Home Textiles Today Feb 7th 2011

Monday, February 7, 2011

THE BUSINESS AND FASHION NEWSPAPER OF THE HOME TEXTILES INDUSTRY | hometextilestoday.com | Vol. 32, No. 5 | $8.00

NEW YORK — Home Textiles Today’s founding editor, Carole Sloan was, in the truest sense of the word, an icon of the in-dustry, say those who are remembering her.

Sloan, 76, died early in the morning of Jan. 31 from cancer.She was born on Armistice Day — Nov. 11, 1934. Said her

husband, Peter Brown, a lively raconteur who is well-known by many in the industry: “For the fi rst 50 years of her life, she thought the parades were in her honor.”

Accolades, as it turned out, held little interest for her. Al-though she covered an uncountable number of awards cere-monies in the home textiles and furniture industries over sev-eral decades, she steadfastly refused to accept one of her own. The very mention of such a thing brought a stare as cold as her laugh was warm.

Given the scope of her experience, it is understandable why so many suggested she deserved one.

Sloan was born into the home furnishings industry — lit-erally. Her grandfather founded the furniture business of Wy-combe Meyer, and she grew up in it. Over the course of her career, she crossed back and forth from retailing to journal-ism — twice — a most unusual path, but one befi tting both her knowledge and skills.

A native New Yorker, Sloan got her professional start when she joined Allied Stores’ training program. From there, she diverted into journalism, covering the textiles and furniture businesses for Home Furnishings Daily.

After a number of years, she pivoted back to retailing, mov-ing into the home furnishings sales promotion department at JCPenney when the company was still based in New York.

She and Brown eventually formed their own company, Sloan Brown Communications. In the mid 1970s, business-man Steve Pond came calling with the idea to launch a new publication, Furniture/Today. After the publication debuted in 1976, Sloan became one of its most high-profi le contrib-utors.

Eventually, she suggested to Pond that the time was ripe for a publication covering the home textiles industry. In Sep-tember 1979, HTT published its fi rst issue.

Carole SloanRemembering HTT’s Founding Editor

SEE SLOAN PAGE 6

BY JAMES MAMMARELLA

NEW YORK — With the political and at least short-term eco-nomic dislocation re-sulting from the tur-moil in Egypt, home textiles companies have to wonder if this will turn into yet another dis-ruption in the cotton market.

While total annual Egyptian raw cotton exports are a relative

drop in the global bucket, the crop is quite meaningful for

producers of high-end, luxury goods. And the cotton market as a whole is particularly un-easy at this junc-ture, with both prices and pricing

volatility at all-time highs.Those who use Egyptian cot-

ton may have caught just a bit of a break, at least in terms of

timing. “Planting season is still a month or so away,” said Jesse Curlee, president of Supima, the U.S.-based Pima cotton promotion organization that is an alternative to the Egyptian product.

He added that most, if not all, of last year’s export-destined raw crop had likely already been shipped out of Egypt by now.

Looking ahead at Egypt, Curlee told HTT, “The quick

Will Unrest in Egypt Cause Unrestin Egyptian Cotton?

BY JILL ROWEN

PLANO, TEXAS – JCPenney’s announcement that it will pare down its in-store custom window business signifi -cantly is now rippling through the textiles industry with mixed reactions.

Long held as a leader in the category — probably “owning” about one-third of the window business — the decision leaves room for other retailers to take a bigger piece of the pie. But some think the move simply high-lights what were already very under-performing markets within the chain.

As part of a reorganization of its custom decorating business, JCPenney will reduce 525 in-store custom dec-orating studios to 300 studios in key markets. In addition, it will close its Sacramento, Calif., custom decorating fab-rication facility, which will leave one remaining facility in Statesville, N.C., where staffi ng will be increased.

“[The change] may not have a huge impact, as JCPen-

A Game Changer for Custom Windows?

SEE WINDOWS PAGE 23

SEE CRISIS PAGE 23

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2 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.com

Capuano to Head Home at Sears Holdings

Industry veteran Chris Capuano has been hired by Sears Holdings as senior vp and president for home

fashions, overseeing in-store and online merchandis-ing for both Sears and Kmart.

“Her dedication and background will be a strong asset as we continue to evolve our brands at both for-mats,” said John Goodman, evp for apparel and home.

She was most recently evp/gmm for home and footwear at Kohl’s. Prior to that, she was senior vp of home for the Federated Merchandising Group. Before that, she spent 16 years at Macy’s, starting as a buyer and ending as senior vp for home.

She will be based at JCPenney headquarters in Plano, Texas.

Bon-Ton Investing in E-commerce

To support its rapidly growing online business, regional department store chain The Bon-Ton

Stores Inc. has tapped dynaTrace Software Inc. for use of its application performance management to improve the performance the retailer’s recently implemented IBM e-commerce platform.

During the company’s third quarter conference call in mid-November, Bon-Ton president and ceo Bud Ber-gen noted that online sales are up more than 75% year-to-date for www.bonton.com.

Gracious Home Appoints Mettler Goodrich Creative Director

Manhattan home emporium Gracious Home, now under the ownership of private investment

group Americas Retail Flagship Fund, has named Amanda Mettler Goodrich to the new position of cre-ative director and director of product innovation and private brands strategy and execution.

She was previously was senior buyer for all soft goods, scents and fragrances, kids, baby and pets products. She has been with company for four years.Prior to Gracious Home, she served as director of product development for Donna Karan Home and was senior merchant for Martha Stewart Living Omni-media.

“Amanda’s impeccable taste, product knowledge and industry background make her the ideal choice for this new position,” said Jordan Smilowitz, Gracious Home’s president and coo.

In her new role, Mettler Goodrich will be respon-sible for reshaping the store’s category and product assortments as well as product innovation and private brands strategy.

HGTV Signs Licensing Deals

HGTV, the home and lifestyle television network, has signed licensing agreements for bedding,

fl oor coverings and paint.Beginning this spring, Shaw Industries will launch

HGTV Home Flooring by Shaw in select retail outlets, featuring area rugs, carpet, hardwood and laminate, as well as bedding by Victoria Classics.

In addition, Sherwin-Williams will launch a line of interior paint and painting supplies under the brand.

RetailBriefs

HIGH POINT, N.C. — Specula-tion is rampant that the main furniture market showroom buildings in Las Vegas and High Point could soon merge under a single owner, a Charlotte com-mercial real estate firm with close ties to the furniture indus-try has told its clients.

In a newsletter sent to cli-ents last week, principals at The Stump Cos. said the “rumored merger” of the World Market Center in Las Vegas and several High Point showroom buildings was a frequent topic of discus-sion at last month’s Las Vegas Market.

“If the rumors are true ... we look forward to hearing the thesis of why this makes long-term sense and how the furniture industry will ben-ef i t ,” the newsle t ter sa id .It said “many exhibitors are awaiting answers” about issues

such as showroom rental rates, the timing of the High Point and Las Vegas markets, as well as whether the industry needs both of the semiannual mar-kets.

“We hope this transaction is more than a financial reshuf-fl ing and the results contribute to the long-term stability of our industry,” the newsletter read.

Speculation about a possible sale of several High Point show-room buildings has been wide-spread in the industry in recent weeks. The Stump newsletter was published on the heels of Bassett Furniture’s disclosure that it is negotiations to sell its 46.9% stake in the International Home Furnishings Center.

In a press release in late Jan-uary, Bassett didn’t identify the potential buyer, but said it would be part of a simulta-neous sale of all interests in

the IHFC to that buyer. Bas-sett said it hoped to complete the sale by the end of February.The IHFC is High Point’s larg-est showroom complex. Build-ings owned by Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. and Show-place are the second and third biggest complexes, respectively, but their owners have defaulted on loans on those properties. The rumored merger could involve all of those buildings, along with the WMC, the Stump newsletter said.

Showplace has been oper-ating under receivership since August 2009 and the MMPI properties were placed in receiv-ership last October.

Last year, the World Mar-ket Center defaulted on mort-gages for buildings A and B, but WMC officials have said the properties are not in foreclosure proceedings. HTT

Report: Las Vegas, High Point Showrooms Could Merge

DALTON, GA. — Shaw Floors is gearing up for the launch this spring of its new national con-sumer advertising campaign, which is taking a new approach by emphasizing the company’s high-performance products, including area rugs.

Centered on “modern appeal and performance-driven messag-ing,” the campaign follows six years of building the Shaw Floors

brand through evolving variations of the “I want a fl oor...”

Dubbed “Rooms,” the new advertising represents a switch from “an inspirational, luxury-centered message to a focus on the busy, active lifestyle of today’s female consumer.”

Shaw said it is responding to feedback from in-depth surveys and focus groups that found today’s consumer wants to live

“her life, her way.” The cam-paign presents Shaw products “standing up to life in realistic situations.”

Television spots will air this spring on networks like HGTV, with which Shaw has a new license for branded area rugs, and The Food Network. Print advertisements will be featured in various shelter and lifestyle publications. HTT

Shaw Revamps National Ad Campaign

NEW YORK — Five companies participating in the Home Tex-tiles Market Week section of the New York International Gift Fair have been awarded for their new product introductions.

Viceroy Collections received the Best of Market award for Kajaal Home Couture, a collec-tion of 100% cashmere blankets and pillows of the highest qual-ity, manufactured in Italy.

Kimberly House Ltd. Won the bedding award for the Owl Warp, a cotton baby blanket featuring a hand-appliqued owl. Finalists in

the category included Pine Cone Hill and DwellStudio.

Altinbasak Tekstil took the bath category award for its DeLuxe towels and bathrobes, which featured a sheared loop to create historical design patterns. Runners-up were Peacock Alley and Sferra.

Allem Studio’s cotton can-vas Aqua Fish placemat won in the dining category. Finalists included Blissliving Home and Scents and Feel.

Happy Blanket won the acces-sories award for its digitally printed

Sky Blue cashmere blanket. Hon-orable mentions went to Better Living and Alicia Adams Alpaca.

