Home Textiles Today December 31st 2012

Monday, December 31, 2012

Inside This IssueNew Supima Cotton Crop Comes in .............page 2

The Hasbro Model ..........................................page 4

Triskaidekaphobia ..........................................page 4

Lenzing Celebrates 20 Years of Tencel ...........................................page 6

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 33, No. 29 | $8.00

HTT STAFF REPORT

NEW YORK — There’s no time for the post-holi-day blues in the home textiles world as a series of trade shows will keep executives hopping in the coming weeks.

In addition to boatloads of new product, shows during the fi rst half of 2013 will offer a broad assort-ment of parties, receptions, awards ceremonies and ed-ucational programs.

Here, HTT presents a brief run-down of high-lights for 15 shows of particular interest to the home textiles industry that will take place from January through June.

HTT’s 2013 pull-out calendar will provide a list-ing of all home furnishings shows and will be avail-able in the Jan. 7 issue.

January9-12HeimtextilFrankfurt Fair & Exhibition CenterFrankfurt am Main, Germany (770) 984-8016heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com

Next month’s edition of Heim-textil, the largest trade show in the world for home textiles, will increase its focus on tex-

tiles design by revamping the design area in Hall 4.2.By giving the design area a makeover, show orga-nizer Messe Frankurt is looking to highlight Heim-textil’s position as a platform for textile design.

The exhibit will feature the work of approxi-mately 150 international exhibitors, including a

Trade Show Season 2013 is at Hand

First Half Show Preview

SEE PREVIEW PAGE 18

First Half Promises New Features, New Sessions

BY CINDE W. INGRAM & ALEXA BOSCHINI

HIGH POINT, N.C. — The Show-time fabric fair this month re-vealed a range of bright colors as outdoor furniture fabrics con-tinue to be invited indoors.

“We’re pushing a little more color out there in accent form,” said Greg Voorhis, design man-ager of Sunbrella fabrics man-ufacturer Glen Raven. “Neu-trals and grays will continue to be important, but they will be balanced by really bright color accents. We’re also making a strong push into the artisanal,

Showtime Accents Bright, Bold Colors

These indoor/outdoor pillows by Liora Manné display two popular palettes – indigo blue paired with contrasting lighter hues, and aqua blue paired with spring green.SEE SHOWTIME PAGE 22

Home Textiles Today revisits the eight men and women from this exclusive two-year-

long series who continue to help lead the companies they worked to build over

lifetime careers in the industry.See Pages 10-16

surya.com877.275.7847

YOUR ONE-STOP SHOPRUGS PILLOWS POUFS WALL ART THROWS ATLANTA

11-A-1

LAS VEGAS

B370

WE’VE MOVED!

THE LATEST TRENDS

htt121203_001 1 12/21/2012 3:29:21 PM

2 Home Textiles Today News

ELITE SPONSORS

Intertextile

For more information on these Home Textiles Today advertisers, scan their QR tags below using a free QR scanner available at synqware.com.

Lenzing

Manhattan Properties

Protect-A-Bed

Softline Home Fashions

Surya Rugs

QR tags provided by Synqware, a leading technology company supplying connectivity tools to the businesses. Synqware.com.

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

Tracking Textiles

Overall, online dollar sales of home textiles products have grown 16% in the 12 months ending October 2012, with kitchen and table showing the largest increase — 33% — while bedding grew 23%. Only bath failed to show an in-crease in the online sales.

Source: The NPD Group, Inc. / Consumer Tracking Service12 months ending October 2012

E-COMMERCE BECOMING BIG COMMERCE

Online sales share continues to increase

Bedding Products 13%

Window Fashions 12%

Kitchen/Table 7%

Bath Products 6%

December 31, 2012

Late fall means many things, but to the folks who use Supima, it’s when the new crop comes in in the four states — Califor-nia, Texas, Arizona and New Mexico — where the high-grade cotton is grown. This year’s crop totals out at 657,000 bales or about 315 million pounds. That’s down from the number a year ago when skyrocketing cotton prices caused farmers to plant a record amount of acreage, but consistent with historical lev-els from prior harvests. Supima reports that almost 92% of this year’s cotton is classed at Grade 2 or better, indicating a partic-ularly high quality crop.

New Supima Cotton Crop

Comes inBY MICHAEL J. KNELL

TORONTO — In its first report since becoming a public com-pany last month, retailer The Hudson’s Bay Co. said its third quarter loss widened slightly, al-though same store sales on both sides of the border were stron-ger than anticipated.

“Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor continued to deliv-er solid mid-single-digit same-stores sales increases for the third quarter of 2012, including an 8% same store sales increase in October at both banners,” Richard Baker, HBC governor and ceo, said in a statement.

He added that the company will also begin paying a quar-terly dividend of 9.4 cents a share on its stock beginning this month.

The company reported retail sales for the 13-week period end-ing Oct. 27 of C$930.4 million, up 3.8% from the corresponding period a year earlier.

Consolidated same store sales were up 3.5% in the third quarter - with an increase of 4.5% at Hudson’s Bay (which includes The Bay and Home Outfi tters) and 5.2% on a U.S. dollar basis at Lord & Taylor.

HBC attributed the upticks in same-store sales to strong promotional events at Hud-son’s Bay and Lord & Taylor. Consolidated same store re-sults were hurt by currency ex-change rates as well as by lower sales at Home Outfi tters.

The net loss from continuing operations was C$8.5 million or 8 cents a share, compared with a net loss of C$7.5 million or 7 cents per share a year ago.

For the 39-week period ended Oct. 27, retail sales were C$2.69 billion, up 5.5% from C$2.55 billion in the corre-sponding period of last year.

Consolidated same-store sales increased by 4.9%, with gains of 5% at Hudson’s Bay and 4.6% on a U.S. dollar basis at Lord & Taylor.

However, the net loss from continuing operations wid-ened to C$62.1 million or 59

cents per share from C$41.9 million or 40 cents per share.Michael Culhane, the compa-ny’s chief fi nancial offi cer, said that as a result of the IPO dur-ing the third quarter, “We have reduced our net debt and we are in a strong position to con-

tinue growing our business.”HBC also said in the earn-

ings report that 80% of its Lord & Taylor stores were negatively impacted by Hurricane Sandy, including closings and limited operating hours. “The effects of the storm may negatively im-pact fourth quarter sales by ap-proximately US$20 million and result in moderately higher in-ventory levels at Lord & Tay-lor,” Baker said.

The disruption caused by the hurricane resulted in fl at same-store sales for November, the company reported, with comps up 9% at Hudson’s Bay and down 12.4% at Lord & Taylor.

Adjusting for the US$20 mil-lion impact of Sandy, HBC said same-store sales at Lord & Tay-lor would have increased 3.7% on a U.S. dollar basis, and con-solidated same store sales would have increased 5.7%. Both ban-ners experienced uplift in sales performance as a result of pro-motional activity during Black Friday sales in late November.

In a conference call, Baker — who is a real estate develop-er — said HBC is considering spinning off its real estate hold-ings into a REIT (real interest income trust), although no fi rm plans have been set. A number of other large Canadian retail-ers, most notably the grocery giant Loblaw Cos. Ltd., have spun off their real estate to in-crease shareholder equity. HTT

Third-Quarter Loss Widens at

Hudson’s Bay Co.

“Hudson’s Bay and Lord & Taylor con-

tinued to deliver solid mid-single-digit same-stores sales increases for

the third quarter of 2012.”

—RICHARD BAKER, HBC

htt121203_002B 2 12/20/2012 10:19:18 AM

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

4 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

OPINIONTodaY

December 31, 2012

FE A R OF T HE N U M BER 13 is a fairly common malady and that’s likely to surface with more frequency next year.

But as they say, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself … unless you happen to be somebody who really should be scared about the coming year. Indeed there are a

number of fearful situations that have the potential to be quite frightening over the next year.As luck would have it, I count 13 of them:1. Fear of February: That’s when JCP starts anniversarying its monthly

numbers from the RonJon era. If they can’t beat those lame numbers, it’s going to be very, very scary.

2. Fear of Percentage-Off Promotions: If Kohl’s can’t stop its recent slide into fl at lining comps, it may require a fundamental change in its overall merchandising strategy.

3. Fear of Merchandising Malaise: Save for the occasional Missoni blip, Target’s product offerings continue to register big yawns on the excitement scale. Everyone keeps asking where’s the beef, but so far nobody can fi nd it.

4. Fear of the Pacifi c Ocean: The sourcing structure of the industry is downright terrifying these days as everyone tries to fi gure out what’s up in the Chinese domestic market, the economy in India, the politics in Pakistan and the reality of Southeastern Asia as an alternative.

5. Fear of the Beyond: What does the great Bed Bath & Beyond do with Cost Plus? Will they experience some short-term problems in the fi rst quarter of the year due to the massive turnover in their merchandising staff? Can they avoid the problems affl icting virtually every other big box retailer from the online onslaught?

6. Fear of a Sweet Lady Named Anna: A lot of the big boys in textilesland still haven’t caught on to the impact Anna’s Linen is having on the lower end of the retail marketplace. Those who continue to do so will be Anna-rized.

7. Fear of Brand X: That’s X as in TJX, which continues to take market share through its TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods nameplates. This is not going to stop anytime soon.

8. Fear of Domesticity: Big vertical mills are not coming back, but more small-scale cut-and-sew is. Will the American shopper care, much less pay a premium for a Made-in-America label?

9. Fear of Sh’rooming: Shoppers rule these days and if you can’t fi gure out how to compete with online cherry-picking, you are probably in the wrong line of work.

10. Fear of Overseas: Many American retailers are pulling back on their international expan-sion strategies following the downturn in the European economy and a massive misread of how to do business in China. But that’s the future, so they better learn how to get it right.

11. Fear of Fast Eddie: What assets will Sears Holding sell off this year as it continues to drain cash out of there faster than industrial strength Drano?

12. Fear of Chapter 11: There have been very few retail bankruptcies over the past year, but some people think that’s going to change soon.

13. Fear of Sheets and Towels: Why oh why, you keep telling yourself, did you ever pick home textiles as your career?

On the other hand, in 2013 you could just be fearless. HTT

Triskaidekaphobia

TH E R E W E R E A N U M BE R OF interesting presentations during Lenzing’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of its Tencel fi ber earlier this month in New Orleans.

As far as consumers were concerned — understanding what’s important to them and creating products and marketing that appeals to them — the focus was very much on Millennials, who are

roughly between 13 and 29 years old. And the re-mark that really stuck with me from the day had to do with surveys that have shown today’s adults believe their children will not be better off than the generations that preceded them.

That is an insult, said Sam Moore, who works with Millennials every day as managing director of the Hohenstein Institute America.

It assumes the emerging generation is less in-novative, less motivated and less entrepreneurial than its predecessors. In fact, its members have been tech savvy practically from the cradle and are interconnected in ways previously unimaginable.

