P/Kaufmann merges divisions

-- Home Textiles Today, 8/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

New York — P/Kaufmann Inc. has folded three of its four decorative fabric divisions into one unit that will operate under the Braemore nameplate.

The merged divisions are Braemore, Bloomcraft and Western, which "while healthy, we saw that we don't need four converting business to serve our market," Ron Kaufmann, president of P/Kaufmann Inc. The P/Kaufmann division will continue as a separate decorative fabric supplier, he said.

The company currently sells manufactured home fashions product to a limited retail distribution base but is planning to expand both in window coverings and top of the bed, each sourced off-shore.

Bob Appelbaum is president of Braemore. Neil Paladino has been named executive vp for sales for the division and joins the P/Kaufmann executive committee. Appelbaum previously was the corporate head of the three divisions. Long-time Kaufmann executive Lee Kabat has been named president of Bloomcraft, and Michael Kaplan will be executive vp.

Emily Mann has been named vp, woven design, and Frank Dodero, director of print design, for Braemore. Victoria Armentrout, formerly design director of Western, has been named vp, woven design for P/Kaufmann Fabrics.

The recently acquired license for the Thomas Kinkade decorative fabric collection will now be marketed under the Braemore name, Kaufmann said.