Maples finds its softer side with help from Invista

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/6/2012 11:16:59 AM

At the New York Market - Maples Rugs is giving its bath and accent rug offerings a softer side this market with the launch of two new Invista-branded fiber collections.

Looking to offer "the softest fiber in the market," Maples has developed high-end bath and accent rugs that employ Invista's new "TruSoft" fiber brand.

Making these new products even more special is that Maples developed two proprietary processes - one for bath and the other or accent -- to be able print designs on these ultra-soft rugs.

Available in a wealth of colors, Maples' TruSoft collections come in solid, tonal border and overall pattern looks that mix and match easily by palette - both for the bath and accent offerings.

Wade Maples, co-owner of Maples Rugs, explained to HTT that the TruSoft rugs are designed to target a higher-end customer.

A 21-by-34 bath mat is priced to retail for $29.99 and a 24-by-40 bath rug is set at $39.99.

On the accent rug side, a 21-by-24 will retail for $19.99, while a 30-by-50 is set at $39.99.

The TruSoft-branded accent collection from Maples is dubbed "Hooked on You" as these pieces reflect a natural fiber look and hand-hooked construction - even though they are actually machine-made printed rugs produced domestically at Maples' Scottsboro, Ala.-based headquarters, like their bath rug counterparts.

"We created a proprietary printing technique for this collection that is done in the details of the printing," Maples noted. "It makes the loops look like they were put in there by hand."

Maples Rugs sought to develop these new, higher priced goods for market in response to "the movement away from opening price points in the marketplace," Maples said. "All of our new introductions for this market fall under better and best. The opening price point segment is pretty much full. So everything we wanted to show is about innovation and better product."

Also new at Maples for market are new design trend stories for its accent rug line. Employing a variety of tufted constructions - level cut and loop, cut and loop, loop and loop, etc. - these rugs come in an equally diverse number of patterns. Design themes include: World Bazaar, Natural Elegance, Tea Garden, Beacon Hill, and Good Earth.