As the Pew Research Center noted: “They are the fi rst generation in human history who regard behaviors like tweeting and texting, along with websites like Facebook, YouTube, Google and Wikipedia, not as astonishing innovations of the digital era, but as everyday parts of their social lives and their search for understanding.”

And they expect companies that want to sell them stuff to listen to their concerns. We saw a fi ne example of that a couple of weeks ago, when Hasbro announced it would begin making its Easy Bake Oven in colors that appeal to boys and will begin featuring boys as well as girls on its packaging.

The oven’s long-standing pitch to girls, and only girls, became a cause celebre in social media earlier this month thanks to a 13-year-old New Jersey girl named McKenna Pope. Her four-year-old broth-er likes to cook and wanted an Easy Bake Oven, but didn’t want one “for girls.”

Pope fi rst took to Facebook, then launched a petition on Change.org that got more than 40,000 signatures. On Dec. 18, Pope and her fami-ly were meeting with Hasbro executives, who unveiled a black and sil-ver prototype it had been developing for several months.

It was a win for consumers, a win for social media and a big win for Hasbro, whose quick and positive action pushed the story out into the national media — as a tale about a hero big sister and a compa-ny that cares.

That’s not a future brands need to prepare themselves for. It’s already reality. The question is how well marketers are listening. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

The Hasbro Model

Warren Shoulberg

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

htt121203_004B 4 12/21/2012 3:16:18 PM

5 Home Textiles Today> hometextilestoday.com

Bon-Ton To Add Two Locations

The Bon-Ton Stores said it will open two new stores next year in Maine and Indiana.In Maine, the retailer will open a 120,800-square-

foot store at The Maine Mall in South Portland - its fi rst store in the state. In Indiana, a 122,000-square-foot unit will be located at Glenbrook Square in Fort Wayne. This will be Bon-Ton’s 14th operation in the state.

The company expects to begin remodeling the stores in February 2013 and be completed by mid-Sep-tember 2013.

The Maine Mall is anchored by Macy’s, Sears, JCPenney, Best Buy and Sports Authority. Specialty stores include the Apple Store, H&M and Coach.

Glenbrook Square, one of the largest enclosed super-regional shopping malls in Indiana, is anchored by Macy’s, JCPenney and Sears.

Bon-Ton currently operates 273 department stores, including 11 furniture galleries, in 24 states in the Northeast, Midwest and upper Great Plains under the Bon-Ton, Bergner’s, Boston Store, Carson Pirie Scott, Elder-Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers nameplates and, in the Detroit, Michigan area, under the Parisian nameplate.

Ballard Designs’ New App Interacts With Print Catalog

Home furnishings retailer Ballard Designs has launched Ballard+, an app that enables the user

to browse and shop the retailer’s print catalog using image recognition technology. The free app, which features “tap-to-buy” shopping, product details and reviews, multiple image viewer and social shar-ing, works with Ballard’s December 2012 early win-ter issue.

Shoppers hold their iPhone or iPad above the page of the catalog to activate the app and connect to the digital experience. A box encompasses each item on the page, wherein users tap for product information. A touch of the purchase button directs items in the shop-ping cart to ballarddesigns.com for check-out.

Ballard+ is available for select iOS devices and is compatible with iPhone 4/4S and 5, as well as iPad2, iPad with Retina display and iPad mini. The free app works with the Ballard Designs December 2012 early winter issue, with more to be added in the future, and will require a data plan or WiFi connection for use.

Costco Beats Earnings Estimates

Costco’s new income jumped 30% during the ware-house club’s fi rst quarter, which ended Nov. 25.Net income for the quarter was $416 million, or

$.95 per diluted share, compared to $320 million, or $.73 per diluted share in the previous fi scal year, which was negatively impacted by an income tax settlement regarding the company’s operations in Mexico. The prior year’s earnings also included a $17 million charge (or $.04 per diluted share) related to contributions to an initiative reforming alcoholic beverage laws in Washington State.

Sales increased 10% to $23.20 billion. Comp sales were up 7% for the U.S., and 9% for international.

RetailBriefs

ATLANTA — Accent rugs manufacturer Jellybean will introduce a new line of Memory Foam rugs in Janu-ary at the winter markets. Like all Jellybean rugs, the new Memory Foam rugs are handmade and com-pletely machine washable, but these new introduc-tions have 12 mm of memory foam inside. Fifteen new designs will be available in two sizes, sold in sets of two in 20-inch-by-30-inch or individually in 20-by-40.

“This exciting new line utilizing popular memo-ry foam combined with our machine washable rugs is sure to be a hit with customers,” said Renee Ring-stad, Jellybean VP of merchandising. “With a vari-ety of our popular designs available, these new rugs will be a great addition for buyers to add to their rolling racks and sales programs.”

Jellybean manufactures handmade, machine washable accent rugs. The company will open a new showroom at AmericasMart during the up-coming Atlanta International Gift and Home Fur-nishings Market, to be held Jan. 9-16. Located in Building 2 West Wing on the seventh fl oor, number 787A, the new showroom will be designed to pres-ent the complete Jellybean line to retailers by fea-turing category specifi c vignettes.

In January 2013, Jellybean will introduce near-

ly 100 new designs, in addition to Jellybean with Memory Foam. The 2013 Jellybean catalog will be available this month. HTT

DALLAS — Designer Tracy Por-ter will be the fi rst in a series of “Guest Pinners” slated to create a Pinboard on the Feizy Rugs Pin-terest page.

Porter’s new “Poetic Wander-lust” collection encompasses a wide range of home products, in-cluding tabletop items, pillows, poufs, ottomans, wall art, and others.

The alliance is not new for Feizy, a longtime area rug house that has collaborated with Porter since 2006 on an expansive line of Fine and Home Collection groupings.

The new Pinboard, titled “Tracy Porter- Poetic Wanderlust Inspirations,” will be live Dec. 14 through Jan. 14.

Porter’s inspirations “come from all corners of the globe, so expect an eclectic assortment of design and decorating ideas,” Feizy noted.

Added Leah Feizy, the compa-ny’s evp: “Tracy lives and breathes design. She is so passionate and has such gorgeous ideas, I can’t think of a better person to kick off our Guest Pinner series. To make things even better, she makes her beautiful design ideas accessible to all and has such an easy yet el-egant style. Her blogs are truly in-

spirational.”The fi rst of several Poetic Wan-

derlust-Feizy Rugs collaborations will be unveiled at the Las Vegas January market. In addition, Tracy Porter will be on hand in the showroom to meet and greet market attendees as Feizy Rugs kicks off a year-long 40th Anni-versary celebration. HTT

December 31, 2012

Feizy Launches New Pinboard with Tracy Porter

Jellybean Introducing New Line of Memory Foam Rugs

HTT121203_005 5 12/19/2012 12:22:48 PM

6 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comDecember 31, 2012

Lenzing Celebrates 20 Years of TencelNew Orleans — Lenzing executives invited a client roster of manufacturers from around the world to The Big Easy to mark the 20th an-niversary of its Tencel brand fi ber. In addition to a tour of the Tencel manufacturing facility in nearby Mobile, Ala., Lenzing held a full day

of seminars that looked toward the future, both in terms of sustainability and the emerging Millenial consumer.

Jason KibbeySustainable Apparel CoalitionExecutive DirectorThe Sustainable Apparel Coalition is group of over 60 apparel and footwear brands, retailers, suppliers, nonprofi ts, and NGOs working to reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel and footwear products around the world by creating a common index all parties can us.

“All too often, sustainability efforts started with the brands pushing the problems on someone else in the supply chain,” said Kibbey.

The Higg Index developed by the coalition ensures that no unneccessary environmental harm has been caused by the product and that the process had a positive impact on the people and communities associate with the production.

“Transparency and being honest — those are now a barrier to entry [for the textiles industry],” he said. “They’re no longer a point of differentiation.”

The coalition — which includes Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Kohl’s, Li & Fung and Lenzing – is work-ing to creative credible measurements.

“We try to measure the entire range of impact, from the materials use through the end of theproduct’s life,” said Kibbey.

LaRhea PepperTextile ExchangeManaging directorSevere weather events, global economic shocks and incidents like the recent garment factory fi re in Bangladesh are pushing consumers toward the tipping point where valuing sustainability is concerned, said Pepper, who works with nearly 200 organic brands, retailers and supply chain companies.

“This is not an option any more. Business will be done different-ly,” she said.

The new model for business is a three-legged stool: planet, peo-ple, profi t, said Pepper, who is also an organic cotton farmer.

“It’s all about people. It’s all about being fair,” she added.Companies can’t play games anymore. The Federal Trade Commis-

sion is more diligent about product claims. Consumers are more en-gaged, and the Internet gives them the tools to research corporate responsibility. “They want to know what’s in the product, where is it from, and how is it impacting the people where it’s made,” said Pep-per. “It’s about living your values and not being a fake.”

Sandra FowlerUC DavisConsumer food scientistEvery marketing student is taught what are known as The Four P’s: product, price, place and promotion. To engage the Millennial shopper, said Fowler, con-sumer product companies need to add a fi th P: purpose.

“Any cause-related campaign has to foster a relationship between the cus-tomer and the cause,” she said. “This Millennial customer can smell green-washing a mile away. And 80% of these cusotmers believe brands are not do-ing enough for causes.”

Noting that 75% of the 52 million Millennials in the United States use social media, Fowler said communication needs to be a two-way street. “It’s about putting out a message and letting the consumer talk back.”

Cause marketing can’t merely seem to be responsible — it has to be authen-tically responsible.

“This is a group that does its research,” said Fowler. “Eighty-three percent will trust a company if it’s more socially or environmentally responsible.”

htt121203_006_008B 6 12/20/2012 10:12:40 AM

MOREON EVERY LEVEL

©2012 World Market Center Las Vegas LLC. All rights reserved.

TODAY ’S TOTAL MARKETPL ACE

at Las Vegas MarketJanuary 28–February 1, 2013

www.GiftandHomeLV.com

Reimagined. Reenergized. Reinvented.

This Winter, GIFT + HOME at Las Vegas Market brings

you a more inspired buying experience fi lled with:

� More new lines to make your store stand out

� More introductions to excite your customers

� More emerging trends to freshen your off erings

� More exciting resources than ever!

To learn more and register today, please visit:

www.GiftandHomeLV.com

Untitled-53 1 11/26/12 4:46:20 PM

8 Home Textiles Today December 31, 2012 News > hometextilestoday.com

Lenzing Celebrates 20 Years of Tencel

Ellen KarpAnerca InternationTextiles are not yet a high priority to consumers who thinkabout sustainability, said Karp, whose company monitors consumerbehavior.

“About 40% of consumers say they are buying sustainable tex-tiles,” she said. “They aren’t. They’re buying cotton.”

To raise the profi le of sustainable textiles, she advised, the indus-try needs to engage in “shock therapy” – letting consumers know, for example, how many pounds of chemicals are used to make a T-shirt or a bed sheet.

Sustainable textiles also needs a “hero fabic,” said Karp.“Gortex became a hero for people who wanted dry feet. Lycra be-

came a hero for people who want to be squeezed in,” she added. “I think a fabric like Tencel can be a hero.”

