LEDEGEM, Belgium – Five principal lines have terminated their relationship with Purcell International Textile Group Inc., Algemene marketing consultant Lucas Callens said.

Algemene AFW in Ledegem, Belgium; Bruvatex-Cositex in Heule, Belgium; Zensilk Exports Ltd in Bangalore, India; Penelope in Bursa, Turkey and Decoviz Productos De Decoracao Lda. in Caldas di Vizela, Portugal have severed ties with the Hickory, N.C.-based agent to tailor products more efficiently to customer demands.

''These five companies have made together the decision to change the USA marketing approach because the market circumstances are different now,'' Callens said in a formal press statement, which Sipco Publications translated from Flemish.

''We need more direct communication lines because we want to make our customized product developments in less time for our customers in the USA,'' he said.

The five companies will rely exclusively on their individual agents in each territory.

''[They] are expected to visit more customers than before," Callens said. "This will give the five mills a more direct input for their high-end collections. The final meaning is to optimize the artistic and technical creativity of the collections and get a better mix with these five mills,'' he said.

Callens said a New Jersey office will coordinate customer service, which he pledged would not suffer in light of the changes.

He added that the five companies would soon open showrooms at New York and High Point.

All five mills exhibit at Decosit.