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HUNTER DOUGLAS PRESENTED GOOD DESIGN AWARDS
Provenance™ woven wood shades, Latitude™ Arch Window Treatments
and Beautiful Windows: Stylish Solutions from Hunter Douglas Window Fashions
from window covering manufacturer Hunter Douglas Inc., Upper Saddle River,
NJ, recently garnered Good Design™ Awards.
The Good Design Awards are one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious
design competitions and are hosted by the Chicago Athenaeum, a distinguished
cultural institution and the only museum of architecture and design in the
United States. Award winners also were displayed at the Athenaeum from March
8 to April 10 before becoming part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Good Design bestows international recognition upon designers and manufacturers
for advancing new and innovative product concepts and originality and for
stretching the envelope beyond what is considered standard product and consumer
design. The jury granted Good Design Awards to more than 180 industrial
design projects and 34 graphic designs from 17 countries.
KENSINGTON JOINS SOLATECH PARTNERSHIP ALLIANCE
Kensington Window Expressions™, manufacturer and marketer of a streamlined
brand of window fashions targeted exclusively to independent retailers and
design professionals, has joined a strategic partnership alliance with Solatech,
a leading provider of software for the window coverings industry.
This partnership provides Kensington fabricators and dealers with the Solatech
Window Covering Software System, designed to make a business better organized
and easier to manage. This system offers computerized pricing, allowing
users to apply discounts and generate quotes, confirmation orders, invoices,
purchase orders, open order reports and sales reports. The system interfaces
with most accounting software. (See D&WC, March 2002, page 16.)
Under the agreement, Solatech, which has a customer base throughout the
United States and Canada, will be supporting the Kensington product line
effective April 24, 2002.
ON-SITE™ MOVES TO NEW, LARGER FACILITY
On-Site Drapery Cleaning & More has relocated its corporate offices
to a newly built facility just minutes from its previous Hayden Lake, ID,
location. The new building is located in the resort town of Coeur d’
Alene, ID. The new address is 7600 Mineral Dr., Coeur d’ Alene, ID
83815. Telephone numbers have remained the same: (208) 772-6077; (800) 233-7452;
fax: (208) 772-5604. The company’s Web site is still www.on-sitecorp.com
and e-mail is on-site@on-sitecorp.com.
Aside from the corporate offices, this much larger facility also houses
the company’s state-of-the-art On-Site University, one of two the company
operates. (See D&WC, March 2000, page 84.) The newly enlarged facilities
will allow for the inclusion of many more window coverings, including a
greatly expanded selection of Hunter Douglas window fashions. Warehouse
facilities, including shipping and receiving, also will be located in the
new building.
HUNTER DOUGLAS HOLDS FIRST WINDOW FASHIONS GALLERY
CERTIFIED TRAINING
Hunter Douglas Window Fashions, Upper Saddle River, NJ, held its first Window
Fashions Gallery Certified Trainer meeting at the Hunter Douglas University
in Broomfield, CO, in February. At the meeting, 60 dealers representing
35 of the current 74 Window Fashions Gallery retailers attended instruction
sessions on the new Window Fashions Gallery program, a commitment by the
retailer to making the consumer’s product selection and purchase a
totally satisfying purchase experience.
Emphasis was placed on providing the finest customer service, superior product
knowledge and communicating the benefits of the products to the consumer,
and exceptional window covering installation. Other topics included business-building
initiatives, use of the Internet as a communications and support tool, advertising
and marketing support.
The next Gallery Trainer Certification meeting is scheduled for this month.
WINDOW FASHIONS INC.’S WEBB PRESENTS SEMINAR
Rose Webb, sales administrator for Window Fashions, Inc., Cheswick, PA,
presented her motivational sales and marketing seminar, “Passion Is
the Key to Success,” at the American Textile History Museum on March
14, 2002.
The seminar, sponsored by the Window Covering Association of America’s
Northeast Chapter, included a review of Graber and Nanik products, as well
as the latest developments in hard window treatments and strategies in networking
and customer focused selling.
WINDOW BRIGHT ADDS NEW SCREEN LINE
Window Bright Corp., Woodstock, GA., has added a new exterior line of Ghost
Screens, a unique insect and solar screen for double-hung windows. Ghost
Screens have two unique patented features, which allow the screen to be
brought down when needed and hidden when not. They are available in custom
or stock sizes and can be installed from the interior or exterior of the
home.
IFG DIVISION CATERS TO WINDOW TREATMENTS MARKET
Interface Fabrics Group (IFG), a division of Interface Inc., Greensboro,
NC, has formed IFG Windows to provide fabrics and fabric-related services
to manufacturers of window blinds and shades. IFG companies are major suppliers
to the contract market and have been manufacturing fabrics for the vertical
blinds market for a number of years.
The formation of this new business unit expands IFG’s commitment to
window treatment manufacturers. With a network of primarily domestic mills,
IFG Windows is able to offer a wide array of fabrics and services from a
single source and is introducing fabrics for Roman, roller, pleated and
cellular shades and window shading combinations.
IFG, known for its Terratex® brand of environmental fabrics for the
contract market, is working to bring this brand to the window treatments
marketplace. Terratex fabrics are made of recycled material and are recyclable.
They are manufactured in facilities striving continuously to reduce their
impact on the environment through energy, water and waste reduction and
emissions control. IFG Windows fabrics are made in the same mills as is
Terratex and follow the same sustainable standards.
DESIGNER SIGNS LICENSING AGREEMENT WITH BREWSTER
Men’s fashion designer Ron Chereskin and Brewster Wallcovering Co.,
Randolph, MA, recently entered into a licensing partnership to produce coordinating
wall coverings for the anticipated Chereskin Home Collection.
According to the terms of the agreement, Brewster will manufacture borders
and wallpapers to coordinate and complement the newly developed Chereskin
Home Collection, which to date includes tabletop, bedding, dinnerware and
bath. The Chereskin Home Collection is scheduled for introduction in Spring
2003.
VISTA SALES MEETING SETS ATTENDANCE RECORD
More than 300 dealers from all over the country, including a contingent
from as far away as Hawaii, gathered recently in San Antonio, TX, for the
ninth annual Vista sales meeting, for Vista Window Films, a unit of Solutia,
Martinsville, VA.
The three-day conference comprised a review of 2001 company successes by
Ken Vickers, president of CPFilms; new product presentations; an unveiling
of marketing plans and strategies for 2002; hands-on dealer roundtable discussion
groups; and a keynote address, “High Performance Selling,” by
Don Hutson, chairman and CEO of U.S. Learning.
New products included a Vista safety film Mirage Safety and a high light-transmission
film SectraSelect 75. Both films are available to dealers nationwide with
further new film products to be announced soon.
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