Sam MooreHohenstein Institute AmericaManaging directorThe textiles industry needs to follow the food business by creating a way to redefi ne value not just to mean cost but as a measure of “cost + value,” making sustainability part of the value equation.

“Resilience is the ability of a system to survive shocks and return to a position of equilibrium,” said Moore. “If we build resilience into the system, we build sustainability into the system, and we save over the long run.”

He pointed to the garment factory fi re in Bangladesh earlier this month. “We can’t have these fi res that kill people. We learned these lessons [in the U.S.] in the 1920s,” said Moore.

He also talked about the destabilizing impact of resource shortages brought on by global climatechange.“Poor people fi ghting wars are nobody’s great customer.”

Susanne JaryLenzingHead of marketing for home textilesIndependent studies have found sleep quality per night improves up to 10% when the subject issleeping on Tencel bedding rather than standard bedding, said Jary.

“That’s all due to the better thermo-regulation of Tencel,” she added. Tencel is promoting what it calls “the Botanic bed environment” – with linens, mattress ticking and fi ll made from Tencel.

“With Tencel, micro-organisms do not have enough moisture to growth and regenerate well,” she said. “It also greatly reduces the number of dust mites.”

htt121203_006_008B 8 12/19/2012 12:07:06 PM

Untitled-100 1 12/20/12 9:12:38 AM

10 > hometextilestoday.comDecember 31, 2012

Mary Ella GablerChairwomanPeacock AlleyFor an industry whose prod-ucts are overwhelmingly bought by women, the home textiles industry remains one largely run by men. The one exception is the higher-end bedding category, where sev-eral women do indeed run the show. And in this area, one woman has been doing it longer than most: Mary Ella Gabler.

Stockbroker turned designer turned entrepreneur, the 70-year-old Gabler has been the face of Dallas-based Peacock Alley since she cre-ated it in 1973. And even if her two sons now take care of most of the business, she is still very much the person identifi ed with the brand.

Carl GoldsteinVice chairmanS. Lichtenberg Co.His name may be spelled and pronounced otherwise, but Carl Goldstein is as close to a Lichtenberg as you can get.

For the past 35 years, the ever-smiling, always upbeat Goldstein has been one of the cornerstones of S. Lich-tenberg Co., the curtain spe-cialist now going on its third generation of family owner-ship and management, with a fourth generation recently coming aboard.

Goldstein isn’t family — at least by blood — but the 70-year-old vice chairman of the company functions as the last of the second gener-ation, following the passing of brothers Alan and Herbie Lichtenberg over the past de-cade.

Kurt HamburgerPresidentLintex LinensBegun in 1967, Lintex was a pioneer in upscale bath, fi rst from Brazil and more recently from around the world, but now its showroom and of-fi ces at 295 Fifth Avenue in New York are full of all man-ner of product.

Kurt Hamburger, who will only approximate his age as “octogenarian,” has forged a reputation as someone never afraid to speak his mind or take a stand, even if unpopu-lar with customers, counter-parts ... or both.

As the owner and operator of Lintex, he represents a busi-ness model that was once the backbone of the home textiles industry but is now a vanishing breed.

It began with noble, if not innocent goals: Interview some of the senior elites of the home textiles industry, the people who had been plying their trades

and helping to lead their companies for very long times.

Th e idea was to interview each of these men and women – and the former outnumbered the latter by a substantial margin – about their lives: What led them into the industry, their early successes and possible later regrets, choices not made and hopes both personal and professional for the future.

Each subject was asked the same eight ques-tions both to adhere to format as well as to keep the conversation focused without veer-ing off into overly nostalgic reminiscences.

Th e premise purposely excluded both those long-time industry members who had moved onto the consulting stages of their lives as well as life-long veteran worker-bees who

toiled in the trenches without necessarily reaching the top, by choice or by the fates.

Over a two-year period Home Textiles Today interviewed eight Legends, always in person, each supplied with the questions in advance for premeditated pondering. Some came to their interview with copious notes, others a few bullet points and still others with their responses noted only mentally.

We anticipated some of the responses but it was the patterns that emerged that were the unexpected treasures:

• Most of the Legends entered the industry either through family or friends, but a few found their way in the randomness of life.

• Each basically knew they had made the right career choice fairly early on.

• Few, if any, had any serious regrets as to how their business lives turned out and were almost unanimous in being pleased with the

decisions they had made.

• As we all do, there was a general pining for the old days but it was coupled with some constructive suggestions on how to make things a little better.

• And each planned to keep at this until …well, until they couldn’t. Retirement was not in their Legends lexicon.

As we wrap up the series – there will be new entries as the occasion arises – HTT thought it would be an interesting exercise to compile the interviews in a format that compared all the individual responses to each question.

Viewed this way, our Legends are equal parts predictable, accomplished, insightful, a touch ironic and very much alive and working.

Th ey wouldn’t have it any other way.

— Warren Shoulberg

Living & Working Legends

Revisting the eight

men and women from

this exclusive Home

Textiles Today series

who continue to help

lead the companies

they worked to build

over lifetime careers

in the industry

livinglegend.indd 10 12/19/12 7:12 PM

11 > hometextilestoday.com December 31, 2012

HTT: How did you get started in the home textiles industry?

Louis Hornick: I was born into it. My grandfather started the company and my earliest memories are of go-ing to the factory in Haver-straw, N.Y. It’s not like my father and I played catch to-gether. Th at’s where we went.

Park B. Smith: I joined my father’s company, Craig Creations, in 1957 following graduation from Holy Cross College and the United States Marine Corps.

Alen Sands York: My grandfather had started a feather company and in 1950 when I was 18 I started work-ing with my mother (Rose York) there at the company, New York Feather Co. Rose and I worked as a team. She deserves the credit. I was a back-up guy, having worked in public relations and adver-

tising. I did the design and she did the selling.

Back then there weren’t any prints. Maybe there was some lace or embroidery, but there was no coordination of anything and everything was very basic.

So there had to be somebody to start the process and that was Rose. She decided the whole industry was boring. Th e fi rst thing we did was get the department stores to put pillows into the bedding department and we turned them into impulse items.

Nobody else was doing it, but Rose was and I’m proud of what we did.

Kurt Hamburger: I came to this country from Ger-many in July of 1938 as a little boy. I graduated from Stuyvesant High School but didn’t have any money to go to college. My uncle was in the linen trousseau business

and he said I could come along with him and help him carry his bag ... which meant I carried all the bags. After he fi nished selling, I was al-lowed to sell negligees. I nev-er sold anything.

In 1947 I started as an ap-prentice at a wholesaler in the linen business. My job was to fold up tablecloths after the salespeople made a mess. I joined the army in the Korean War and afterwards I joined Post and Sherman for the next 17 years. I styled the line and handled 80% of the sales. In 1967 I went into business for myself under the Lintex name.

Arthur Tauber: When I graduated from college in 1959, my Uncle Milton of-fered me a job in his mono-gramming business. I was clueless on what I was pre-pared to do and I had no idea what he did for a living. I worked for him until we had

a dumb argument in 1968 and he fi red me. Th ank god.

So I was out of work and I went up to see Henry Laskin, the buyer at Lord & Taylor. He talked to me for about three hours about life. I told him I had a towel with a bamboo design I wanted to sell him, but I really didn’t have any kind of a plan whatsoever.

He said to me, “What’s the name of the towel?” I said “Bamboo.” He asked the cost and I quoted him the same cost my uncle would have. He asked who the supplier was. I knew his big sup-plier was Springs, so I said Springs. “When can you deliver?” he asked. I said to myself, wow, he thinks I’m in business and I’m not. All I had were sketches on a piece of paper, so I told him 16 to 18 weeks.

Th en he yelled at me that he couldn’t wait that long. He

ended up giving me towels from his stock to embellish and told me to order the same amount from Springs and when they came in in eight or ten or 12 weeks I would pay him back the tow-els. “Do you understand?” he asked. “Yes I do,” I said. And that’s how I got into business.

Mary Ella Gabler: I started making some decora-tive pillows and giving them away to friends after I moved to Dallas in 1966. I had young children, so I wanted to do something at home. In 1973, I created a bou-doir pillow and then got in touch with Neiman Marcus. I showed it to them and they asked me to do something for their next Fortnight pro-motion.

My fi rst order did well and so I saw the need to do a bedding line for Neiman’s, too. Th at’s when I established the Peacock Alley name. I

Louis HornickChairmanLouis HornickVery few people in the home textiles trade have been as low profi le as Louis Hornick, yet even fewer turn out to be as sociable, outgoing and, dare one say, charming as the 62-year-old third genera-tion head of the curtain and drapery company that bears his family name.

Louis Hornick the company remains one of the hand-ful of suppliers in the busi-ness that focuses on window fashions exclusively and one of the last where the fourth generation is already being groomed to take over the reins.

Lydia RosePresidentRose TreeThe accent was always a little hard to pin down — turns out it’s from her native Argentina — but the look of the prod-ucts she creates is instantly recognizable. Lydia Rose, the founder, matriarch and namesake of Dallas-based Rose Tree, has been design-ing fashion bedding and coor-dinates since the late 1970s after making the switch from apparel.

And while the petite, always stylishly dressed Rose defers any discussion of her age with a laugh that can only be described as infectious, it’s clear that despite the grow-ing involvement of her son Mark in the family business, she is still very much the Rose in Rose Tree.

Park B. SmithChairmanPark B. Smith Ltd.There are very few people in the industry who are instant-ly recognizable by just one name. Park is one of them. Over the more than half a century that he has called textiles home, Park B. Smith has created a persona unlike virtually anybody else.

Always impeccably dressed and groomed, the 80-year-old ex-Marine still has his legendary fl air for showman-ship: Nobody presents prod-uct quite the way Smith does and his taste for developing merchandise is only matched by his taste for fi ne wine.

Arthur TauberChairmanAvanti LinensArthur Tauber founded and is the persona of Avanti Lin-ens, the embellished towel resource that has carved out a unique niche in the home textiles industry.

Begun in 1969, Avanti has endured as that most un-usual species, a resource focused on just one product classifi cation, serving the middle and better portions of the marketplace.

Tauber, 76, is as legendary for his hands-on manage-ment style as he is for his voracious letter writing and admitted hoarding of virtually every piece of paper he has ever come into contact with.

Alen Sands YorkPartnerStellar AllianceLook up the phrase Renais-sance man in any dictionary having to do with this indus-try and chances are the fi rst reference you’ll fi nd is to one Alen Sands York.

Literally born into the home textiles business — his moth-er Rose York is considered one of the true pioneers of the business and perhaps the fi rst to create coordinat-ed bedding ensembles — the 80-year-old York has spent his fair share of time in the world of sheets and towels, but that hasn’t stopped him from having parallel careers in advertising, public rela-tions, shipping and marine activities, automobiles, alco-holic spirits, medical tech-nology and other assorted endeavors.



named it for the restaurant at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, where I had lunch when I lived there.

