|
INDUSTRY
NEWS
MAJOR MARKETING PROGRAM LAUNCHED
UNDER WESTGATE BRAND
Home Furnishing International, LLC, New York, NY, the parent company
of American Decorative Fabrics (ADF), Home Fashions International
(HFI) and Westgate Interiors, announces the launch of a major marketing
campaign under the Westgate brand. “Our company has expanded
dramatically, and we feel the time has come to unify our marketing
efforts under a single brand, Westgate,” explained David Li,
CEO.
Unifying the company’s marketing and corporate identity under
Westgate will emphasize Home Furnishing International’s vertical
structure, Li pointed out. “Westgate has an incredibly rich
history in the interior design and home décor industry, dating
back to 1865 with its Payne Fabrics division, and currently sells
to more than 40,000 designers and decorators throughout the country.
We feel using the Westgate brand as our corporate identity will give
us a more powerful presence in the industry and enhance our competitive
strengths,” he added.
The company was founded in China in 1991, and currently owns and operates
six weaving mills, one print plant, one dyeing and finishing facility,
three finished product facilities, one trimming plant and a state-of-the-art,
computer-aided design studio in China. The Chinese division, Shanghai
Orient West, employs more than 2,500 people and currently exports
decorative fabrics, apparel fabrics and finished home fashions to
more than 65 countries.
Home Furnishing International entered the U.S. home décor market
in 1995 with the formation of ADF, a decorative fabrics supplier to
the furniture industry, jobber market and retail fabric trade.
The HFI division debuted in 2001, providing bedroom ensembles and
window treatments to leading retailers in major channels of distribution
including mass merchants, national chains, department stores, specialty
retailers and catalogs. HFI added a decorative accessories division
in 2005, expanding into decorative pillows, table linens and pet beds.
The company purchased fabric jobbers Westgate Fabrics and Payne Fabrics
in 2004, extending its reach into the interior design, architecture,
hospitality and contract markets.
HUNTER DOUGLAS ANNOUNCES TRIAD
FALL PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM
Hunter Douglas, Upper Saddle River, NJ, has announced its 2006 fall
promotional program featuring three components: a continuation of
the Hunter Douglas Holiday Sales Event, a Child Safety Promotion timed
to coordinate with Child Safety Month in October and an Energy Efficiency
Program.
This integrated program is designed to attract consumers to aligned
dealers this fall and winter with a combination of limited-time consumer
rebates, compelling messages and a strong call-to-action that should
effectively engage consumer interest and ultimately drive sales.
The Hunter Douglas Holiday Sales Event: Celebrate the Season, Celebrate
the Savings runs from October 1 to December 15. Consumers are provided
with a mail-in rebate form after they purchase one or more of the
Hunter Douglas window fashions featured in the offer. Participating
dealers will receive a merchandising kit that includes a TV commercial,
radio and print ads, postcards and point-of-sale materials for use
in promoting the savings to their customers.
The 2006 Child Safety Promotion ties in with Window Covering Safety
Month and runs from September 15 to November 15, and offers a free
upgrade to the LiteRise® cordless lifting system with a purchase
of Duette® honeycomb shades. Dealer materials—including
a poster, sell sheet, hang tags and print ads—are included in
the kit.
To communicate the ways that Hunter Douglas window fashions can help
reduce energy costs, the fall program kit also includes hang tags
and full-color and black-and-white print ads with the energy efficiency
theme.
LUTRON INCREASES ITS ROLLER
SHADE COUPLING CAPABILITY
The Sivoia QED™ (Quiet Electronic Drive) controllable shade
system by Lutron Electronics Co., Inc., Coopersburg, PA, now provides
the ability to group multiple roller shade panels on one electronic
drive unit for enhanced control and greater efficiency.
The Sivoia QED roller 200CW controls up to six shade panels from one
electronic drive unit, providing all the same features and benefits
as other shades in the Sivoia QED line, the company states. For commercial
projects with large windows and banks of windows, this means installing
multiple individual drives is not necessary and therefore, energy
usage is reduced, it adds.
A single 200CW drive can operate a shade measuring up to 200 square
feet, weighing up to 35 pounds. The system installs in a small 4.75-
by five-inch pocket with minimal 1.5-inch, symmetrical light gaps
on both the left and right sides of the shade.
GLEN OAK ADDS CUSTOM CLOSET
COMPONENTS Glen Oak Lumber & Milling, Montello,
WI, now supplies its customers in the window coverings industry
with professional-grade closet and storage system components in
addition to shutter components and specialty-shape shutters. As
of May 2006, Closet
Builder ™‰ precision-crafted components are manufactured
for Glen Oak Lumber by Space-Metrics USA, LLC, a Glen Oak subsidiary
located near the corporate headquarters in Wisconsin. In addition
to the Closet Builder products, the company is offering a dealer
training program.
“Closet sales are a natural fit with shutter sales—both
require measuring and installation and a homeowner would love to
be able to purchase both closets and shutters from the same supplier,”
said Tom Talbot, CEO. “A number of our shutter component and
specialty-shape customers are eager to capitalize on the emerging
closet and home organization market,” he added.
Closet Builder components are produced in 3/4-inch thick thermofused
melamine and are suitable for home or commercial use, the company
states.
HANES INTRODUCES ENERGY
SAVING DRAPERY LININGS
Hanes Fabrics, Conover, NC, has introduced a new laboratory tested
drapery program marketed as the TempAssure™ Lining Group.
This program was developed in recognition of the growing need to
conserve energy and reduce the high costs of heating and air conditioning
in homes and commercial area, the company states.
Through the TempAssure program, Hanes Fabrics now offers drapery
linings that increase the R-value of a window up to 300 percent.
Tim Allen, marketing manager, explained that the company tested
six combinations of Hanes Premium Drapery Linings and the results
indicated that the added surface finishes and heavier construction
of these linings, when used along with the drapery fabric, created
additional areas of trapped air that prove to be of significant
value in preventing thermal loss.
DECORATING PARTNERS EXPANDS
SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL TRIM SERVICE
Decorating Partners, LLC, Sarasota, FL, has introduced a new service
for interior design professionals around the globe. Starting August
20, the company began offering designers access to its Swarovski
Crystal Trim service for window treatments. The company also announced
the launching of its new corporate Web site.
“Interior designers looking to differentiate their work from
the competition use our custom-made Swarovksi Crystal Trim to dazzle
their clients. Crystal trim is not only a novel idea, but something
our clients absolutely adore,” said Diane Lane, president.
Samples of Swarovski Crystal Trim are available to qualified design
professionals. Photographs of individual patterns are presented
on the company’s new Web site: http://www.crystaltrim.com.
HICKORY HARDWARE CENTRALIZES
OPERATIONS Hickory Hardware™, Portland,
TN, is centralizing several of its functional operations into a
new facility in Nashville. The move is part of an overall investment
in operational efficiencies to deliver its customers best-in-class
service and to combat continued increases in costs of key commodities
used to manufacture the Hickory Hardware line of decorative and
functional hardware, the company states.
In addition to housing its corporate offices, the new premises will
include a 300,000-square-foot distribution center, featuring a materials
handling system designed and built by sister company FKI Logistex.
The new distribution center is designed to take advantage of Nashville
as a central location for the company's North American supply chain.
Hickory Hardware is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer
of decorative, functional and industrial hardware. It markets to
the retail, wholesale distribution and OEM furniture and cabinetmaker
industry.
|
