Caldeira takes full ownership of China operation; readies for growth in U.S. division

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/20/2012 12:56:10 PM

New York - U.K.-based home textiles group Caldeira, parent of Calderia USA and Caldeira China, has acquired the 30% share of its former business partner to gain total ownership and control of its Chinese division, also known as Hao Sheng Textiles.

The Chinese division has been reclassified as a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) and will continue to trade from its 250,000-square-foot factory near Hangzhou.

Caldeira China has also invested in a new management team, adding a new general manager, operations manager, and chief accountant.

This expansion comes as Caldeira USA division experiences a jolt of sales growth. The company said the New York-based operation is expected to more than double its business by yearend. Sales of both the company's UK-made and China-produced decorative pillows "have rocketed, following successful new ranges launched in 2012."

"This is great news for Caldeira USA and really exciting for our customers as we now have total control of the factory in China," noted Carolyn Winderbaum of Caldeira USA. "There is now no doubt in our customer's minds that they are dealing with the factory directly and it's no longer necessary for them to have a sourcing office in China to go direct to the source. Our new team will take the business to the next level and will improve our sourcing and manufacturing capabilities significantly."

The company said it has "now supplied more than half of the U.S.'s top 10 home textile retailers and has also increased sales in Canada in 2012."

Company/group ceo, Tony Caldeira, explained this recent "success follows five years of hard work by the team, first establishing the company and now growing it. When we first set up the U.S. division in 2007, nobody predicted the scale of the difficulties which would be faced by the global economy and the home textiles industry. This makes the team's effort even more remarkable and I would like to thank both Lindsey Bonney and Carolyn Winderbaum in particular for all their support so far."

But there is still much to be done, he added, "and it's important that the company builds on the momentum it has created. We aim do this by hopefully expanding our offering with our existing clients, winning new business with new clients and expanding our window division."

In other news, the parent company Caldeira has recently starred in its own two-part prime time BBC TV documentary. Presented in two one hour specials, "The Town Taking On China" film highlights the difficulties in re-establishing manufacturing in the west, following years of steady decline due to globalization, and asks if home textile manufacturing is likely to return to the west with prices increasing rapidly in Asia.

The film's crew followed Tony Caldeira for a three-month period at the company's UK and Chinese factories to document his attempts to increase the company's British manufacturing business.

The documentary also examines the human side of a global home textile business with members of Caldeira's UK and Chinese teams changing places and visiting each other's country.