Carl Goldstein: In 1960, I graduated from high school on a Tuesday and on Th urs-day I went to the employ-ment agency. I was hired as a sample boy, cutting swatches, for M. Lowenstein. I was young enough that I had to get working papers. In 14 years, I went from sample boy to president of Pacifi c Home Fashions there.

I never thought I would leave there, but in 1976 I joined S. Lichtenberg as senior vice president and national sales manager. I had met Herbie (Lichtenberg) in 1962 at O’Neil’s department store, and he had been off ering me a job ever since. He and I be-came friends instantly. We had lived around the corner from each other in Brooklyn, but he was nine years older, so we didn’t know each other.

Lydia Rose: My original profession is as an apparel designer. I came here from Argentina in the mid-1960s with two degrees: One in journalism and one in art and design. Back then, Dallas had a good apparel manufac-turing business, so I got a job

designing clothing. But after getting married, I got tired of the quality of the apparel I was doing and decided to go into business for myself and focus on quality goods.

Th at’s when I looked at home rather than apparel and founded Rose Tree in 1979. I did some tablecloths for Neiman’s and Saks and then moved into decorative pillows and then bedding.

HTT: If you hadn’t gone into this fi eld, what would you have done?

CG: Any job that was of-fered to me. I just wanted to work. I grew up without a fa-ther; he died when I was 2. Th e fi rst job that was off ered to me, I took.

AT: I was going to be a base-ball player. I grew up play-ing lots of baseball and had a college baseball career at the University of Vermont. In 1956 I was asked to try out with several major league teams, but I knew I wasn’t good enough. Th at’s when I got in touch with Uncle Milton. If I hadn’t started Avanti, I would have been a salesperson.

LH: Th at’s impossible to an-

swer. I never intended to do anything else. I would spend summer vacations at the fac-tory earning $2.35 an hour until I graduated college as an accounting and English major. I joined the company in 1972.

My funny answer to the question is that I would have been a buyer.

PBS: I would have joined General Motors, which of-fered me a job as a junior member of their negotiating team. My major in college was labor negotiations.

LR: I’d probably still be an apparel designer. I was do-ing well in it. I still miss the excitement of fashion, but home can be fashionable, too. But I love what I do now.

Recently we’ve expanded into woman’s accessories like hand bags and totes, all un-der the Rose Tree name.

MEG: When I lived in New York in the 1960s - I was born in Pennsylvania - I was one of the fi rst female stock-brokers on Wall Street. But I always thought I needed to do something more entre-preneurial, though I wasn’t trained in design. I had one semester of home econom-ics at school. But I have no regrets about giving up my

stock market career.

ASY: I’ve done it. I had an ad agency with clients like Datsun and Saeco. I wrote for business publications in the shipping and marine in-dustries. I was an importer bringing in beer from Hong Kong. I developed a car.

We don’t design anything in this business because we’re an aftermarket industry. We style things. We have tal-ented people, but they’re not designers.

Th e only thing that diff eren-tiates me is that I’ve been in other industries and learned from other businesses. I’ve run parallel lives.

HTT: When did you know you were going to be successful in this business?

MEG: I always felt I was go-ing to be successful. If you’re working in a dedicated way, you know it will work.

LH: I never doubted I would be successful. Th e fi rst time was when I solved a produc-tion-planning problem when I was 23.

Th ere’s also when I got my fi rst big order from W. T.

Grant for tier curtains. I had a big program with Kmart, too, in tiered curtains. Back then they had three buy-ers just for curtains and two more for draperies.

KH: I knew it when I was at Post and Sherman with the success I had in sales. I was far and away the most successful salesman in New York. And if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. It was the start of discounting, and I sold them all. Th at made me very suc-cessful.

LR: I’m an optimist by na-ture, so it never occurred to me that I wasn’t going to be successful. We had put all our resources into starting the company, and one day my husband said to me, “Do you realize we could be poor with all of this?” Th at never occurred to me.

I remember we got a big or-der from Bullock’s (a long -gone upscale department store in California). It was such a huge quantity it would have put us out of business. We said “no” to them and chose not to take the order.

AT: When the product started to appear in catalogs. Th at fi rst order from Laskin

“I just wanted to work. Th e fi rst job that was off ered to me I took. I was hired as a

sample boy, cutting swatches.” Carl Goldstein, Lichtenberg

“My earliest memories are of going to the factory. It’s not like my father and I played catch together.

Th at’s w here w e w ent.” Louis Hornick, Hornick



was for $20,000 and by the fi rst year, Avanti was making some money. I think I knew then that if I kept working hard and Sandy [his wife, who did all the designing for the company at the time and came up with the Avanti name] could keep designing great patterns, we were going to succeed long term.

PBS: I took a job as a Fuller Brush Man for two sum-mers when I was in col-lege. I was assigned to Jer-sey City (N.J.), which I had been told was a diffi cult and tough area. Well, I exceeded my quota, even when Fuller ended up doubling it. I had no idea I was good at sales, but I found that I loved sell-ing. And if you can sell door to door, which was what you did at Fuller, you can sell anything. I knew I’d be suc-cessful in this business if I were involved in selling.

CG: I never knew I was go-ing to be successful. When you grow up poor, you have

to work for everything. I’ve built a successful business at S. Lichtenberg — we went from a small, family-owned business to the largest soft window company in the in-dustry — but I still don’t think I’m successful.

ASY: I don’t know if I am a success. Th e only thing I’m successful at is in sticking around and still being here.

I consider myself a success in limited areas such as the medical devices I’m involved in developing in Germany right now.

HTT: What single accomplishment are you most proud of in your career?

KH: Of all the questions, this is the most diffi cult to answer for me. I have never borrowed money to this date. I’m self-fi nanced, there’s no factoring situation, no bor-rowing situation. Th e bank has my money, not the other

way around. So this has al-lowed me to be very inde-pendent, not dependent on anybody. It’s a feeling of freedom.

LR: What makes me most proud is when people come into the showroom and say,

“Your stuff is the nicest qual-ity.” We still get that, and I take a lot of pride in that. Th e quality level has never been bastardized, and nobody doubts my word if I say I’ll fi x something.

I thrive on the fact that when

it gets out of here, it’s right.

PBS: It was “Eco-ordi-nates,” the fi rst entire col-lection of bedding, curtains, rugs and table fashions all made from vegetable dyes. I had started Park B. Smith Ltd. in the early 1970s and I

“I don’t know if I’m a success. Th e only thing I’m successful at is in sticking

around and still being here.” Alen Sands York, Stellar Alliance



was one of the fi rst people to go to India. Up until then all products coming out of In-dia were natural, and I said: “Why can’t we use color?”

On my fi rst trip, I had no ap-pointments, but I met with an Indian company that liked my idea, but I told them I had no money. Th ey said they would give me one order with 30-day terms. I bought it and then sold it and then went back and forth. I made 13 trips to India that year.

I knew India would work because of the hardworking nature of the people and the culture. I’ve made over 200 trips to India in my life.

When we did Eco-ordinates, one pattern called Eco Jewel Square did $52 million at cost in two years. It was my biggest success story ever.

ASY: Th e single accom-plishment was helping to transform our dull, boring industry to what is consid-ered the normal industry today. Back when I started, the sheet mills didn’t realize that comforters were the fo-cal points of the bed and they could drive sales. We weren’t the only ones doing it, but

we inspired everyone else. I’m proud to have been part of the team with Rose that did this. It didn’t just happen, somebody had to do it.

AT: I created an industry. Back at the start there was no embellished towel clas-sifi cation in the stores. We have survived for 42 years in an industry that has seen massive changes. I think I’m proudest of the fact that I was able to employ so many people over the years, many of whom were with Avanti long enough to receive large pension checks along with bonuses and pay increases.

MEG: Th e fi rst thing I think of is that we have a respected brand that the marketplace knows, and that gives me a great sense of accomplish-ment. I am very proud of what we’ve accomplished.

LH: It has to be the intersec-tion of manufacturing, mar-keting and selling. I did that three or four times like with Snowfl ake, which was the leader in the tab top busi-ness.

Heimtextil had a profound eff ect on us in terms of the product I wanted to develop.

It was everything. I wanted home textiles products that would last a lifetime, not like today.

CG: It’s educating and training the next generation in the industry. Th ere are now fi ve Lichtenbergs and one Goldstein, besides me, in the company, and we’re now on the fourth generation. I wanted my son to go into the business, though my daugh-ter is an attorney.

Less than 5% of all fam-ily businesses make it to the third generation.

HTT: If you had to do something over, what would it be and how would you do it differently?

ASY: What I should have done is purchase other com-panies when I could have. We should have acquired companies with mills in the 1960s and 1970s.

We were successful in some things and some things we bombed in.

From a totally diff er-ent standpoint, I probably should have never gone to work. I was an artist before I got involved in the industry. I was selling paintings and didn’t have to work.

I bought the junk in 1955 (now docked in Connecticut after a long run at Manhat-tan piers) with the idea of living in Cuba, but Castro came along and changed my plans.

LH: I didn’t fi re people fast enough. I don’t think any-body would accuse me of being a nice guy. Th ere were people I hired who lasted fi ve or ten years and they should have lasted six months. I thought they needed more time. It’s a mistake; you re-ally need to fi re people, if you can, in the fi rst three months. I guess one of my mistakes was having an HR depart-ment.

I never got better at it. I was never able to fi nd as good people as my father hired

and I grew up with. I think the talent pool dried up and this industry is not as attrac-tive as apparel.

LR: I think we were proba-bly late on the bandwagon in moving production overseas. Did it hurt me? Probably. Does it still hurt? No. Could we have had a bigger follow-ing? Probably.

It’s not arrogance, it’s just me. I don’t know how to compromise.

KH: Knowing what I know now, I would perhaps have gotten into some products earlier, like top of the bed and sheeting. And I would have expanded towels. I also would have gone to India and China earlier. I got into it too late, and I stayed in Brazil.

CG: I wouldn’t do anything diff erently. I love this indus-try. We bring good product at great values. Could we have moved sewing off shore a year earlier? Yes, but it was fast enough.

MEG: I don’t think there’s anything I would do dif-ferently. Now, I’ve made my share of mistakes and learned some things the hard

way. I might have managed my company diff erently from time to time, but focusing on specialty stores was the right way for us to go.

AT: I wouldn’t change any-thing. Maybe that’s crazy and egotistical, but I’ve stayed with my own phi-losophy and principles over the years and I would do it exactly the same. I do wish I never had to put in such cra-zy hours. I would have liked to have spent more time with my children. Also, remember I had no money when I start-ed. It was many years before a vacation came. I remember on many days driving to Mi-chael’s [one of his two sons; the other is Jeff ; both are in the industry] school 60 miles away, watching his soccer or tennis match and then driv-ing back to the factory to fi n-ish the day at 10 p.m. Luck-ily, my wife understood.

PBS: I really can’t think of anything I’d like to do over or do diff erently. I made my mistakes all my life, but nothing earth-shattering. In the early 1990s I was off ered $80 million for the com-pany, and I turned it down.

