Barth and Dreyfuss Grows

Burbank, Calif.—With business increasing over the past six months, following gains in retail placements for shipment of new programs this fall, Barth and Dreyfuss of California is building up its category offerings to support growth.

The recent fallout of competitor The Cecil Saydah Col. (CSC) has contributed in part to Barth and Dreyfuss' boost. After experiencing an admittedly soft second quarter, Barth and Dreyfuss found, at CSC's expense, new opportunities in key retail channels for the third quarter, particularly at mass-through mid-tier department stores. And as a result, the company was also able to bring on board several former CSC sourcing and accounting staffers.

"We had the good fortune of finding a group of very qualified people and snatching them up," said Tom Barringer, executive vice president, sales and marketing. “Having been from the Los Angeles area like us, Cecil Saydah was a very worthy competitor, and it made for a good fit to hire some of their former people.”

Bill Cashel, formerly senor vice president of sourcing for CSC, has been assigned to the same post — a restructured position for Barth and Dreyfuss. He reports to Buddy Munday, CEO.

Gulshen Kaur, formerly logistics administrator at CSC, has been hired to hold the same post — also restructured — at Barth and Dreyfuss. She reports to Cashel, who was also her supervisor at CSC.

And Anghela Ormanyan has been hired as staff accountant, the same post she held at CSC, and a restructured post for Barth and Dreyfuss. She reports to Karthi Ghopal, chief financial officer.

Barringer added that the company is currently interviewing more CSC alumnae.

The recent growth spurt has also encouraged Barth and Dreyfuss to expand its offerings in table linens and kitchen rugs. Whereas kitchen textiles were historically the company's core category, Barth and Dreyfuss has recently upped its table linens offerings, which, like kitchen textiles, now comprises 40 percent of the total business.

Bath products and kitchen rugs together make up the remaining 20 percent.

“Kitchen rugs is a category we're really starting to grow now through more sourcing, as well as some new domestic alliances,” Barringer said.

During the New York Home Textiles Market, the company will be previewing its recently developed lines for holiday 2005.

“As we go into market in October, we've moved up our whole seasonal presentation by a whole market,” Barringer explained. “We'll be previewing harvest and Christmas '05 next month in New York.”