Home Textiles Today September 3rd Issue

Monday, September 3, 2012

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 33, No. 19 | $8.00

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Monday, September 3, 2012

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 33, No. 19 | $8.00

NEW YORK7 WEST 34th St.SUITE 439SEPT 10-14, 2012

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400 RUGS IN15 COLLECTIONS!

MindsInSync Revs Up

BOCA RATON, FLA. — The operative word at Holland-er Home Fashions these days is “new” — new headquarters office here, new Manhattan

showroom, new production facility in Los An-geles, and a new designer license introduction (a biggie) coming up at the New York Home Fashions Market.

“It’s defi nitely been a year of real estate for us,” ceo Chris Baker told HTT.

In New York, Hollander has relocated from its long-time showroom on Avenue of the Amer-icas into a new space at 440 Park Avenue South (at 30th Street), 10th fl oor. One of the key prod-uct introductions the manufacturer will unveil

Hollander Home Fashions Expands Operations

SAN FRANCISCO — Multi-cate-gory supplier Peking Handicraft threw the spotlight on fashion bedding during the spring market. This month, it’s rolling out a new product category: utility bedding.

Tom Burke joined the company this sum-mer as director of basic bedding. He spent 22 years at WestPoint in a variety of positions, including merchandising, product devel-opment, operations and busi-

ness management. In his last four years at the company, he

was vp of merchan-dising, overseeing the growth of the Lau-ren Ralph Lauren business as well as private label pro-grams.

“We’re going full force for market,” Burke told HTT.

Peking’s utility offerings will include down and down alt comforters, pil-lows, fi lled blankets mattress

Peking Strides into Utility

SEE HOLLANDER PAGE 8

SEE PEKING PAGE 36

CHRIS BAKER

Hollander

Hollander’s new headquarters in Boca Raton.

NEW YORK — MindsInSync – whose memory foam bath mat construction turned the category on its ear — will make its second New York Home Fashions Mar-ket showing this month from a new permanent showroom at 1350 Broadway between 34th and 35th Streets.

The company has also bolstered its executive team and is broadening the product categories in which it does business.

“There is very much a focus on R&D and prod-uct development here,” said Charles Gaenslen, who joined the company in May 2011 as chief strategy of-fi cer. He was most recently chief operating offi cer and executive vp, Welspun USA and prior to that was Bardwil Linens’ cfo.

Industry vet Jeff Kambak came on board in August 2011

as vp of national sales for the U.S. market.

The original business may have been built around a single mat, but at market MindsInSync will show kitchen textiles, bath accessories, area rugs, decorative

pillows, outdoor cush-ions, pet accessories, back-to-school items and infant and chil-dren’s products.

Its inaugural brand remains an exclusive at a big box special-ty retailer. But Mind-sInSync is pushing forward with its own brands: Habitude for

home textiles, Aquatopia for children’s goods and Buddy & Friends for pet accessories.

“Our R&D team has a man-date not to work on a product unless it is innovative,” Gaenslen

CHARLES GAENSLEN

MindsInSync

SEE MINDS PAGE 36

What’s the biggest trigger prompting a woman to purchase new fashion

bedding?

What’s the top consideration for

selecting bath towels?

How much will a woman spend on a mattress

protector at a department store?

The answers are in our new report, which begins after page 14

Inside This IssueCaldeira Takes Full Ownership of China Operation................ page 2

A Middling Muddle ............... page 4

Boxed In, Boxed Out ............. page 4

New Orleans-area Linens Shop a Survivor ......... page 6

INSIDE:

Exclusive Research

pads and fiber/feather beds as well as cotton, fl eece and plush blankets. In addition, there will be a utility collection under the

TOM BURKE

Peking Handicraft

New York Home Fashions FIRST LOOK

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2 Home Textiles Today News

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A D V E R T I S E M E N T

BY CECILE CORRAL

NEW YORK — U.K.-based home textiles group Caldeira, parent of Calderia USA and Caldei-ra China, has acquired the 30% share of its former business part-ner to gain total ownership and control of its Chinese division, also known as Hao Sheng Tex-tiles.

The Chinese division has been reclassified as a Whol-ly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) and will continue to trade from its 250,000-square-foot factory near Hangzhou.

Caldeira China has also in-vested in a new management team, adding a new general man-ager, operations manager, and chief accountant.

This expansion comes as Cal-deira USA division experiences a jolt of sales growth. The compa-ny said the New York-based op-eration is expected to more than double its business by yearend.

Sales of both the company’s UK-made and China-produced dec-orative pillows “have rocketed, following successful new ranges launched in 2012.”

“This is great news for Caldeira USA and really exciting for our customers as we now have total control of the factory in China,” noted Carolyn Win-derbaum of Caldeira USA. “There is now no doubt in our customer’s minds that they are dealing with the fac-tory directly and it’s no longer necessary for them to have a sourcing offi ce in China to go direct to the source. Our new team will take the business to the next level and will improve our sourcing and manufactur-ing capabilities signifi cantly.”

The company said it has “now supplied more than half of the U.S.’s top 10 home textile retail-

ers and has also increased sales in Canada in 2012.”

Company/group ceo Tony Caldeira explained the growth “follows fi ve years of hard work by the team, first establishing the company and now growing it. When we first set up the U.S. di-vision in 2007, nobody predicted the scale of the diffi culties which would be faced by the global

economy and the home textiles industry. This makes the team’s effort even more remarkable and I would like to thank both Lind-sey Bonney and Carolyn Wind-erbaum in particular for all their support so far.”

But there is still much to be done, he added, “and it’s impor-tant that the company builds on the momentum it has creat-ed. We aim do this by hopefully expanding our offering with our existing clients, winning new

business with new clients and ex-panding our window division.”

In other news, the parent company Caldeira has recently starred in a primetime BBC TV documentary. Presented in two one-hour specials, “The Town Taking On China” film high-lights the difficulties in re-es-tablishing manufacturing in the West, following years of steady decline due to globalization, and asks if home textile man-ufacturing is likely to return to the country with prices increas-ing rapidly in Asia.

The fi lm’s crew followed Tony Caldeira for a three-month peri-od at the company’s UK and Chi-nese factories to document his at-tempts to increase the company’s British manufacturing business.

The documentary also exam-ines the human side of a global home textiles business with mem-bers of Caldeira’s UK and Chi-nese teams changing places and visiting each other’s country. HTT

Caldeira Takes Full Ownership of China Operation

Tracking Textiles

ACCESSORIZESales of bedding coordinates rise signifi cantly, to the tune of 20% and higher

PARK RIDGE, N.J. — Just ahead of the New York Home Fash-ions Week, Surface LLC has launched a hospitality division for its eco-friendly Affi na brand fi ne linens.

The site, affinahospitality.com, targets high-end eco-con-

scious hotels, spas, bed &break-fast operations and wellness cen-ters as well as interior designers, architects and purchasing man-agers.

“Affi na is nature’s story,” said designer and founder, Mary Ellen Putignano. “Seaweaves,

Affina Ready For its Close-up

Lower cost bedding products like shams and throws, with retail prices gener-ally under $20, are selling well to consumers looking for inexpensive ways to refresh their homes. Even bed-in-a-bags, with average tickets under $50, are proving to be an effective decorating option.

Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Consumer Tracking Service

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TONY CALDEIRA

Caldeira

Bath towels from Affina

Affi na Hospitality’s premier col-lection, is a tribute to the ocean drawing upon the seas’ vast res-ervoirs for inspiration — ener-getic patterns from the ocean sculpted in 100% organic cot-ton towels and spa mitts.”

Affi na towels are certifi ed as free from more than 300 sub-stances by the Oeko-Tex Stan-dard, she added.

During market week in New York this month, Affi na will be showing the Seaweaves collec-tion of 12 bath towels and three beach towels at the Chelsea Modern.

Six years in development, Af-fi na plans to extend the brand to include a full line of bedding, spa robes, slippers, bath accesso-ries, rugs, contract fabric, yoga mats and more, according to Pu-tignano.

Surface LLC is a women-owned, multi-disciplinary brand-ing and design company. Affi na is its fi rst brand.

Putignano, a designer and consultant, has worked for 30 years in retail branding, prod-uct strategy and design for com-panies including Crate and Bar-rel and Conrans. HTT

September 3, 2012

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4 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

OPINIONTodaY

September 3, 2012

A F T E R T H E R ISE of the national discounter, which signaled the demise of most regional mass merchants, and before the onset of e-commerce changed all the rules of retailing, the most important development in the history of general merchandise retail was the era of the big-box category killer.

No other retailing format had as big an impact on the marketplace as the super spe-cialty store chain, and for much of the 1990s and into the Þ rst part of the new century, these stores were the fastest growing, most exciting players on the scene.

While Toys ÔRÕ Us is generally credited as the Þ rst category kill-er, the home textiles industry had more than its share of national chains that grew to dominate much of the sweet spot for business. Bed Bath & Beyond is the last man standing, but during the height of the big box, it was joined by a host of others, including LinensÕn Things, HomePlace, Waccamaw, Strouds and LeeJay.

They are all gone and so, too, could others follow. The struggles at Best Buy make it the poster child right now for the category killer crisis, but many think Barnes & Noble is not too far behind and the ofÞ ce superstore triplets Ñ Staples, OfÞ ce Max and OfÞ ce Depot Ñ could be next. All of this following the demise of stores like Cir-cuit City, Borders and others.

The big-box era seems to be drawing to a close É or is it?Across the merchandising wheel, weÕre seeing large superstore formats become the

latest thing in the fashion business. Retailers like H&M, Uniqlo and Zara are all open-ing big ß agship stores measuring out at 50,000-square-feet or more that have big box written all over them.

So, whatÕs the difference here? It might be that these apparel boxers are largely pri-vate label animals with exclusive, proprietary merchandise offerings. They all appeal to a similar demographic, one used to searching through large assortments online and perhaps expecting to Þ nd the same thing when they shop in stores.

And not every store these chains is over-sized. Often these giants are viewed as ß ag-ships that can drive trafÞ c back to smaller locations when the shopper comes upon them.

Can these same principles be used in textiles and home furnishings superstores? Certainly, a bookstore canÕt get away with private label nor can the small appliance de-partment at Bed Bath.

