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Industry News
BLUE MOUNTAIN ACQUIRES IMPERIAL HOME
DECOR GROUP
Blue Mountain Wallcoverings, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has purchased
the assets of Imperial Home Décor Group, Inc. (IHDG), New
York, NY. The purchase creates one of the largest manufacturers
and distributors of wallcoverings in the world.
Blue Mountain has been in business for more than 30 years and is
one of the largest contract printers of wall coverings in the world.
IHDG is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers
and distributors of residential wall coverings products. The new
combined company will function as Blue Mountain Wallcoverings with
a newly acquired national accounts office in Cleveland, OH, a factory
in Quebec, Canada, and a distribution center in Knoxville, TN.
“In addition to the many high profile licensing opportunities,
IHDG’s experienced national accounts, marketing and manufacturing
teams were very important factors in this acquisition,” said
Christopher Wood, president.
Name brands involved in the acquisition include Albert Van Luit,
Sanitas, Sunworthy, Imperial, Katzenbach & Warren and Sterling
Prints.
TECHNIKU PRESENTED TWO PRODUCT INNOVATION
AWARDS
Techniku, Broomfield, CO, has been presented two Product Innovation
Awards from the Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA).
WCMA presented Techniku with awards for “Best New Technical Innovation”
in the Horizontals product category for the TH950 automation system
and “Most Innovative Overall Design” in Motorization for
the LR1000 with TouchControl™ automation system.
The TH950 automation system is a six-volt (battery or power supply)
solution for tilting horizontal blinds, including two-, 2 5/8- and
three-inch slats with ladders or cloth tapes. The LR1000 with TouchControl
is a 12-volt (battery or power supply) system for the automated lifting
of roller shades and designer sheer shadings. It can automate shades
up to 17 pounds in tube diameters as small as 24mm.
“Techniku thanks the industry for the vote of confidence these
awards represent,” stated Tim Bates, president and CEO. “During
the past year, we have listened to our customers and focused on meeting
their automation needs. And it was from their feedback that we created
the TH950 and LR1000 with TouchControl. These are the first two systems
in a series of unique products and innovative technologies that we
will launch through 2004.”.
ADO CELEBRATES GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY, INTRODUCES
ANNIVERSARY COLLECTIONS
This year marks the 50th anniversary of ADO Worldwide and the 25th
year of ADO-USA, Spartanburg, SC. To commemorate the occasion, ADO-USA
has selected some of its top fabrics in this season’s popular
colors and styles to showcase in a trio of special Anniversary Books.
A Gold Book will feature yellows and reds, a Silver Book will highlight
blues and greens, and an ADO Red book will showcase neutrals. The
anniversary collection consists of ADO’s washable, 118-inch,
seamless multipurpose fabrics.
During a worldwide recession in 1954, Hubert Wulf and his wife, Marianne,
established ADO Gardinenwerke in the small, rural town of Aschendorf
in northern Germany. The company’s most important factor was
its technical superiority in producing high quality 118-inch seamless
drapery fabrics and accessories.
In 1979, Wulf decided to expand to the United States and established
ADO-USA, the North American headquarters, in Spartanburg, SC.
Today, Hubert and Marianne’s sons, Klaus and Andreas, lead ADO
Gardinenwerke, ADO Corp. and all other ADO facilities worldwide.
DSC WINDOW FASHIONS CELEBRATES 45 YEARS
DSC Window Fashions, Inc., Arvada, CO, and Portland, OR, is celebrating
45 years of dedicated service and commitment to the industry this
year. DSC is a wholesale window coverings manufacturer and distributor
founded by Richard W. Robertson in 1959. The company is based in Arvada,
CO, with a second showroom and production facility in Portland, OR.
DSC serves the design industry nationally and is a Gold Preferred
Graber Fabricator and a full-service manufacturer/distributor. Its
products include the exclusive Hi-Tech® Roman Shade created and
patented by Robertson in 1991.
DSC Window Fashions is now run by Rick Robertson, who attributes the
success of the company to its commitment to the customer, providing
unique products and services and the ability to change with the times.
CPFILMS BECOMES ENERGY STAR PARTNER
CPFilms, Martinsville, VA, has joined the Energy Star program
as a service and product partner. The energy saving program is conducted
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Dept.
of Energy.
CPFilms is the world’s largest producer of window film and
window film components. The company specializes in the manufacturer
and marketing of dyed, coated, laminated and metallized films for
solar energy control on windows of commercial and residential building.
Energy Star is a government and industry partnership that offers
businesses and consumers energy efficient solutions, making it easy
to save money while protecting the environment. Through its partnerships
with more than 7,000 private and public sector organizations, Energy
Star provides the technical information and tools organizations
and consumers need to adopt energy effici
HUNTER DOUGLAS INTRODUCES SHUTTER TRAINING
PROGRAM
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, has announced
extensive training programs at all levels for fabricators, dealers
and installers that support its Heritance® hardwood shutters.
