NEW YORK, New York —Integrated Textile Group started life in 1986 under the watchful eye of Joe Romano principal but his son Josh (28) joined the company six years ago after graduating SUNY Binghamton-NY and is slowly taking the reins of power from his dad. “I like building relationships with our customers around the world and making deals with them where everyone is happy,” Josh says. Josh is going to China two to three times a year and dad is not complaining. A stock sized roller shade program including the motorized mechanism is their latest find in China. “We have two divisions of the company; one is dedicated to fabric lines that we represent from ITOCHU of Japan and other lines from India, China and Pakistan,” Joe explains. ITOCHU is a trading company, which deals in 105 countries and is the foundation of ITG. “The fabrics we sell include velvets, jacquards, yarn dyed and piece dyed fabrics for multi purpose use and upholstery. We also have a sheer line from Turkey,” Joe says. “We sell these lines to converters and contract specialists in the USA. We have a unique product for contract in our Indian made three-pass FR blackout lining. We would still like to have an outdoor line in the mix as well as a faux leather line. We’re also in discussions with an Indian mill to fill the void left by the loss of Microfibres in the flock market at around $6 a yard,” Joe explains. Joe’s wife Michel is also in the company. She represents an Indian embroidery line to high-end jobbers. “Our second division is geared to retail sales of readymade bedding, towels, shower curtains and curtain panels that we sell these lines to distributors. Josh focuses in on the readymade lines and saves Joe some long trips in the process. Joe and Josh split the sales end of the business 50/50. “We’re looking into Vietnam, Bangladesh and South Korea,” Joe points out. Vietnam is waiting for duty free status in bedding and window treatments in the USA,” Joe says. Prior to starting the company, Joe was selling US made fabrics in the USA and exporting these lines to 54 countries but this opportunity has disappeared with the decline of the American textile industry. “The Chinese changed this equation. India’s coming in strong now with better goods than China but equal in the value equation,” he says. “Turkey is still tops in sheers and with the Turkish Lira dropping like a stone, Turkish towels are now coming on strong.”