Bloomie's reveals holiday theme

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/18/2003 12:00:00 AM

New York — Bloomingdale's home departments will celebrate the upcoming holiday season with Italian flair, basing its collection on a Casa Italia theme, which hits stores for the fall.

Furniture and domestics are at the core of collection, which has product either made in Italy or is inspired by it, and which includes ceramics, electronics and food, said Lester Gribetz, vp, home fashion. "It drifts into Christmas, but the nucleus is still Italian."

Bloomingdale's has invested big with this collection, with domestics buys well over $1 million, he added, and the floor will be set by the end of August. The group, which focuses on golds and autumn tones, will also be included in the catalog that drops September 14.

The collection is "very transitional for domestics," he added. "There's nothing period in feeling. It's very updated."

Gribetz also said that its East Meets West promotion, which it launched in March, was "a smash. All of the unique things are gone. It was a very well-priced collection."