But in textiles, the model is increasingly moving toward labels that if not out-and-out private are at least semi-private. And weÕve seen retailers like BBB with multi tiers of store sizes from ginormous to non-steroid enhanced.

These could all be tools to ensure the longevity of the surviving superstores.The consumer never said she didnÕt like shopping at big boxes. She just didnÕt need

them all, and the ones that were left had to be good operations and shop-worthy.Big boxers are not going away. They are just moving onto the next round. HTT

Boxed In, Boxed OutAQU ES T ION : How is home doing at retail these days?

Answer: That depends on the retailer.During the years of the housing bubble, home textiles Ñ and

home furnishings generally Ñ were hot pretty much across the board. The category actually began to sag ahead of the market collapse. Dur-ing the worst of the recession, home textiles sales sank pretty much every-where, with the rebound beginning at TJX and Ross Stores.

Since then, the performance has been spotty, good at some retailers, improving at others and a continuing drain elsewhere.

The recent round of quarterly retail reports only con-Þ rmed that trend.

Ross: Home once again failed to hit the mark, a per-formance the company blamed on weak execution.

TJX: Rival Ross may have lost its home mojo, but the category is still pumping at TJX formats.

Stein Mart: After a few years in the wilderness dur-ing which the company attempted various strategies, home Þ nally hit the pace during the quarter, with (lo and behold) linens as one of the strongest categories.

Big Lots: Home Ñ a winner during the darkest days of the recession Ñ was soft, even though top-of-bed was good.

Walmart U.S.: The home department generated a slender comp gain, but it marked the third consecutive positive quarter following 2½ years of nega-tive comps in the department. Basic goods drove the results.

Target: Home textiles were a leader in the department, which is still strug-gling to recapture its former glory.

Kohl’s: The home department not only lagged the rest of the store, it was among the weakest divisions.

Dollar General: Home was hearty during the quarter, with window treat-ments a standout.

Williams-Sonoma: The home furnishings conglomerate racked up an-other boffo quarter, with textiles a leader at several of its nameplates.

Bed Bath & Beyond: The countryÕs largest home textiles retailer also posted a strong quarter, but said its outlook for the second half is cautious. A red ß ag or just another case of the retailerÕs notorious paranoia?

JCP: Under construction.When you speak with suppliers about how their core categories are far-

ing at retail the story is much the same Ñ uneven on an account by ac-count basis.

Obviously, we are still waiting for the rising tide that will lift all boats. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

A Middling Muddle

Warren Shoulberg

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

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5 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com

New H&M Flagship in New York to Include Home

When Swedish apparel power house H&M opens its new fl agship store on Fifth Avenue here next

year, it is likely to represent the retailer’s initial foray into home in the United States.

Published reports announcing the new store, a six-level, 57,000-square foot giant on the corner of 48th Street, say it will feature the full range of H&M product classifi cations, including home.

H&M, which is known for its “fast-fashion” merchan-dising offering low-cost fashion apparel and turning merchandise quickly, has been featuring home within its European stores for several years but has not sold the category in the United States yet. Earlier this year it said it would begin offering it online here in the fall.

Williams-Sonoma Expanding Global Reach

Williams-Sonoma Inc. is ramping up its international expansion efforts with the opening of four name-

plates in Australia early next year.The high-end home furnishings retailer has signed

a lease for approximately 22,000 square feet of retail space to house four of its brands — Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, and West Elm — at Syd-ney’s newly constructed Exchange Building at Bondi Junction. These will be the fi rst retail locations outside of North America to be owned and operated by Wil-liams-Sonoma Inc.

Additionally, the company will be opening the fi rst Williams-Sonoma, PBteen and West Elm stores in the Middle East later this year.

Outside North America, Williams-Sonoma Inc. oper-ates franchise stores in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, its direct-to-consumer operations ships to from than 95 countries.

Pier 1.com Reopens Online Doors With New E-commerce Features

Pier 1 Imports Inc. late last month launched its new e-commerce enabled, fully-redesigned website —

ww.Pier1.com — with new functionalities and capabil-ities.

The newest feature made available via the site is “Pier 1 To-You,” which is where website visitors can buy products online and have them shipped directly to the location of their choice within the continental United States – including their local Pier 1 store.

Site visitors can also now fi nd design and décor inspi-ration in the site’s newly unveiled “Get Inspired” and “Learn How” editorial content sections.

Big Lots in Test Mode

Looking to improve its business, Big Lots is launching three initiatives/tests for the back half of this year

and into 2013:• The testing of coolers and freezers in a group of

select stores in fi ve markets;• The roll-out of a new loyalty program in several

markets - including the acceptance of government food stamps;

• The testing of a new total store remodel effort.

RetailBriefs

September 3, 2012News

BY JENNIFER MARKS

HINGHAM, MASS. — Don’t call those sheets disposable. True, Beantown Bedding’s “Bedsox laundry-free linens” are meant to be used for several weeks then discarded in a trash or compost bin, but they’re not the bedding equivalent of paper towels.

The sheets are made from a blend of Lenzing’s Tencel and

viscose fi bers, making their con-struction 100% cellulosic. Com-pany founders Joan Ripple and Kirsten Lambert came up with the idea after their children went off to college.

“We were walking the dogs and talking about how neither of [their children at college] takes the time to wash their sheets,” said Ripple.

An idea was born. Ripple — an MBA with a background in human resources and manage-ment — and Lambert — who worked for more than 20 years in marketing and market research — fi rst tested PET material made from recycled plastic bottles. They were dissatisfi ed with both the comfort and the durability.

“Through coincidences and luck,” said Ripple, they found a European supplier making tem-porary sheets for camping and youth hostel sites. After one hol-iday break, they sent their chil-dren and friends back to campus with samples.

Some of the students returned the sheets after they’d run their course — the longest use in that fi rst group running to 40 nights. “They’re basically very pilly at that point,” said Ripple.

But that’s a good thing, noted

Lambert. “It’s a cue that tells them it’s time to change. For us as moms it’s a hygiene issue. For them, it’s about convenience.”

Ripple and Lambert also start-ed doing focus groups. Along the way, their project was accepted by a Stanford University business class looking to conduct research on a real start-up business.

They founded Beantown Bed-ding this past December in the Boston suburb of Hingham and hit the road, travelling to the na-tional gathering of the Associa-tion of College Conference and Event Directors in March as well as a regional event in June for the Northeast Association of Col-lege and University Offi cers.

In July, they stepped up their profile and were among the Lenzing group of exhibitors at the Home Textiles Sourcing Expo in New York, which runs in tandem with TexWorld USA.

They’ve also begun selling Bedsox directly to consumers from www.beantownbedding.com and through Amazon.

The company is currently fo-cused on building U.S. distribu-tion with an eye on marketing to the parents of college stu-dents rather than the kids. “It’s

the moms who are buying this,” said Lambert. “The kids aren’t going to spend their beer money on sheets.”

Beantown Bedding has also trademarked the term “laundry free linens.”

“We feel ‘disposable’ conveys single use, cheap and uncom-fortable,” said Ripple.

Because of the cellulosic con-struction, Bedsox are anti-bacte-rial and made from rapidly re-newable sources. Available only in white, the sheets use no added chemicals or dyes.

The line currently consists of a three-piece set (fl at sheet, fi t-ted sheet and pillow case) in XL twin size at $25 retail or a pair of cases for $9.99.

“We’re still working to get into campus stores — and even-tually big stores,” said Ripple. They also hope to expand the line into regular twin, full and queen sizes.

The children who inspired the business are now seniors. Beantown Bedding, on the other hand, has just wrapped up ori-entation.

“This has been a very quick development for us,” said Rip-ple. HTT

Beantown Bedding Touts Laundry-Free Linens

Kirsten Lambert, left, and Joan Ripple aim to help college kids sleep

“It’s the moms who are buying this. The

kids aren’t going to spend their beer money on sheets.”

—KIRSTEN LAMBERT, Beantown Bedding

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6 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comSeptember 3, 2012

New Orleans-area Linens Shop a Survivor

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News

FIRST MONDAY:

BY CECILE CORRAL

METAIRIE, LA. — You might say Lee McKee’s luxury linens shop, The Linen Registry, could take the proverbial bullet.

Marking its 15th anniver-sary this year, “we’ve survived a lot,” stressed founder and owner McKee, whose upscale shop is located on the main artery of this suburban New Orleans community. “Between some competition in our area, some financial troubles in our past, 9/11, Katrina and the oil spill, to name a few things that might rock a business, we’ve overcome a lot, and we’re still here.”

Maybe that is why today, both McKee and her store stand strong, not just unscathed but

unbeaten by numerous chal-lenges.

She credits a hurdle in the store’s earliest days with laying the foundation for its resilience.

“It all goes back to the very beginning,” McKee told HTT. As she tells the story, her neigh-borhood already had another prominent linens shop when she opened the store. She wanted to carry Palais Royale high-end lin-ens, but the other store already had the exclusive for the area.

“So I had to figure some-thing out,” said McKee, who shifted from graphic design to retail work for Scandia Down shops for several years. She also worked in several department stores before deciding to open her own business.

“I started to call other brands looking for other [high-end] linen lines, and that got me into cross-merchandising. It forced me to find others, like Gar-nier Thiebaut because Le Jac-quard Francaise was part of Pal-ais Royale. It made me learn to come up with a new bedroom look using a variety of brands and looks. And it’s been my sav-ing grace because my customers today know they can come to me for a wide array of products and price points, from an entry-level Matouk top-of-bed collection for $500 to $600 through $7,000 for a Home Treasures or SDH col-lection.”

The Linen Registry’s custom-ers know the store as a traditional linen shop, McKee said. “I have a very small stock of product here. Everything is on the fl oor. And our offices and bathroom area is tiny.”

Almost all of the 1,547-square-foot space is used for showcasing products.

Four display beds anchor the store, and on them McKee cross-

merchandises an assortment of branded lines to create unique looks and offer décor ideas.

“It’s not unusual for us to fea-ture as many as five different brands of manufacturers on a single bed,” McKee explained.

Major brands on its home textiles roster include: Scandia Home, Ann Gish, SDH, Sferra, Peacock Alley, Nancy Koltes, Yves Delorme, Matouk, Home Treasures, Anali, Home Source International, N.C. Souther Lin-ens, Bagni Volpi Nueme (BVN), Le Jacquard Francaise, Iosis, Garnier Thiebaut, Chelsea Tex-tiles, “etcetera,” McKee said.

