Furniture orders up in December (The Lexington Dispatch)

U.S. furniture factory orders in December were up for the second month in a row against weak numbers from 2008, according to Smith Leonard. Orders rose 12 percent from the same month a year prior, the accounting and consulting firm said. Orders in December 2008 were down 21 percent from December 2007.

Journeys home: Rose Tremain reflects on the past and her present life writing in the south of France (Independent)

I trudge up the hill to the handsome Regency mansion on the edge of Norwich where (in one wing) Rose Tremain has lived with the biographer Richard Holmes for the best part of two decades. A car glides round a bend; at the wheel, Holmes himself. On a chill day after snow, one half of this most serenely complementary of literary couples promises me that a roaring fire waits for me inside. As it ...

Thrift store comes to Parker (Parker Chronicle)

The Kacey Fine Furniture building in Parker will no longer be vacant. Renovations on the building at Parker Road and Mainstreet are underway preparing for two new businesses — Goodwill and Dollar Tree.

***AUCTION*** SATURDAY MARCH 6th 9:30 AM TOWNSHEND AUCTION GALLERY RTE. 30 TOWNSHEND VT. (15 MILES NORTH OF BRATTLEBORO) (Antiques and the Arts)

An extra exciting auction featuring antiques and quality vintage/modern furniture & great country accessories from an Athol Mass. home,Williams ville estate residuals and other area homes.

M&S' Rose mulls early exit  (Reuters via Yahoo! UK & Ireland News)

Stuart Rose, executive chairman of retailer Marks & Spencer Plc , said he is likely to leave the company before July 2011, although a departure this year is unlikely.