Judges included Julia Noran, managing partner, Editor at Large; Eugenia Santiesteban, senior style editor, Veranda; Laura van Zeyl, publisher, Home Fashion Forecast; Jenny Heinzen York, editor-in-chief, Home Accents Today; Melody Udell, associate editor, Home Fashion & Hospitality; Wanda Jankowski, editor-in-chief, LDB; and David Gill, senior editor, HFN. HTT

Best New Home Textiles Products Awarded at Javits

February 7, 2011

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4 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.com

OPINIONTodaY

Y OU M AY T H I N K you knew Carole Sloan, but you probably didn’t.If that’s the case, you missed someone pretty special.If you just saw her at a trade show, all you noticed was a woman with a very

individualistic sense of style, moving briskly through the market, not stopping for many social pleasantries. Carole could move faster than just about anybody else, even re-cently when her walking wasn’t what it used to be.

If you were only a reader of her stories and commentary in Home Textiles Today over the past couple of decades, you knew her as an astute observer of the business, but you always wondered what she looked like. Carole never allowed her picture to be taken.

If you were on the other end of an interview with her, you knew her as probing questioner, not at all timid about calling you out on your answer if it wasn’t credible to her. Carole was no shrinking violet.

And even if you had the opportunity to be with Carole socially at an industry function, you still saw someone who rarely gave an inch of herself to anyone yet expected you to tell her virtually everything you knew. Carole never met an answer that totally satisfi ed her.

Very few people got past those Carole Sloans. She just had very high standards for who she let into her life. But if you were special enough to make the cut, boy, were you in for a treat.

Beneath that gruff, sometimes abrupt and often curt exterior laid one of the kindest, sweetest and most caring people you’d ever want to meet. Once you were in her life, she couldn’t do enough for you, whether it was helping you professionally in your career or calling you — Carole never e-mailed anyone ever — to ask how you or someone in your family was.

She remembered your birthday. A favorite for special benchmarks was an offering of calf’s brains, whimsically and wittily suggesting that you needed mental augmentation as your personal aging process progressed.

She found you a job. The behind-the-scenes placement service she ran would have been a full-time job for just about anybody else. The number of people who can trace their career paths to Carole’s assistance would fi ll a market building … or two.

She knew everything. And everybody. She worked the phones better than anybody, often balancing two or three conversations at the same time. She usually had double or triple breakfast layers at shows. She could spot a news item buried in the bottom of page 27 of the New York Post quicker than the best investigative journalist. Carole was one of the best reporters I’ve ever known.

She had a wicked sense of humor. And a vocabulary that could make both a Harvard professor and a stevedore jealous.

She had a great appetite. For gossip, for dinner and for white wine … not necessarily in that order.

But Carole was a private person and frankly, she would hate all the fuss we’re making about her now. She never wanted to be acknowledged or honored by the industry, her co-workers or, for that matter, anybody. She regretted the one time she agreed to be part of a group of women industry leaders a couple of market lifetimes ago.

So we’re doing something here that none of us would have dared to do when Carole was around. You never wanted to be on Carole’s shit list. It wasn’t a good place to be.

But for one time only, we can recognize someone who truly did everything in her life on her own terms to the greater benefi t of all of us. That’s not a statement very many of us can make.

Thanks Carole. HTT

“For one time only, we can recognize someone who did everything in her life on her own terms to the greater benefi t of all of us.”

My Friend Carole

EL E V EN Y E A R S AGO, I informed my colleagues at Discount Store News that I’d landed the job of editor-in-chief at Home Textiles Today. A couple of my more seasoned fellows said immediately upon hear-ing the news: “Have you met Carole Sloan yet?”

I hadn’t. What followed over the next several months were many breakfast pow-wows during which she tutored me on various aspects of the home textiles industry. Carole loved breakfast meet-ings. During markets, it was not unusual for her to sched-ule three in a row, starting at the crack of dawn and wrap-ping up before the showrooms opened their doors.

I also became quickly acquainted with Carole’s tele-phone prowess. If there were eight voicemails queued up in the system, at least fi ve would be from her. I got so ac-customed to dialing her number that innumerable times I phoned her accidently when I meant to ring my hus-band. It reached the point where her husband Peter would pick up and say: “Who are you calling for — Carole or Wayne?”

Up until just a few weeks ago, Carole was the fi rst phone call of my work-ing day and the last phone call of the evening. She was my friend. I loved her dearly.

Carole famously eschewed technology, but those of us who worked with her knew her dirty little secret: She submitted her stories by e-mail. Howev-er, she absolutely refused to accept an email message. I tried to ping a few her way. All went unacknowledged.

It was unusual to dig out a piece of news to which Carole was not already privy. Her relationships ran deep. You could point to just about any senior executive in the retail industry only to discover she knew him or her when they were an assistant buyer of furniture or lamps or towels or curtains or whatnot.

Same story on the supplier side. Several senior executives have described the furious preparation that preceded a line review visit from Carole back in the days when they were mere trainees.

She did not believe in gratuitously praising designs, and she was circum-spect with accolades. An “um-hmm” and a nod meant she considered some-thing to be on the right track. If she actually verbalized appreciation for a piece — that was jackpot.

Carole loved talented people, and she had a good eye for spotting them as well as cultivating them. She loved design, loved identifying emerging trends and loved smart retailing concepts.

During my last visit with Carole, we discussed the most recent news. And I let this stand as her fi nal editorial commentary.

On word that owners of Las Vegas Market might buy High Point’s primary furniture buildings: “Not surprising.”

On Chris Capuano being tapped to head home at Sears and Kmart: “She’s very, very talented. And now she’s got the big order pad.”

On JCPenney reducing the number of its in-store custom decorating stu-dios from 525 to 300: “Schmucks.”

The lady has spoken. HTT

JenniferMarks

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

“Up until just a few weeks ago, Carole was the fi rst phone call of my working day and the last phone call of the

evening. She was my friend. “

The Lady Has Spoken

February 7, 2011

Warren Shoulberg

PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

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HOME FASHIONS INTERNATIONAL

In Fond Memory Of Carole Sloan

We at Home Fashions Internationalare grateful for your unendingcontributions and dedication to

the home industry. We savor the many fond

memories we have of the yearsthat we shared with you.

We, and our industry, will miss you.There will not be another like you.You had the work ethic and energy

of the greatest generation.You truly were the “Grand Lady”

of the home industry.We are all richer for having

you as our friend.

6 Home Textiles Today

And for the next 31years, Sloan was both the guiding light and journalistic conscience of the newspaper, contributing an every-issue column and more news stories and features than anybody else in the history of HTT.

She was a constant presence at industry shows, events and functions, her distinctive dress and manner always on hand. Even as her health issues start-ed to slow her up over the past few years, she continued to be both highly visible and audible, her notepad and telephone ever at the ready.

As news of her passing radiat-ed out through the industry last week, remembrances — both personal and professional — began to arrive at Home Textiles Today in a steady stream. Here are many of them:

Mark Grand, president, Peking Handicraft

“Carole and I had a standing date for breakfast at every mar-ket since the mid-80s, and we spoke regularly in between.

“She spoke in complete, grammatically correct sentences. She was a very private person, so I won’t tell the story about the panty raid of the HFN offices, or about the Warren Shoulberg voodoo doll, which she only re-cently retired.

“No one cared about our industry more. We have lost a guardian of our professional standards, and I have lost a car-ing friend.”

Alen Sands York, PrincipalStellar Alliance

“Carole Sloan, who it felt like I had known forever, was a de-fender of all things home tex-tiles. She had a keen eye and a highly sophisticated understand-ing of the business. She foresaw trends and interpreted the ups and downs of the ever-changing map of the industry.

“She could interpret the cy-cles and in some cases predict the future. Her weekly com-ments were spot on, and I shall miss them as I will miss her at those industry functions where she was always a fi xture.

“If there is fabric in heaven, I’m sure she will put it in per-spective — perhaps over lunch with my mother and Virginia Jackson.”

Neil Zuber, executive vpHome Fashions International

“In 1966 I was a salesman for Cameo Curtains and met Car-ole for the first time at the Cameo showroom at 260 Fifth Avenue. Little did I know then that we would strike a friendship that would last for 45 years.

“I have so many memories of Carole that I don’t know where to begin. During those 45 years, I have been with several compa-nies and Carole was always inter-ested in every one of them and what we were doing and who we were selling.

“I think my most memorable times with Carole have been the many lunches we have had to-gether. Carol would call me and say, ‘Let’s do lunch and chat,’ and we would do just that. We always had long lunches cou-pled with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay.”

Charlie Chinni, retail veteran

“Carole and I go back over 30 years and have always found her to be the most professional and trustworthy person in the indus-try. She knew that the relation-ship between her, the trade and the retailers was the way to get the best and most accurate in-formation. We spoke regularly for 30 years. Most recently be-fore Christmas. Her dedication and knowledge will be surly missed.”

Julian TomchinRetail veteran

“Carole was truly a support struc-ture to me and my work. She knew what she liked, and she knew what mattered – or didn’t. Her eagle eye focused on what counted, and her wicked humor made all the long conversations memorable.”

Raymond Waites, PrincipalRaymond Waites Design

“Carole was very important in my career. She was always gen-erous with her time – one of the best spirits and best symbols of our industry. When I start Ray-mond Waites Design, the first person I went to was her and used her counsel.

“She was very instrumental in giving me the courage to go forward with that project.

“It’s hard to say all the ways she helped me. When she came to the showroom, she was always one of the bright spots. I don’t think there’s anyone else in our industry that you can actual-ly call an icon. It was an honor for me because I considered her not only my colleague but a friend.”

Mitchell Gold , chairmanMitchell Gold + Bob Williams

“I think Carole was truly one of the smartest and most pro-fessional journalists I’ve ever known. Early on she discovered us and followed our growth. Car-ole asked tough questions and pushed to get answers to ques-tions I really didn’t want to dis-cuss.

“I loved Carole because she was a journalist’s journalist, a caring human being … Car-ole Sloane was a treasure to the home furnishings industry.”

