Home Textiles Today - August 11, 2003

Up for grabs and fiercely contested, as Pillowtex winds down its business and prepares to slam the doors shut on its century-old operations, are a sheet and towel business worth about $675 million in 2002 — much of which may now move off-shore no matter who ends up picking up the business.

• Business Today
• Job future doubts put crimp in outlook
• Same-stores end July on an uptick
• Textiles take pounding in July

• Fabrics Today
• Joan Fabrics restructures, focuses on marketing
• Old partners team up at Heritage to grab share
• Swatches

• News
• Ikea gets in touch with its softer side
• P/Kaufmann merges three divisions under Braemore
• White goods rivals clean up quickly
• '03 is B-blanket bummer
• Countdown to Pillowtex sell-off
• Clock ticks for retail picks
• SanFilippo joins HTT
• Seeing promise in orphaned bath rugs
• Retailers are suddenly just a little bit nicer
• Merchants: 'Everything must go...now'
• Retail briefs
• Croscill rocks into solid color towels

• Opinion Today
• The next chapter
• An interesting yarn

• People Today
• Bill Coffey retires
• Smith Capel, 39, died suddenly in India
• Webster joins Target
• Pillowtex advert team forms own business
• Midwest Textile Assn. finalizing golf outing
• Sadinoff scion steps up
• Ruttenberg promoted