The store’s main categories

are bedding, coordinate pieces, and utility/down. “Anything that you would put on a bed, I carry.”

Other home textiles offerings include bath, table linens and decorative pillows, especially in connection to top of bed looks, as well as throws.

Auxiliary categories include soaps and silk fl owers, “great lit-tle Chinoiserie figurines” and objects, frames, and other home accessories.

McKee said she works hard to create a serene store setting. “We want to create a peaceful place for them to come in to shop, and help them fi nd what they need

Surviving and Strong: Lee McKee and her luxury linens shop, The Linen Registry, have overcome many hurdles over the past 15 years in business.

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7 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com September 3, 2012

to make their bedrooms sooth-ing, too, and not high energy.”

There’s another word McKee used for her store: “Haven.”

It’s what she called her store post Hurricane Katrina, which ravaged New Orleans in 2005. The storm flooded her home and did worse to most of her friends and neighbors in the area.

“But I was very lucky,” she recalled. “It’s one thing when one’s home gets fl ooded. But if my home and business had both been damaged, it would have been a very different dynamic for me emotionally. This store served as the normal environ-ment for me and many of my customers during that diffi cult time.”

And yet, it was a few years earlier when The Linen Registry experienced “our record day.”

“It was the day after Septem-ber 11, 2001, because every-body was nesting,” McKee said.

“I had people coming in, shop-ping, making decisions to hun-ker down. They were coming to us to help them make their homes as comfortable as pos-sible because they didn’t want to travel anymore. They were scared. So what better place than here to go to turn your bed-room into your own haven?”

As its name suggests, regis-tries make up a component of the store’s business. Bridal, for example, comprises about 10% of sales.

“I encourage my bridal cus-tomers not to worry about their beds right away,” McKee said, adding that she offers gift cards as part of her bridal registry package.

“I urge them to first, finish planning their wedding, then go on the honeymoon, and then come in to the store so we can work together on their bedroom once things have had a chance to settle down.” HTT

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8 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comNews

during market week — which takes place Sept. 10-13 —will be Lauren Ralph Lauren utility bedding, a license that had long been held by WestPoint.

“We’ve definitely expanded the line and feel there is signifi -cant growth opportunity in better products,” said Baker, who sees the brand doing more in luxury down and premium poly fi lls.

Hollander will begin ship-ping the line in January.

In addition, the company is moving more aggressively into woven blankets. Although it had dabbled in the woven business, the category as a retail offering is getting a boost from new ac-counts Hollander has opened in the hospitality space.

Hospitality “is something Hol-lander had ignored in the past,” said Baker. “We’ve made good progress this year and expect at particularly strong 2013.”

The company continues to grow its own Live Comfortably brand. “It’s in its infancy stage, but we feel it has legs.”

A boon to that effort comes

from direct-to-consumer busi-ness, which Hollander confines to its major retail accounts with ecommerce divisions. The open-ing earlier this year of a 200,000-square-foot facility in East Los An-geles was “an excellent secondary benefi t” to direct shipping. Most of those orders are now processed in Hollander’s Dallas plant, and Baker expects the West Coast op-eration to supplement that. The L.A. plant replaces two older fa-cilities in the area that are shift-ing operations over the coming months to the new structure.

Similarly, Hollander’s new Boca Raton headquarters replac-es an older building the suppli-er had outgrown and is located near the original site. “It’s literal-ly down the street,” said Baker.

While the past decade has seen some significant shifts among utility bedding suppliers — with majors like Pillowtex going out of business and other leaders owning signifi cantly less market share than they did pre-viously — Baker thinks it likely that more could lie ahead.

He pointed to price integri-

ty as a key factor, noting many companies did too much unprof-itable business for too long.

The other major challenge for the home textiles business as a whole, he said, is product.

“We need to be creating inno-vative products that generate con-sumer excitement,” he suggested. “We need to give people a bet-ter reason to buy based on desire rather than necessity.” HTT

Hollander Expands

HOLLANDER FROM PAGE 1

September 3, 2012

Solutions

Weaving Dying Digital Printing Cut & Sew Pillow Blowing EDI & XML

WE PROVIDE MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS.

Hollander’s relocated New York showroom, top, and its new plant in Los Angeles.

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The Textile Building at 295 Fifth

New York is the market.

And the market in New York is the

home textiles

TEXTILEBUILDING

For 90 years, 295 Fifth Avenue has been the leading showcase for the home textiles industry, with the best location,

the best value per square foot, services that cater to your distinctive needs, high-profile traffic, high-tech security, a wi-fi buyers lounge

and the personal service of a staff of 15.

Give your business the best market, in the market. Call Lou Lombardi, President & CEO, Manhattan Properties, Inc.

212-685-0530 [email protected] on-site management

We are the market

10 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comSeptember 3, 2012

NEW YORK — Alicia Adams Alpaca received the “Best of Mar-ket” award for its Suri fur bed-spread at the New York Gift Fair late last month. The competition involved more than 100 products from the fair’s At Home featuring Home Textiles division.

Alicia Adams Alpaca’s fur bed-spread, made from Suri fur and

baby alpaca herringbone fabric. Suri fur is culled from the alpaca after they have died naturally. No animal killing is involved, accord-ing to the company.

Other winners and runners up included:

DiningWinner: Black Pepper Dessin

for its Noir Flora table runner and placemat, featuring gold brocaded fl owers on a backdrop of fl oral hand-embroidered bou-quets, made of 100% linen.

Finalist: Matouk for its Lulu DK for Mato table linens.

Finalist: ecoaccents for its eco-Mats.

Home AccessoriesWinner: HedgeHouse for

The Throw Bed, a portable and versatile twin-sized down and fiber-filled cushion weighing only four pounds, featuring a removable and washable linen or cotton cover.

Fina l i s t : S imple Syrup Design House for Honey Child decorative pillows.

Finalist: Blissliving Home for its faux fur Chateau throw and pil-low.

BedWinner: Sferra for its Dario

duvet covers and shams, featur-ing twill herringbone stripes and slim geometric bands woven into a stunning pattern.

Finalist: Peacock Alley for the Biagio duvet cover and shams.

Finalist: Dallas A. Saunders for its Thea Schrack – Dogwood Pillow Triptych pillows.

BathWinner: Alicia Adams Alpaca

for its herringbone unisex bath-robe, made of 100% hypoaller-genic baby alpaca.

Finalist: Busatti since 1842 for linen Giglio towels.

Finalist: Scents and Feel for its Fouta towel and Lurex hand-

NYIGF Honors Best New Home Textiles Products

From left to right: Danielle Giacoponello, At Home Sales Manager; Christian Falkenberg, GLM vp and NYIGF show manager; Kristen Hamilton, At Home sales representative; with the summer 2012 Home Textiles Market Week winners: Liz Rapelye of Sferra; Beata Henrichs of HedgeHouse; Pradnya Korde of Black Pepper Dessin; Alicia Adams of Alicia Adams Alpaca Inc.

Alicia Adams Alpaca’s fur bedspread

towel.“With so many superlative

products to consider, our judges were truly challenged to narrow the fi eld,” said Danielle Giaco-penello, At Home featuring Home Textiles sales manager. “In the end, these products were chosen as most represen-tative of visionary design direc-tion and innovation in home

textiles.”The panel of judges included:

Jennifer Marks, Home Textiles Today; Jenny Heinzen-York, Home Accents Today; Tori Jones, Veranda; Karl Lohnes, CTV/Metro Media; Susan Tucker, Giftware News; Laura van Zeyl, Home Fashion Forecast; Wanda Jankowski, LDB Interior Textiles;and David Gill, HFN. HTT

Sferra

HedgeHouse

Black Pepper Dessin

htt120901_010 10 8/28/2012 10:22:10 AM

Untitled-10 1 8/22/12 10:34:42 AM

12 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

Collier CampbellArchive Memorialized

September 3, 2012

BY ALEX LEMONDE-GRAY

MISSIAUGA, ONTARIO — Hellenic Rugs Canada has partnered with Care and Fair, a non-govern-mental organization working to eradicate child labor, to provide free education for Indian chil-dren.

Hellenic Canada’s support sponsors 289 students to attend Kantilal Vidyar Mandir School in Badhoi, India, for free, and supplies them with school uni-forms and books.

Founded in 1987, the school has a preschool program and a primary school through grade fi ve, employing 10 teachers and four administrative staff. The school’s Women Empower-ment Center provides free sew-ing training to girls who have aged out of the school’s standard classes. The school also houses

Kantilal Vidyar Mandir Clinic, which provides free treatment and medicine to approximately 6,000 patients per year.

“Hellenic Canada chose to enter into this partnership because we care about the cause of not only eradicating child labor, but to provide opportu-nity to these children to get edu-cation and prosper in life,” said Ankush Gupta, president, Hel-lenic Rugs Canada. “We have always looked for opportuni-ties to be involved in this cause and were looking to taking our involvement to the next level. One of our preferred suppliers in India introduced us to Care & Fair, and it was an instant syn-ergy. Their work ties directly into our passion!”

Gupta said the company plans to expand its partnership HTT

PHILADELPHIA — Ilex Publishing is launching a large-format book covering five decades of work from the 30,000-piece archive created by British designing sis-ters Susan Collier and Sarah Campbell, whose distinctive hand-painted textiles patterns were embraced across the fash-ion spectrum.

Campbell will visit the United States in early November doing events, teaching classes and mak-ing appearances in New York and surrounding cities in support of the book, “The Collier Camp-bell Archive: Fifty Years of Pas-sion in Pattern,” which will pub-lish in the back half of the fourth quarter. Collier passed away last year at age 72.

Collier and Campbell began their careers in London during the 1960’s and rose to promi-nence with collections for Lib-erty of London Prints. In addi-tion to creating designs for Yves Saint Laurent and Jaegar, Col-

lier Campbell patterns were adopted by many home fashions brands over the years, including Habitat, Martex and Stevens, Fishbacher, P Kaufmann, and W-C Designs. One of the most recent iterations of their work consisted of a 2005 collection of bedding, bath and decorative accessories at Kohl’s.

