Lacey Rug Mills

-- Home Textiles Today, 2/26/2001 12:00:00 AM

Cartersville, GA

Established in 1938, Lacey Rug Mills had been strictly a domestic manufacturer until six years ago when it got into the importing business with China and India. Aside from its reversible cotton rug from India, Lacey more recently added to its offerings India- and China-made hand-woven rugs-which will be introduced at spring market in April.

"We were one of the originators of the reversible cotton rug. But it wasn't long before our competitors got into that business, too, except they were producing them offshore," said Karen Townsend, design director. "And we realized that it can be made much more inexpensively in India."

Today, Townsend said, Lacey's import business has grown to become 30 percent of the company-"but we are going to keep it there." Lacey recently invested in new tufting and dye equipment for its Georgia factory.

"More and more people are doing business overseas, but we want to stay here," Townsend said. "Domestically, we have more control, better response to our customers and it's just easier to turn product around from here."