Third Annual National Home Furnishings Month Kicks Off Today with Participation among 10,000-Plus Retail Stores
Special Sweepstakes Incentivizes Families to Visit Stores to Refresh their Living Spaces with New Furnishings
LAS VEGAS — (Sept. 1, 2011) — The Third Annual National Home Furnishings Month kicks off today and runs through Sept. 30, with more than 10,100 retail stores and brand leaders from across the U.S. participating, an 11 percent increase in retail participation over last year.
Sponsored by International Market Centers and a complimentary service to retailers, the Is It Home Yet?™ campaign offers consumers sage advice on home décor and this year features a Home Mortgage or Rent Sweepstakes, giving homeowners or renters the chance to win either mortgage or rent payments for one year.
“National Home Furnishings Month is back and this year the program is even more exciting, more encompassing than previous years,” said Robert Maricich, chief executive officer of International Market Centers. “By expanding the Sweepstakes to include renters as well as homeowners—coupled with greater retail partnerships and marketing support—we believe the third run of National Home Furnishings Month will deliver powerful results. This promotional campaign will enable furnishings retailers to reach new consumers with a united message, energizing families to discover the joy in redecorating their living spaces while liberating them from the burden of their mortgage or rent payments for one year.”
With retail stores ranging from Lamps Plus and Ashley Home Stores to El Dorado Furniture and RC Willey Home Furnishings, the Is It Home Yet?™ campaign and National Home Furnishings Month delivers special offers, coupons and promotions for consumers from participating retailers.
In addition to the 10,100 retailers who will take advantage of a listing on the store locator section of the campaign’s official website, www.HomeYet.com, more than 1,000 stores will take advantage of the digital toolkit and customize the Sweepstakes as their own through a unique URL and in-store collateral materials.
Aside from retailer’s own media commitments, the campaign will be promoted through a significant social advertising campaign on Facebook that will be hyper-targeted to reach millions of engaged users, those with the highest affinity toward decorating and purchasing for their home, building a community of influencers on social media. Consumers can become fans of the Is It Home Yet?TM Facebook fan page where they can get trend updates and interact through activities including an "All Shine On Lighting Quiz.”
The campaign’s website, www.HomeYet.com, enables retailers to easily promote specials or sales events they will be offering to celebrate National Home Furnishings Month on the Retailer Locator. The site also features new content including home makeover tips and trend information, design quizzes to engage consumers, as well as recent woman-on-the-street interviews featuring HGTV's Monica Pedersen, designed to uncover what today's consumers are seeking for their home.
Retailers can still sign up through the Retailer Login at www.HomeYet.com/retailer-login and refer their customers directly to www.HomeYet.com to enter the online sweepstakes.
For more information, visit www.homeyet.com or contact [email protected].
About Is it Home Yet? and National Home Furnishings Month
Launched in 2009 by World Market Center Las Vegas, a property of International Market Centers in partnership with eight industry associations the Is it Home Yet?TM advertising campaign and its flagship event, National Home Furnishings Month, is the first-ever industry-wide initiative that unites retailers through a month long promotion. The campaign encourages consumers to celebrate the idea of “home” and refresh their living spaces through retail store visits and new home furnishings purchases. In addition to the enter-to-win Home Mortgage or Rent Sweepstakes (which pays one lucky family’s mortgage or rent for a year), the campaign’s website, www.HomeYet.com, features advice from top designers with home makeover tips and trend information. Exclusive information about sales and promotions at participating retailers across the country is also available online.
Rules for 2011 Home Mortgage or Rent Sweepstakes – No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to legal residents of the United States and D.C., who are 18 years of age or older. Void in Puerto Rico and where prohibited by law. Begins on September 1, 2011 and ends on September 30, 2011. Prize will be awarded as $24,000 cash based upon an average monthly home mortgage or rent expense of $2,000 per month for twelve (12) months. For Official Rules, go to http://www.homeyet.com/sweepstakesrules.
This all-industry marketing initiative is endorsed by National Home Furnishings Association (NHFA), Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA), Home Furnishings Independents Associations (HFIA), Sustainable Furnishings Council (SFC), American Society of Furniture Designers (ASFD), Specialty Sleep Association (SSA), Women in the Home Industries Today (WithIt) and International Sleep Products Association (ISPA).
About International Market Centers, L.P.
International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC) is the world’s largest operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. The company owns and operates 11.5 million square feet of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C. and Las Vegas. In addition, IMC operates the Las Vegas Design Center, a year-round resource open to both the design trade and consumers which is comprised of more than 40 showrooms and hundreds of designer brands. IMC’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries. For more information on IMC, visit imcenters.com.