The Col l i e r Campbe l l archive holds roughs and sketches, colorways and printers’ gams, fabric and wallpaper sam-ples, clothing and other items, according to Ilex Press. The new book will include hundreds of paintings, sketches, inspirations, and other unseen design materi-als. HTT

Above: Hellenic Rugs Canada President Ankush Gupta visits the students at Kantilal Vidyar Mandir School. Below: Kantilal Vidyar Mandir School features a sign above its main entrance celebrating Hellenic Rugs Canada’s support.

Hellenic Rugs Canada Sponsors

Indian School

htt120901_012 12 8/29/2012 4:28:23 PM


COLUMBUS, OHIO — Coming off a chal-lenged fi rst half of the year, Big Lots has made certain organizational changes in its executive posts and made some pro-motions.

The company also announced that Douglas Wurl has resigned from his post as evp, merchandising — a position he assumed in mid April 2011.

“I’ve always believed our people are our greatest asset and that we continue to develop some of the most talented lead-ers in the retail industry,” said Steve Fish-man, chairman, ceo and president. “As our business continues to evolve, we are positioning our company for the future and rewarding performance of fi ve of our more tenured executives.”

The following promotions are effective

immediately, and all report to Fishman:• Lisa Bachmann to evp, coo, respon-

sible for store operations as well and retaining responsibility for the merchan-dise planning and allocation, information technology and distribution and transpor-tation services departments.

Bachmann joined Big Lots in 2002 as svp, merchandise planning/allocation, and in July 2005 took on the additional role of chief information officer. Then in March 2010, she was promoted to evp and assumed responsibility for distribu-tion and transportation services – he last role before her recent promotion.

• Charles Haubiel II to evp, chief administrative offi cer, responsible for the human resources and loss prevention while retaining responsibility for the legal

and real estate departments. He also con-tinues to serve as the company’s general counsel and corporate secretary.

Haubiel fi rst joined Big Lots in 1997, and was promoted to vp, general coun-sel and corporate secretary in 2000. He became svp, general counsel and corpo-rate secretary in November 2004, and assumed the responsibility for real estate in January 2008. In March 2010, he was promoted to evp.

• John Martin to evp, chief merchan-dising offi cer, responsible for the compa-ny’s merchandising, global sourcing and marketing departments. He came to work for Big Lots in 2003 as evp, merchandis-ing, and in April 2011 shifted his focus to evp, administration.

• Timothy Johnson to svp, cfo, respon-

sible for the treasury and risk management departments as well as overseeing all of the fi nancial activities of the company. He has been with Big Lots since 2000 when he was appointed director of strategic planning. He was then promoted to vp, strategic planning and investor relations in February 2004. Most recently, he served as svp, fi nance, a post he has held since July 2011.

Reproting to Haubiel is Michael Schlonsky, who has been promoted to svp, human resources from his former post as vp, associate relations and benefi ts. He is now responsible for talent management and oversight of the human resources department. Schlonsky joined Big Lots in 1993, was promoted to director of risk management in 1998 and became a vp in 2000. HTT

Big Lots Announces Executive Changes

September 3, 2012

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VISIT USIN OUR

NEW SHOW ROOM7 West 34th Street

Suite # 635New York , NY 10001

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htt120901_014 14 8/29/2012 4:37:08 PM

From the ed i tors of

WE’VE GOT THE INSIDE SCOOP ON HOW WOMEN REALLY FEEL ABOUT SHOPPING FOR HOME TEXTILES.

Top features women consider when purchasing bed linens. What they love – and hate – about shopping for textiles. Their go-to destinations for fashion bedding, pillows, pads and bath – and what they consider the sweet spot on pricing for multiple categories on a channel by channel basis. We asked. They dished.

Sponsored by

OF HOME TEXTILES

RealHousewives

the

New Exclusive Research

htt120901_H001 3 8/24/2012 10:01:27 AM

Home Textiles Today Special Report > hometextilestoday.com

SPONSORED BY:

BY DANA FRENCH

Fantastic news for the industry: 32% of women love to shop for bed linens and another 19% like to. New colors and styles, the fun of shopping and the ability to update and redecorate a room are among the reasons given as why.

As a 32-year-old from Cali-fornia put it, “I love to shop and freshen up things.” A 39-year-old from Tennessee likes “to see new designs and colors.” And, a 46-year-old from Maine loves shop-ping for bed linens because it makes her “excited about choos-ing what I want, matching the decor in my room and getting new products to sleep on.”

Those are some of the sig-nificant findings of a survey of women consumers conducted by Home Textiles Today in part-nership with Hollywood, Fla.-based The Medelia Monitor, an independent women’s research company. In May, Home Textiles Today asked Medelia’ s proprie-tary panel of women questions about bed and bath textiles. More than 250 women answered the exclusive survey.

While only 11% of women answering the survey either hate

or dislike shopping for bed lin-ens, it’s important to note

that 38% are neutral about the experience, neither lik-ing nor disliking it.

The cons for linen shop-ping include high prices,

poor selection, difficulty in fi nding the correct size and style and fighting large crowds of people in stores. A 49-year-old from Illinois is frustrated by

not “fi nding high quality mate-rials at reasonable prices.” A 35-year-old from Florida struggles with “picking out design that goes well with my décor.”

Nearly seven out of 10 women cite machine washable as important to them when buy-ing top-of-bed linens and sheets, making it the most important criteria. Comfort and color are the second and third most

important linen features, cited respectively by 62% and 60% of responding women. HTT

What Women Love Most“I think it’s cool to see, touch, and feel the new colors.” 39-year-old from Tennessee

“Finding a great style at a reasonable price.” 41-year-old from Illinois

“Having brand new, crisp sheets.” 29-year-old from California

“I like looking at the newest designs and colors.” 52-year-old from Michigan

“Bed products are very visible and used a lot, so it’s fun to get new ones and then be able to admire and use them.” 31-year-old from New York

“It’s creative and comforting to build a nest.” 54-year-old from Massachusetts

“I love the feel of high quality bed linens. I also like to be on the cutting edge when it comes to colors and design.” 61-year-old from North Carolina

“Because it gives me a chance to change the look of the bedroom.” 42-year-old from Florida

What Women Hate Most“The prices!” 63-year-old from Illinois

“When the store has little or no selection and things are disorganized and randomly displayed.” 31-year-old from New York

“Finding the correct size in a style I fi nd and like.” 27-year-old from California

“Too much from which to choose.” 57-year-old from Florida

“Finding the style I want at a price I can afford.” 41-year-old from North Carolina

“Finding what I’m looking for all in one place.” 48-year-old from Louisiana

“I most hate the feeling of guessing that a fi tted sheet is going to fi t right.” 36-year-old from Illinois

“The big crowds of people in your way.” 50-year-old from Tennessee

Most Important Bed Linen Features% who bought in the past 12 months

Machine washable 68%

Comfort 62%

Color 60%

Correct fi t 53%

Style/look/design 53%

Thread count 52%

Premium cotton 39%

Lowest price 29%

100% cotton 28%

From a trusted retailer 25%

Wrinkle resistant 21%

Anti-allergy 16%

Stain resistant 15%

Cotton/polyester blend 14%

Natural/organic fi bers 14%

Anti-bacterial 11%

Brand 10%

Fire resistant 7%

Warranty 5%

Designer label 3%SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY REAL HOUSEWIVES OF HOME TEXTILES SURVEY, 2012

How Women Feel About Shopping For Bed Linens

SOURCE: HOME TEXTILES TODAY REAL HOUSEWIVES OF HOME TEXTILES SURVEY, 2012

New Colors And Styles Are Reasons Why Women Love To Shop

Hate it

3%

Love it

32%

Like it

19%

Neutral

38%

Dislike it

8%

H2 September 3, 2012

htt120901_H002_H006 H2 8/24/2012 10:09:19 AM

Untitled-31 1 8/24/12 4:19:42 PM

Home Textiles Today September 3, 2012 Special Report > hometextilestoday.com

SPONSORED BY:

About the DataHome Textiles Today, in partnership with the Medelia Monitor, fielded an online survey about bed and bath linens to the Medelia Monitor’s proprietary panel of women in May 2012. The exclusive survey received responses from 256 women.

The research was collected and analyzed by Home Textiles Today’s research department, led by Dana French, director of research.

The sponsor of this report, Protect-A-Bed, had no involvement in collecting, analyzing or reporting the data.

Respondent Profi leAge of respondent

Under 35 18%

35-44 23%

45-54 33%

55-64 21%

65 and over 5%

Household Income

Under $30,000 12%

$30,000-$49,999 21%

$50,000-$74,999 21%

$75,000-$99,999 16%

$100,000-$149,999 18%

$150,000 or more 12%

BY DANA FRENCH

Six out of ten women buy new top-of-bed linens as part of a redecorating effort, according to the exclu-

sive data. More than one-third purchase top-of-bed every three to fi ve years and 26% buy every two years. Top-of-bed

product featuring designs comprised 27% of buys within the past 12 months, while 19% were neutral in color.

Sheets are bought much more frequently, with 44% of the sam-ple buying each year and another 30% buying every two years. Worn out product is the leading purchase trigger with sheets, with redecorating the second-most popular reason.

Neutral colors accounted for 36% of the overall sheets bought in the past 12 months, for all bedrooms. Solid, bold colors com-prised 19% and solid, pastel colors were 13%. Solid, white sheets were only 10% of those purchased last year — the majority of those purchased for guest bedrooms.

Overall, responding consumers spent a median of $100 on new top-of-bed linens and a median of $50 on new sheets. Top-of-bed prices were highest at home textile specialty stores, a median of $200. Textile specialists include Bed Bath & Beyond and Anna’s Linens, as well as boutique stores.

