NEW YORK, New York — Home furnishings fabric sales on the web are continuing to grow, especially on websites sponsored by existing brick and mortar retailers like Osgood, Joann and Calico, according to Lance Garcy, executive vice president, P/Kaufmann, one of the major suppliers to web retailers.

He observes that accounts which added web commerce to their regular in store sales have doubled their business with P/Kaufmann since going online based on the fact that retailers can draw business outside of their conventional marketplace, 30 miles and more from their store locations. Goods sold on the web start at under $7 per yard but will cover all price points up to $23. “The web attracts the younger customer who is not as keen to shop in the store,” Garcy said. O’Sullivan Films was founded by the inventor of the rubber heel, Humphrey O’Sullivan in 1896

He points out that jobbers were upset when converters sold independent retailers but with these retailers, the industry would not have survived, he pointed out. “There might be some objections to web retailers just as there was to other retailers but web is a growing part of our business. There are at least six legitimate online retailers we do business with today.”
P/Kaufmann actually has a separate agreement which online retailers must sign in order to do business with this well known converter.

Other major suppliers to the internet retailers include Richloom Fabric Group, Covington Fabric & Design, Swavelle/Mill Creek, Robert Allen, Duralee and Edgar Fabrics. Pindler & Pindler is also a supplier to Osgood in Springfield, MA., which maintains a website called ‘fabricstoreonline’ and there are a dozen others including  www.onlinefabricstore.net; www.fabric.com; www.thehomefabricstore.com; www.homefabricsonline.com; www.housefabric.com; www.onlinecommercegroup.com; www.carolefabrics.com; www.fabriccarolina.com; www.fabricguru.com; www.upholstery-fabrics-store.com and  www.decoratorsbest.com.    

One supplier likes the fact that he can sell closeouts on the websites of these retailers and get a better price than how closeouts might be traditionally dumped on the market. “E-tailing has gotten more bang  for the buck when it comes to selling closeouts,” he said.

The sites promote branded goods but do not sell up-market lines which are still carefully controlled by their principals. However, Garcy said that P/Kaufmann has special agreements with web retailers which spell out minimum purchases in order to be a customer of P/Kaufmann. For example, no retailer can purchase less than 50 half pieces of fabric or 25 full rolls and be a customer of P/Kaufmann, Garcy stated. This eliminates rogue sellers of fabrics who act as nothing more than middlemen and who really have no skin in the game. In other words, they get the order and then they try to fill it.

Garcy said that problems emerge internationally when web retailers start selling goods which have been promised on an exclusive basis to wholesalers in specific countries. P/Kaufmann tries to police this activity with pretty good results, he said.