Allure Home Creation

Gaby Colquitt

Vp, design and marketing

Hits: "Hits were our modern elegance Belmont and Hilton full bath collections. They are high-end looks. Other hits were most of our new freestanding shower curtains."

Misses: "A miss for us was Hilda. It's a very retro bath collection. It's probably too retro for today's market."

Avanti Linens

Michael Tauber, President

Hits: "Our regional Southwest, Coastal and Urban collections were huge hits, and so was our Tommy Bahama collection."

Misses: "A miss was our Crochet line. It was definitely not a hit."

Bardwil Lenox Bath

Linda Kulla

Vice president

Hits: "Our Pearl Essence collection was a hit in all components. The retailers absolutely loved the towel and the robe and slippers, which were new for us. Very well received.

The less traditional Christmas jacs were also a huge hit; they responded to them because they were specific to season but not necessarily holiday."

Miss: "Winter Greetings, a sheer printed towel with pinecones and ribbons, was a miss. It didn't excite the buyers like our other holiday offerings."

Caldeira USA

Carolyn Winderbaum

Product development manager

Hits: "Our entire European Velvet collection was an absolute hit; especially our newest constructions woven with Lurex. Other hits include our tonal chenille collection, with zebra and damask designs being the favorites. Also our Organic collection, including several constructions woven with linen, silk and bamboo."

Misses: "Misses included our suede collection, with the exception of a few metallic printed designs, and our new solid collections, with the exception of fashion-forward designs with metallic yarns. The buyers seemed to be looking for more fashion forward products this market."

Croscill

Julie Brady

Office of the president

Hits: "In bedding collections White Label and Croscill Cotton, an all-cotton, washable, duvet-driven program, were top winners, as were Safari, a trend right animal pattern and Avalon, a contemporary black and taupe design.

"In window, Crystalline Sheer and the interlined Opulent Drapery were standouts."

Misses: "In bedding, Westlake was just not colored right, and in window, Trenton Plaid failed in its execution."

Elrene Home Fashions

Bryan Siegel

Chairman and ceo

Hits: "Table linens hits included Holiday Luxe. This collection focuses on the glitz and glamour trend. The Echo line was another hit; the new collection from our Echo licensed brand includes a fashion forward color palette of placemat accessories using felt and polyurethane constructions.

"In soft window, Palais and Shades were hits. Palais features a new innovation in cut and sew technology. The curtain's silhouette is inspired by a ball gown using taffeta and embroidery at the top. With energy efficiency being more and more important, our Shades collection was extremely well received."

Misses: "The miss in table linens was Monster Beware. Halloween is a very strong holiday for cute novelty patterns – however, Monster Beware missed the mark by not focusing enough on the traditional Halloween icons.

"The Wylie valance was the miss in soft window. While we had good feedback on our new valance patterns, Santa Fe might have missed the marked. The contrasting coloration in this pattern might not have been as livable as we initially thought."

Ex-Cell Home Fashions

David North

Vp, marketing development

Hits: "In table linens, our hits included Winter's Holiday, an engineered print with a traditional holiday feel featured in a cotton rich damask, and Scarecrow & Pumpkin Patch, heat-transfer printed placemats.

"In bath, a hit was Bloom, a fresh and happy floral that has a good cause associated with it: the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

"Another bath hit was Showcase Accessories, a classic tortoise shell design in clean, modern shapes."

Misses: "In table linens, our miss was the North Pole collection of novelty placemats for the holidays. A bath miss was East Arbor. It is too mainstream."

Foreston Trends

Dick Gould

Vp, national sales manager

Hits: "There were so many things that people liked. We had some vinyls that were hot, and we had 18 new coordinated spring colors and patterns that had a very strong response."

Misses: "There was some disappointment with some of the new embroidery introductions."

Hallmart Collectibles

Jesse Galili

Vice president

Hits: "Urban Medallion with a large medallion motif on an open field drew a lot of attention, a textured cotton fabric with a uniquely treated cotton base with an antiqued soft denim finish. Also Coral Bay, part of the embroidered cotton collection, with an oriental feel in a brown interpretation of the coral story."

Misses: "Any collection in jacquard woven fabric."

Lawrence Home Fashions

Gail Walfish

Merchandise manager

Hits: "The eco-friendly Sky Collection's three new nature-inspired woven patterns – Landscape, Gingko and Elm – a cotton/bamboo blend with coordinated printed cotton/bamboo sheets.

"Also Era from our Maison de Vie Collection, a horizontal woven jacquard with chenille accents in a combination of menswear and geometric motifs."

Misses: "Caress and Vega, two feminine patterns."

Lintex Linens/ Espalma Cobra

Kurt Hamburger

President, managing director

Hits: "The big hit for us was the new line of multicolored jacquard kitchen towels and tea towels, size 22"-by-32" at $3 each wholesale.

