Decorative Fabrics Set Tone at Heimtextil

Suppliers Take Quality Meetings, Air Wishes for More Traffic

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 1/15/2007 12:00:00 AM

Frankfurt, Germany —

Despite a drop in attendance, a number of American decorative fabrics suppliers reported fairly good business during Heimtextil here last week.

At the same time, fabric firms catering to the upper end of the market are beginning to discuss moving to the January Maison et Objet, which their customers say has a larger critical mass.

"While we haven't stopped and it's been great — we are exploring the potential of Maison et Objet. We have to identify who shows there and what products," said David Klaristenfeld, vp, Fabricut. "We didn't think the show here would be strong, but we had the right people in the booth," he added.

For DeBall, Stephan Sayer, director of upholstery fabrics, said, "We're very excited by the response, especially from our North American manufacturers and jobbers. There was lots of interest and we had good feedback on our new pricing."

Rockland Mills president Stan Fradin said, "We did a little bit more than we anticipated. And we got new customers out of the mix. Heimtex is still a viable venue for us; it sets the tone for the year."

"It's been fair. Everyone says traffic is down," said Lee Silberman, senior vp of Duralee. "Everyone is saying Maison et Objet is the place to be. The main thing for us here is to see our current distributors, and if we pick up a couple of new ones, it is a bonus."

Mike Shelton, president of Valdese, noted, "The show was very poorly attended by our existing customers or the potential customers we hoped to see. In contrast, Shelton added, "We succeeded in our efforts to source new product for our VIP brand."

"It hasn't been bad; we had positive reaction to our new decorative fabric export lineup," said Steve Schroeder, director of international sales, Quaker.