“Th e bank has my money, not the other way around. Th is has allowed me to be

very independent.”Kurt Hamburger, Lintex

“I thrive on the fact that when it gets out of here, it’s right. I

take a lot of pride in that.” Lydia Rose, Rose Tree



Regrets? I don’t think so.

HTT: What’s the single-biggest change you’ve seen in the industry?

LR: It’s been a long time coming, but there’s no pride in quality or design. How many people want to take the steps to get it right? Th ere seems to be just total ignorance and no knowledge. Where are the old merchants?

In a big company you can hide all kinds of incompe-tencies.

LH: Globalization — in a bad way. Did I see it coming? Yeah, I thought I could beat it with hubris. It’s a classic Greek tragedy. It happened very quickly. I saw it coming, but not as fast as it happened — but neither did most oth-er companies.

Th e people who were suc-cessful in imports were the people who never manufac-

tured here in the fi rst place.

It’s hard for small and medi-um-sized companies to deal with globalization.

Th e textiles industry was sac-rifi ced for other industries. It was a bad trade for this coun-try, but what’s done is done.

CG: It’s off shore production and the fact that there’s no sewing in the country. But also the professional buyer doesn’t exist anymore. Today our biggest investment is in technology, but I’ve always believed it’s all about the product. When you forget about that, that’s when your business starts to hurt.

PBS: Partnership with re-tailers, in the truest sense and meaning of the word, is gone.

In business, one expects hard bargaining, that’s a major part of a retailer’s job. How-ever, what is not fair is where they want to change the deal once made or want more than the initial agreement.

Fortunately, there are still some whose word is their bond: With them, a deal once made is sacrosanct.

KH: Th e biggest change — and I regret it terribly ± is the demise of the small hometown department store, which we used to sell to in a big way. Th at was a good business, a faithful business. Th e same for the demise of the specialty store.

AT: I have fi rst-hand been a witness and participant to the winds of change that have blown across the in-dustry over the years. Th e single biggest change is the depletion of all the retailers over the years along with the growth and expansion of Bed Bath & Beyond and the ex-plosion of the off -pricers.

MEG: Th e biggest change I think has been the focus on the consumer versus the way it used to be. Relating to the consumer through the Internet has been a dra-

“I was going to be a baseball player, but I knew I wasn’t good

enough. Th at’s when I got in touch w ith U ncle Mi lton.”

Arthur Tauber, Avanti

CARL GOLDSTEIN… husband, father, grandfather, mentor, author, leader, philanthropist. A true living

legend at home, in his community and in our home furnishings industry.

We are proud of all of his successes in life and congratulate him on this achievement, but most important, we are honored to have him as part of our

S. Lichtenberg family for all of these years!

Cheers from everyone at S. Lichtenberg & Co., Inc.



matic change. It used to be the retailer before, and while we’ve always tried to support retailers, the consumer is the focus in the market now.

ASY: I haven’t seen any-thing new in the business for a long time.

HTT: If you could do one thing to improve the industry’s overall business, what would it be?

PBS: I don’t give a damn what anybody says, the con-sumer is tired of sameness. I’d try to convince the industry that business would fl our-ish were it to concentrate on creating merchandise which is fun, fashion, fabulous and aff ordable. Th is is what the consumer wants, responds to and continues to buy.

ASY: Invent something new. I don’t have anything special yet, but I’m looking at the space and medical fi elds for input. Maybe we take a pill and we think we’ve slept the night.

We need great new products, people will respond to color and design, but you need to go beyond just that.

MEG: I would say to fi nd a better tool for educating the

consumer on the quality that goes into these products ver-sus just the price. Th is indus-try makes some wonderful products, but the consumer never hears about them.

LR: I would return to the age of quality. Everyone’s gone to cheaper and cheaper because the assumption is the customer doesn’t know any better. But some do.

It’s the retailers that have to drive this. Department stores could do it; they just have to have the will to do so. Maybe not all at once — it doesn’t have to be 50 styles — but a little at a time. Textiles still have a good base at retail, people like to touch it.

Will we see it? Probably not.

AT: Th is is a cinch for me: I think that buyers should be more involved and easier to reach. Also, I guess I wish everything wasn’t fi nancial, fi nancial, fi nancial.

LH: We don’t want the gov-ernment getting rid of indus-tries or creating them because of too much regulation. Th ere should be a consumption tax rather than a payroll tax.

Nobody wants to be the last buggy whip manufacturer, but we must balance manu-facturing and service. Th is is

going to be very important for the United States.

My other answer would be: I think the consumer has to buy curtains and draperies.

CG: I don’t think we get enough advertising for win-dows from the big-box re-tailers. Windows are one of the most profi table areas for a store, but they are not pro-moted enough. It’s up to the retailers to do that.

KH: I have no fear or inhibi-tion, and I’m not afraid to say it: I deal only from the top of the deck. I’m fair and I’m honest ... unlike some others that load onto their prices. I do not believe in doing that. Never have, never will. Be-cause of these unscrupulous large retailers who do not discriminate between those that do that and those that do not, that’s hurt us badly. I wish that was not so, but that’s the reason I prefer to be selective in who I will call on.

HTT: What’s your exit strategy?

LR: I don’t have an exit strategy. Th is is a family busi-ness with my son involved, but I still go overseas seeing factories.

Th e day you don’t see me here is the day I die.

ASY: To stay around as long as possible. And I’ve done better in that respect than others. I will be 80 this year; Rose worked until she was 90. I have enough things to keep me busy right now.

I want to keep doing this and many other things. Th ere’s a TV show I’m working on...

PBS: I’d like to take more time off . I’d like to spend more time with my wine in Connecticut. I’m still in the offi ce at 6 a.m. every day. I’ll be 80 (2012) in January

and intend to decide my exit strategy on that day.

MEG: I’m always going to be in place here. My sons — Jason, ceo, and Josh, vice president of marketing — have taken over the major-ity of the business, so I can do product development and design. But I love what I do and I love working with them. I’m not going any-where.

LH: Death is my exit strat-egy. Our 100th anniversary will be in 2018, and that’s not far away.

KH: My exit strategy is that I have no exit strategy. I have been approached many times by venture capitalists and en-trepreneurs that want to buy

this business. Th ey always want me to run the business for them. Th ey want to give me a modest down payment and then pay me out of the profi ts. My question is: Why would I do that? I’ve been in this business for 65 years, and I’m still going strong.

AT: I love the Broadway show “Jersey Boys” and as Frankie Valli says in it, “I’m like that battery, I keep going and going and going.” Hope-fully I’ll stay healthy enough to enjoy continuing my role at Avanti and to spend more time with Sandy and in Florida. I’m very fortunate to have the Jeff Kaufman and Michael Tauber team who can run Avanti with or without me. Th ere’s no plan for me to throw in the towel anytime soon.

CG: In a box. I like working. I’ve always worked — as a delivery boy, a shoeshine boy, wrapping packages. I went to work at 17 full time. ■

“I took a job as a Fuller Brush Man, I had no idea I was good at sales, but I found I loved selling.”

Park Smith, Park B. Smith

“If you’re working in a dedicated way, you know it will work. I always felt I was going

to be successful.” Mary Ella Gabler, Peacock Alley


Thank you

to all the companies that chose Home Textiles Today to help their business in 2012:

We look forward to continuing to do so in 2013.

Textiles is our Middle Name

1888 MILLS • 7 WEST - MMPI • A & B WIPER SUPPLY (BEST RAGS) • A Q TEXTILES • ACS TOWEL LTD. • ADVANSA IBIRICA, S.L. • AHMAD MANUFACTURING

CORPORATION • AL KARAM TOWEL INDUSTRIES LLC • AL KARAM USA • ALOK INTERNATIONAL INC • AMBADI ENTERPRISES LIMITED • AMERICAN DAWN

INC • AMERICAN HOMES & TEXTILES • AMERICAN TEXTILE COMPANY • AMERICAS MART ATLANTA • ANNA’S LINENS • AVANTI • BARDWIL INDUSTRIES

INC • BARI TEXTILE MILLS • BB&T INSURANCE SERVICES OF CALIFORNIA, INC. • BEATRICE HOME FASHIONS • BETTER TRENDS, LLC. • BIDDEFORD

BLANKETS, • BOMBAY DYEING & MFG CO LTD • BRENTWOOD ORIGINALS • C & F ENTERPRISE • C3 CRESCENT COMMERCIAL CORP • CAMBRIDGE

TOWEL • CANJOY LINENS, INC. • CARLPAT TRADING, LLC • CARNATION HOME FASHIONS INC • CARPENTER CO • CARPENTER CO. • CARPET-ART-DECO

• CATHAY HOME FASHIONS INC • CECF ADVERTISING CO LTD • CHESAPEAKE MERCHANDISING • CHF INDUSTRIES INC • CHORTEX LIMITED • CLASSIC

HOME TEXTILES • COCONA, INC. • COMFORT REVOLUTION • COMMONWEALTH HOME FASHIONS • CONTOUR PRODUCTS • COSMIQUE GLOBAL •

CREATIVE BATH PRODUCTS • CREATIVE MEDIA AGENCY, LLC • CRESCENT TEXTILE MILLS • CUDDLE TIME BY TRIBORO • CUDDLEDOWN • DAVID TEXTILE,

INC • DECOR EXPORTS • DESIGN WEAVE USA • DIVATEX HOME FASHIONS INC • DOHLER S.A. • DOHLER USA • DREAM FIT • DUCK RIVER TEXTILE INC

• EA INTERNATIONAL • ELLERY HOMESTYLES LLC • ELLISON 1ST ASIA CORPORATION • ELLISON FIRST ASIA • ELRENE HOME FASHIONS • EX-CELL

HOME FASHIONS • EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCIL • EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCIL FOR HANDICRAFTS • EXTREME LINEN • FAB INDUSTRIES • FAZE

THREE LIMITED • FORESTON TRENDS • GEORGE LITTLE MANAGEMENT • GHCL LIMITED TEXTILE DIVISION • GINSEY INDUSTRIES • GLEN RAVEN MILLS

• GUL AHMED TEXTILE MILLS LIMITED • HABIB AMERICAN BANK • HANDLOOM EXPORT PROMOTION COUNCIL • HANOVER DIRECT INC • HARRISON

& ELIZABETH, INC • HOLLANDER HOME FASHIONS • HOME SOURCE INTERNATIONAL • HOME TEXTILES TODAY • HONG KONG TRADE DEV COUNCIL •

ICA/ART.COM • INDO COUNT INDUSTRIES LTD • INTERNATIONAL MARKET CENTERS • INVISTA SARL • JEFFCO FIBRES • JEFFREY FABRICS INC • KALIN

FABRICS INC • KAM INTERNATIONAL • KENNEY MANUFACTURING CO. • LADY SANDRA • LAMONT LIMITED • LENZING FIBERS INC • LOFTEX USA,

