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Editorial
Our Success is Your Success
Can you imagine working in a world without cell phones,
e-mail, the Internet? How about working in a business with one,
maybe two, product suppliers and few options? Can you visualize
making a sales pitch aimed at one product (mini-blinds) available
in only a handful of colors (light blue, light green, white, beige
and dusty rose)? Can you imagine being a workroom all on your own
figuring things out as you go and learning by trial and error?
If you can, you’ve probably been through it yourself, and
there’s a good chance you’ve been in the window coverings
industry for at least as long as Draperies & Window Coverings
magazine has been in publication. For the record, that’s 25
years this year!
It’s amazing how far this industry has come since 1981 and
how much has changed. Some will say that in the last two-and-a-half
decades it actually became an industry, growing from a hobby, cottage
industry and mom-and-pop dealerships to where many independents
today pass $1 million in annual sales. Industry insiders say there
are some 50,000 window coverings dealers out there and that the
industry’s total market value at retail approaches $7 billion
a year.
But it is also said that the more things change the more they stay
the same, and in many important ways that is true too. Success comes
to the hard-working, creative, knowledgeable, service-oriented problem-solvers—and
that goes for manufacturers as well as retailers. Month after month
after month (some 300 times) we’ve profiled these success
stories on our covers.
With this our 25th anniversary issue, we break to celebrate not
just our own but the industry’s success. Join the celebration—it
begins on page 26 and features a timeline of industry events set
against world and national news for perspective (has it really been
that long since Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”?)
All of us at D&WC gratefully acknowledge and thank our loyal
advertisers and thousands of readers. One more thing that hasn’t
changed since 1981 is our promise to provide news, information and
advice for window coverings and interior fashion professionals.
Cheers!
Howard Shingle
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