This week in design, the government is still locked in a shutdown, but there’s at least one group that has remained busy: the White House remodelers. Stay in the know with our weekly roundup of headlines, launches, recommended reading and more.
Business News
Economic uncertainty is causing would-be homebuyers to cancel their deals before they’re finalized, The Wall Street Journal reports. A recent study from Redfin found that roughly 15 percent of home-purchase agreements fell through in September, up from around 13.6 percent the same month last year. According to real estate agents, many buyers have been dissuaded by the state of the economy, shaky job security, and a continuously stalled housing market, with home prices at record highs. While lowered interest rates have led to an uptick in purchase activity—sales of existing homes increased by 1.5 percent from August to September—some areas of the country are still experiencing high purchase cancellation rates. Tampa, Florida, for example, saw 20.1 percent of deals called off in September, with excess inventory giving unsure buyers plenty of leeway to cancel pending deals.
Meanwhile, high interest rates and the unaffordability of the current housing market have driven a growing number of buyers to take on adjustable-rate mortgages—a riskier type of loan that provides lower rates for several years, before resetting (to potentially higher rates) after a period of three to 10 years. ARMs, as they are called, comprised 10 percent of home purchase mortgage applications for the week ending October 3, marking the highest rate of such loans since 2023.
Etsy CEO Josh Silverman, who led the platform for nine years, announced last week that he will be stepping down, and that president and chief growth officer Kruti Patel Goyal will take over the top role on January 1, Retail Dive reports. The news came on the heels of the online marketplace’s latest earnings report, in which the company exceeded its own expectations, with revenue up 6 percent year over year and net income up nearly 32 percent. Speaking with analysts about the results and executive changes, Silverman stated that Etsy is primed for a new leader, as it is “entering a new phase—one focused on harnessing AI to further personalize and transform the shopping experience in ways that were previously unimaginable.” Moving forward, he will transition to executive chair of the board.
Amazon announced layoffs last week for 14,000 corporate employees, with plans to cut up to 30,000 positions in total (nearly 10 percent of the company’s corporate staffers), Reuters reports. During Amazon’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday, CEO Andy Jassy stated that the job cuts were not driven by financial need or AI, despite announcing in a June memo that the company had made “efficiency gains” through artificial intelligence that would allow for a slimmer workforce, Fortune reports.
Amazon wasn’t the only major company to announce layoffs in recent weeks: Target slashed 1,800 corporate jobs last month, marking its largest workforce reduction in a decade, amid a broader sales slump as shares have fallen by 65 percent since peaking in late 2021, CNBC reports. Meanwhile, Meta laid off around 600 employees from within its AI division in recent weeks in an effort to trim the department’s overhead, according to executives.
Wayfair’s latest earnings call revealed largely positive results—including an 8.1 percent increase in revenue year over year—which the company attributes to a boost in orders delivered and a surge in U.S. sales. According to Barron’s, the online retailer recorded U.S. revenue totaling $2.73 billion, up 8.6 percent from a year ago, while international revenue totaled $389 million, up 4.6 percent. While net losses for the quarter grew to $99 million—compared with $74 million the same period last year—gross profit was up 7 percent, landing at $934 million.
David and Jeffrey Beyda, the former owners of New York–based textile brand Town & Country Living (which they sold to investment firm HIG Capital in 2018), have teamed up with Bryan and Craig Siegal of Elrene Home Fashions to debut a new company called Threadmade Home. As Home Textiles Today reports, the venture was formed through the acquisition of Elrene—a designer and manufacturer of window and table linens—along with the purchase of the table linens and kitchen textile assets of Arlee Home Fashions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Threadmade Home launches with three licensed brands in its portfolio—Lenox, previously under Arlee; Villeroy & Boch, via Elrene; and Jonathan Adler, a new partnership. The Siegels will serve as co-CEOs and the Beydas as co-founders. Threadmade Home plans to relocate from its current headquarters in Tribeca to Manhattan’s home textiles hub, the Garment District, early next year.