Paul Hooker, presidentSferra Brothers

“The lost art of telephone con-versation was never lost to Carol. She thrived in interpret-ing the infl ection of someone’s comments, something that she knew could never be obtained through email.

“Hers was one phone call that was always returned immediate-ly out of total respect for her, and her refusal to give in to the unemotional replies of an email. I’ll miss opening HTT and not seeing her editorial. It was such a tradition for many of us in this industry.”

Larry Brill, Senior intl trade specialist, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel

“She was the ‘Facebook’ of the industry long before there was a Facebook by connecting friends and colleagues with each other to achieve a common good. Car-ole was constantly mentoring and coaching. I am proud to say that I knew her and that she was a friend.”

Terry Gaffney, presidentIntegrated Textile Resources

“As strong as her reporting tal-ents were, they paled in compar-ison to her compassion for the

individual people she covered. She expressed an inquisitive in-terest in the career paths of le-gions of people, oft times acting as both career counselor and business advisor.

“Her words of wisdom were sometimes delivered in a ‘tough love’ manner, but were inevi-tably followed by a smile and a twinkling eye once she knew the words hit home.”

Hermine Mariaux, presidentHermine Mariaux Inc.

“I remember Carole not just as a consummate professional but as an exceptional mentor and nur-turer of those who had the priv-ilege and pleasure of working with her. As a former colleague at HFD, I am one of the bene-fi ciaries of her journalistic gifts, her knowledge and her friend-ship.”

Jeffrey Silberman, chairpersonFIT Textile Development and Marketing Dept.

“Carole was a stalwart member of the FIT- Textile Development and Marketing Department’s Advisory Board since 2000. She never missed a meeting, and truly cared about our students’ well being, frequently bringing them opportunities and insight. We will miss her, and I will miss our friendship of 30 years.”

Wesley Mancini, presidentWesley Mancini Ltd.

“Carole represented one of the last remaining leaders in our in-dustry for her generation. She was an icon seen at every fab-ric event either domestically or abroad. She told it like it was without embellishment, making her blunt and precise (and ex-tremely worth listening to). Her knowledge about every aspect of our industry was unrivaled.

“Carole also represented women in a time when women were not numerous in her fi eld or textiles in general. It is easy to forget she surpassed that chal-lenge while becoming an icon of the textile industry. To me per-sonally, she took me under her wing and helped guide me with career moves. I was very fortu-nate for this personal bond.”

Gretchen Dale,chief operating officer, Loftex USA

“I have many fond memories

of Carole over the years but the most memorable was meeting her at the HFPA annual meet-ing one year after not seeing her or speaking with her in sev-eral months. She came over to me, reached in her pocket and pulled out a quarter. Handed it to me and said: ‘Why don’t you call me sometime?’

“I made sure to call her regu-larly after that!”

Roger Gilmartinfabric executive

“Carole was an ‘old school’ jour-nalist. If a comment was off the record, that’s where it remained. Her grapevine never ceased to amaze me as did her kindness to me personally.”

Bob Hickmansenior vp sales and marketingUnited Feather & Down

“Carole Sloan will be remem-bered as a champion of the home textiles industry who was always promoting its growth and success. She had the distinct ability to artfully weave her in-dustry knowledge with doses of common sense and candid-ness and a touch of good old fashioned humor. We will miss the wisdom and insight Carole provided for so many years and cherish the fond memories she created for us.”

Jason Carr, presidentSoftline Home Fashions

“Carole was as honest as they come, opinionated, ethical, knowledgeable, an icon in our industry. Her columns were al-ways so informative. She was a special person who will be great-ly missed.”

Scott Kravet, principalKravet Inc.

“We used to have dinner with her and Peter at Decosit. She was so knowledgeable, and Peter had all these interest-ing things to t alk about — his music, photography. They were a great pair. You’d always see them together at the shows. Carole was great. She just kept right on going.”

To view all the comments posted, visit HTT’s home page and click on the headline “Car-ole Sloan Remembered.” Com-ments can be found below the story. HTT

Sloan Remembered

SLOAN FROM PAGE 1

February 7, 2011 > hometextilestoday.com

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Carole Sloan

Thanks for your friendship, your integrity,

your intelligence, your pull-no-punches

style, your opinions, your strength, your

fortitude, your stamina, your sense of

humor, your dedication, your honesty,

your vision, your ethics, your advice, your

knowledge, both your bark and your bite

and your passion for a business that you

made better by being a part of.

Home Textiles Today and Sandow Media

8 Home Textiles Today > hometextilestoday.comFebruary 7, 2011

DALLAS — Home textiles prod-ucts have been sold from stores, the Internet, catalogs, television and even from tables on city streets, but chances are they’ve never been sold from a vin-tage Airstream trailer…up until now.

Peacock Alley, the well-known upscale bed and bath resource based here, is going where no home textiles resource has gone before with its 1977 Airstream trailer named Steel Magnolia, taking it to both spe-cialty retailers and last week to the New York International Gift Fair. The silver bullet-shaped vehicle was the center-piece of the company’s booth at the show, marking its return to the event after a several-season absence.

But it’s been the trailer’s road-show appearances at stores in Texas and elsewhere in the South that have made it a home textiles star.

“We want to promote Pea-cock Alley’s heritage and make it

fun, fl irty and a little cool at the same time,” said Josh Needle-man, who along with brother Jason owns the company, where founder Mary Ella Bitzer still is the matriarch of the business. “Just like Peacock Alley’s linens, Steel Magnolia is sleek, classic and sexy. The more you use it the better it gets!”

Needleman says the Sil-ver Home Tour is “hitting the nation city by city, store by store, giving customers a rare opportu-nity to learn about the Peacock Alley lifestyle and our wonderful collection of linens. And have a little fun doing it.”

Stops already have included: The Birdcage in Solana Beach, Calif.; Ray’s in Ridgeland, Miss.; Homestead in Hico, Texas; and Kuhl Linscomb and Longoria Collections in Houston.

Needleman has been blog-ging about the tour – peacockal-leyusa.blogspot.com – and at the recent stop at Kuhl Linscomb, he wrote: “So damn awesome and beautiful to be in Houston

today for the last Silver Home Tour stop of the month. Chat-ting with all customers who are sharing stories of their experi-

ences with Peacock Alley - every-one here knows about us, which is very cool.

“They also want me to ‘Pea-cock Alley’ their Airstreams if they buy one. I’m going to start this new collection of Peacock Alley Airstreams that I will do in a variety of unique ways. My mind is in obvious overdrive with new products lines being sold on our site right next to the bedding and bath.

“Also, never knew I could be happy in a parking lot!!! I slept in the trailer last night (best night sleep ever) and showered in the Kuhl Linscomb retail store. I want to live as a constant mooch where I can always plug in and shower in a nearby facil-ity or better yet a creek or lake... How damn cool!!!”

Needleman says ultimately Peacock Alley’s plan is to take The Silver Home Tour global. “Right now it’s an Airstream, next it will be a train, a plane and then a space shuttle,” he joked.

“I want to travel the globe converting sleep lovers to Pea-cock Alley disciples.” HTT

On the Road Again … Really on the Road Again

First Monday: Specialty Retailing

“We want to promote Peacock

Alley’s heritage and make it fun, fl irty

and a little cool at the same time.”

—JOSH NEEDLEMAN, Peacock Alley

Peacock Alley is taking its Airstream trailer on to the road to shows and stores around the country.

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• More actual square footage for your rental dollars

• Free freight service

• State-of-the-art security

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Top of Bed Shows Small ImprovementBY JILL ROWEN

NEW YORK — An improving eco-nomic picture helped boost the Top of Bed category in 2011, despite serious pricing pressures on all sides. The fi rst of HTT’s bedding reports (Utility Bedding and Sheets and Pillowcases will follow), the Top of Bed category managed a 2% increase overall. Sales were up to $2.55 billion in 2010 compared to $2.0 billion in 2009.

Within the categories, com-forters sets and filled bedding sets showed the smallest gain — only 1.7%. The category with the largest gain was quilts with a 2.8% increase. Current trend darlings, quilts are now top of mind for a number of suppliers, who are hoping to ignite the category further with new and updated designs.

Peking Handicraft Inc. (PHI) is one of the companies leading the quilt charge. According to

Carole Antone, creative director, “We are still doing traditional quilts, but transitional looks and cottage ‘shabby chic’ styles are new ways to interpret the look of quilts. They are cleaner, brighter and up to date.” PHI is also giving its bedding extensive embellishments and embroi-dery details, and trying to do it while combating rising prices. A trend that may have begun as cotton prices rose; Antone noted that “there is a non-cot-ton trend out there.” Accord-ing to Antone, “We are building on that trend with brushed poly looks with very cool fi nishes that look great. And, we are doing creative things with embroidery and embellishments.”

“From a product perspec-tive, we are seeing a continued growth of interest and sales in lighter weight top of bed options — particularly in the quilt and coverlet category; and you see this uptick of interest is mir-

rored in the majority of the con-sumer style magazines,” noted Diane Piemonte, vp, creative services, Revman. “We are show-ing more and more quilts and coverlets each season across sev-eral designer brands, and even adding a quilted coverlet for our own Manor Hill collection this market.”

