Hilasal Mills heads back to the beach

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/21/2004 12:00:00 AM

EL SALVADOR —

Hilasal Mills, North America's third largest towel manufacturer, has returned to the beach towel business under its own operation. For the past two years, that business had been handled under agreement with Brumlow Mills.

"I'm delighted to once again have our sales, design and marketing under one roof, allowing us to maintain control from manufacturing to the delivering of final product," said Jose Eduardo Sol, chief operating officer of the mill, which has facilities in El Salvador and Mexico.

The new subsidiary, Hilasal USA, will be based in Miami with a showroom in New York at 295 Fifth Ave. Brumlow will continue in its role as Hilasal Mills' U.S. representative for solid color bath towels under the name Fashion Towels of Georgia, according to Larry Price, the mill's U.S. director of sales.

Hilasal USA is focusing on fiber-reactive and dye sublimation as well as extension products, Price said.

"We're going to expand our placements in beach, and we're going to be very innovative," he said.

Several new introductions target consumers in the 18- to 30-year-old range. Among them are product extensions such as beach towels packaged in backpacks with color-coordinated straps, "beach-in-a-bag" packs and beach towels in modified shapes, such as the Skate towel, which is shaped like a skateboard.

Hilasal will stick to its focus on mid-tier and department store retailers, although it may also explore catalogs, Price said. The company already has a network of sales reps in place and does not currently plan an expansion, he added.