The company encourages its dealers to take advantage of this $500
million-a-year industry at retail.
The Shutter Excellence Training Programs installation training strategy
involves three training levels: Apprentice Installer, Journeyman Level
and Master Installer. Each is designed to prepare dealers and installers
for the product’s growing installations needs with a focus on
market opportunity.
This spring, the company brings an exclusive one-day Heritance Shutter
Excellence Journeyman Training Program to several cities across the
country, including Miami and Tampa, FL; Garden City, NY; Atlantic
City and Hasbrouck Heights, NJ; Baltimore, MD; Natick, MA; and Stamford,
CT.
The programs will prepare Heritance Apprentice installers to handle
a wide range of challenging shutter configurations and increase earning
potential. Installers will learn how to work more efficiently and
grow income potential, tackle track systems and other complicated
installations, understand how to specify shutters for complex window
and door situations such as French doors, bay and corner windows,
and practice making on-the-job product repairs and modifications.
In order to qualify for registration, dealers must have previously
attended Apprentice-level Heritance installer training and must have
installed 150 square feet of Heritance hardwood shutters.
EVAN MARSH RELEASES DREAMDRAPER 2004
Building on the popularity of its 2003 releases of the DreamDraper
system, Evan Marsh Designs, Bethlehem, PA, announces the release
of its 2004 edition, which features a significant collection of
new hand-illustrated designs and designs and hardware from a number
of well-known vendors.
All the styles that a designer or workroom wants are included, from
classic to contemporary to historical, the company states. The 2004
release also includes the ability to easily add color, color effects
and any fabric to all or parts of a design—to scale.
COMFORTEX IMPLEMENTS SHADE LEVELING
SYSTEM
Comfortex Corp., Maplewood, NY, has created a new stringing method
it calls Easy Equalization (EZ-EQ) for standard rectangular cellular
shades.
The EZ-EQ system allows homeowners to adjust the leveling of a shade
in their homes when the window frames are out of square or there
are other installation issues to contend with. The homeowner simply
grasps the center of the bottomrail of the shade with both hands
and gives it slight tug. Doing this engages the cord lock on the
shade.
The system also significantly speeds up the shade fabrication process
for the company’s BlindCrafters. The EZ-EQ is used on Comfortex
Cellular Shades with the standard rectangular Universal Hardware
System™, Duofold and Omni-Rise™ continuous cord loop hardware
system.
HUNTER DOUGLAS OFFERS SATISFACTION GUARANTEE
ON ALTERNATE WOOD BLINDS
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, now offers
a Satisifaction Guarantee warranty on all of its alternative wood
blinds, promising consumers that their product will not fade, yellow,
warp or bow under any condition.
The company’s products covered under the warranty include EverWood®
classics, Everwood® X-tra, Everwood® CountrySide, Shaperies®
and WoodMates®.
RAYMOND WAITES DESIGN MOVES
Raymond Waites Design, Inc., New York, NY, has announced the opening
of its new design studio, a move that more than doubles the amount
of space it previously had. The new address is Suite #1041, 225
Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010, (212) 447-8700, fax (212) 447-8733.
The company has remained in the vicinity of several of its licensees’
showrooms, including Certified International, Swavelle/Mill Creek,
Next Creations, Mohawk Home, American Dawn and Enchante. The new
space spans more than 4,000 square feet—quite a difference
from when Waites first began the company 10 years ago in his downtown
loft.
“This move reflects the growth and success of the company,”
Waites said. “In the beginning, there were only two of us.
Now we number almost 20 people.”
A home furnishings veteran, Waites has been designing for 30 years,
the last 10 in his own design atelier. Now with 17 licensees, his
line encompasses furniture, upholstery, bedding, bath, area rugs,
table linens, wall coverings, lamps and chandeliers, ceramics, porcelain
and
WCMA SEEKS PARTICIPANTS FOR HORIZONTAL
BLIND STANDARD
The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA), New York,
NY, is actively seeking participants for a new technical committee
being formed to develop an ANSI/WCMA Standard for the manufacture
of horizontal blinds. The new standard will replace Commercial Item
Description 1029, a guideline of the minimum requirements for metal
horizontal blinds published by WCMA in 1986.
An American National Standard is a consensus of those substantially
concerned with its scope and provisions, and is intended as a guide
to aid manufacturers, consumers and the general public. The proposed
ANSI/WCMA standard for horizontal blinds would address the components
of horizontal blinds and establish requirements for product testing.
Individuals interested in participating should contact WCMA at (212)
297-2122.
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