Comforter sets are also changing up the marketplace. No longer configured with double-digit pieces, newer and smaller combinations speak to a more modern sensibility among consumers. “One change that we’ve noticed is that there are fewer requests for bed skirts. A lot of our customers are in the market for more updated looks and prefer an accessory such as a decorative pillow instead,” said Angela Boswell, vp prod-uct development, Ellery Home-styles. “Accessories allow you to really push the envelope in style and design.” Boswell noted that

February 7, 2011

% OF TOTAL % OF TOTALCategories 2010 2009 CHANGE 2010 2009

Comforter sets/bedding sets $1,494.3 $1,470.0 1.7% 58.6% 58.8%

Comforters $471.8 $460.0 2.6% 18.5% 18.4%

Bedspreads/coverlets $173.4 $170.0 2.0% 6.8% 6.8%

Duvet covers $61.2 $60.0 2.0% 2.4% 2.4%

Quilts $349.4 $340.0 2.8% 13.7% 13.6%

Total $2,550.0 $2,500.0 2.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Distribution Channels 2010 2009 CHANGE 2010 2009

Home textiles specialty chains $275.4 $275.0 0.1% 10.8% 11.0%

Single-unit home textiles specialty stores $51.0 $52.5 -2.9% 2.0% 2.1%

Department stores $137.7 $137.5 0.1% 5.4% 5.5%

Mid-price chains $487.1 $475.0 2.5% 19.1% 19.0%

Discount department stores $1,101.6 $1,075.0 2.5% 43.2% 43.0%

Off-price chains $130.1 $125.0 4.0% 5.1% 5.0%

Variety/closeout $96.9 $95.0 2.0% 3.8% 3.8%

Direct-to-consumer $173.4 $170.0 2.0% 6.8% 6.8%

Warehouse clubs $71.4 $70.0 2.0% 2.8% 2.8%

Other $25.5 $25.0 2.0% 1.0% 1.0%

Total $2,550.0 $2,500.0 2.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Top of Bed ($millions)

METHODOLOGYIn determining product category sales fi gures, as well as de-

termining retail sales for those categories by channel of distri-bution, the editors and research department of Home Textiles Today used data compiled from a variety of sources, including publicly fi led fi nancial reports, vendor sales information com-piled by the editors, and information provided by retailers and home fashions suppliers.

Home Textiles Today will produce a series of three reports on bedding, of which this is the fi rst, breaking the overall bedding category into three of its component parts: Top of The Bed; Util-ity Bedding, Blankets and Throws; and Sheets & Pillowcases.

The research was compiled by editorial contributor Jill Row-en; Dana French, director of market research; and Jennifer Marks, editor-in-chief.

the upcoming market promises very eclectic looks from Ellery that are “fresh and clean and have an optimistic outlook.” The company recently expanded its showroom just as it announced a recapitalization with Trivest Partners.

The retail results for the Top of Bed category showed that sin-gle unit chains continued to decline, down 2.9% from the previous year. Off-price chains (TJ Maxx, Homegoods, etc.) showed the largest gain with a 4% increase from the previous year. The off-pricers benefi tted from other retailers consolidat-ing inventories, and from oppor-tunistic buys as others were locked into programs with ever rising prices.

The continually rising prices (due to costs related to cotton, polyester, transportation, value of the dollar and any number of other things), is a huge factor for suppliers going forward. Prices are going up and the new game in town is to accomplish this as painlessly as possible for retail-ers, vendors and consumers. Though de-specing has become an unpopular word, the truth is that everyone is doing their best to move forward, maintain-ing the quality and coming as close as they can to price pref-erences.

“We’re really not changing too many things,” noted Scott Howard, vp, JLA Home “But we are working closely with our customers and spec changes may have to occur to hit a retail price.” JLA last month added

Woolrich to its license roster and introduced Top of Bed products and accessories under the out-door brand name.

Kevin Finlay, president, Elli-son First Asia, agrees. “We’re sensitive to the key price points our customers want to reach,” he noted. According to Finlay, Ellison is still doing well with its embroidery story and its print offerings.

Frank Snow, vp merchandis-ing and operations, Royale Lin-ens, noted that consumers are cognizant of the price increases that are imminent, but the indus-try is still unclear about where that new magic price point will fall. “The biggest retailers are still trying to establish what the new price points will look like,” he said. According to Snow, de-specing of outer bed cloths on comforters, and modifi ed thread counts in microfiber products and sheets are in consideration for suppliers across the Top of Bed category. For instance, “components in the luxury cat-egory were at 400 thread count, but they are now at 300.” Over-all, “it’s actually a resurgence of where thread counts were years ago,” said Snow. At market, Royale Linens will be showcas-ing For Your Home by Vickie Payne, a better department store collection inspired by the syndi-cated TV show of that name.

Ultimately, for the Top of Bed category, it all comes down to creativity. According to Snow, whatever the economics, “well designed products are still going to be in demand.” HTT

Facts

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11 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com

Venus Home.indd 1 1/31/2011 12:24:47 PM

February 7, 2011

NEW YORK — Trend resource house Stylesight has launched a new Korean-language site via a recently inked channel partner-ship with International Textile Design Co., Ltd (ITD Korea), and together they are develop-ing a suite of Korean language

products.“We recognize that a multi-

lingual site is essential in today’s global style industry, and translat-ing the site into the Korean lan-guage addresses a direct need of professionals in a previously underserved market. Through

our channel partnership with ITD Korea, we break new ground in providing style and design information, technology and expertise for the Korean style industry,” explained Frank Bober, Stylesight founder and ceo. “This is just the beginning of the ser-

vices we will provide together.”B e y o n d t h e l a u n c h o f

Stylesight.com in the Korean lan-guage, ITD and Stylesight plan to collaborate to provide a local experience for Stylesight’s Korean subscribers. ITD will regionalize Stylesight’s trend content and

conduct trend seminars and pre-sentations at regional trade shows and educational institutions.

Stylesight.com is a provider of trend content and designer tools as well as an online trend service available in English, Chinese, Jap-anese, Spanish and Turkish. HTT

Stylesight Launches Korean-language Website With International Textile Design Co.

TORONTO — The seventh semi-annual Toronto Fabric Fair will be held at the Paradise Banquet & Convention Centre here Feb.15, 16 and 17.

Organized by about 16 rep-resentatives of some 41 major textile mills, the three-day event is an opportunity for retailers and manufacturers to review some of their latest offerings, many of which were debuted at the International Textile Mar-ket Association’s Showtime in December.

The par t icipat ing mil l s include: Sunbury Textile, Sun-brella Fabrics, Global Textile Alliance, Diversitex , Carpostan, Direct Textiles, Paragon fabrics, LaFrance Industries, Se7en, Robert Allan Home, Morgan Fabrics, Master Fabrics, Vision Fabrics (a division of J Ennis Fabrics), Bartson Fabrics, Big Kahuna Home, Golding Fab-rics, Erocia Enterprises, King Textiles, The Mitchell Group, Portfolio Textiles, Sattler/Out-Dura, Gum Tree Fabrics, Anna-bel, Softline Home, American Century Home, Abercrombie Textiles, Classical Elements, Covington Fabric & Design, Regal Fabrics, Zenda Leather, Valdese Fabrics, Absecon Mills, Lady Fabrics

Hours of operation will be from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For more information about the show, contact Fred Hanes at (416) 785.1959 or send an e-mail [email protected]. HTT

Toronto Readies

for Fabric Fair

Hometextilestoday.com

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Kitchen Textiles, Table Linens See Modest Growth in 2010

February 7, 2011 Facts

2010 2009 % CHANGE

Kitchen towels $322 $308 4.6%Potholders/mitts 137 130 5.0%Dishcloths 112 107 4.6%Chair pads 43 42 3.1%Aprons 6 6 4.6%

Merchandise Mix ($millions)

2010 total retail sales: $620 millionup 4.6% from $593 million in 2009 2010 2009 % CHANGE

Discount department stores $379 $362 4.7%Home textiles specialty chains 68 66 2.7%Mid-price chains 99 94 5.2%Off-price chains 23 22 4.6%Variety/closeout 18 17 4.6%Warehouse clubs 12 12 4.6%Single unit specialty stores 4 4 4.6%Department stores 6 6 4.6%Direct-to-consumer 6 5 4.6%Other* 5 5 4.6%

Total $620.0 593.0 4.6%

* Other includes home improvement centers, military exchanges and gift/home accent stores.

Kitchen TextilesDistribution Channels ($millions)

2010 2009 % CHANGE

Placemats $344 $340 1.1%Tablecloths 201 200 0.5%Napkins 174 173 0.9%Runners 58 58 0.9%Napkin rings 22 22 0.9%

Merchandise Mix ($millions)

2010 total retail sales: $800 millionup 0.9% from $793 million in 2009 2010 2009 % CHANGE

Discount department stores $288 $285 0.9%Home textiles specialty chains 172 171 0.4%Mid-price chains 173 170 1.4%Off-price chains 63 62 2.2%Department stores 30 29 0.9%Direct-to-consumer 30 29 0.9%Single unit specialty stores 14 14 0.9%Variety/closeout 17 17 0.9%Warehouse clubs 7 8 -9.2%Other* 6 6 0.9%

Total $800 $793 0.9%

* Other includes home improvement centers, military exchanges and gift/home accent stores.

Table LinensDistribution Channels ($millions)

BY CECILE B. CORRAL

NEW YORK — 2010 could have been a lot worse for kitchen tex-tiles and table linens suppliers, who enjoyed modest low single-digit gains — but gains, none-theless — in a period when the still-sluggish economy contin-ued act as a drag on the home textiles industry.

For the year, the table linens business industry-wide was up by 0.9% to $800 million from $793 million, and kitchen tex-tiles grew 4.6% to $620 million from $593 million.

But considering the sister cat-egories’ recession-proof resem-blance to decorative pillows as affordable redecorating options for homes, kitchen textiles and table linens could have fared better than they did.

Acting against them was the onset of cotton price hikes, which started a rapid incline in the second half of the year and persists today, compounded by growing costs in alternative fi bers worldwide.

“It is a real issue that we have to address on a daily basis — internally and with our custom-ers,” said Michael Ciavolino, vp of sales for New York-based Windham Weavers, a division of Natco Home Products. In 2010, the company was the fi fth larg-est table line suppliers with $17 million in category sales.

“In the past, [price increases] was never a real conversa-tion. But now it is THE con-versation. So we’re exploring price increases as well as other options, like down specking and new constructions, to work with our retail customers. It is all very real. Now it is a discussion and we have to be smarter as vendors to come up with ways to work through increases.”

Long Beach, Calif.-based Foreston Trends is also working closely with its retail customers, and is successfully passing along price increases, said vp of sales Dick Gould.

“As you know, cotton went up 86% just in 2010, so we’ve obviously had to pass it on,” he said. “Retailers had to take their retails up, and I think they’ll face that this year more than last year.”

