Glenoit makes leap into accent rugs

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/8/2002 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

Glenoit Floor Fashions is breaking out of the kitchen with three new collections of washable accent rugs set to bow later this month at April market.

Glenoit tested the waters last fall with a few area rug skus but decided that if it wanted to truly expand beyond its core kitchen rug franchise, it needed to make a full-blown statement in area, according to Kevin Kennedy, president.

"It's really three big attempts" to move into accent rugs, said Kennedy, who noted that the collections leverage Glenoit's existing chromajet facilities. "We think of ourselves as a print specialist, and we're trying to marry that into larger sizes of product."

Sizing and price points are standard across the lines: 20.5" x 34" for $19.99, 24" x 40" for $29.99 and 25" x 50" for $39.99.

The pride of the litter is Cotton Classics, a chromajet print on cotton positioned as an affordable fashion item available in 11 styles ranging from florals to geometrics and from contemporary motifs to Asian-influenced patterns.

"The printing creates a texture story. We didn't want to fool with commodity-type styles because who needs more of that?" Kennedy said.

Cotton Classics also is available in multi-striped floor runners at $19.99.

The 10-gauge, densely tufted nylon Silhouettes collection features tonal, two-color textural designs. The company will introduce up to 10 patterns, all either florals or geometrics.

Textured borders give the tufted nylon FrameWorks collection added dimension. A variety of single-sheet, heat-transfer panel prints — Blossoms, Irises, Leaf Collage, Toile, Autumn Leaves, Acanthus, Rose Garden Damask and Herbs — are framed by either neutral-toned Greek key or scrolled borders.

"This is a denser collection than what's typically found in the market," Kennedy said. "It's really a cash-and-carry fashion statement."