Launches and Collaborations
Hudson Valley design retailer Finch has debuted a collection of decoupage trays, paperweights and collectibles created in collaboration with New York–based artist and designer John Derian. The nine-piece assortment is inspired by the 19th century Hudson River School painters—including American landscape artists like Frederic Church and Thomas Cole, whose work drew upon the surrounding wilderness. As such, 10 percent of proceeds from the collection will benefit the two artists’ former homes, both local historic sites. Alongside the partnership, Finch will also introduce its first original furniture: Finch Hudson Ax Bench, a line of benches inspired by Swedish designer Axel Einar Hjorth, outfitted with Zak+Fox textiles and natural leather weaves.
Walmart published its first-ever home catalog recently, showcasing its selection of furniture, appliances and home decor, while directing readers to shop the items online through corresponding QR codes. As Modern Retail reports, the big-boxer sent out the print catalog to various new, existing and lapsed customers in August, in hopes of drumming up demand for the holiday season. While it’s unclear if the catalog will make a return—a Walmart executive told Modern Retail the idea came together quickly, and the company had not yet determined if they would do it again—it marks the retailer’s latest installment in a series of investments in the home category in recent years, in addition to the recent introduction of brands like Beautiful by Drew Barrymore, My Texas House, De Longhi, Dyson and Swissgear.
Recommended Reading
When Martha Stewart published her first cookbook 43 years ago, she changed the game for generations of homemakers and influencers to follow, and launched an empire that has spanned cooking, gardening, home design and, above all, Entertaining, as her 1982 seminal text is called. For The New York Times, Julia Moskin offers a closer look at Stewart’s splashy entry into the cookbook canon and talks to the lifestyle maven herself, who makes one thing clear: “I was the original [expletive] tradwife.”
A main street, a beach, a roller coaster—all are contained in the Salt Lake City home of Cristie North, who has spent $100,000 creating her sprawling dream community out of Legos in her basement. For The Wall Street Journal, Te-Ping Chen writes about the enthusiasts who consider a room dedicated to Lego building and storage among their home’s must-haves, in keeping with an explosion in the brand’s adult fan base in recent years.
For the growing contingent of Americans who want to remain in their homes as they enter their golden years, staying put often requires a series of design updates, largely due to the fact that less than 4 percent of U.S. dwellings contain basic accessibility features. For her piece in The New York Times, Dina Cheney spoke to homeowners, designers and aging-in-place experts on the home updates—ranging from grippable rope pulls to a sophisticated pneumatic elevator—that make spaces easier to navigate.
In Memoriam
Designer Clare Lundbeck Fraser passed away last month at the age of 92. A born-and-raised New Yorker, Fraser exhibited her design prowess through homes and apartments in her hometown, as well as in Palm Beach, Birmingham, and New York’s Dutchess County, landing work in the pages of top shelter magazines like Traditional Homes, Better Homes & Gardens, Architectural Digest, and House Beautiful. In addition, she was an active member of the design community, joining The Decorators Club in 1994 and going on to serve as a member of its board. “Clare leaves this world a better-looking place,” wrote the organization’s president, Kiki Dennis, in a note to members. “A natural beauty, people were drawn to her elegance, graciousness and intelligence. Clare will be remembered fondly by many and greatly missed by our club.”
Kelvin LaVerne, who alongside his father, Philip, crafted unique furniture pieces inspired by works of antiquity, passed away in late September at the age of 88, The New York Times reports. Before joining his father in the decorative arts business, LaVerne attended the City College of New York and the Parsons School of Design, as well as studying at The Art Students League of New York. Through their overseas travels, Kelvin and his father uncovered inspiration that would inform their style—taking cues from Etruscan art, Greek mythology and ancient Chinese works—and utilized painstaking fabrication methods to give their handmade pieces an aged-yet-opulent appearance. Though Kelvin began winding down the business in the 1990s, the LaVernes’ work received renewed interest in the years to follow, landing at the center of several dedicated gallery shows and earning appreciation from key designers and collectors. As interior designer Steven Gambrel told NYT: “Is it art, is it furniture, is it architecture? I don’t know!”
