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PDRA Joins Pacific Home Fashion Fair in 2000 The Paint & Decorating Retailers Association (PDRA), St. Louis, MO, has joined as host of the Pacific Home Fashion Fair in a combined trade show for the western U.S. market scheduled for January 26 to 27, 2000. The announcement was made by Messe Frankfurt, Inc., Atlanta, GA, and G & W McNamara Publishing, St. Paul, MN, organizers of the event. The combined show will be held at the Rio Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, and is timed to coincide with the Surfaces trade show. The objective of combining the established Pacific Home Fashion Fair (PHFF) with a new PDRA-sponsored event is to create a one-stop shopping venue for buyers and more cross-selling opportunities for the exhibitor base, according to a statement from show organizers. Both events are intended to target related audiences: interior designers, independent paint and wall covering retailers, window coverings retailers and large retail merchandisers. Skandia Seminar Schedule Released Skandia Window Fashions, Tallahassee, FL, has announced the 1999 schedule for its national "Discovery" seminars. The seminars begin January 12 and run through April 9, 1999. This year's schedule includes sessions held from San Diego, CA, to Charlotte, NC. They are taught by Nick Conroy, Skandia's national training coordinator and shutter specialist. Also hosting the seminars are Pete Stewart, regional sales manager, and Richard Aucoin, a skilled professional with accumulated firsthand shutter experience. The Discovery schedule features Discover the Difference-SunQuest Vinyl Shutter Seminar and this year includes two additional seminars: Discover the Expert in You and Discovering Sales Persuasion. Discover the Expert in You is a half-day morning session hosted by Conroy that covers increased sales and profits, general installation tips and troubleshooting. Discover Sales Persuasion is a half-day afternoon session hosted by Stewart that covers presenting versus persuading, order taking versus influencing and cold reading. For a complete schedule, information or to register for any of the seminars held in Arizona, California or Utah contact Debra Perry at (800) 523-1250, extension 211. For information or to register for the Discover the Difference-SunQuest Vinyl Shutter Seminar held in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas contact Lanieca LaRue at (800) 874-3168, extension 116. Moveable Arch Garners Product Award The Duette® EasyView[TM] moveable arch from Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Broomfield, CO, has won in the Home and Garden category of the Colorado's Most Innovative New Products Award for 1998 sponsored by The Denver Business Journal. Each of the winners in the 10 categories were featured in full-page articles in the October 30, 1998, issue of the publication. The Duette EasyView was introduced to the market in early September 1998. It allows for half-circle perfect arches and eyebrow arches to be covered in most Duette honeycomb fabrics. It is curved to fit inside the window frame and can be raised or lowered by hand or with an extension pole. The Hunter Douglas Luminette Privacy Sheers® was a winner in the 1997 awards. (D&WC, February 1998.) DDI Holds Midwest Conference Decorating Den Interiors (DDI), Montgomery Village, MD, held its Annual Midwest Conference last November in West Lafayette, IN. Interior decorators from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky and Wisconsin attended. Conference attendees had the opportunity to take part in eight seminars focusing on all aspects of the home fashions industry. Additionally, conference arttendees participated in a supplier market featuring more than 30 top international product manufacturers showcasing the latest in home fashion trends. Sue Pelley, DDI's international spokesperson, updated attendees on her appearances on television home and garden programs including "Decorating with Style," and "Interior Motives." Two Somfy Branches Relocate Somfy Systems, Inc., Cranbury, NJ, has announced new locations for two of its international offices. Somfy Canada has moved to new, larger facilities while remaining in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The new location includes both office and warehouse space and will allow it to better service its customers and conduct more in-house training seminars. Somfy Canada can be contacted at (800) 66-SOMFY, or (905) 564-6446. Somfy Mexico has moved to a new location in Naucalpan, near Mexico City, Mexico. The new 900-square-foot facility will accommodate future growth while warehousing an inventory of motors, accessories and controls. The site also houses customer support computer equipment. Somfy Mexico can be contacted at 011 (525) 576-3421. Steptoe Moves to New Facility Steptoe & Wife, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has relocated to a designer district in Toronto. The move doubles the 27-year-old company's space to more than 40,000 square feet including a new showroom, which features its complete line of Curtains Up[TM] and Bravo drapery hardware. The new facility is located at 90 Tycos Dr., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6B 1V9; in Toronto, (416) 780-1707; outside Toronto, (800) 461-0060; fax: (416) 780-1814. 