LLC • LOLOI RUGS • LONDON LUXURY BEDDING • LORRAINE HOME FASHIONS • LOUISVILLE BEDDING • M/S SHEIKH BHULLAN CARPETS • MADISON

INDUSTRIES • MAGIC • MAISON & OBJET • MAKROTEKS TEXTILE LLC • MANHATTAN PROPERTIES • MANUAL WOODWORKERS AND WEAVERS • MAPLES

INDUSTRIES • MARWAH CORPORATION • MESSE FRANKFURT (HK) LTD. • MESSE FRANKFURT GMBH • MESSE FRANKFURT USA • MICROBAN PRODUCT

CORPORATION • MINDSINSYNC • MMPI • MOD LIFESTYLES LLC • MOHAWK HOME • MOOD BRUSSELS/TEXTIRAMA • MYTEX LLC • NANCE CARPET •

NANSHING AMERICA INC • NATCO HOME PRODUCTS • NEWMARK KNIGHT FRANK • NEXT CREATIONS • NISHAT CHUNIAN • NORTHWEST COMPANY •

NOURISON • NUOVA CREATIONS • OBAC • ORIAN RUGS • ORIENTAL WEAVERS SPHINX • OUTLAST TECHNOLOGIES INC • P & A MARKETING • PACIFIC

COAST HOME FURNISHINGS • PANTONE INC • PARK B SMITH LTD • PEKING HANDICRAFTS • PEKING LINEN INC • PERFECT FIT/NC • PRADIP OVERSEAS

LTD. • PREMIERE VISION S.A. • PROPOSTE SRL • PROTECT-A-BED • RAYMOND WAITES DESIGN • REGAL HOME COLLECTIONS • REVMAN INDUSTRIES

• ROSALIND SHAFFER DESIGN • ROSELLI TRADING COMPANY LLC • ROYALE LINENS INC • S L HOME FASHIONS, INC. • S. LICHTENBERG & CO., INC.

• SAFDIE INTERNATIONAL INC. • SARA TEXTILES LIMITED • SATURDAY KNIGHT • SHANGHAI CENTRAL INTERNATIONAL TRADING • SHARADHA TERRY

PRODUCTS, INC • SHAVEL HOME PRODUCTS • SHOWPLACE • SHRI LAKSHMI COTSYN LTD • SINOMAX USA INC. • SLEEP INNOVATIONS • SOFTLINE

HOME FASHIONS INC • SOFT-TEX MANUFACTURING • SPLASH HOME • SPRINGS GLOBAL • STANDARD FIBER • STYLEMASTER USA • SUNTEX DESIGNS

INC • SUPIMA • SURYA RUGS • SYLCOM ENTERPRISES, INC. • TAIWAN TEXTILE FEDERATION • TEXLYNX • TEXTRADE • TJX COMPANIES, INC. •

TOTTEN CONSULTING GROUP • TOWELLERS LTD • TRENDEASE INTERNATIONAL • TRIANGLE HOME FASHIONS • TRIDENT LIMITED • UNITED LINENS •

UNITED WEAVERS • VARA HOME USA • VERATEX INC • VERSAILLES HOME FASHIONS • VICTORIA CLASSICS LTD • VICTORIAN HEART CO INC • VIPAC

• W. STUDIO USA LLC • WELCOME INDUSTRIAL CORP • WELSPUN GLOBAL BRANDS LIMITED • WELSPUN USA • WORLD RUG GALLERY • Z GALLERIE

• ZHEJIANG JINCHAN HOMETEXTIL CO • ZORLU USA INC.

18 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comNews

number of studios that will show at the fair for the first time. The presentation will also include applications of CAD/CAM and ink jet.

Heimtextil exhibitors will be allowed to preview the design area Jan. 8 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

International design colleges will ex-hibit the next generation of creative tal-ent in Hall 4.0 during the fair. Participat-ing campuses include:• Hochschule der Bildenden Künste Saar / Produktdesign (Germany)• HTW Berlin (Germany)• Angewandte Kunst Schneeberg, Fach-bereich der Westsächsischen Hochschule Zwickau (Germany)• KH Berlin Weißensee (Germany)• Metropolia University of Applied Scienc-es, Helsinki (fi nland)• EAA Estonian Academy of Arts (Esto-nia)• ASP Strzeminski Academy of Arts, Lodz (Poland)• AFAD Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Bratislava (Slovakia)• ORBITATO Pomerode (Brazil)• HSLU Kunst und Design Luzern (Swit-zerland)• West-Hungarian University Szombathe-ly (Hungary)

The Deco Team will present a series lec-tures and workshops on every day of the trade fair in Hall 3.0, Stand B54. Among the topics will be holistic interior-design concepts; ideas for shop window and in-shop displays; and the emotional impact of interior furnishings.

The Heimtextil goes City initiative will take place in downtown Frankfurt on Jan. 12 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some 30 specialist retailers, galleries and public institutions will present textiles from all walks of life and cultural fi elds to fair visitors.

9-16Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.comThe Atlanta market, the third largest U.S. trade show, will present more than 45 merchandise categories as well as fi ve days of events and seminars. Among the stand-outs:

• Design directions from Stan Topol’s Atlanta Symphony Associates 2012 Dec-orators’ Show House Living Room will be presented daily from Jan. 9-16 in Build-ing 1, Floor 14, Room 14-D-7 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• HD Home, a juried collection of de-sign-driven home furnishings, will host a preview party Jan. 10 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Building 1, Floor 1, Center Hall. Re-freshments and cocktails are included.

• Lolita Healy, celebrations expert and founder of Designs by Lolita, will present “Tips for Creating a Successful In-Store Event” on Jan. 11 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Building 2, Floor 9, Seminar Room.

• The Presentation of the 2013 Atlan-ta Homes & Lifestyles 10 Under 40 Class – which features champions of interiors, ar-chitecture, landscape design, gardening, culinary arts, fine arts, real estate and more — will take place Jan. 12 from 10 a.m. to noon in Building 1, Floor 14 Sem-inar Room. The presentation will be fol-lowed by a champagne and hors d’oeuvres reception.

David Bromstad, host of HGTV’s “Col-or Splash,” will present “The Power of Color” on Jan. 12 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Building 2, Floor 9 Seminar Room and Building 2, Floor 17, Showroom 1701. The session will be followed by a cocktail re-ception in the Dugan-Bliss showroom.

10-13The Atlanta International Area Rug MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.comAmericasMart is kicking off 2013 by inte-grating its home furnishings and home ac-cents with area rugs in Building 1 “to fa-cilitate buyers’ changing needs.”

Temporary exhibits will run Jan. 11-13. The market preview party will take place Jan. 10 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Among the related changes:• Four Hands, a home furnishings com-

pany, will be on Floor 4 of Building 1 — a fl oor formerly exclusively dedicated to area rugs. The shift is part of a move to create product collections and destination resources better suited to fi t the way re-tailers shop. Throughout Floor 4, new and existing showrooms are expanding to be able to present more complete collections of rugs and complementary furniture and home accents.

• Safavieh has added a 3,000-square-foot space across the aisle from its current 13,000-square-foot Floor 5 showroom to present its line of home furnishings.

• Amer has more than doubled to 6,000 square feet on Floor 5.

• Surya, an area rug and home furnish-ings company, shifted space to Floor 12 in Building 1, which was classically a home furnishings fl oor. The move enables Surya to show its entire line of home accents in addition to its area rug lines.

• Karastan is growing to more than 7,000 square feet on Floor 3.

• Concepts International returns to AmericasMart with a 1,200-square-foot showroom on Floor 3.

• Kaleen has doubled showroom space on Floor 3to more than 6,000 square feet.

• Aminco Inc., with more than 50 years’ experience in Oriental carpet, is returning to Floor 4 after an absence.

• Home Accents Alliance has a new showroom on Floor 5.

• Home and More has taken a space on Floor 3.

Kenneth Brown of HGTV will present “Decorating from Top to Bottom” on Jan. 11 at 10 a.m. with an emphasis on how rugs can kick-start design. The session takes place in Building 1, Floor 4, Room 4-D-8.

The Mart’s Magnifi cent Carpet Awards will be presented by AmericasMart in part-nership with HTT parent company Sandow Media as well as the Oriental Rug Import-ers Association (ORIA). The ceremony will take place Jan. 11 starting at 6 p.m. at the Georgia Aquarium for all market attend-ees. There will be 13 select rug awards and three Retailer of the Year recognitions.

A party to celebrate the launch of Home and rug on the 4th Floor will take place Jan. 12 at 5 p.m.

18-22Maison & ObjetParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, Paris, France(888) 522-5001www.maison-objet.com The winter edition of the semi-annual show will include the éditeurs section of high-end decorative fabrics. Also running concurrently will be “now!, living design,” a selective and international home design exhibition focused on innovation, trends and the new design generation.

26-30New York International Gift FairJacob K. Javits Convention Center, Passenger Ship Terminal Piers, New York(800) 272-7469www.nyigf.comThe fair’s 21st anniversary Gift For Life fundraiser will take place Jan. 27 from 6:30-10 p.m. at the Central Park Boat-house. All proceeds will benefi t DIFFA: De-sign Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS ser-vice and education programs in the U.S., and Gift For Life’s sole charity partner. For information about tickets and spon-sorships, contact Steven Williams at [email protected] or (212) 727-3100.

A show orientation program for fi rst-time visitors will take place Jan. 26 and again Jan. 28. Both events are scheduled for 8:45-9:30 a.m. in the Javits Center, room 1E01.

The New York chapter of the Inter-national Furnishing and Design Associa-tion (IFDA) will present “Color Pulse 2014: From Theory to Selection” on Jan. 28 at the Javits Center, room 1A02-03. A conti-nental breakfast and networking opens at 8:30 a.m., followed by the program from 9 to 10:30 a.m. John Turner, director of architect and designer sales for Benjamin Moore, will present the company’s infl u-ential color forecast. For ticket informa-

tion or to register, call (212) 686-6020 or email [email protected].

Once again, NYIGF has lined up a wide-ranging variety of events and education-al sessions. The full roster can be found at http://www.nyigf.com/TheShow/Pro-gramsEvents.aspx.

25-31New York Home Textiles Market Week At the New York International Gift Fair, Jan. 26 - 30 At 230 Fifth Avenue, Jan. 26-31 At 7 W New York, Jan. 26-30 (800) 272-7469www.nyhometextilesmarketweek.comThe winner of the America’s Next Great Home Textiles Company Award will take place Jan. 28 from 6:15-6:30 p.m. at the Javits Center. The HTT competition be-gan at the summer 2012 show, highlight-ing six fi rst-time exhibitors whose efforts were rated by industry experts in show-room design, product development and marketing.

NYIGF will offer several events and seminars for Home Textiles Market Week participants. On Jan. 26, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., Home Accents Today senior prod-uct editor Tracy Bulla will present “Fashion Forward — How Apparel Trends Impact Home Design.” The presentation, co-host-ed by ART, will showcase current and fu-ture home fashion trends and will fore-cast what the best-dressed homes will be “wearing” next season.

