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-- April, 2002 -- GRABER PROMOTION CLARIFICATION The “Something Special From Graber®” promotion ad in the January 2002 issue of D&WC failed to include the expiration date of the promotion. These special upgrades apply to orders placed between January 1, 2002, and March 31, 2002. If any readers have questions regarding this promotion, they should contact their Graber distributor/fabricator. HUNTER DOUGLAS ACQUIRES EMPIRE WINDOW FASHIONS Hunter Douglas Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, has acquired Empire Window Fashions, Chatsworth, CA, from Ruben and Sharon Sarkissian. Empire, a fabricator of custom window coverings, will continue to serve its own customer base and will operate as a separate entity within Hunter Douglas. Ruben Sarkissian is retiring, while his wife Sharon will stay on in a key management role. Bryan Clabeaux, who previously served Hunter Douglas Inc. in a number of important management capacities, has been appointed general manager of Empire. “As an exclusive Hunter Douglas fabricator for many years, Empire Window Fashions has served its customers exceedingly well, and we intend to continue that tradition of service,” said Marv Hopkins, Hunter Douglas president and CEO. “We are grateful to Rueben and Sharon and their employees for the many years of support they have given Hunter Douglas, and we wish Rueben all the best in his well-deserved retirement.” KENSINGTON HOSTS FIRST FABRICATOR MEETING Kensington Window Expressions™, Suwanee, GA, held the first of what will be an annual meeting for its national network of licensed independent fabricators. The meeting was held January 28 and 29 in Las Vegas, NV. “The two-day meeting was very successful,” said Doug Barr, Kensington business unit manager. “It brought all of us together for the first time to discuss our achievements in 2001 since the debut of the Kensington collection and its simplified marketing program. We were able to solidify objectives and challenges for 2002 and beyond.” Kensington Window Expressions manufactures and markets a streamlined brand of window fashions targeted exclusively to independent retailers and design professionals. Fabricator principals and other important personnel from the five fabricators who signed on with Kensington in 2001 attended. They included: Marty Rakitin, president, Bamboo Abbott Florida Corp., Pompano Beach, FL; John Paul, president, House Of Eathan, Spartanburg, SC; Michael Quadhamer, president and CEO, Krohn’s Coverings, Inc. (KCI), Colorado Springs, CO; Polet Senesac, president, Oxford House, Oxford, IN; and Bill Williams, president and COO, Texton, Inc., Garland, TX. “These committed professionals are essential to making the Kensington mission of filling a market niche for an exclusive brand available only through independent retailers and design professionals a reality,” Barr said. The meeting was informal in nature and included presentations by a full complement of Kensington employees on a variety of issues from the company’s participation in regional trade shows to product enhancements, customer service support and transportation. COMFORTEX WINS 2001 ADEX AWARD, ADDS NEW VANES ONLY PROGRAM Stardust™ Soft Sheer Verticals from Comfortex Window Fashions, Maplewood, NY, has earned a 2001 ADEX Award for Design Excellence. Stardust garnered an award in the Gold category in the Window Treatment/Sheer Drapery Category. The ADEX Awards, sponsored by Design Journal magazine, are given annually for superior product design of contract and residential furnishings marketed for specification through the architecture and design trade. ADEX stands for Award for Design Excellence and is the largest and most prestigious awards program for furnishings in the architecture and design industry. Comfortex also has announced a Vanes Only program for Stardust available to blind fabricators. The Stardust Vanes Only program allows vertical blind fabricators to use their own vertical track systems with Stardust sheer vertical vanes. The Vanes Only option is one of three choices fabricators and retailers have to purchase Stardust: completely assembled, do-it-yourself vane assembly and now the Vanes Only program. “Installers are able to install Stardust blinds with a track in which they are familiar. Vertical blind fabricators are able to carry a sheer vertical line and earn higher profits using their own track all without adding any additional inventory,” stated John C. Fitzgerald, Comfortex executive vice president. ELMAR INTRODUCES NEW SIGNATURE Elmar Inc., Willow Grove, PA, has recently changed its name to Elmar Window Fashions™. Reflecting this change is a new logo and new tagline, “New Dimensions in Fabrication & Service.” The company celebrated its new name and look with a special gift package sent to all of its current customers. Elmar Window Fashions was founded in 1946 and is a full-line fabricator of Hunter Douglas Window Fashions. TODAY’S WINDOW FASHIONS ADDS THREE FRANCHISES Today’s Window Fashions® has opened three new franchises, one each in North Carolina, Texas and California. Wende Stewart and Roy Reynolds are located in Huntersville, NC. Their business opened in February. Olivier Bonnard opened his franchise in Houston, TX, in January. Mathew Larson and Yvette Cardwell are located in Tracy, CA, and opened for