Gould explained the com-pany raised its prices because, like many others, “we didn’t have a choice. Retailers don’t want to take the increases, but we can no longer reorder goods at the same prices as before. We can’t absorb 10% increases off the bottom line. So we’ve tried not to increase our prices signif-icantly, but it has to be workable for everybody.”

Foreston Trends enjoyed improved sales in the kitchen textiles category in 2010 thanks to new business at retail with new and existing customers, including warehouse clubs, department stores, and discount chains.

“Our changes came because we expanded our distribution,” Gould continued. “The reor-der business was a struggle, especially in the second half of year.”

And Foreston’s table linens business was “pretty fl at, pretty much the same as the year we did the year before,” he added.

New York-based Bardwil enjoyed growth in 2010 in its table linens business, which grew 5% to $64 million last year, making the company the country’s third largest category supplier. President of sales and marketing, Nancy Kristoff, attrib-uted the gains to success with its three major branded programs — Lenox, Tommy Bahama and Vera.

But even so, Bardwil was “definitely impacted” by the cotton crisis, she said. “We have taken numerous increases from our vendors overseas and we are relooking at our specs and con-structions to help us through this period.”

The longtime kitchen tex-tiles supplier John Ritzenthaler Co. — the country’s third largest kitchen textiles company with $62 million in sales last year — fi nds “retailers are just as aware of what is happening, they are very knowledgeable about these cotton increases,” allowing them to more easily justify price increases.

“You can’t really debate it anymore,” said Elissa Vogt, vp of sales and marketing for the West Conshohocken, Pa.-based com-pany. “We’re not passing along

increases across the board. We are trying to be selective about where and when to pass them along. In 2011, we are still going to be watching cotton because we just haven’t seen the light at the end of the tunnel yet.”

There is a silver lining to these price shifts, at all lev-els, for the industry, agreed Kurt Hamburger, president and managing director of New York-based Lintex Linens, and Lorraine Ragland Maberry of Trendex Home Designs in Montreal, Quebec.

“I do anticipate better busi-ness this year,” Hamburger said. “A lot of retailers have exhausted their supplies, and they can’t have empty shelves, so they will have to buy new goods. There is now a need for stores to replen-ish, and because of this, they can no longer ignore price increases.”

Added Maberry: “[2011] is going to be another challeng-ing year, and everyone has their work cut out for them, including the retailers. We all see retailers accepting price increases. But the real question is if [retailers] see price increases as an oppor-tunity to put something fresh out there that is new and excit-ing for shoppers, which is what we all need, or if they will take on price increases but just main-tain the same type of product on their shelves and lessen the qual-ity to keep the prices in same range.”

Thanks largely to the contin-ued strength of its utility prod-ucts, 1888 Mills in Oakbrook, Ill. managed an 18.5% sales increase last year to $32 mil-lion in the category, position-ing the company as the fourth largest supplier in the United States.

But Fulton Allen, president of the company’s consumer products division, warned this year will be more challenging as the category is “very price sensi-tive and piece-count sensitive.”

“The cotton situation will put pressure on prices and piece counts that the consumer is used to getting,” he went on. “To main-tain retails, we will have to either offer fewer piece counts or lesser quality. We are working on what

SEE FACTS PAGE 13

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13 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com

the balance would be between quality of product and the num-ber of pieces per pack.”

That brings up the issue of the effects of pricing pressures on product quality.

Lintex and Trendex both vowed to “not compromise our quality to try to hit a price point. We still want to pursue fashion,” Mayberry said, adding that the company will launch its largest breadth of new product intro-ductions in the past five years come March at the New York Home Fashions Market.

“We’re going to show a wide range of colors, a wide range of textures and treatments and finishes, because the time is now to get the customer some-thing exciting,” Maberry contin-ued. “As a consumer I see prod-ucts out there that have been despecked. But I’ll pay a few extra dollars for more quality, and we need to remember there are other consumers out there willing to do that for their tex-

tiles, as well.”Hamburger described de-spec-

ing as a “danger I won’t go for.”He said many of his con-

temporaries in the business are “reducing product qualities to go after price. They take 25% to 30% off of the weight in order to meet retailers’ price demands — and that only diminishes the worth of the product and the business. By reducing the qual-ity, they are compromising their brand, and that is something I will not do because we’ve worked too hard to establish a strong quality image over the years.”

Still, kitchen textiles suppli-ers and table linens suppliers must carefully walk the price-quality tightrope to satisfy both the bottom line and their cus-tomers.

Home Fashions Interna-tional/Westgate in New York is actively “changing some con-structions from rayon to poly-ester, primarily in chenille fab-rics,” to help alleviate the pain. In other cases, it is passing along the costs, and other times it admittedly absorbs the price increases, explained Rebecca

Gaeta, design director for the company’s decorative pillows, pet beds and table fashions.

Windham Weavers is “com-ing up with other fabric options to choose from,” Ciavolino said. “People are still looking for value-added product and fash-ion and designs that are more updated, so we’re trying to be smarter in fi nding ways to make or product better without explod-ing or increasing our prices sig-nifi cantly.”

Vogt acknowledged that “impulse items are where you need to be in this environment. It is the novelty, the fun, the newness that is really selling, as well as the more useful utility and value-packs and aprons that the shopper is responding to.”

Distribution did not tilt much in 2010 for both catego-ries, except only to lean slightly harder on the discounters, ware-house clubs, mid-tier chains and off-pricers for the obvious reason that these venues offer shoppers the sharper price points they are seeking in this challenging eco-nomic climate.

Bryan Siegel, chairman and ceo of New York-based Elrene

Home Fashions saw 2010 as a time when the table linens and kitchen textiles “fared well against other areas. While we might not have moved up by too much, we defi nitely did not go backwards.”

He noted a “strong come-back” from specialty retail-ers, “who were fi nally over the hump of the Linens ’n Things closing. They were now able to slice up the remaining pie with-out having to fight store clos-ing sales and closeout mark-downs.”

His company, which in 2010 was the second largest table lin-ens suppliers with $82 million in sales and the fi fth largest kitchen textiles supplier with $28.5 mil-lion in sales, also saw “major improvement” at the depart-ment store level.

“Differentiation of product, brands and price points have fi nally been clearly defi ned by this segment and now we are seeing strong results,” Siegel added.

Looking to 2011, some com-panies have plans to expand their product offerings to help offset potentially damaging effects of price increases for cot-

ton and raw materials.New York-based Arlee Home

Fashions, which a year ago launched its tapestry table lin-ens business, is building on the response to its hefty seasonal pro-grams with the addition of a new stand-alone placemats and run-ner line spanning up to 20 new patterns, said Lance Orlick, vp. The debut is set for March dur-ing the New York Home Fash-ions market.

“We see a void in the market-place for decorative placemats and runners that don’t coordi-nate with anything,” he said. “These are just pretty designs for everyday use that we are pricing modestly.”

Runners are set to retail for $12.99 to $14.99.

At Foreston Trends, a new rug program is in the works for market, as well.

The effort is the company’s strategy for 2011 to “try to do less cotton sales and go after the petro-leum business,” Gould said.

Rugs, which represents an untapped product category for the company, are poised to help Foreston increase its total sales this year. HTT

FACTS FROM PAGE 12

Kitchen Textiles

NEW YORK — Bedding and bath home textiles company Welspun USA and interior designer and television personality Thom Fili-cia are set to launch their first collaborative consumer bedding line on the QVC shopping net-work in mid February.

On Feb. 16, Filicia will intro-duce his modern yet classic col-lection on-air, and the line will then be available on QVC’s web-site for a month following.

The new collections include complete top of bed ensembles in four patterns – Woven Dream, Floral Vine, Full Bloom and Sun-rise Plaid – as well as two differ-ent throw blanket styles. Each col-lection includes a comforter with coordinating sheet sets, standard pillow shams, bed skirts, lumbar pillows and square pillows.

The collect ion features immaculate embroidery, tex-tured fi nishes and modern col-ors. Woven Dream is a bold geo-metric pattern available in two deep colorways with comple-

menting touches of chartreuse or gray.

Floral Vine features a deli-cate, tone-on-tone embroidered vine on a textural background available in either a mineral or chartreuse colorway.

Full Bloom offers an intricate fl oral bud design, which is both playful and sophisticated, and is available in pink with yellow accents as well as yellow with green accents.

Sunrise Plaid is a classic lin-ear pattern offered in either an aqua and brown combination or a pink and gray blend.

“I truly believe that style is a personal form of self-expres-sion,” explains Filicia. “I want to bring my home collection to the most personal space in the home – the bedroom.”

Filica represents one of Wel-spun USA’s several designer license partners. The company also markets Nautica, Christy, Graccioza, and Amy Butler. HTT

Welspun, Thom Filicia to Launch Bedding Line on

QVC in mid FebruaryNEW YORK — MindsInSync, maker of the Microdry memory foam bath mat as well as Aquato-pia children’s products, has opened a new Shanghai office and is preparing to expand its headquarters here as well.

The Shanghai offi ce initially employed 15 and now has 35 people. The company plans to expand that to about 100, accord-ing to president and ceo Iain Scorgie.

The New York office, now with about 37 employees, with add another 50, mostly focusing on research and development, he

added.“What we’re seeing in home

is a lot of categories that haven’t been shaken up in years,” said Scorgie. “The bath mat hasn’t changed in 20 years. I think there are a lot of easy pickings in the kids’ industry and in home.”

Scorgie hails from the enter-tainment and gaming industry, holding positions with online gaming company Worlds Apart Productions as well as toy maker Spin Master. He noted that the toy industry thrives on innova-tion, and he sees an opportu-nity to apply fresh thinking to the

home industry as well.MindsInSync began fi ve years

ago producing unlabelled prod-uct. Three years ago, the com-pany began working on propri-etary brand development. Now it does both and sells product in Japan, Korea, Australia, South Africa, Chile, the UK and Ger-many as well as the Uni

The company recen t l y launched a Microdry and a pet bed. MindsInSync is also devel-oping lighting along with hard and soft kitchen products as well as products for the bedroom and garage. HTT

MindsInSync in Expansion Mode

February 7, 2011

CALHOUN, GA. — Recognizing “the importance of social media and its influence among con-sumers,” area, accent and bath rug house Mohawk Home said this year it is expanding its mar-keting focus on social media sites.

