Fabricut broadens S. Harris div.

By Carole Sloan -- Home Textiles Today, 11/13/2000 12:00:00 AM

TULSA, OK -Looking to broaden the reach of its high-end S. Harris division, parent company Fabricut looked at what was selling in the trade-only showrooms.

"About half of what was selling in the showrooms hadn't had exposure elsewhere," said Nina Butkin, vice president, design. "And we wanted to expand on the S. Harris identity without abandoning some of its signature looks-exotic and whimsical-but surrounding those with S. Harris transitional looks."

The result is "Couleurs du Soleil," a fabric program organized by color palettes with names such as Espresso, Clay, Ruby and Raven and organized into 15 sample books sold as a collection. Not every color is shown in every fabric.

The entire focus, said Harvey Nudelman, Fabricut's president, "was to put together a collection of incredible quality with a selective product mix. We launched a new logo for the 100-year-old company."

One of the unique elements of the Couleurs program, Nudelman explained, "is that we provide a memo sample service with a two-day turnaround."

Since its initial distribution in the last 30 days, Nudelman reported "the response so far has been incredible-both from the acceptance of the program and the amazing amount of orders coming in every day."