Product Innovations Drove Strong Bath Market

By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 6/13/2005 12:00:00 AM

New York — —

New York — The bath category proved to be a hot place in home during 2004, earning a 2.8 percent gain in sales to $3.7 billion.

Drawing their design inspiration from the spa and luxury markets, suppliers breathed new life into the solid color bath towel category by employing differentiated fiber technologies like bamboo, modal, silk and zero-twist, among others.

“Future growth areas I can see are new lifestyle and product innovation niches,” said Reinaldo Chaves, U.S. sales representative for Felpinter Sofil USA, who singled out zero-twist, bamboo and Lyocell as some of the best examples of recent high-tech fiber innovations.

“Whether it was with a super-soft, anti-bacterial, scented or anti-allergenic (technology), our market became somewhat like the apparel industry with new technology and new fibers being used to create a buzz,” Chaves continued. “This is what we are focusing on because there is no future for us in just Egyptian cotton or Supima towels.”

In agreement was Salo Grosfeld, president, Miami-based J.R. United — the third largest importer of bath towels with $69.5 million in sales last year. Grosfeld noted that the solid color towel market, which he estimated as comprising 85 percent of total towel sales, “is saturated and there needs to be a reason to buy towels besides price.”

Dan Harris, vice president, sales and product development, at Des Plaines, Ill.-based Revere Mills, said these “better goods from offshore, with new constructions and fibers, are having an impact.” His company — the fifth largest U.S. importer/supplier of bath towels with $45.8 million in sales — last year added to its offerings an India-made tri-blend bamboo, silk and cotton bath ensemble collection.

That impact hit several sides of the industry last year — and at its core, sourcing.

In preparation for a post-quota marketplace, bath category players — suppliers and retailers alike — spent much of 2004 scrambling. Quotas for goods like terry towels ran out early, leaving some overseas suppliers forced to shut down and much product left by the wayside, unable to enter the country.

Some U.S. suppliers could not fulfill orders, and retailers took the product they could get.

While this kept demand high, it didn't help the trend in price deflation, which suppliers said hurt the bath industry last year — somewhat stunting it from greater growth.

Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw Living, which has been in the bath rug business for the past two years since acquiring Georgia Tufters, said the category suffered “enormous” price deflation in 2003 and 2004.

“For bath rugs, I would say sales dollars are off 4 to 5 percent and up on unit growth 7 to 10 percent for the industry,” said Jeff Meadows, division vice president. Shaw Living is the fourth largest U.S. supplier of bath rugs with $50 million of sales in 2004.

“Price deflation in the bath rug area over the past two years was enormous,” Meadows continued. “Price deflation was due to competition and reverse-auction type formats. In general, there were dollar declines in wholesale shipments as imports increased market share for bath products, especially towels.”

Distribution Channels
2004 Total: $3.7 billion, up 2.8%

Merchandise Mix