With sheets, the department store channel, including Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, secured the highest ticket price, a median of $75. HTT

More Than Half Of Women Buy Fashion Bedding To Redecorate

Fashion Bedding


Most recent purchaseWhere Bought Top-of-bed Sheets

Discount department stores 24% 31%Department stores 17% 12%Mid-priced chains 16% 14%Home textile specialty stores 15% 13%Off-price retailers 6% 12%Online 5% 8%Other direct-to-consumer 5% 3%Furniture and mattress stores 4% 1%Other outlets 3% 1%Warehouse membership clubs 3% 3%Variety/closeout stores 2% 2%

Median amount spentThe Budget Top-of-bed Sheets

Discount department stores $62 $40 Department stores $138 $75 Mid-priced chains $150 $68 Home textile specialty stores $200 $70 Off-price retailers $125 $50

The Buying Frequency

Bought in the past 12 monthsThe Buying Triggers Top-of-bed Sheets

Redecorating 60% 55%Old product is worn out 52% 61%Old product is stained/dirty 23% 26%Old product no longer fi ts my taste 21% 19%New home/apartment 12% 13%Other* 12% 11%Didn’t have this product 11% 8% *Includes product was on sale, bought a new type of mattress, children took old product, bought a bigger mattress

Bought in the past 12 monthsThe Style Top-of-bed Sheets

Other design 27% 8%Neutral color 19% 36%Floral 16% 6%Solid pastel color 14% 13%Solid bold color 10% 19%Plain white 6% 10%Stripes 5% 6%Other 3% 2%

24%of women don’t know which thread count

they prefer.

Of those who know,

37%

prefer 600 to 999 thread count and

9%

prefer 1,000 or more.

Once a year

20%Every

2 years

26%3-5 years

36%

6 or more years

18%6 or more years

7%

3-5 years

19%Every

2 years

30%

Once a year

44%

Top-of-bed Sheets

H4

Thread Count

htt120901_H002_H006 4 8/24/2012 10:10:02 AM

Untitled-31 1 8/24/12 4:20:01 PM

Home Textiles Today September 3, 2012 Special Report > hometextilestoday.com

SPONSORED BY:

BY DANA FRENCH

Nearly one-third of women purchase a new sleep pillow every year, while another third buy one every two years. Last year, 35% of the survey’s sample bought pillows at discount department stores, such as Target and Wal-Mart, and 14% bought at a home textiles specialist, including Bed Bath & Beyond.

Overall, a median of $30 was spent on a new sleep pillow and 62% bought because their old pillow was worn.

With mattress pads, almost one-fourth bought at a discount store, spending a median of $30 there. Women buying at mid-priced chains, such as JC Penney and Kohl’s, spent a median of $50. Typ-ically, mattress pads are bought every three to fi ve years.

Mattress protectors are the least-often bought utility bedding product. One-third of the survey sample purchases a new protector every six years or more, while 31% buy every three to fi ve years.

Last year, 53% of those who purchased a mattress protector bought a new one because the old product had worn out and 61% did so since they were redecorating the entire bedroom. Another 29% stated their current protector was stained or dirty.

More than half of responding women are very interested in products that protect mattresses and pillows from bed bugs, dust mites and allergens. HTT

Pillows Bought More Frequently Than Mattress Pads, Protectors

Utility Bedding

Distribution ChannelsDepartment stores are full-line operations carrying a variety of merchandise, including national and regional stores. Examples in-clude Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Belk, Dillard’s and others.

Discount department stores are general merchandise retail-ers, including national, regional and local stores. Examples include Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart and Shopko.

Furniture and mattress stores include stores where furniture and mattresses is the total business or single largest category. Includes regional and national stores such as Mattress Firm, Sleepy’s and Rooms To Go, as well as local independent stores. Also includes lifestyle furni-ture stores, such as Ikea, and manufacturer-branded furniture stores where the majority of product comes from a single manufacturer, such as Select Comfort and Ashley Furniture HomeStores.

Home textile specialty stores are stores where home textiles are the total business or single largest category. Chains include Bed Bath & Beyond and Anna’s Linens. Also includes local stores.

Mid-priced chains fall somewhere between department and discount stores on the price spectrum. Examples include JCPen-ney, Kohl’s, Sears and Stein Mart.

Off-price retailers carry a variety of merchandise, generally in-cluding apparel as well as home textiles and décor. Examples include T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, HomeGoods, Luxury Linens and Ross.

Online retailers include online sites whose primary distribution is through the Internet.

Other direct-to-consumer retailers include catalog merchants, such as Brylane, The Company Store and Lands’ End, and home shop-ping networks, such as QVC and HSN.

Other outlets include military exchanges, children’s specialty re-tailers, drug stores, health stores and doctor offi ces, among others.

Variety or closeout retailers generally carry low-priced goods, including home textiles, housewares, health and beauty and home decorative items. Includes Big Lots, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Tuesday Morning, The Christmas Tree Shops and Roses.

Warehouse membership clubs include Costco, Sam’s Club, BJ’s and local or regional clubs.


Once a year

32%

Every2 years

35%

3-5 years

21%

6 or more years

12%

6 or more years

27%

3-5 years

38%

Every2 years

22%

Once a year

13%

Sleep pillows Mattress pads Mattress protectors

Most recent purchase Mattress MattressWhere Bought Sleep pillows pads protectors

Discount department stores 35% 24% 40%Home textile specialty stores 14% 19% 14%Mid-priced chains 11% 16% 6%Department stores 10% 11% 11%Furniture and mattress stores 10% 10% 20%Warehouse membership clubs 6% 6% 2%Off-price retailers 6% 5% 2%Variety/closeout stores 4% 2% < 1%Online 2% 5% 5%Other direct-to-consumer 1% 2% < 1%Other outlets 1% < 1% < 1%

Median amount spent Mattress MattressThe Budget Sleep pillows pads protectors

Discount department stores $25 $30 $30 Home textile specialty stores $40 $38 $40 Mid-priced chains $35 $50 $30 Department stores $80 $88 $60 Furniture and mattress stores $50 $75 $75

Importance Level of Mattress and Pillow Protection From % rating as important

Dust mites 73%

Bed bugs 69%

Allergens 67%

Stains and spills 61%

Bed wetting and incontinence 33%

6 or more years

33%

3-5 years

31%

Every2 years

24%

Once a year

12%


H6

htt120901_H002_H006 6 8/24/2012 10:10:24 AM

Home Textiles TodaySpecial Report September 3, 2012> hometextilestoday.com

SPONSORED BY:

BY DANA FRENCH

With bath linens, color trumps all other features. Three out of four women answering Home Textiles Today’s exclusive survey responded that color is a vital feature when buying new bath lin-ens. Comfort is the second-most important feature, cited by 69% of responding women as imperative and the product’s style or design was chosen by another 64%.

Brand is an important criterion to only 14% of the sample and designer labels are critical to only 4%.

Sixty-fi ve percent of women buy new bath linens because the old product is worn out. They must wear out a lot as 34% pur-chase new bath towels each and every year and 43% buy new wash cloths once a year.

Bath rugs are bought less frequently, with 30% of the sample buying a new bath rug every three to four years.

One-third of the sample bought new bath towels at a discount department store last year; 22% at a mid-priced chain; and 18% at a home textile specialty store.

Overall, a median of $40 was spent on new bath towels. Women buying towels at department stores spent the most, a median of $80, while those buying at off-price retailers and mid-priced chains spent the least, medians of $35 and $30 respectively. HTT

Women Cite Color As Most Important Bath Linen Feature

Most Important Bath Linen Features

% who bought in the past 12 months

Color 75%

Comfort 69%

Style/look/desgin 64%

100% cotton 44%

Lowest price 36%

From a trusted retailer 23%

Natural/organic fi bers 20%

Brand 17%

Anti-bacterial 14%

Cotton/polyester blend 14%

Stain resistant 13%

Anti-allergy 6%

Warranty 5%

Designer label 4%


Bath Linens


Most recent purchase Bath Bath WashWhere Bought towels rugs cloths

Discount department stores 33% 32% 44%Mid-priced chains 22% 16% 23%Home textile specialty stores 18% 21% 16%Department stores 9% 6% 7%Off-price retailers 8% 8% 4%Online 2% 3% < 1%Furniture and mattress stores 2% 4% 4%Variety/closeout stores 2% 6% < 1%Other outlets 2% < 1% < 1%Warehouse membership clubs 1% 3% 2%Other direct-to-consumer 1% 1% < 1%

Median amount spent Bath Bath WashThe Budget towels rugs cloths

Discount department stores $38 $25 $10 Mid-priced chains $30 $40 $15 Home textile specialty stores $50 $40 $20 Department stores $80 $35 $25 Off-price retailers $35 $25 $20

The Buying Triggers Bought any bath linens in the past 12 months

Old product is worn out 65%

Redecorating 44%

Old product is stained/dirty 26%

Old product no longer fi ts my taste 12%

New home/apartment 10%

Didn’t have this product 5%


Once a year

34%Every

2 years

26%

3-5 years

32%

6 or more years

8%6 or more years

14%

3-5 years

30% Every2 years

29%

Once a year

27%

Bath towels Bath rugs Wash Cloths

6 or more years

10%

3-5 years

26%Once a year

43%Every

2 years

21%

H7

Top Features by Age

Under 35 35-44 45 and over 1. Color Color Color 2. Lowest price Style/look/design Comfort 3. Comfort Comfort Style/look/design


htt120901_H002_H006 7 8/24/2012 10:10:47 AM

Untitled-31 1 8/24/12 4:20:47 PM

23 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com

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September 3, 2012

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Exhibi-tor count is expected to climb by about 10% over last year for the 27th edition of the Surtex trade show for licensing in the art and design market in spring 2013.

As many as 300 companies — compared to last year’s 273 — from the United States and South America, Europe and Asia will present new, original art and design for license and sale during the show’s three-day run May 19 to 21 at the Jacob K.

Javits Convention Center. Target markets include textile

design for apparel and decorative fabrics, linens, tabletop, wall cov-erings and fl oor coverings, as well as giftware, stationery. greeting cards, gift wrap and other paper products, toys, ceramics, packag-ing and publishing.

“The top-notch talent in the international design world —

textile designers, illus-trators, graphic design-ers, art brands and fi ne artists, among others — plan to exhibit at Sur-tex,” said Penny Sika-lis, vp of GLM and manager of the Sur-tex show. “It is the one trade show where they know more than 6,000

representatives of man-ufacturers and retailers from 46 countries across the globe come to seek out the latest ideas for products for their con-sumer and institutional markets.”

In line with its tradi-tion, the upcoming show will include a hefty line-

up of conference sessions cover-ing various topics, “from learning the licensing basics through the most timely issues affecting art and design businesses.”

International forecasting pro-fessionals will share the latest news in the Trend Theatre, open to all exhibitors and attendees. The Trend Theater launched at this year’s Surtex. HTT

Surtex Expected to Grow for 2013 Event

BY ALEX LEMONDE-GRAY

NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — C&F Enterprises has found online interaction success since join-ing Pinterest earlier this sum-mer, the company stated.