Also on Jan. 26, from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., NYIGF will host an At Home welcome re-ception at Pier 94 to celebrate the mar-ket’s opening day. During this event, ASID’s N.Y. Metro Chapter will bestow its “Best of the Best NYIGF Winter 2013 Awards” to select At Home exhibitors in seven categories — Imaginative Product Presentation; Innovative Product Design; Social Responsibility/Ecological Sensitiv-ity; Lighting; Accessories; Textiles; and Wall Art.

New York’s Chapter of the Internation-al Furnishings & Design Association (IFDA) will sponsor “Color Pulse 2014: From Theo-ry to Selection,” on Monday, Jan. 28, from 9:00-10:30 a.m. Topics include direction-al colors and emerging trend information which is infl uencing the future of design. John Turner of Benjamin Moore will pres-ent the company’s color forecast — Color Pulse 2014: Facets.

The Home Textiles Market Week Best New Product Awards will return this winter to spotlight design innovation in Bed, Bath, Dining and Home Accessories. Winners, as selected by a panel of trade and consumer editors, will be announced on Jan. 29.

28-Feb. 1Las Vegas MarketWorld Market Center, Las Vegas(702) 599-9621

PREVIEW FROM PAGE 1

Show Preview

December 31, 2012


SEE PREVIEW PAGE 20

htt121203_001.indd 18 12/19/2012 12:01:18 PM

SOMEONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK OF INDUSTRY DATA...

WE DID.The HTT Business Annual is the single most-requested issue of the year, the one

executives and buyers hang on to all year round and refer to for all their industry data questions. This exclusive report features information not found anyplace else.

That’s why it’s an excellent place for your marketing message, a cost-effi cient way to stay in front of your customers all year long.

Your HTT sales representative can give you all the details about being included in the 2013 HTT Business Annual this January.

HTT_BusAnn12 tab.indd 1HTT_BusAnn12 tab.indd 1 12/20/12 10:04:50 AM12/20/12 10:04:50 AM

20 Home Textiles Today News

www.lasvegasmarket.comThe Gift + Home segment of the show will hold its fi rst CEO Summit during the win-ter market on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 featur-ing former Labor Secretary and CNBC con-tributor Robert Reich as keynote speaker. For details, visit www.giftandhomelv.com/ceosummit.

Gift and home executives who register for the summit no later than Jan. 4 will have exclusive access to Reich at a special breakfast event on Jan. 31. In addition, Gift + Home will have a ded-icated seminar series running over five days beginning Jan. 28. Among the high-lights:• “First Look,” an overview of the best new products at the market presented by HGTV’s Monica Pedersen and home trends editor Julie Smith Vincenti on Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.;• “Visual Storytelling: Modern Social Me-dia for Brands in the Home Space,” pre-sented by Crystalyn Stuart, President of 5Loom, on Jan. 28 at 11:30 a.m.;• “Fantasies and Realities Impacting Color Choices for the Future,” present by Pan-tone Color Institute vp Laurie Pressman on Jan. 29 at 9:30 a.m.;• “Fast Forward: A Future-View of Interior Trends,” by Gregory Dunlop, global com-mercial director of WGSN-Homebuildlife on Jan. 30 at 9 a.m.

The 2013 Design Icon award presen-tation will honor Alexa Hampton on Jan. 30 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Building C • Seminar Room C-176. The event in-cludes a presentation and remarks from Hampton, followed by a book signing and trunk show featuring her newest fabric and trim collection with decora-tive fabric and furnishings manufacturer Kravet. The event is open to all Las Ve-gas Market attendees.

February8-11Indian Handicrafts & Gifts FairIndia Expo Centre & MartNew Delhi, India+91-11-26130692 www.epch.inThe 35th edition of the IHGF will feature about 2,500 companies exhibiting prod-ucts such as home accents, housewares, furnishings, fl oor coverings, gifts, jewel-ry and fashion accessories, among other categories.

These products are largely produced from the raw material base of wood, metal, leather, natural fi ber, artifi cial fi -bers, wool, silk, coir, hemp, jute, animal bones, lacquer, stones etc. The products are made using natural materials and are promoted as eco-friendly and not made using chemicals.

The last edition of the show was held in October and was visited by 5,500 for-eign buyers representing some of the

world’s major buying houses and re-tail chains. Countries represented by buyers were the United States, UK, Ja-pan, Germany, France, Australia, Spain, Greece, Italy, Hong Kong, China, Tur-key, Hungry, Oman, Bulgaria, Thailand, Singapore, Lebanon, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Mexico, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Taiwan, UAE, Ban-gladesh, Nepal, Netherlands, Saudi Ara-bia, South Africa and many other coun-tries. A total of US $200 million worth of business was placed at the show.

March 18-21New York Home Fashions MarketHome Fashion Products Association(212) 297-2122 (Kellen Co.)www.homefashionproducts.comThe showroom-based home textiles mar-ket will kick off with HTT’s semi-annual market party on Sunday, March 17 at 6 p.m. The location will be announced ear-ly in 2013.

During recent markets, the HFPA Young Professionals group has hosted events fea-turing industry veterans and specialists who share their insights on state of the business in addition to a social networking evening at a Manhattan hotspot. Plans for 2013 have not yet been announced, but the YoPros encourage younger members of the industry to learn more about the group and its activities by contacting [email protected].

April 20-25 High Point MarketInternational Home Furnishings Center, other locations High Point, N.C.(336) 869-1000www.highpointmarket.orgRegistration will open Jan. 8 for the spring edition of the show. Details about special events and educational sessions will also be announced after the fi rst of the year.At the fall 2012 edition of the market, So-lon expanded with a mezzanine level on the second fl oor with 22 new exhibitors showing the latest in hip furnishings. The Made in America pavilion, which debuted in fall 2011, also continues to expand.

High Point’s upgraded My-Market so-cial media and planning tool helps attend-ees customize their market week sched-ule, locate exhibitors, presentations and events, send messages and set up meet-ings. MyMarket is mobile-browser com-patible for smart phones, iPads and oth-er tablets.

The tool also offers an RSS feed on the home page that makes it easier to search and find information. It’s available at www.highpointmarket.org/MyMarket

May 15-17

Hospitality & Design ShowSands Expo Center, Las Vegas(508) 743-8502www.hdexpo.comThe schedule of special programs offers runs deep. One of the highlights will be the annual Owners’ Roundtable, featuring 25 companies representing key industry hospitality owners, developers, and brand executives on May 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. at HD/ISHP Town Hall: O.

The session will include industry issues, forecasts, ideas, updates, and trends.

The 7th Annual HD/JHG Radical Inno-vation in Hospitality Awards Competition will take place May 15 from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Featuring three fi nalists in the com-petition to spotlight intriguing and pro-gressive hospitality concepts, attendees will be given a chance to vote on their fa-vorites. The event will be followed by a cocktail reception for the jurors and con-testents immediately following the ses-sion from noon to 1 p.m. at the Global Allies booth.

Also on May 15, the NEWH Student Scholarship Awards Luncheon and Green Voice Panel Discussion will take place from noon to 1:30 p.m. The topic will be “Sus-tainable Hospitality in the Crossroads of Climate Change,” with a panel of experts discussing sustainable hotels, tourism, and the future.

15-19 EvteksCNR Expo, Istanbul, Turkey+90 212 465 74 75www.cnrevteks.com/The second largest home textiles trade fair in the world will reprise the Dizaynist area that debuted during the 2012 show. Diza-ynist features displays from internation-al design studios showcasing innovative home textile products.

The Trend Zone will look at up and coming motifs. It is designed by Inkrit Ber-bee of Lobster Concepts and supported by Uludag Exporters Association in Tur-key.

Trend Seminars will cover forecasts for home textiles colors, as well as the lat-est developments in style, constructions, yarns, patterns, and fi nishes. Seminar de-tails will be announced in 2013.

The show currently anticipates 978 ex-hibitors from 22 countries, including Aus-tria, Azrbaijan, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Leba-non, Moldova, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Lebanon, The Neth-erlands, Turkey, the UK and the US.

18-21International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF)Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(914) 421-3200 www.icff.comEvolving trends will be featured in ICFF’s

juried exhibition of projects from with world’s leading design schools, which the show describes as “a harbinger of starts to come.”

The fair’s more than 500 exhibitors in-clude designers, manufacturers, represen-tatives of contemporary furniture, seating, carpet and fl ooring, lighting, outdoor fur-niture, materials, wall coverings, accesso-ries, textiles, kitchen and bath for residen-tial, home/offi ce, and contract. About half come from outside the United States.

ICFF’s 25,000-plus attendees include in-terior designers, architects, retailers, de-velopers, facility managers, wholesalers, store design professionals, hotel and res-taurant designers, manufacturers, stu-dents and the general public.

19-21SurtexJacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(914) 421-3200www.surtex.comIt’s a year of expansion for Surtex, which attracts 300 exhibitors and 6,000 attend-ees, with the show promising more exhi-bition space, a specialized section for tex-tile design studios, additional trend and business resources, and two new collocat-ed shows.

Surtex will launch Atelier, a new sec-tion featuring about 75 textiles design studios from Great Britain, Europe, North America and Japan that primarily sell their art and designs outright.

Both the Trend Theatre, created in 2012, and the ReSource Hub will be en-larged in May with a focus on color, de-sign and business trend information, as well as resource materials, software and other business essentials.

Ongoing Trend Theatre sessions, pre-sented by worldwide forecasting com-panies, will be open to all attendees and exhibitors at no charge adjacent to the Atelier.

The trade fair will also include two new co-located shows. The Creative & Lifestyle Arts show will be positioned directly be-tween the National Stationery Show and Surtex. The new SPACE: Strategy, Prod-uct, Architecture for Consumer Environ-ments will be located in Javits North.

June 2-5Showtime Fabric FairMarket Square, Textile Tower, High Point, N.C.(336) 885-6842www.itma-showtime.comThe largest decorative fabrics event in the Western Hemisphere just conlcuded its winter 2012 show earlier this month. Events for the summer 2013 show will be announced after the fi rst of the year.

Showtime hosts more than 800 buying companies and offers an online appoint-ment format to help attendees schedule their visit. HTT


PREVIEW FROM PAGE 18

December 31, 2012

htt121203_001.indd 20 12/19/2012 12:02:12 PM

How do you make your company stand outfrom the hundreds of other suppliers calling on

the same ten retail accounts?

A marketing and advertising plan using Home Textiles Todayin both print and online can help your company stand

out from the crowd as well as introduce you to new buyers at those key retail accounts. Your HTT sales representative

can give you all the details.

TexTiles is our Middle NaMe

22 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comNewsDecember 31, 2012

w w w. h o m e t e x t i l e s t o d a y. c o m . w w w. h o m e t e x t i l e s t o d a y. c o m . w w w. h o m e t e x t i l e s t o d a y. c o m . w w w. h o m e t e x t i l e s t o d a y. c o m .

CLASSIFIEDS

HOME TEXTILES TODAY CLASSIFIEDS

Now off ering custom borders!