3 Day Blinds Opens 3DBU 3 Day Blinds, Inc., Anaheim, CA, has intensified and extended its employee training program into 3 Day Blinds University (3DBU), its official institution for personal and professional development. The formation of 3DBU builds on the company's strengths in internal operations and sales staff knowledge, according to Pam Gill, dean of faculty and students. "We feel the formation of 3DBU offers the type of environment that will encourage our employees to learn and grow," Gill adds. To enroll in the program, prospective sales associates and managers first must undergo a series of tests to establish their aptitude for reading, writing, math, computer skills, and communication and interactive skills. Once accepted, a student is assigned a class schedule made up of an accelerated educational training program. The current curriculum is structured for those in the sales/customer care end of the business, but Gill says the university will expand to encompass all departments. 3 Day Blinds is a major manufacturer and retailer of custom window coverings operating a network of more than 165 showrooms in 13 states from California to Missouri. More Industry Suppliers On-line Two more industry suppliers have announced sites on the World Wide Web. Textol Systems, Inc., Carlstadt, NJ, has taken its 20 years of experience in manufacturing drapery workroom supplies and made it available on the Web. Its home page, www.textol.com, features a full range of Velcro® fastening systems. Its sister site (www.draperysupply.com), however, offers a full range of workroom products from acetate fringe to zippers and everything in between including cord cleats, grimp, pleater tapes, scissors and transparent cord. Site visitors can view black and white product photographs, obtain quantity pricing and order on-line. It offers a secure site that accepts most major credit cards. David Dee and Co., Miami, FL, has launched the first phase of what it intends to be a comprehensive interactive Web site featuring a virtural design gallery and on-line sample request capabilities. Currently the site (www.daviddee.com) provides detailed information on the company, its line of quality printed and jacquard fabrics, markets and custom site-specific and product-specific design capabilities. Boston, Atlanta Shows Scheduled for Spring The Boston Curtain & Drapery Show and the International Window Coverings Expo are on tap as the main spring events in the window coverings industry. Both shows are co-sponsored by Messe Frankfurt, Inc., Atlanta, GA, and Window Fashions magazine. First up is the Boston Curtain & Drapery Show scheduled for March 5 to 7 in Providence, RI. The show will be held at the Rhode Island Convention Center. The exhibit hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 6, and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 7. The three-day International Window Coverings Expo will open Saturday, March 27 and run through Monday, March 29 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. About 300 exhibitors will display window coverings and related industry products, according to the show producers. For more information on these shows contact Messe Frankfurt at (770) 984-8016; e-mail info@usa.messefrankfurt.com, or Window Fashions at (651) 293-1544. Fashion Designers Pick Colors for Spring It was spring in New York during the first week of November. During Fashion Week for Spring 1999 Pantone, Inc., Carlstadt, NJ, conducted its annual 7th on Sixth Designer Color Survey, which polls fashion designers on their color choices for the coming season. Although neutral hues of gray, white and beige were seen on the runway, colors often were vivid, daring and heavily saturated, it reports. "It's a welcome departure from the somber tones of the past few seasons," says Lisa Herbert, Pantone's vice president of corporate communications worldwide. "As the millennium approaches, people are looking to end the century on a cheerful, optimistic, colorful note." The color choices of noted designers including Bill Blass, Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Oscar de la Renta resulted in a five-color palette: sachet pink (Pantone 15-2216 TC), fresh, lighthearted and tender; ultramarine (Pantone 17-4037 TC), exciting, intense and brillant; citrus (Pantone 14-0955 TC), sunny, warm and enlightened; brillant rose (Pantone 18-1945 TC), seductive, playful and assertive; and piquant green (Pantone 17-0235), bountiful, lavish and in harmony with nature. GenCorp Sells Residential Wall Coverings Business GenCorp, Fairlawn, OH, has sold its residential wall covering business to Blue Mountain Wallcoverings Inc., Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, in order to focus on commercial wall coverings. Blue Mountain is a privately held contract printer in the residential wall coverings industry known for its high-quality printing capability. The company now will manufacture and market the former GenCorp residential brands while working closely with GenCorp to ensure a smooth and seamless transition for customers, according to a company statement. Kevin McMullen, president of GenCorp's Decorative & Building Products division, which included residential wall coverings, said the sale was one of several recent actions the company has made. In August 1998, GenCorp acquired Walker Greenbank's UK-based Brymor and Muraspec commercial wall covering operations. "Is is consistent with our strategy to focus more aggressively on commercial wall covering, which is one of our key core businesses," he said.