Mohawk Home regularly adds new postings on its Face-book and Twitter pages – www.facebook.com/mohawkhome

and www.twitter.com/mohawk_home – which the company launched about two months ago.

Bill Kilbride, president, said: “Our customer base is actively engaged in social media, and we plan to be as well.”

He added that Mohawk Home’s Facebook page i s “packed with information” stemming from current events,

trends, product offerings and reviews, promotions, and stories and photos from customers.

“It’s amazing the response we get when we ask people to share their experiences with our prod-ucts,” he continued. “We can answer questions, solve prob-lems, or just listen. There isn’t a better way to understand what your customers truly want then to just listen.” HTT

Mohawk Ramps up Social Media Presence

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14 Home Textiles Today News > hometextilestoday.comFebruary 7, 2011

BY ROBBIE SUMBERG AND JOAN LIEBERMAN

PARIS — Maison & Objet con-tinued to live up to its billing as the premier show in the world for home fashions, with an ener-getic mix of color, design and trends last month.

Etenne Cochet, the manag-ing director of the show, said, “In this new year, Maison & Objet aims to be a mirror for our aspirations to live better. Maison is creating more bridges between the different worlds of design.

“There is a strong objective, which is to offer the best of the art of living with a ‘green atti-tude’ that will allow design to eternally replenish itself.”

Those expecting to see a majority of neutral colors based on the news from the Heimtex-til show in Frankfurt earlier in January were in for disappoint-

ment. These are clearly two very different venues, as Maison con-tinues to take a fashion leader-ship position on the world home textiles stage.

ColorsThe home textiles palette at

Maison was very much feminine and pretty. Key colors were:

• Dusty rose • Denim blue • Lavender• Gray and silver • Raspberry• Purple• Black and white • Peapod green• Turquoise • Carrot

Design Trends1. Big Bad FlowersKey characteristics: A con-

temporary trend, another season of easy-to-live-with fl at organic shapes.

2. Be Calm Key characteristics: Eastern

culture fusion, spiritual balance, human responsibility reused and sustainable, weathered and washed effects, sun drenched colors, contemporary exoticism for a home that exudes the sen-sual charm of vibrant eastern infl uences.

3. It’s Complicated Key characteristics: Flowers

mixed with stripes and geomet-rics all in one pattern.

4. Girly Girl Key characteristics: Classic

and romantic with roses, wild fl owers and tiny packed fl orals.

5. WaterproofKey characteristics: Sea life,

dolphins, waves, fish and sail-boats in

Mood-indigo blue and white with paint-washed whimsical patterns.

6. History LessonsKey characteristics: Toiles tell

the story.7. Big ShotsKey characteristics: Over-

scale stripes, plaids and dots.Among the key applications

on hand for these design trends were: Feathers, crewel embroi-dery, printed textures, bow ties,

ruffles, fur trim, crochet and shaggy loops. HTT

Robbie Sumberg and Joan Lieberman are the principles of the trend service Showoffs and can be contacted at [email protected].

Masion et Objet: Paris Fashion PassionThe Maison show includes

all manner of home fashions from textiles to furniture to home décor. In the home ac-cessories area, it seems as if all the exhibitors got the same memo as a very large group of individual home accessory and tableware companies had such similar offerings.

The colors for this season’s accessories were uniformly grass green, carrot, raspber-ry, turquoise, true blue, pur-

ple and yellow. Intense color and oversized shapes were in many booths of home accesso-ries and interior decorations.

Among the icons used to show trend were: Vintage images of travel tags, pin-up girls, souvenir maps and ad-vertising.

More modern themes were vegetables, cooking utensils, nature, toiles, bulldogs, Mini Coopers, roses and the Eiffel Tower.

Elsewhere in Home

Bedding was big, bright and bountiful at last month’s Maison & Objet show in Paris. Clockwise, from above: Selena et Gaia mixed flowers with stripes and geometrics in a colorful printed bed; Margaret Muir fused together sun-drenched florals with contrasting striping for this bedding ensemble; Blanc des Vosges hit the green scene with this overscaled monochromatic floral top-of-the-bed treatment.

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15 Home Textiles TodayNews> hometextilestoday.com February 7, 2011

Maison remained the centerpiece of the home fashion universe with major design statements across all key categories.

Far left column, from top: Iosis went the nautical route with these pillows for those who like to sleep with the fishes; Teo Jasmin rolled out the vintage Mini Coopers, one of several classic iconic symbols at the show; Advantex turned to the east for a traditional Buddha image on this pillow. Above, top to bottom: Sonia Rykiel thought big was beautiful with these overscaled stripes and patterns; Ybarra & Serret chose a classic toile interpretation for this print.

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PEOPLETodaY

YORK, PA. — The Bon-Ton Stores Inc.’s board has extended Bud Bergren’s current posts as president and ceo through Feb. 5, 2012.

In addition, Bon-Ton also promoted Barbara Schrantz to coo, effective Jan. 30. She is cur-rently evp, sales promotion and marketing, a position she has

held since March 2009. In addition to her current

responsibilities, Schrantz will also oversee stores, visual, logis-tics and distribution, loss pre-vention, construction, human resources, corporate procure-ment and operations, and infor-mation systems – all of which will report to her. HTT

Bon-Ton Extends Bergren’s Term,

Promotes SchrantzBENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart U.S. has promoted Duncan Mac Naughton to chief merchan-dising officer for U.S. stores, effective imme-diately.

Mac Naughton orig-inally joined the com-pany in 2009 as chief merchandising officer for Walmart Canada. Then, in October 2010 he was named executive vp of merchandising for Walmart U.S., responsi-ble for consumables, health and wellness, and Walmart.com.

Prior to Walmart, Mac Naugh-ton held leadership roles at Kraft Foods Inc., H.E. Butt Grocery

Company and Albertson’s Inc. He also served as executive vp of merchandising and marketing at

Supervalu Inc.In his new role, he

is charged with over-seeing all merchandise categories across more than 3,700 stores in the U.S. business. He con-tinues to report to Bill Simon, Walmart U.S. president and ceo.

“Duncan has distin-guished himself with

a proven record of success in every organization that he has worked in, including Walmart in the United States and Canada,” said Simon. “He is a strong stew-

ard of our culture and he under-stands that merchandising is at the very core of our business.”

Added Mac Naughton: “We remain focused on ensuring that our assortment exceeds our cus-tomers’ expectations, both in stores and online. While much has been accomplished, we are working closely with our suppli-ers to deliver the products and the brands our customers are looking for at Walmart’s every-day low prices.”

He said the company plans to “make the shopping experi-ence more fun for our customers through increasing promotional intensity by effectively utilizing action alley.” HTT

Walmart U.S. Fills Chief Merch Officer Slot

February 7, 2011

DUNCAN MAC NAUGHTON

Walmart

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s Companies Inc.’s president and coo since 2006 – Larry D. Stone – will be retiring this summer, on June 2, which marks his 42nd anniversary with the home improvements chain.

Stone has served in “virtually every leadership position,” the company noted, within store operations, merchandising and store environment during his career at Lowe’s.

“ A f t e r m o r e t h a n f o u r decades of commitment and dedication to the company he truly loves, we knew the day would come when Larry retires and begins the next chapter in his life,” said Robert Niblock, chairman and ceo.

The company does not plan to fill the president and coo position after Stone’s retire-ment. Instead, Niblock and Stone will work together over the coming months for “a smooth transition.”

But other executive shifts are in the works at Lowe’s. The chain is making the following promotions within merchandis-

ing, store operations and strate-gic planning:

--Robert (Bob) Gfeller to evp of merchandising from svp and gmm of hardlines and building products;

--Rick Damron to evp of store operations from svp of logistics;

--William (Doug) Robinson to svp of customer support ser-vices from vp of store opera-tions/special projects;

--Richard Maltsbarger to svp of strategy from vp of strategic planning;

Gfeller is replacing Charles (Nick) Canter, who earlier announced his plans to retire this March following 37 years with the company.

“These outstanding leaders have been instrumental in the development and execution of Lowe’s current business plan as well as the strategic initiatives that will drive our future suc-cess,” added Niblock. “They know our company, our cus-tomers and the marketplace and are well-prepared to excel in their new roles.” HTT

Lowe’s President and COO, Stone, to Retire

FRAMINGHAM, MASS. — The board of directors of the off-price chain TJX Companies Inc. has approved a new man-agement structure as part of the company’s ongoing leadership succession planning.

Carol Meyrowitz continues as ceo as well as a director of The TJX Companies and has entered into another two-year employment agreement.

Ernie Herrman, who orig-inally joined the company in 1989, has been promoted to president from his former post as senior evp, group pres-ident. Herrman, along with Jef-frey Naylor, senior evp, cfo and chief administrative offi cer, now report to Meyrowitz.

Nan Stutz has been pro-moted to senior evp, group pres-ident of HomeGoods and TJX Canada, and Michael MacMil-lan has been promoted to senior evp, group president, continu-ing his responsibilities for The Marmaxx Group.

Stutz has been with the com-pany since 1990 and MacMil-

lan since 1985. Both of them now report to Herrman as do three senior evps -- Jerome Rossi, whose responsibilities include real estate, logistics and procurement; Paul Sweet-enham, who heads TJX Europe; and Greg Flores, chief human resources offi cer.

“One of my key responsi-bilities as ceo is to see that the company has an effective, seam-less leadership succession plan in place,” Meyrowitz said. “This new structure is an important step in that regard. It will per-mit me over time to delegate more of the day-to-day respon-sibilities and reduce my overall time commitment, while retain-ing responsibility for all execu-tive functions and continuing to lead this great company. We have an outstanding manage-ment team that together, has led TJX through good as well as diffi cult economic times, deliv-ering excellent financial per-formance and strong growth. I plan to work very closely with Ernie Herrman in his new role

and will continue to focus on the growth of our important European business with both Ernie as well as Paul Sweeten-ham.”