As of March, Pinterest, a social media website where users post and share images on virtual pinboards, had 104 million users, according to CIO Today.

C&F drove initial traffic to its Pinterest page with a Snap to Win contest, which challenged retailers to send the company photos of their their best displays incorporating C & F products for a chance to win a $300 gift card.

“We received many great dis-play photos and had a lot of fun watching the contest resonate with consumers,” said Jennifer Sheridan, national sales man-ager, C&F, of the Snap to Win event.

The company’s Pin-spirational Displays board was inspired by the contest. Photos of inventive displays are regularly posted to the board by sales representatives and store owners.

As of mid-August, C&F had 13 mood boards with 241 pins. Other boards featured on the company’s page feature trend-ing themes that reflect C&F product inspiration as well as existing products in the compa-ny’s catalog.

C&F also had a soft launch of a Pinterest page for Gallerie II, the company’s holiday and home décor division. The com-pany further detailed Gallerie II’s Pinterest debut and a pro-motional contest in its August e-newsletter. HTT

C & F Joins

Pinterest

PENNY SIKALIS

GLM

htt120901_023 23 8/28/2012 11:08:13 AM


PEOPLETodaY

Momeni Expands Sales Team

SOMERSET, N.J. — Kas Orien-tal Rugs has named industry vet-eran Steve Roan as the compa-ny’s new vice president of sales and marketing.

He reports to Rao Yarlagadda, president.

Roan, who has working in the area rug and carpet business for

more than 20 years, hails most recently from Karastan Rugs, where he served as vp.

In his new post, he is respon-sible for managing the compa-ny’s network of sales agents “and will take a leading role in devel-oping new programs, as Kas continues to increase its market

share and brand awareness,” said Yarlagadda.

Roan described Kas as “a style and design leader in our indus-try,” adding that “the profession-alism throughout the organiza-tion is well known. It is a terrifi c opportunity and I look forward to the future.” HTT

Kas Taps Roan To Head Sales

September 3, 2012

LOS ANGELES — Li Kurczewski has joined luxury home furnish-ings retailer H.D. Buttercup as president, reporting directly to founder and ceo Evan Cole.

Kurczewski will be responsi-ble for product merchandising, product development, creative direction, in-store visuals, busi-ness development, and fashion for both the LA and San Fran-cisco Buttercup stores.

She spent more than 15 years at ABC Carpet & Home in New York as senior executive vp of merchandising and creative – where she oversaw sourcing and buying, including developing product with artisans around the world and curating ABC’s visual merchandising, partner-branded

shop development, and corpo-rate image.

“Li is an outstanding mer-chant and leader and brings with her a lucrative 20-year career in the luxury retail business. Her talents add an eclectic, vibrant dynamic to our robust business as we continue growing into greater prominence and expansion. I’m thrilled to work with Li again,” said Cole, one-time ceo of ABC.

Kurczewski called Buttercup “an incomparable retailer” and said she is happy to work with Cole again. “I am truly fortu-nate to once again collaborate on new energy and substantive change to the mediocrity cur-rently afflicting the industry.” HTT

CARLSTADT, N.J. — Momeni has announced the expansion of its sales team in three key markets – the Midwest, Florida and North-ern California.

The appointments were made over the past few weeks and are effective immediately.

Geoffrey Siebold, who in the past held management positions for Couristan and Tufenkian, is set manage all product lines for retail partners in the three-state region of Illinois, Wiscon-sin and Indiana. He is based in Chicago.

Managing business in Flor-ida is now Elaine Greenberg, who brings more than 20 years of career experience to her new post. She is based in state.

And married couple Phil

Rosenberg and Deb Heymann are the new area rug salespeo-ple for the Northern Califor-nia region. Together, they have been serving furniture and fl oor-ing stores in the area for more than 20 years. They are based in Sacramento.

All salespeople report to Ste-phen Hoberman, national sales manager.

“The recent expansion of the sales team positions Momeni to fulfill the company’s goal of expertly servicing our dealers across the entire U.S.,” said Reza Momeni, president. “The sales-people are charged with promot-ing our products and service in line with our tradition of quality. We are fortunate and proud to have such great additions.” HTT

ABC’s Kurczewski Joins H.D. Buttercup

GREAT NECK, N.Y. — Services were held here Aug. 21 for Art Engel, a long-time home textiles industry veteran who crafted two careers in the business, fi rst in the curtain business and then with his own travel agency that catered to the industry.

Engel, 79, died from compli-cations after a heart attack.

The fi rst portion of his career was spent with Cameo Cur-tains, the window specialist that later became part of CHF. He worked there for 30 years.

But Engel only left there to begin the next chapter of his life, joining his wife Rita to create Crossways Travel, an agency that specialized in serv-ing the home textiles indus-try. That business operated for many years and at its height Crossways hosted several thank-you parties for its clients at the Top of the Tower club where prizes included free airline tick-ets, hotel stays and other travel arrangements. It was a hugely popular event and Art and Rita

were the quintessential hosts.Later Crossways morphed

into a hotel reservations ser-vice called NYCHotelDIS-COUNTS.com that continues today.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Marc, Stuart and Jamie and daughters- in-law Toby and Vicki, as well as two grandchildren, Ryann and Drew.

The family has asked that donations be made to ACLD is his name at www.acld.org. HTT

PLEASANTON, CALIF. — Ross Stores vice chairman and ceo Michael Balmuth will step down as chief executive June 1, 2014, after which will become execu-tive chairman.

The off-price chain’s board of directors said it expects to elect a

new ceo from within the compa-ny’s executive ranks.

In his role as executive chair-man, Balmuth will remain an active employee of the com-pany, with property develop-ment and dd’s Discounts con-tinuing to report to him. He has

been with the company for 23 years – 16 of them as ceo.

Norman Ferber, Ross’ chair-man of the board, will become chairman emeritus in June 2014, with his current consult-ing responsibilities to remain unchanged. HTT

Ross ceo to Exit in Summer 2014

Art Engel, 79

MATTHEW, N.D. — Family Dol-lar has promoted Holly Shaskey-Platek to senior vp – merchan-dising for the home, apparel and seasonal divisions. She reports to Paul White, executive vp – chief merchandising offi cer.

She joined Family Dollar in 2008 as a consultant on change

management leadership. Prior to that, Shaskey-Platek spent 25 years in retailing. She held posi-tions at Target and ShopNBC in men’s apparel and private brand development as well as assort-ment planning.

“Capitalizing on a greater share of customers’ discretional

needs is critical to our ability to increase the sales productivity of our stores and to grow our market share,” said White. “Under Hol-ly’s leadership, we will continue to focus on assortment, merchan-dise presentation and promotion, supplier relationships, and busi-ness capabilities.” HTT

Family Dollar Appoints New Home Merchant

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BUSINESSTodaY

NEW YORK — Same-store sales rose 1.5% in the fourth and fi -nal week of August following a 1.9% gain in the prior week, according to The Johnson Red-book Retail Sales Index.

Month-to-date, August was up 1.8% compared to August of last year, just outpacing a targeted 1.7% gain. Month-over-month showed a 0.4% drop, slightly better than the expected 0.5% drop.

“Young people are increasingly shopping for fall clothing later into the season after school begins,” explained Catlin Levis, Redbook analyst. “Hot weather and waiting for deeper discounts made for a slower weekly performance.”

Consumers in the Gulf Coast region were also stocking up on emergency suppliers ahead of Tropical Storm Isaac, which especially bene-fi ted discounters, she said.

“Looking forward, our preliminary target for September is a 2.0% year-over-year gain, or a 1.3% month-over-month increase,” she added. HTT

Same-store sales

Comps Finish August Ahead of Plan

Johnson Redbook IndexFourth week of August, year-over-year % change

WEEK ENDED 8/4 8/11 8/18 8/25 MONTH TARGET

Department stores* 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.5 (0.1)Discounters 2.7 2.5 2.6 2.2 2.5 2.6Redbook Index 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.5 1.8 1.7*Including chain stores and traditional department storesSource: Johnson Redbook Index

September 3, 2012

DALLAS — Because of costs asso-ciated with the abrupt departure of ceo Kathleen Mason in early June, Tuesday Morning record-ed a steeper net loss in the fourth quarter than it would have.

The 852-unit closeout chain reported a net loss for the peri-od, ended June 30, of $2.0 mil-lion, or 5 cents per share, com-pared to net loss of $1.4 million, 3 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Excluding the expenses from Mason’s exit, the retailer’s net loss was $700,000 or 2 cents per share.

Sales inched up 0.8% to $196.4 million, with comps slip-ping 0.2%. Average ticket was up 2.9%, but traffi c was down 2.7%.

For the full fi scal year, earn-ings per share were 9 cents ver-sus EPS of 22 cents for the pre-vious year. Excluding costs associated to Mason’s departure, earnings per EPS was 12 cents.

Year-to-date sales came in

at $812.8 million, a 1.0% dip. Comps were down 3.1%, the re-sult of a 3.3% decrease in traffi c that was partially offset by a 0.2% increase in average ticket.

Michael Marchetti, presi-dent and interim ceo, said that as Tuesday Morning embarks on a new fi scal year it’s “focused on improving our sales perfor-mance. Innovative sourcing of new merchandise, implement-ing merchandise initiatives with respect to better allocation and in-stock positions, improved e-commerce performance, a new customer loyalty program, and continued improvement in our store portfolio are all being de-ployed to drive sales growth and improve profi tability.”

The company’s outlook for the new year calls for sales in the range of $820 million to $830 million, comparable store sales to be roughly fl at, and earnings per share to be in the range of 18 to 23 cents. HTT

SAN FRANCISCO — Williams-So-noma Inc. singled out textiles among the key drivers of its strong business during the sec-ond quarter, when the compa-ny reported increases in sales and comps.

The multi-nameplate cor-poration is also planning to expand its reach with the No-vember launch a new direct-to-consumer brand. More details about the effort will be shared in the fall, according to presi-dent and ceo Laura Alber.

Net earnings for the quarter ended July 29 climbed 10.4% to $43.38 million, or 43 cents per share.

