NEW YORK—“Covington finished its best order month in September and October since 2008,” says Greg Tarver, CEO.

“This made up for a slow start in January and February,” Tarver explains.

Today, the company’s top three markets are retail mom and pop stores—where the biggest growth has occurred for the company followed by furniture manufacturers and jobbers. 

The Southern Furniture Market in High Point, N.C. and the general U.S. economy is also helping Covington exceed its goals with a better economic environment according to financial news reports.

As a result, Tarver is investing in new business development through Donald Rifkin, a company executive with an MBA and extensive experience in marketing, he points out. “We are investing in a research department with a digital archive so we can look up old images and create samples for our customers,” Tarver adds. He feels these moves will help further develop a customer base “we didn’t even know we had before,” he said.

Covington has been developing outdoor markets in the marine and canvas areas for example.

“We have finally found our stride with consistent design that is paying off big with our jobber business,” Tarver feels. He said that small-scale patterns in jacquards and dobbies are selling but “prints have been phenomenal for the last three furniture markets.”  

Covington was always a major print converter and was not the first to see the China tide rising for woven exports to the USA but today, “we’re Asia-centric in our sourcing with 65-75 percent of our sourcing in Asia,” Tarver adds. He also points out that Mexico is growing as a sourcing area for Covington. He says that  “lead-time from Mexico is very good and some product is now made in the USA; great price/value means logistic efficiency today.”

Tarver points to distressed damask and Ikat prints as examples of current Covington best sellers. The company is focused on natural fabrics with textured base cloths, he says. “Washed fabrics is a category that continues to do well for us—anything with a relaxed look sells well today.”

One of the highlights of Covington’s resurgence as a vendor comes from the ‘Jennifer Adams’ brand which Tarver terms “already a great success.”

“Jennifer has brought us a new customer base which drives bodycloth sales in the furniture business for Covington. Her designs filled a void in our line, namely the West Coast California look—soft and not too cluttered. She has created a true, sincere partnership with design and sales.”