Added Bernard Camma-rata, chairman of TJX Com-panies: “Our board of direc-tors is very pleased to support Carol Meyrowitz’s new struc-ture which provides for the continuity of strong leader-ship for our Company. We will continue to reap the benefits of Carol’s proven talents and track record as an outstanding executive and visionary leader while Ernie Herrman, with his demonstrated abilities in mer-chandising, operations and overall business leadership and execution, takes on a bigger role as President of the Com-pany. Combined with the other organizational changes we are announcing today, this new structure will further strengthen our management team’s abil-ity to continue to grow TJX successfully over the coming years.” HTT

TJX Cos.’ Board Announces Promotions Within Top Exec Team

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BUSINESSTodaY

February 7, 2011

BY CECILE B. CORRAL

NEW YORK — An improving per-formance in the home category helped offset relentless winter storm impacts in January when most key retailers reported mod-est same stores sales increases.

Only two major retailers — JCPenney and Stein Mart — suffered comp declines. Both were down 1.2%.

York, Pa.-based The Bon-Ton Stores, which churned only a 0.3% comp increase, which was

the smallest comp gain for the month among the top 13 retail-ers tracked by HTT, was “pleased with our positive comparable-store sales increase despite in-clement weather throughout the month,” said Tony Buccina, vice chairman and president –merchandising.”

The home business helped the 275-unit regional depart-ment store chain make the grade in the four-week peri-od, as Bon-Ton’s semi-annu-al home sale in the third week of January “kicked off the new year with double-digit increases for the category, with custom-ers responding favorably to our new home assortments,” Bucci-na added.

Dillard’s Inc. and Costco Wholesale Corp. managed the highest comp returns – 6.0% each — also thanks to home product-related sales.

In the case of the Little Rock, Ark.-based department store, sales in the home and furni-ture category were “signifi cant-ly above trend” during the four-week period at Dillard’s.

Domestics and housewares were among the strongest per-forming categories, with comps in the teens, at Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco, even though the warehouse club said it estimated the winter weather conditions in the month negatively impacted its results by 1.0% to 1.5%.

Next in line with the best

January comps was Pleasan-ton, Calif.-based Ross Stores. Its 3.0% comp increase was “well ahead of our expectations,” said Michael Balmuth, vice chair-man and ceo. Here, however, juniors and dresses were the best performing business segments.

BJ’s Wholesale Club in Westborough, Mass. came in with the month’s fourth highest comp gain — 2.7% — despite what is estimated to be a 2.5% negative impact from the effects of the “severe snow storms in

the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.”

Macy’s Inc. said its same-store sales for fiscal 2010 were above plan and above 2009 in every Macy’s region, as well as at Bloomingdale’s.

“While sales in January were restrained by the series of snowstorms that caused wide-spread store closings along the East Coast and in the Southeast U.S., we continued to benefit from the underlying strength in our business,” said Macy’s Inc.

chairman, president and ceo Terry Lundgren.

Showing continued rapid growth is Macy’s online busi-ness, which saw its sales at macys.com and bloomingda-les.com combined go up 27.2% in January, 29.1% in the fourth quarter and 28.7% for the year.

Online and home were also solid at Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl’s Corp.

“January’s sales results bene-fi tted from continued strength

OCT NOV DECJAN JANFEB MAR APR MAY JUN JULY AUG SEPTSource: Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Average, a unit of Instinet, a Reuters company.

4.7%2011

year-over-year

-5.0%

-3.5%

-2.0%

-0.5%

1.0%

2.5%

4.0%

5.5%

7.0%

8.5%

10.0%

January Same-Store SalesJohnson Redbook Index

Same-store sales % change

WINNERSCostco 6.0%Dillard’s Inc. 6.0%Ross Stores 3.0%BJ’s Wholesale Corp. 2.7%Macy’s Inc. 2.6%Fred’s Inc. 2.1%

LOSERSJ.C.Penney (1.2)%Stein Mart Inc. (1.2)%

WINNERS

JANUARY SALES FOR KEY RETAILERSFour weeks ended January 29, 2011 (dollar amounts in millions) a

2011 2010 TOTAL SAME-STORE SALES SALES % CHG. % CHG.

BJ’s Wholesale Club b $779.8 $732.5 6.5 2.7 The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. $180.1 $180.1 0.0 0.3 Costco Wholesale Corp. c d $6,300.0 $5,620.0 12.0 6.0 Dillard’s Inc. $376.0 $353.9 6.0 6.0 Duckwall-ALCO Stores Inc. $28.1 $28.1 0.2 1.9 Fred’s Inc. $129.1 $125.0 3.0 2.1 J. C. Penney Company Inc. $903.0 $940.0 (3.9) (1.2)Kohl’s Corp. $825.0 $798.0 3.4 1.4 Macy’s Inc. $1,310.0 $1,253.0 4.6 2.6 Ross Stores Inc. $441.0 $411.0 7.0 3.0 Stein Mart Inc. $62.8 $63.8 (1.6) (1.2)Target Corp. $4,383.0 $4,289.0 2.2 1.7 The TJX Companies Inc. $1,350.0 $1,250.0 8.0 2.0

52 WEEKS 2011 2010 TOTAL SAME-STORE SALES SALES % CHG. % CHG.

BJ’s Wholesale Club b $10,600.0 $9,800.0 8.3 4.4 The Bon-Ton Stores Inc. $2,980.5 $2,959.8 0.7 0.9 Costco Wholesale Corp. e $36,080.0 $32,450.0 11.0 5.0 Dillard’s Inc. $6,019.6 $5,893.1 2.0 3.0 Duckwall-ALCO Stores Inc. $457.7 $461.0 0.7 2.4 Fred’s Inc. $1,842.0 $1,788.0 3.0 2.2 J. C. Penney Company Inc. $17,758.0 $17,556.0 1.2 2.5 Kohl’s Corp. $18,391.0 $17,178.0 7.1 4.4 Macy’s Inc. $25,004.0 $23,489.0 6.5 4.6 Ross Stores Inc. $7,866.0 $7,184.0 9.0 5.0 Stein Mart Inc. $1,181.5 $1,219.1 (3.1) (1.8)Target Corp. $65,786.0 $63,436.0 3.7 2.1 The TJX Companies Inc. $22,100.0 $20,300.0 9.0 2.0

a. Reporting periods vary from chain to chain.b. Excluding gasoline, merchandise comparable club sales increased

about 0.3% for the four-week period. Year-to-date merchandise comparable club sales excluding gasoline increased 2.4%.

c. Total sales results include sales fromthe company’s Mexico joint venture. Without those sales, the increase would have been 9.0%.

d. January comp club results are for the U.S. division. Excluding the positive impacts of inflation in gasoline prices and strengthening foreign currencies, comparable club sales for the month were up

4% in the U.S. division, 11% in the international division, and 6% for the total company.

e. Because it is on a different fiscal calendar than the other key retail-ers on this list, Costco’s year-to-date sales and comp results reflect the past 22-week period. Excluding the positive impact of inflation in gasoline and strengthening foreign currencies, comparable club sales were up 3% in the U.S., 9% in the international division, and 5% for the total company year to date.

January a Time of Modest Comp Gains for Most Key Retailers

SEE SALES PAGE 20

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For complete information, contact:Joe Carena, Show Manager, [email protected] (203) 329-9553

Warren Shoulberg, Publisher, Home Textiles [email protected] (646) 805-0226

Global Interiors Home Collection Show

March 13-17A Must-See DestinationSpring NY Home Fashions Market Week

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20 Home Textiles Today Business

in our e-commerce business as sales increased 60% over last year,” noted Kevin Mansell, chairman, president and ceo. “From a line-of-business per-spective, men’s and home out-performed the company on a comparable store sales basis.”

While home — along with men’s furnishings — was a top performer for Jacksonville, Fla.–based Stein Mart, it wasn’t enough to pull it through the period.

Plano, Texas-based JCP jus-tified its 1.2% comp decline in January.

“After strong sales during the fi rst two months of the quarter, which resulted in quarterly sales coming in above the compa-ny’s expectations, January sales

were impacted by lower levels of clearance inventory when compared to the same period last year, as well as by adverse weather conditions,” the com-pany explained.

The mid-tier department store chain’s top-performing merchandise categories for the period included women’s ap-parel and accessories. Sales of Liz Claiborne apparel and ac-cessories “continued to perform ahead of expectations, attracting new and existing customers,” and Sephora inside JCPenney also continued to attract new customers.

“This performance reflects the success of the company’s focus on enhancing the center core of its stores to provide both style and value for modern cus-tomers,” JCP concluded. HTT

NEW YORK — January’s wick-ed wintery weather was a cause of complaint for many retailers but didn’t hold back JCPenney, Kohl’s, Ross Stores or TJX Cos. from upping their guidance.

Due to better-than-expected sales during the fourth quarter along with better gross margins and expense control, JCP now expects fourth quarter earnings to be in the range of $1.06 to $1.09 per share, including the previously announced one-time restructuring charges of approx-imately 8 cents per share. Man-agement had previously project-ed 4Q earnings in the range of 90 cents to $1.00 per share.

Buoyed by a 1.4% comp gain and 3.4% sales increase in January, Kohl’s Corp. said

it now expects fourth quarter EPS of $1.65 to $1.66 and fi s-cal year EPS of $3.64 to $3.65. The earlier guidance put 4Q at $1.62 to $1.66 and FY at $3.61 to $3.65.

TJX Cos. credited strong sales and margins for its renewed out-look. It now expects fourth quar-ter EPS to be slightly above the high end of its prior prediction of 97 cents to $1.01, with a cor-responding increase for the full year.

