, and merchandise margins improved.

Yvonne Lee - AHN Staff Reporter (AHN) - BE Aerospace Inc. announces Tuesday that it has received an order worth $165 million from United Airlines.The company says it will design and manufacture seating and cabin furniture for the airline's premium class sections of its international fleet.The...

AP - The five-year housing boom is indeed over, judging from growing statistical evidence and the performance of some of the nation's leading builders, and the slowdown is already rippling through the economy.

Reuters - U.S. retail sales surged 2.3 percent in January, nearly triple the expected increase and the largest gain since May 2004, as post-holiday spending on cars, clothing, gasoline and furniture galloped ahead, a government report showed on Tuesday.

Reuters - Furniture maker and retailer Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. on Wednesday posted a better-than-expected 13 percent gain in quarterly profit thanks to faster deliveries, sending its stock up 10 percent to a new high.