business in March. Today’s Window Fashions is a national franchiser of shop-at-home window covering businesses. The company now offers franchise opportunities to existing window coverings businesses that wish to become part of a larger organization. Using the “strength in numbers concept,” the company currently has exclusive territories set up in 13 states. OXFORD HOUSE EXPANDS FACILITIES, PRODUCT LINE Oxford House, Oxford, IN, is expanding its operation with the purchase of a 10,000 square-foot building in Boswell, IN, to be used for the future production of interior plantation shutters and woven woods. Added to the company’s product line will be a new state-of-the-art vinyl composite shutter called Poly Design, a non-yellowing, non-cracking, non-warping interior plantation shutter with 2 1/2- and 3 1/2-inch louver options. Poly Design shutters also will be available in arches. Having the availability to make eyebrow and difficult arches will help the program grow as well as help decorators solve a tough design challenge with the popular look of plantation shutters, the company says. “We look upon the new Poly Design shutter as a fine piece of furniture and plan to ship them within five days to retailers and designers who sell window coverings throughout the Midwest,” a company spokesman said. INNOVATIVE OPENINGS DOUBLES SHOWROOM CAPACITY Innovative Openings, a Colorado-based window coverings and awning retailer, announces the expansion of its Fort Collins, CO, showroom. The showroom expansion moves Innovative Openings to a higher exposure location within the same building and doubles the size of the previous showroom. (See D&WC, April 1999, page 30.) The new 2,550 square-foot showroom features an expanded selection of drapery fabrics and full-size window coverings, awning and motorization displays. The address and phone number of the new showroom will remain unchanged at 5748 S. College Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80525. The showroom expansion will give Innovative Openings the largest window coverings showroom in northern Colorado, the company says. The showroom expansion completes a three-year program to upgrade all three Colorado store locations to better serve these markets. The Boulder and Englewood showrooms have been relocated and expanded in the last three years. CUSTEMERS.COM INTRODUCES DESIGNER MARKETING PLAN CustEmers.com, Bethesda, MD, has introduced a new marketing program for interior designers and decorators that it says will enhance design professionals’ customer relationship management to foster repeat and referral sales to favorite customers. The company is a Web-based provider of customer relationship management and e-marketing tools for small and independent business owners. The company’s latest offering includes an integrated application that includes four key marketing features: custom Web page design and promotion of designers’ businesses, e-mail capabilities to capture customer addresses and communicate with customers more effectively, postal mail program for more efficient direct marketing to customers and a database for customer follow-up and sales tracking. CustEmers.com also announces an exclusive arrangement with Tapestria, a Web site for designers to purchase fabrics, that offers co-op rebates to designers. Design professionals can earn the entire cost of their marketing program through credits applied to fabric purchases from Tapestria, the company says. “By providing a full-service marketing program via the Internet, designers can communicate more effectively with their clients, some 80 percent e-mail users. Design professionals can also monitor their sales better and promote and run their businesses more efficiently—all with the click of a finger,” says Steve Bursten, president of custEmers.com. “After years of research, we’ve discovered that the tried and true practices that have helped business owners build customer relationships for years still work today. Now we’ve taken it one step further to help business owners sustain the momentum of trust and good service they’ve built with their customers—and to use the Internet to do it better than ever before.” BOMAR NAMED CSN PARTNER, INTRODUCES NEW LOGO Bomar Trimming Inc., Lake Worth, FL, has been named a CSN Partner by D. Swarovski & Co. The designation recognizes Bomar for its high quality products and outstanding design and is awarded only to companies who exceed stringent selection criteria. Bomar, a leading manufacturer of decorative trimmings to the home furnishing industry, is the sole trimming manufacturer honored by the designation. D. Swarovski & Co. is a leading producer of cut crystal. During Showtime 2002, Bomar introduced a line of decorative trimming incorporating crystals from Swarovski Components. The collection has been enthusiastically received by its customers, and additional crystal lines are planned for the near future. The collection includes brush fringe, cord, bullion, tassels and tiebacks. In a separate announcement, Bomar has introduced a new company logo designed by Ampersand Design, an innovative graphic design firm based in Doylestown, PA. “For us, the new logo they developed symbolizes the renewed emphasis on product design. Our service and quality is already recognized by the industry; within two or three years, Bomar’s products will also be identified