Total sales rose 7.3% to $874 million. Direct-to-customer (DTC) sales were up 12.6% to $414 million, with increases across all brands. Growth was led by Pottery Barn and West

Elm as well as incremental net revenues from Rejuvenation. E-commerce net revenues in-creased 13.9% to $361 million.

DTC accounts for 47% of total revenue, up from 45% a year ago.

Comp sales were up 7.4%. Comps by nameplate were:

• Pottery Barn, up 11.7%;• Williams-Sonoma, down

0.4%;• Pottery Barn Kids, up

3.8%;

Textiles Help Williams Sonoma Post Strong Second-Quarter Results

Tuesday Morning Takes Q4 Hit From Former

ceo’s Departure

• West Elm, up 15.6%;• PBTeen, up 0.8%.Alber noted that PBTeen’s

“demand is showing steady im-provement from the fi rst quar-ter” aided by a “strong response to textiles led by our dorm ini-tiative and new fall assort-ments.”

To build on the momentum, PBTeen recently partnered with Burton Snowboards for an ex-clusive collection of teen-ori-ented textiles and decorative

accessories.West Elm saw double-digit

growth in textiles, furniture, decorative accessories and lighting. In the third quarter the brand plans to broaden the product assortment, particular-ly in the seasonal and gift-giv-ing categories, and will add fi ve more stores.

Year-to-date, net earnings climbed 4.5% to $74.1 million, or 73 per share. Total sales were up 6.7% to $1.7 billion. HTT

htt120901_026 26 8/28/2012 12:13:48 PM

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Untitled-40 1 8/27/12 4:37:02 PM

28 Home Textiles Today September 3, 2012 Business HTT Global Home Show

Market Kick-OffParty Sponsors:

MEMPHIS — Fred’s Inc. reported a strong double-digit net income increase as well as more modest positive sales for its sec-ond quarter and year-to-date results, but comps were lackluster for both periods.

As ceo Bruce Efi rd explained, Fred’s positive performance in the second quar-ter “refl ected several unusual items. The 31% increase in earnings for the quarter included the positive impact of a com-plex state income tax settlement that added $0.11 to earnings per diluted share - clearly a benefi t to the company and its shareholders.”

But, he continued, this benefi t “was reduced signifi cantly by one-time adjust-ments related to the accelerated clos-ing of 14 stores and added promotional markdowns for product transitioning.”

Good news for home, he cited. “Sev-eral merchandising initiatives that we have rolled out this year also did well in the quarter” – namely those for bed-ding, bath, housewares, and financial services.” Results were also strong in the pharmacy department, and the com-pany continued to see “excellent start-up performance” from its newly opened

stores.For the second quarter, ended July

28, Fred’s net income increased 20% to $6.1 million, or 17 cents per share. Sales were up 4% to $470.8 million, but com-parable store sales dipped 1.0% on top of the year-ago period’s 0.4% decline.

For the first six months period, net income jumped 13% to $16.5 mil-lion, or 45 cents per share. YTD total sales increased 4% to $971.3 million, with comps falling 0.5% versus a 0.4% increase for the same period last year. HTT

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Even though top-of-bed and overall bedding goods proved bright spots, the home department as a whole at Big Lots took a blow dur-ing the second quarter, contributing to the company’s poor performance in the period and fi rst half of 2012.

But plans are already underway to make improvements in time for the all-important fourth quarter holiday selling period, noted Steve Fishman, chairman, president and ceo.

“The softness we experienced in Q1 continued into Q2,” he explained dur-ing the company’s quarterly call in late August. “In Q1 the challenges were centered on electronics and consum-ables. We intensely focused on those categories, made changes, and expe-rienced some trend improvements in the second quarter.”

As Big Lots moved through second quarter, its more discretionary catego-ries lost their footing, “namely furni-ture, home and seasonal.”

Fishman said the cause for home’s decline was “more self-inflicted than anything. We had made major changes and major commitments to inventory

and floor space for that program that got executed mid to late second quar-ter. Parts of that program worked, par-ticularly top-of-bed and bedding — that’s doing well. Other parts of it, from an execution standpoint, we have not done as well with [them], particularly the house-wares and the decorative areas. But we believe that we will be up and running at a better rate going into the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. We believe we have a very solid program. We’re already see-ing receipts of that inventory.”

In the second quarter, ended July 28, Big Lots took a 38% hit in net income, which dove to $22.0 million. Income from continuing U.S. opera-tions totaled 42 cents per share (non-GAAP) compared to income from con-tinuing U.S. operations of 52 cents per share (non-GAAP) for the same period of fi scal 2011.

Sales for U.S. operations increased 1.7% to $1.18 billion. Comparable store sales for U.S. stores open at least 15 months decreased 1.9% for the quarter.

For the year-to-date period, income from continuing operations totaled

$62.9 million, or $1.00 per diluted share. That included an after-tax charge of $3.4 million, or 5 cents per share.

At the company’s one-year-old Cana-dian operations, second quarter results included: a 175% increase in net loss to $3.3 million, or $0.05 per diluted share (non-GAAP), compared to a net loss of $1.2 million, or $0.02 per diluted share (non-GAAP) for the same period of fi s-cal 2011; and a 10.2% decline in net sales to $35.0 million from the last year $39.0 million.

Looking to improve its business, Big Lots is launching three initiatives/tests for the back half of this year and into 2013:

• The testing of coolers and freez-ers in a group of select stores in five markets;

• The roll-out of a new loyalty pro-gram in several markets - including the acceptance of government food stamps;

• The testing of a new total store remodel effort.

Big Lots offered its 2012 outlook for both its U.S. and Canadian oper-ations. HTT

Fred’s Braces For Challenges in Second Half

Big Lots’ Home Business Bruised in Second Quarter

htt120901_028.indd 28 8/28/2012 12:15:42 PM

THE BIG HTT MARKET KICK-OFF PARTYIS BACK AT THE 230 FIFTH AVENUE ROOFTOP

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Untitled-2 1 7/31/2012 3:30:54 PM


BY JANE KITCHEN

WAYNE, N.J. — The Heidi Klum Truly Scrumptious col-lection is making its debut at Babies “R” Us stores across the country last month. The world-renowned fashion icon and mom of four created a line of apparel, gear, room décor and furniture for the superstore, and Facebook and Twitter pre-launch activities, as well as a dedicated microsite, babiesrus.com/heidiklum, have been gar-nering excitement for the Sept. 15 launch.

The company said this is the beginning of a long, collab-orative relationship between Klum and Babies “R” Us that will include multiple new col-lections each year.

“Heidi Klum is known for her undeniable fashion sense, but she’s also a hands-on mom of four who is representative of the millions of mothers who shop with Babies ‘R’ Us for the coolest mom must-haves, new-est apparel and the latest gear,” said Neil Mulhall, vice presi-dent, divisional merchandising manager for Babies “R” Us.

Truly Scrumptious apparel and accessories range from $4.99 to $39.99, and include layette for newborn to size 24 months; toddler apparel to 5T; and bibs, hats, mittens, booties, socks and sneakers.

The Truly Scrumptious line also includes three colorful pat-terns of bedding with match-ing room décor: Butterfl y Won-derland, Dinosaur Tracks and Boho Harmony. The décor

features paper lanterns, flow-ing canopies, paper mobiles, detailed lamps and decorative rugs. Elaborate wall art pack-ages featuring 2-D and 3-D decals to create murals of trees, grass with fl owers, dinosaurs or butterfl ies, will also be available at launch.

Two styles of furniture are also part of the mix, includ-ing cribs and dressers avail-able with two or five drawers, in a white or sienna wood fi n-ish, which boast distinguishing details such as rope-like trim. The line will also launch with the Scope stroller, which comes in three colors, blue, raspberry and black.

“I always knew that I wanted to create great items for chil-dren - but I wanted to find a home where all of my ideas

for babies and kids could be under one roof with a com-pany that is truly the authority in the world of babies and kids,” said Klum. “I fi nally found that with Babies “R” Us and am so excited to partner with them to launch my Truly Scrump-tious collection. I designed this first collection not only with adorable kids in mind, but I thought of all the little details to make things easier on moms,

too. From cool and stylish mix-and-match apparel, to fun and colorful floor-to-ceiling room décor, my Truly Scrumptious line has it all.”

Babies “R” Us will begin airing a national TV commer-cial this month to support the Truly Scrumptious launch. Print advertisements will also appear in parenting magazines, newspaper circulars and Babies “R”’ Us catalogs throughout the

fall.Additionally, the company

has created a 100-plus page Big Baby Book, which highlights hundreds of must-have prod-ucts and includes the intro-duction of Truly Scrumptious by Heidi Klum merchandise. The resource, which is avail-able in Babies ‘R’ Us stores and OBGYN offices nationwide, features Klum on the cover. HTT

Babies “R” Us Debuts Heidi Klum Collection

September 3, 2012

Heidi Klum’s Butterfly Wonderland collection festures pinks and purples and butterflies of all shapes and sizes. It includes a 4-piece bedding set, quilt, fleece blanket, butterfly rug, diaper stacker, hanging sheer canopy, window drapes and window valance.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — ART, the association for the home accent and accent furniture segment of the home fur-nishings industry, launched the fi rst stage of its rebrand-ing process, a new logo accompanied by the new tag line, “A Creative Home Furnishings Network.”

“The new tag line ‘A Creative Home Furnishings Network’ is a true refl ection of the association’s mem-bership and our mission to foster design creativity. The new logo is modern and colorful, just like our members,” said Sharon Davis, executive director of ART. “The mar-keting team has done an amazing job translating those principals.”

Also part of this fi rst rebranding stage, the association will begin only using the acronym ART rather than its

full name.The second stage involves the launch of a new website

with additional member features this fall. And the third stage incorporates the new look into all ART sponsored programs and marketing during the next year. Amongst these programs is the ART Card, which will continue to use the old logo until phased out and replaced.

ART assembled a marketing committee last spring, tasked with modernizing the association. The commit-tee included Robbin Wells, Dallas Market Center; Kel-lee Hollenback, Troy/CSL/Littman Brands; and Vanessa Turney, Light by Design. HTT

ART Unveils New Logo, Tagline

htt120901_030_034 30 8/27/2012 5:17:08 PM

Untitled-42 1 8/28/12 8:40:03 AM

Featured Exhibitors at

Home Textiles Today’s Global Home Show

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at 295 5th Avenue and 7 West 34th Street.

