Coelima faces global competition

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/1/2001 12:00:00 AM

Coelima

Guimaraes, Portugal

President: Jorge Seabra

President & ceo, Coelima USA: Jim Ceitlin

Principal business: bedding

"The U.S. has competition now; a lot of countries are producing the same type of goods," said Jim Ceitlin, president of Coelima USA, the 12-year-old U.S. division of Coelima that handles the merchandising, design and sales for the parent company. "It's not just U.S. competition, but worldwide competition."

Coelima was established in 1922 and produces bedding, which includes such product categories as percale, flannel, sateen, damask stripe, jacquard, matelasse, as well as solids, prints and yarn-dyes. About 80 percent of Coelima's total production is geared for export, Ceitlin said. And of that 80 percent, about 35 percent to 40 percent heads to the United States.

Coelima has one factory in Portugal that employs 1,100 people, he said, and it's a totally vertical mill. Additional sales offices are located in France, England, Italy and Spain.