by their unique aesthetic value,” says Kevin Pope, Bomar’s COO. DRAPER, INC. CELEBRATES 100 YEARS This year marks the centennial of Draper, Inc., Spiceland, IN, a manufacturer of projection screens, window shades and gymnasium equipment. Founded by Luther O. Draper in 1902 to manufacture window shades for schools, the company is still owned and managed by Draper descendants. The company’s anniversary-year theme is “Build on Our Experience.” In 1957 Draper’s grandson, Luther Pidgeon, secured a patent on an inexpensive classroom projection screen, marking the company’s entry into the screen business. Today, projection screens and related products are the largest component of Draper’s business. In 1989 Draper introduced FlexShade Systems, a second line of window shades designed for the commercial market. In addition to its Spiceland facilities, about 40 miles east of Indianapolis, Draper has manufacturing operations in Beverly, OH, and sales offices in Fullerton, CA.; Blackwood, Gwent, United Kingdom; Nacka, Sweden; and Hong Kong, China. Draper products are shipped to dealers throughout the United States and more than 75 foreign countries. DIVERSITY OF HOME IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS REFLECTED AT CANADIAN SHOW With the theme “From Start to Finish,” the 97th annual Canadian Hardware & Building Materials Show/Décor Showcase reflected the trend toward full-spectrum home improvement shopping, organizers say. The show was held February 3 to 5 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The show is produced by the Canadian Retail Hardware Association (CRHA) and partner associations including the Paint and Decorating Retailer Association (PDRA). The organizers united to present one show, which in past years were three shows serving overlapping markets. (See D&WC, August 2001, page 14.) The show’s 1,000 booths embodied everything one would expect in a traditional hardware and building supply store and more. Included among the established offerings of fasteners, tools and hardware was a home improvement section and a burgeoning paint and décor showcase geared toward expanding the sites and sales of savvy home improvement retailers. Travel concerns and recession-wary budget cuts may have reduced the participation of some traditional exhibitors from the United States, organizers say, but for many of the show’s 16,985 attendees, the upsurge in new Canadian vendors became a windfall. Many buyers took the opportunity to uncover new products and suppliers not seen elsewhere. This year’s show may have been a tighter affair itself, but that’s not to say that the business of doing business was negatively affected. “The actual retailer attendance was up by five percent over last year, which says to me that dealers have had a good year and are anxious to keep the momentum going,” said Bob Elliott, CRHA president. Elliott is confident the show will experience a resurgence in vendors next year. “The Canadian retail home improvement industry has never been stronger or more vibrant. There are a great number of buyers and dealers who value CHS for product lines and suppliers not found at other shows. And finally, as the U.S. economy rebounds and travel programs are re-instituted, the future bodes well for CHS 2003.” Next year’s show is scheduled for February 2 to 4 at The National Trade Centre, Toronto, Ontario. AMERICAN DOWN ASSOCIATION RESTRUCTURES UNDER HFPA The members of the American Down Association (ADA) have agreed to join the Home Fashion Products Association (HFPA) and serve as the American Down & Feather Section of the HFPA. Leo Hollander, chairman and CEO, Hollander Home Fashions, will service as the chairman of the new section. He now serves as a member of the HFPA board of directors. “There is a tremendous synergy between HFPA and ADA and a clear benefit to those overlapping companies who now only have to pay one organization,” Hollander says. The first meeting of HFPA’s American Down & Feather Section was held in early February. The group will begin by focusing on standards and testing, public relations and government affairs. Members agreed to the following mission and objectives: To foster and further, by all lawful means, the common interests of the down and feather industry (dealers, buyers, sellers and processors of raw feathers and down) in the United States; to promote a spirit of cooperation among its members in advancing the common interests of the industry; and to increase the amount and improve the quality of service to users of the products of the industry and to the public. TECHNIKU RECEIVES TWO WCMA AWARDS Techniku, Inc., Denver, CO, has received two prestigious industry awards. The Window Covering Manufacturers Association (WCMA) has awarded Techniku’s StyleLight‘ LC100 for battery-operated automation of cellular and pleated fabrics with two 2002 Product Innovation Awards including the “Best New Safety Innovation for a Specialty Application” and the overall “Best New Safety Innovation of the Year.” The StyleLight LC100 operates most cellular and pleated fabrics in a rectangular format. It has a wide range of standard features that enhances fabrication, installation and usage. It was designed to meet the unique needs of fabricators, designers, installers and homeowners, the company says. |
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