Sept. 9-13, 2012

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Untitled-33 2 8/27/12 8:48:05 AM

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United WeaversMakroteks

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September 9-13 ,2012Fall NY Home Fashions Market WeekMajor Showroom Buildings Throughout Market

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Untitled-33 3 8/27/12 8:48:07 AM

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HELP WANTED

One of the most successful online home textile brands in China, Racy’s Home, is seeking

cooperative opportunities with home textile studios or designers from Europe and the U.S.

• Do you want to show your face on the biggest B to C website in Asia?

• Do you want to share your designs and ideas with the most popularity and with more than 10 million from the most exciting market of the world?

• The candidate who is interested in this co-operation should have a minimum of 5 years experience in design and/or art or a related field. Candidates will be asked to show their pictures and comments on their own designs to our consumers.

• We will introduce your designs together to millions of our consumers in China.

• We will offer market prices for your artwork if chosen by our product team.

If you are interested, please forward your studio profile or personal resume to:

[email protected]

PEKING LINEN INCHome textiles distributor directly supported by its factory in China,

seeks:Sales with established accounts in

home fashions, and Designers experienced in home fashions. Please send resumes to:

[email protected] call: 201-293-4418

Stylemaster®importer of curtains, valances,

bedspreads, and furniture throws looking for order entry processor

with EDI experience.Please email resume to

[email protected]

Home Furnishings BuyersZ Gallerie, a home furnishings lifestyle retailer operating 50+ locations across the US has immediate opportunity for a Tabletop Buyer AND a Home Textile Buyer. Our merchants’ goal is to furnish our customers with exclusive, stylish and accessible products in an inspirational store environment. Position is located at our Berkeley, CA offi ces. Buyer(s) will develop Z Gallerie exclusive products, source them globally andmanage the products through their life cycle. Ideal candidate(s) will have solid experience in both developing business strategies and managing OTB through monthly fi nancial reviews. Must be creative and have in-depth knowledge of merchandising and design trends. Buyer(s) will work closely with Planner(s) to spend OTB most effi ciently and profi tably. Buyer(s) must have strong collaboration and team building skills, excellent communication & negotiation skills, as well as, the ability to balance strategic thinking and attention to detail to be successful in this position. Must have superior leadership skills, enthusiasm, initiative, passion for results, be fl exible and have an entrepreneurial spirit balanced with strong analytical and decision-making skills. All candidates should enjoy a fast paced, collaborative and entrepreneurial environment with excellent skills in communication, retail math, Word and Excel. Bachelor’s degree required, as well as, two or more years of previous buyingexperience, preferably in the Home Furnishings area. Please forward resumes with salary history and requirements to [email protected]. Please visit us at www.zgallerie.com. No Phone Calls Please

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LINES OFFERED

Home Textile + Fashion Handbag/Accessories CompanyHiring Sales Persons

VHC, Inc. is a multi-line home textile and handbag design, import,and distribution company seeking full time, salary + commission sales persons to engage larger accounts within the US. Offi ces in Missouri

and New Delhi, with branded and private label/custom programs. Majorlines include patchwork bedding, window treatment, table textiles, wovens,

braided rugs, and Bella Taylor handbags. Min. 5 years selling experiencein the wholesale home textile and/or fashion import/distribution industry.

Email inquiries/resumes only to: [email protected]

SALES PROFESSIONALS WANTEDCommission based Sales Rep needed for promotionally priced Home Textile Importer. USA Warehouse, 20 years in business.

Excellent reputation. Only those with real Home textile experience need apply. All territories available.

E-mail resume to [email protected] or fax to 516-621-9125

SALES REPS WANTEDStylemaster®-importer of curtains, valances, bedspreads, and furniture

throws with a stocking warehouse in CT. Seeking well-connected reps.

Many customers still available. E-mail resume [email protected]

Sales Reps Wanted One of the largest micro-fi ber

bedding products manufactory is seeking highly motivated

commission based sales agents to expand our market nationwide. The candidates should have a

history of positive relationships with clients. Email resume

[email protected]

36 Home Textiles Today News

360 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10010Tel: (646) 805-0227; Fax: (646) 365-2307

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Telephone: (646) 805-0227 Fax: (646) 365-2307 USPS 497-490HOME TEXTILES TODAY (USPS 497-490) (ISSN 0195-3184) is published 29 times a year except for the weeks of 1/16, 2/6, 2/20, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/23, 5/7, 5/21, 6/4, 6/18, 7/2, 7/16, 7/30, 8/13, 8/27, 9/17, 10/1, 10/15, 10/29, 11/12, 11/26, 12/10, 12/24 by Furniture/Today Media Group, 360 Park Avenue South, 17th fl., New York, NY, 10010 a subsidiary of Sandow Media LLC, 3731 NW 8th Ave, Boca Raton, FL 33431. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. HOME TEXTILES TODAY copyright ©2012 by Sandow Media LLC. Annual subscription rates: U.S. and Canada $169.97; 1 year, other countries $325.99 for surface mail . All payments must be made in U.S. currency. Subscription inquiries: HOME TEXTILES TODAY, PO Box 5879, Harlan, IA 51593-1379. Phone: (866) 456-0405. HOME TEXTILES TODAY and THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY are registered trade-marks of Sandow Media LLC, used under license. Sandow Media LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. (Posted under Canadian International Publication Agreement No.40624074. Sandow Media/CDS (Mint Hill)POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HOME TEXTILES TODAY, P.O. Box 5879, Harlan, IA, 51593-1379 Email: [email protected]. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: RCS International; APC; PO Box 503, RPO West Beaver Creek, Rich Hill, ON L4B 4R6

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September 3, 2012

told HTT. The differentiator for pur-suing a product design, he added, “is that it should justify a patent applica-tion.”

On that front, MindsInSync is making strides. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently granted

“fast track” status for the patent re-quest MindsInSync fi led for its mem-ory foam mats. Last month, Germany granted a patent for the much-copied product, which also has earned Util-ity Model and Innovation patents in China and Australia.

“Our company was founded on innovation, and our efforts to protect our proprietary materials and process-

es mark our determination to contin-ue to lead the market with original so-lutions that bring something new to the consumer’s life,” said Paul Cuth-bertson, chief operating officer of MindsInSync.

The company, which distributes product in 38 countries, has patent applications pending in other juris-dictions. HTT

MINDS FROM PAGE 1

MindsInSync

Mary Jane’s Farm branded license.The company has also expanded

the team at its Shanghai facility to sup-port to basic bedding business.

Chief operating offi cer Mark Grand said the new category is just part of Pe-king’s “expanded bandwidth” and the company’s ability to execute across multiple facets of the home.

“We’re gotten a chunk of the win-dow business,” said Grand. “The branding activity has been aimed at addressing a level of fashion we had not been known for.”

As was the case during the spring market, Peking will highlight its better bedding goods — “and it’s even more luxurious,” said Carol Antone, vp of cre-ative.

The new collection features high thread counts, Egyptian cotton and

high-quality jacquards, she said. In ad-dition, Peking is reintroducing its fash-ion quilt assortment based on lifestyle: Modern/Zen, Global/BoHo and Mid-Century-inspired.

Peking will also feature true stand-alone decorative pillows during the market.

“We’ve been doing so well with Trina Turk that we feel we’ve gotten to go-ahead to be bold and brave,” said Antone. HTT

PEKING FROM PAGE 1

WASHINGTON — The National Retail Federation last week urged labor and management to return to the table in negotiations for a new East Coast and Gulf Coast longshoremen’s contract, arguing that retailers heading into the crucial holiday season will be forced to divert cargo elsewhere in a matter of days.

“We understand and recognize that there are tough issues that need to be resolved,” said Matthew Shaw, presi-dent and ceo. “The issue will only be resolved, however, by agreeing to stay at the negotiating table until a final deal is reached. Failure to reach agree-ment will lead to supply chain disrup-tions which could seriously harm the U.S. economy.”

He added that the industry is “fac-

ing a critical time,” noting that some retailers have already enacted con-tingency plans to ensure that hol-iday merchandise will reach store shelves in time. “Now that there is a real risk of disruption, most retailers using the East and Gulf Coast ports will be forced to executive contingen-cy plans within the next week to meet in-store holiday deadlines. These plans carry great expense but they are neces-sary to avoid disruptions that will add costly delays to our members’ supply chains.”

Shay’s comments came in a letter sent yesterday to International Long-shoremen’s Association president, Har-old Daggett, and United States Mari-time Alliance chairman and ceo, James Capo. The two parties were scheduled

to hold three days of negotiations last week to replace the contract that ex-pires Spet. 30, but the ILA walked away on Wednesday over USMX’s in-sistence to negotiate on terminal effi -ciency improvements.

Shay said lack of a contract could drive shippers away from East and Gulf Coast ports in the same way that a 2002 West Coast ports lockout caused shipping to shift in their favor.

“Having a secure, long-term long-shore labor contract in place is critical to ensure that the East and Gulf Coast ports continue to benefi t from grow-ing labor volumes,” Shay said. “With-out such certainty, retailers and oth-ers will surely reevaluate their supply chains and the short-term and long-term reliance on these ports.” HTT

NRF Seeks Negotiations for Coastal Longshoremen to Avoid Holiday Disruptions

DALTON, GA. — Oriental Weavers will host a Take a Bite out of the Big Apple themed grand opening party for its new showroom at the New York Home Fashions Market on Sept. 10, from 4-7 p.m.

The rug company’s new showroom is almost double the size of its previ-ous space and is located on the sev-

enth fl oor of the 295 5th Avenue Tex-tile Building, suite 719.

To celebrate opening the more than 10,000-square-foot showroom, Oriental Weavers will give away iPads, iTouchs, and other Apple products every 30 min-utes during the party and will serve sig-nature Big Appletinis, cocktails, wine and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

The company will also serve lunch daily during the market as well as wine and cheese each evening beginning at 4 p.m.

Oriental Weavers will show ma-chine-woven, printed and handcrafted accent and area rugs, broadloom, Ax-minster, rug pad and all its other prod-uct during the show. HTT

Oriental Weavers to Celebrate New NYC Showroom

Peking

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Home Textiles Today September 3rd Issue

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