Caldeira expands dec pillow capacity

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/9/2012 11:30:47 AM

New York - Thanks to an upsurge in sales of its signature velvet decorative pillow styles both at home in the United Kingdom as well as from American customers of the company's U.S. division, Caldeira recently expanded its sewing capacity by more than 50%.

The expansion was made at Caldeira's headquarter facilities in Liverpool, England, and the operations were up and running by late February.

Also supporting this growth is the creation of 20 new manufacturing positions for new decorative pillow production.

Company founderTony Calderia said a strong Heimtextil market "and a healthy order book on both sides of the Atlantic" have given the company "the confidence to invest in the new sewing floor."

Added Carolyn Winderbaum, who manages the New York showroom for the five-year-old Caldeira USA division: "The strong demand for Caldeira's luxury, fashion-forward pillows has resulted in this expansion and this will help our customers by reducing lead times and increasing flexibility."

It's also "good news for our U.S. manufacturing partners," Winderbaum continued, "who will get more work as a result of Caldeira's continuing growth."

During the New York Home Fashions Market this week, Tony Caldeira told HTT his company continues to see growth for the coming seasons.

"This market, we've had more meetings than ever before, and I think retailers want more fashion but also more value, and we're able to meet that need," he said.

While Caldeira's dec pillow assortment is a step up in quality because of its velvet constructions, "retailers are willing to take more of a risk. Even though we launched our U.S. division during a tough economic period, we've been able to get into six of the top 10 retailers [in North America] with vendor numbers, tests, roll-outs and [or re-oders]. For us, the U.S. market still has the most potential, not just because of scale but because there's a call for newness in home fashions."