"And in bath we had very good success with our Sunsational beach towel. It is multiple colors and weighs 20 pounds per dozen. It can retail for $14.99."

Misses: "In table linens, we had a miss. Our New Floral print wasn't successful."

Loftex USA

Gretchen Dale

Chief operating officer

Hits: "The Mid Summers Night's dream collection of beach towel geared toward home use [patio, sun room, etc.] – is a total hit. In bath, the Evolution Performance towel because it moves in a high-tech direction."

Misses: "In beach, a towel with glitter printing. In bath, an exfoliating towel."

Maples Rugs

Arnold Stevens

Vice president

Hits: "Most of the patterns made on our new printing machine were definitely hits. That includes Pat's dogs, Sky and Blue. When we showed people the photograph next to the rug, they said, 'Oh my goodness.' They just couldn't believe the quality."

Misses: "We had a pattern called Big Floral, which is an oversized flower that needed to be scaled down. It's a print."

Mohawk Home

Jim Quist

Vp, sales

Hits: "Our hits included: Modern Luxe Woven Rugs, which are made in high-pile woven construction; VelvaLux scatter rugs, which are nylon/olefin patterns; Beckley & Bishop scatter rugs, a group of sea grass/cotton woven patterns; and our holiday and seasonal doormats, which included several new designs and constructions."

Misses: "The misses were the new juvenile shaped hand-hooked Fun Rugs and the un-backed cotton flat-weave solid-colored scatter rugs."

Next Creations

Michael Vidra

President

Hits: "This is the first time we have had major market commitments. Our No. 1 bed is Chablis, a more transitional design with clean lines. Palazzo is an opulent jacquard and Anjelica is a jacquard with golden appliqués inspired by an 18th century French chateau.

"Illusion, a transitional contemporary jacquard, and Charleston, an embroidered bed with yarn dyed sheets, also were strong."

Misses: "Audrey, a black and white bed with a black and white plaid reverse; and Noble, a large medallion on a linen/cotton jacquard."

Park B. Smith

Park Smith

Principal

Hits: "All product categories in our recycled fiber products — bedding, window, table linens, shower curtains. Also the kilim collection of rugs and placemats."

Misses: "The line of upper-end placemats in hand made fabrics and metallics reached just too far."

PHI

Mark Grand

President

Hits: "All categories of quilts — embellished, modern, prints. Most styles in our Silk Allure collection."

Misses: "Dabney, a pieced quilt with embroidery that was too similar to others we have had in past seasons."

TexStyle

Dan Cacella, Evp, sales

Evan Melnick, Vp, window

Hits: "In slipcovers, Montauk and Diamond, two new embossed suede looks, were strong; and strengthening basics with colors and makeups was a winner."

"In window, Rodin, an embroidery on faux silk, in lined and unlined versions; and Eros, an urban look in a chenille jacquard with a grommet top."

Misses: "In slipcovers, Raleigh, an embossed stretch cover, was too soon for the market."

"In window, Silhouette, a print on sateen."

Veratex

Dale Talbert, Vice president

Hits: "Banyan, a subdued global African look; and Belcourt, a reversible comforter in red and chocolate were winners."

Misses: "Cassandra and Luciano we thought were beautiful, but no one bought them."

Westgate, Bedding Division

Tom Coughlin, President

Hits: "In bedding, Magical, a jacquard with four embroidery motifs; and Pia by Wesley Mancini, a highly embroidered jacquard in a transitional floral with accents of animal skins.

"In window, stripes were important with Caley Stripe on a bark weave with a grommet top, and Capri Stripe, an organza overlay on a printed stripe satin. Frisco, a button cuff panel; and Tango, a crushed satin with a faint pinstripe also were strong."

Misses: "Intersection, a contemporary embroidery on taffeta in steel gray was a miss in bedding.

"In window, we had too many silk-look damasks and June, a positive/negative contemporary leaf design was a miss."

Westgate, Decorative Pillow Division

Neil Zuber

Executive vp

Hit: "A big hit was our Tropical Pillow collection of palm trees and pineapples. The cicada pattern was especially strong. Retailers also liked our Quilted Secret Silk collection of solid-colored faux silk pillows featuring different quilted patterns. It comes in 54 colors. All were a big hit, especially Secret Check and Secret Full Moon."

Misses: "We had a printed group for the tweener market and nobody liked it. Nobody likes prints anymore. They used to be fantastic, but people don't like them anymore."

WestPoint Home

Nancy Golden

Vp, marketing & brand management

Hits: "Our StayBright in bed and bath was very well received. Everybody's excited about the opportunity to have a product on their floor that you can use bleach and the color stays true. Charisma continues to be a wonderful brand for us. Rachael Ray bed, bath and basic bedding has been placed. Our Moppine [Rachael Ray dish towel] is selling unbelievably well."

Misses: "Tactix, our sports towel, didn't work."