Ask how we can make your ad stand out from the rest!

SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYSTO REACH YOUR TARGET MARKET

START ADVERTISING TODAY!

SPENCER WHITTLE:[email protected] 336.605.1027 fax 336.605.1143

KAREN HANCOCK:[email protected] 336.605.1047 fax 336.605.1143

THEY’RELOOKING

FORYOUDelivered

via eMail- to your Inbox

Only $169.97for the

Digital Edition

SubscribeToday!

515-247-2984 outside866-456-0405 U.S.

HELP WANTED

ABW is a distributor of stock lots, seconds and textile waste products.

We are currently looking for salespeople and buyers to work out of our offi ce in Philadelphia. We are seeking aggressive energetic people

who thrive on performance goals and objectives. Please send resumes to

[email protected] by fax to 215-482-6190

LINES OFFERED

NATIONAL SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER WANTEDINTERNATIONAL SALES ACCOUNT MANAGER

WANTED SOURCING ACCOUNT MANAGER WANTED Domestic area & bath rug manufacturing company seeks above

positions. Sales candidates should possess solid sales & relationship building skills. Positions based in Dalton, GA with signifi cant travel. Requirements include: Excellent oral & written skills and experience & solid relationships with big box retailers and/or department stores, furniture stores, variety/closeout stores. Sourcing Manager should

have knowledge & experience in the rug industry & have experience importing & managing foreign rug production. Please send resume

Attn: BB184 to: classifi [email protected]

Kamal Limited, one of the premier vertical bedding manufacturers in Pakistan and

its US subsidiary Sleepwell Inc. are looking for Sales Agents in Europe and the USA. Candidates should have strong existing relationships with key retailers. Interested parties should visit our Heimtextil Frankfurt stand Hall 10.2 A71, 9-12 Jan-2013 at

any time or Contact: Director Marketing Mr. Nasrullah, Tel: +92 41 2424014, Email: [email protected]

Wanted: Established AgentsWorld Rug Gallery, a Turkish manufacturer of machine made area rugs, with signifi cant inventory stocked in the U.S. is seeking independent agents who are successfully selling to the Home divisions of any of the following accounts:Clubs: Dollar Stores: Home Improvement:Sam’s Dollar General Home DepotBJ’s Family Dollar Lowes Fred’s

General Merchandise:Anna’s Linen’s Big Lots Kirkland’s Ocean State

We offer Turkish pricing, U.S. inventory, & proven E-com. Visit us at www.worldruggallery.com, or email us at [email protected]

ATL ANTA — The Home Ac-cents & Fine Linens collection at AmericasMart is welcoming a bevy of new exhibitors as well as expanding showrooms and spac-es in time for the Atlanta Inter-national Gift & Home Furnish-ings Market come January.

The market is scheduled Jan. 9-16, with temporary ex-hibits open Jan. 11-15.

There are 11 new and/or ex-panded showrooms debuting, including newcomers Che-homa and Mr. Brown, located on the ninth fl oor of Building 1, right in “the heart of Home Accents & Fine Linens” area, noted AmericasMart.

“We offer an extensive array

of exhibitors with innovative and exquisite product lines,” said Nicole Hoppen, leasing manager for AmericasMart’s Home Accents & Fine Lin-ens. “With our diversity, Amer-icasMart is an unparalleled re-source for buyers seeking luxury linens and home lifestyle prod-ucts.”

In its new showroom, Che-homa will present distinctive furniture and home accents in classic contemporary style. Based in Belgium, the compa-ny was “a runaway success” in the Mart’s High Design catego-ry last year following a long his-tory of showing in the tempo-raries area since 1995.

“In a permanent space we could rent a much bigger space to show the real image of Che-homa,” said Marie-Ange Bon, manager of American markets for Chehoma. “The customers were asking more and more to see our entire collection. The permanent showroom will ce-ment the relationship with our customers. We’ll have custom-ers all year long.”

Mr. Brown opened its doors for business in October 2010 as part of the Julian Chichester home furnishings and home décor line. Its design concept is, “English informality for a modern Life, offering clients high design at a more econom-

ical price.” explained David Ebbetts, the company’s ceo. “We are excited about our new showroom in Atlanta at Ameri-casmart January 2013 for mar-ket, and look forward to shar-ing The Criteria Collection, a newly launched addition to Mr. Brown Home, which gives one easy choices to fit any design project.”

Other new exhibitor show-rooms on Floor 9 also include: Bojay Inc., Bellino Fine Lin-ens, and Shadow Catchers.

Growth also continues on Floor 10 with six expanded or relocated showrooms, includ-ing Karen Alweil Studio, Pres-tige Identity, Alexander Terry

Associates, Aesthetic Move-ment, K&K Tabletops and Art Addiction.

And the Mart’s temporary collections offer vendors an op-portunity to learn and explore the U.S. market before estab-lishing a permanent showroom. This January, Italian linen house Frette exhibits for the fi rst time at AmericasMart with a space in the Fine Linens temporaries, Building 1, Floor 7.

“We are exhibiting in Atlanta because it is the largest home/gift show in the U.S.,” said Georgia Grant, Frette’s director of wholesale, “and we want to reach the great home and bed-ding stores of the South.” HTT

Frette, Chehoma, Mr. Brown Establish New Presence at AmericasMart for January Market

htt121203_022 22 12/21/2012 3:17:47 PM

23 Home Textiles TodayNewsNews> hometextilestoday.com

handmade, one-of-a-kind type look.”Abercrombie Textiles introduced

Ecovation fabrics, made from 100% post-consumer recycled clear plastic bottles.

“We’re getting a fabulous reaction to the whole idea of recycled poly-ester as well as to our colors and de-signs,” said Debbye Lustig, director of sales and marketing. “These fabrics have a great soft hand, which is not what recycled fabric has been known for. We’re taking the inside out rather than the outside in. We’re very proud to be American made and to be part-nering with Unifi in this venture.” Unifi ’s Repreve brand is recognized for recycled fi bers, now appearing in both the residential outdoor and hos-pitality furnishings segments. Each yard of Ecovation fabric saves an av-erage of 40 plastic bottles going into landfi lls, Lustig said.

Johnny Jones and Natalie Scott present Outdura’s fabric lineup for the 2014 season to furniture manu-facturers and designers.”We’ve had a great response,” said Natalie Scott, vp of sales and marketing. “We’re all about color this season; we’re address-ing colors where we had voids. We’re big on texture, too. It’s a fashion-for-ward line. We’re excited, and we think it’s one of the freshest Outdura lines we’ve ever had because of the new yarns we’ve added.”

Covington Fabric & Design ex-panded to the outdoors and intro-duced 68 skus of fabrics, constructed

of solution-dyed polyester with poly-propylene welts. “Some of the designs can coordinate and some are made to stand alone,” said Chari Voehl, design director. Covington’s coordinated de-signs include nautical-inspired prints of starfi sh, barrier reef and Caribbean, Tide Pool and Zig Zag plus Marley, Ziggy and Reggae Stripe patterns.

Blue was the dominant color trend across the market, particularly a deep indigo blue and a bright aqua blue. Charles Zaberto, vp of Solarium, said blue can be a hard sell because there are so many shades available, but it’s a color many buyers want to explore. Poufs, floor cushions and outdoor throw pillows provide ample oppor-tunity to incorporate bright pops of color against more neutral furniture

pieces, he said. “Everyone loves blue. Everyone

wants to see the blue, in particular mixing the kiwi with the blue. We’re getting a fantastic reaction to it,” Za-berto said.

Though beige and chocolate brown were still on display, gray ap-pears to be emerging as the new neu-tral of choice. Nellie Derocher, senior designer, Victor Group, said gray was a strong neutral shade for the com-pany at Showtime, from light gray to charcoal.

“(Gray) has sort of replaced brown, I think,” said Donna Rinaldi, senior manager, sourcing and studio man-agement, The Robert Allen Group. “Gray with yellow, gray with blue,” HTT

ShowtimeSHOWTIME FROM PAGE 1

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

www.hometextilestoday.com www.facebook.com/httmag

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY®360 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010

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

SUBSCRIPTIONS: U.S.A. (866) 456-0405All other countries: (515) 247-2984

[email protected]

FAX SUBSCRIPTIONS: 1-866-310-7181

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jennifer Marks10 Ocean Blvd #8B

Atlantic Highlands, N.J. 07716(732) 204-2012 | [email protected]

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTORWarren Shoulberg

(646) 805-0226 | [email protected]

SENIOR EDITOR Cecile B. Corral428 Bianca Ave. Coral Gables, FL 33146


MANAGING EDITOR Julie Murphy(646) 805-0224 | [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING GRAPHIC ARTIST Desiree Nunez(646) 805-0233 | [email protected]

DIRECTOR OF MARKET RESEARCH Dana French(336) 605-1091 | [email protected]

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER, ACCOUNT MANAGER SOUTH/EAST/CHINA

Jeff Reeves (336) 605-1009 | [email protected]

ACCOUNT MANAGER NORTHEAST/MIDWEST/WEST COAST/CANADA

Mary McLoughlin(646) 805-0227 | [email protected]

CLASSIFIED AD SALESSpencer Whittle (336) 605-1027 [email protected] Karen Hancock (336) 605-1047 [email protected]

MANAGER, EUROPE Mirek KraczkowskiTel: 48 22 401 70 01; Fax: 48 22 401 70 16 | [email protected]

MANAGER, INDIA Kaushal ShahCell: 91-9821715431; Tel: 91 22 2305 9305

Fax: 91-22-66634596 | [email protected]

PRODUCTION MANAGER Rich LambTel: (336) 605-1074; Fax: (336) 605-1143 | [email protected]

DIRECTOR, WEB OPERATIONS Chris Schultz | (336) 605-1076 | [email protected]

MANAGER, CLIENT SERVICES, WEB ADVERTISING Dan Sage | (336) 605-1080 | [email protected]

E-MEDIA PROJECT MANAGER Missy Axe | (336) 605-1005 | [email protected]

DIRECTOR OF AUDIENCE MARKETING Allison Ternes(704) 573-9007 | [email protected]

PRESIDENT, FURNITURE TODAY GROUP Kevin Castellani


FOUNDING EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Carole Sloan1979-2011

SANDOW MEDIA

PRESIDENT AND CEO Adam I. Sandow

CFO/COO Christopher Fabian

VP CREATIVE AND EDITORIAL Yolanda E. Yoh

EVP, GROUP PUBLISHER James N. Dimonekas

December 31, 2012

Johnny Jones and Natalie Scott presented Outdura’s fabric lineup for the 2014 season to furniture manufacturers and designers.

Bright color accents and trim add interest as fabric buyers entered Glen Raven’s showroom to see the full Sunbrella collections.

htt121203_001.indd 23 12/19/2012 12:02:46 PM

Untitled-96 1 12/19/12 8:55:33 AM

Home Textiles Today December 31st 2012

Documents

home textiles industry

home textiles world

pm2 home textiles

home furnishings

showtime page

design area

textile design

series of trade shows