Karsten

BLUMENAU, Brazil —Karsten, the second largest home textiles company in Brazil, is known worldwide for creating high-quality, innovative designs in bath towels, beach towels, bathrobes, bed linens and hotel products.

Founded by the Karsten family in 1882, the publicly held company has annual sales of US$ 140 million. The domestic market represents 53 percent of its business, and exports account for 47 percent; North America, Europe and Latin America are Karsten’s largest export markets. Karsten has a design, marketing and sales subsidiary in the U.S., with its own New York showroom and a warehouse and distribution facility in North Carolina.

Karsten is a completely vertical manufacturer, and the company is well known for its unique designs, vivid fiber-reactive printing and innovative research and development. The company’s Nanocotton towel, for example, is based on the science of nanotechnology. Beginning at the sub-molecular level, the manufacturing process used in the Nanocotton towel creates a fabric with a balanced combination of softness, smoothness and volume while maintaining a high level of absorbency.

Under the leadership of CEO Carlos Odebrecht, Karsten is continually investing in new technologies, machinery and facilities. The company is opening a new spinning mill as well as a new cut-and-sew facility in the Brazilian state of Ceara. Karsten designs and manufactures towels for all market segments and is especially well known for its partnerships with department stores, upscale specialty stores, catalogs and the hotel industry.

Karsten’s expertise in design and product development allows the company to cater to the special needs of each retailer by offering fashion-forward designs as well as specialized product development for private label brands. The company is on the cutting edge of the most important technologies, machinery, fibers and finishing procedures available in the world.

For Your Information:
Key Contact: Darlan de Azambuja Hirtenkauf,
senior vice president and COO
E-mail address: dahirtenkauf@karstenamerica.com
Telephone: 212-448-4222
Fax: 212-684-4346
Web site: www.kartsen.com.br