Finally, Ross Stores fourth quarter EPS should increase 17% to 18% to $1.36 to $1.37, compared to $1.16 for last year’s 4Q. Earnings for the full fi scal year are expected to jump 31% to $4.62 to $4.63, up from $3.54 from last year. HTT

NEW YORK — Retailers were blaming Old Man Winter for a soft 1.8% uptick in comps during the fi nal week of January, according to the Johnson Redbook.

Comps were stronger in the department store sector, up 2.2%, than in discount, up 1.5%, during the week ended Jan. 29.

For the month, comps rose 2.3%, just missing Redbooks 2.6% target.

Redbook analyst Catlin Levis noted February contains three major events: the Super Bowl,

Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. “Our preliminary target is for year-over-year

same store growth of a 1.8% gain,” she said.HTT

Same-store sales

January Comes to a Mushy End

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

WEEK ENDED 1/8 1/15 1/22 1/29 MONTH TARGET

Department stores* 4.0 3.5 3.3 2.2 3.3 2.7Discounters 2.3 2.0 1.9 1.5 1.9 2.5Redbook Index 2.8 2.5 2.3 1.8 2.3 2.6*Including chain stores and traditional department storesSource: Johnson Redbook Index

JCP, Kohl’s, Ross and TJX Boost Guidance

January SalesSALES FROM PAGE 18

February 7, 2010

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WESTBOROUGH, MASS. — BJ’s Wholesale has put itself up for sale, signing with Morgan Stan-ley & Co. as an advisor to ex-plore strategic alternatives.

The company said it has set

no timetable and does not plan to provide updates.

According to Bloomberg, BJ’s has received an offer from private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners. An affi liate

of the firm recently acquired Jo-Ann Stores. Neiman Mar-cus, The Container Store and Petco are some of the other re-tail holdings in its portfolio. HTT

BJ’s on the Block

HUDSON, OHIO — Improved transactions and higher tickets helped lift Jo-Ann Stores’ fourth quarter sales to $624.1 million, up 3.6%.

Comps rose 2.0% on top of a

strong 4.4% gain in 2009’s 4Q. Transactions were up 1.1% and average ticket got a 0.9% boost. The company said severe win-ter weather during the quarter, which ended Jan. 29, negative-

ly hit comps by 0.8%.For the fiscal year, sales in-

creased 4.4% to $2.079 billion, with comps up 3.5%. The com-pany will announced complete fi nancial results March 9. HTT

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Despite flat comps, Big Lots’ fourth quar-ter sales rose 3.8% to $1.45 billion. Home, furniture and seasonal were the best per-formers.

The company said poor weather conditions during the last three weeks of January hampered same-store sales. The quarter ended Jan. 29.

Preliminary sales tally for

the full fiscal year is $4.9 bil-lion, up 5.0%. Comps for the year were up 2.5%.

Big Lots is scheduled to report full financial results March 3. HTT

Big Lots’ Sales up 3.8% in 4Q

Jo-Ann Stores’ 4Q Sales Rise

> hometextilestoday.com

htt110201_018 20htt110201_018 20 2/3/2011 4:27:27 PM2/3/2011 4:27:27 PM

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CalendarFebruary6 – 10Spring FairThe National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Bir-mingham, UK(609) 921-0222www.springfair.com

7 – 10 TexworldParis Le Bourget Exhibition Centre, Paris, France+33 155 268 989www.texworld.messefrankfurt.com

8 – 10ExpofilParc des Expositions, Paris-Nord Villepinte, France+33 (0) 4 72 60 65 00www.expofil.com

11 – 15AmbienteFrankfurt Fair & Exhibition Center, Frankfurt am Main, Germany(770) 984-8016www.ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frank-furt

27 – March 2ASD Las VegasLas Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas(310) 481-7300www.asdamd.com

March12 - 14The Atlanta International Fine Linen and Home Textiles Market & The Atlanta Spring Gift, Home Fur-nishings & Holiday MarketAmericasMart, Atlanta(404) 220-3000www.americasmart.com

13Home Textiles Today’s New York Winter Market Kickoff PartyThe Penthouse Lounge and Rooftop Garden at 230 Fifth6 p.m- 8 p.m.(646) 805-0226www.hometextilestoday.com

14 – 18 New York Home Fashions MarketHome Fashion Products Association(212) 297-2122 (Kellen Co.)www.homefashionproducts.com

16 – 18Interstoff Asia Essential—SpringHong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong KongMesse Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. (852) 2238 9917www.interstoff.messefrankfurt.com

24 – 27Dallas Total Home & Gift MarketDallas Market Center, Dallas(800) 325-6587www.dallasmarketcenter.com

22 – 24Domotex asia/CHINAFLOORShanghai New International Convention Center, Shanghai, China+86 21 6247 7668www.domotexasiachinafloor.com

April2 – 7 High Point MarketInternational Home Furnishings Center (IHFC), High Point, N.C.(336) 869-1000www.highpointmarket.org

6 – 8 LineapelleFair District, Bologna, Italy

+39 02 8807711www.lineapelle-fair.it

26 – 28gulfBIDBahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre, Manama Kingdom of Bahrain+973 1729 3131www.gulfbidexhibition.com

26 – 28Vision10: International Window Coverings EXPOGeorgia World Congress Center,Atlanta(651) 293-1544www.wf-vision.com

May4 – 6Proposte Villa Erba in Cernobbio, Como, Italy+39 02 6434054www.propostefair.it

14 – 17International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF)Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York(914) 421-3200 www.icff.com

February 7, 2011

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htt110201_022_023 22htt110201_022_023 22 2/4/2011 3:25:49 PM2/4/2011 3:25:49 PM

23 Home Textiles TodayNews

answer is: I don’t know — and if anybody tells you they do, they don’t.”

Any potential, prolonged dis-ruption of the country’s trans-port infrastructure, or of the financial system, could turn into challenges down the road

for the Egyptian cotton grow-ers, the gins, the major cotton merchandisers, and exporters, he observed.

With a current market price of $3.00 per pound for extra long staple (ELS) Egyptian cot-ton – “probably the highest in history,” said Curlee – there is very little wiggle room for addi-tional upward cost pressure.

As for any likely maneuvers by mills, manufacturers, or re-tailers, Curlee said, “I don’t think you’re going to see a huge shift in blending...a towel’s still going to be cotton...if you go to polyester it’s like trying to dry yourself with a piece of plastic. You might make the towel a lit-tle smaller; maybe you blend it with a Modal wood fiber, or

maybe you make the ground out of poly; that doesn’t touch your skin.”

The story would be similar in bedding, he said. “In sheet-ing, people are accustomed to cotton sheets. The thread count might go down,” he said, or the proportion of non-cotton fi bers in a blended product might rise, particularly within “the

lower end of the market.”Getting back to the raw cot-

ton trade itself, Curlee noted that “farmers are already con-tracting” for next year, and the market for ELS seems to indi-cate that “for 2012, the crop is still to be in the $1.80 to $2.00 range” per pound. “Maybe it’s $1.50 or $1.60 in the future,” he said. HTT

ney is probably keeping their larg-est, most successful design stu-dios and consolidating within markets,” reported Jan Jessup, a spokesperson for Calico Corners. “However, it may cause consum-ers to look at other sources for custom window treatments and Calico has an excellent reputa-tion in this area.”

“Each year, the Calico in-home design consultants and sales associates see a large num-ber of homeowners who have received rather high estimates for JC Penney custom window treatments — and these con-sumers are looking for alterna-tives,” noted Jessup. “Calico has a larger range of fashion-forward

fabrics, better prices and more choices for their windows, plus custom options for upholstered furniture and custom bedding (which Penney’s doesn’t offer).”

“This will leave between 100 to 200 decorating consultants looking for work; they are among the best trained chain store con-sultants in the industry,” noted Steve Bursten, Exciting Windows, Bethesda, Md., who agrees that the impact on sales will be tem-pered by concentrating on its bet-ter markets.

“Over the counter and in-store sales may not be hit too hard. The custom department is for custom-ers who want the best looks and professional advice; the in-stores sales of window coverings are for the DIY crowd who are trying to save money on simple treat-

ments,” he said. “It’s a great op-portunity for competitor growth where the studios are closed — I would love to get that list.”

“I’m sure we’ll get inquiries, but they’ve never been a big play-er in our circle,” noted Ken Mc-Williams, owner, ABC Blinds, Austin, Texas. “We’re well-known in our space and have a long his-tory — 60 years in business — I don’t think the impact will be huge for us.”

“I have a lot of respect for them and they were clearly the largest player, but it’s a small part of their overall business,” said Bruce Hey-man, owner, Metropolitan Win-dow Fashions, North Plainfi eld, N.J. “For us, it’s our main focus. Both our ready-made and custom businesses were up last year. Bet-ter goods are still selling. This is

an industry where smaller players may actually do better.”

“That’s putting a lot of money on the table for other people to grab at,” said Jeff Kalpan, owner, Innu Window, Natick, Mass.

But like some other inde-pendents, Kaplan noted that he “didn’t run into Penney’s that much,” aiming instead for a higher-end customer. “It’s more of a sign that the middle is disap-pearing. People will either buy packaged goods or go to a bet-ter custom window retailer,” he said. “Our own ready-made busi-ness is stagnant. But our custom, high-end business has continued to grow and grow.”

Kaplan believes a chain as large as Penney’s probably had its share of mistakes and remakes im-pacting the bottom line. And, he

pointed to Hunter Douglas as an example of a brand that changed the way it did business with chain stores, making a strategic decision to focus on custom customers. (In early 2010, Hunter Douglas stopped third-party internet sales. The Home Depot site, for in-stance, now directs consumers to call a consultant for help.)

The Penney’s announcement also leaves room for other inter-net and franchise retailers to grow their business. According to Burst-en, Customer Decorators may likely become a big player; while Kaplan pointed to online’s Smith & Nobel as an up and comer.

It may be a while until the im-pact of Penney’s decision is fully felt. But whatever the outcome, it does leave room for a new leader in the category. HTT

JCPWINDOW FROM PAGE 1

EgyptCRISIS FROM PAGE 1

> hometextilestoday.com February 7, 2011

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