Veratex flashes new bedskirt

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/21/2003 12:00:00 AM

VAN NUYS, CA —

The name is provocative, and the product, Veratex hopes, will revolutionize the bedskirt category.

Veratex's new "Hike Up Your Skirt" aims to solve the quandary of drop lengths in a world where mattresses come in a wildly divergent variety of sizes.

"This is the only bedskirt good from 14 inches to 21 inches," said president Avi Cohen. "People say there is no innovation in the home textiles industry. This is innovation."

The patented three-piece bedskirt — two sides and a front — attaches to the box spring with a grommet and screw piece that allows consumers to determine exactly how much drop they want to the floor. Inverted pleats make the piecing seamless so the white of the box spring doesn't peek through, Cohen said.

"It's not just the sizes of the box springs that consumers have to worry about. In today's beds, sometimes the mattress is higher in the front than the back," he said. "This is a complete innovation."

The cotton/poly adjustable skirt is launching in seven colors, and the palette will be expanded later this year. Retail will be $39.99 queen and $49.99 king. Packaging includes not only a how-to photographic display on the insert but a computer disk that walks consumers through the setup process. The disks also will also be co-branded, flashing the nameplate of the retailer that sold the product, Cohen said.