Kiriyat Malachi, Israel —Flocktex is meeting the challenge of diminishing flock resources with a proportionate increased demand for its high end ‘Impala’ fabric line by adding a third production unit here, according to Mayer Zeiler, Principal. With the departure of Microfibres in the USA and Alpha in China, there are only a few companies left in the world aside from Flocktex who make flock upholstery fabrics; Spectro Coatings Corp. in Leominster, MA. USA; Antecuir /Aquaclean® in Alicante, Spain and Flokser in Istanbul, Turkey. Of course, there are several left in China producing the cheap goods. Most people know Mayer Zeiler as the ‘guy with the white beard’ but those who really know Mayer Zeiler say he is extremely passionate about his business and approaches everything connected to it with a messianic zeal. Those who know Mayer will tell you that when he makes his pitch, he becomes a man who is very hard to say ‘no’ to. His son Shaya, VP, Marketing is also cut from the same last. If you’re lucky enough to be invited to tour the Flocktex factory floor, you can see the result of Mayer Zeiler’s passion. The factory is fastidiously clean, right down to the filtering systems designed to keep flock particles out of the employees’ lives. The equipment is of recent vintage, especially the gas fired oven used in the finishing process. (Everything else in the factory must stay a secret or Mayer will never talk to you again.) The move to a third line at Flocktex is the result of a longtime success in the market. A quick check of the market will tell you that nobody else is expanding the flock business at this time. Flocktex has been able to create a global market for high quality flock beginning with the introduction of ‘Impala’ in 2002. Impala starts at $14 a meter with a 1,000-yard minimum per color in what used to be an overproduced China driven commodity market of $4 goods. “More than a few distributors and converters walked away from Flocktex products because they were and still are the most expensive in the market; those who got behind the Flocktex products, including the customer of course, have been successful,” Mayer states. As a result, some of Flocktex’s best customers were unhurt by the recent departure of Microfibres from the market but other companies who published furniture catalogs featuring Microfibres product have had the added burden of removing that literature from the market, Zeiler explains, after a recent European tour of his best customers. “We didn’t buy that much from Microfibres since we are the exclusive user of Flocktex in Germany,” says Joe Rott, Director of Fabric Buying at Himolla. “We were a big customer of Microfibres in the 1980’s and 1990’s but Himolla decided a long time ago to trade up and go with Flocktex.” Rott says his Himolla’s business is normal and the German Home Shows in Cologne had good results this year. About 75 percent of Himolla’s business is in real leather in the 15 Euro range and the balance is in fabrics including Alcantara® and Flocktex products in the 10 Euro range, he says. In the USA, Architex has become a successful user of Flocktex products for the designer trade. “We have not had one problem with the Flocktex product,” says Keith Gordon, Principal of Architex. “Everything we buy from them is on an exclusive basis. We especially like the flannel and herringbone looks produced by Flocktex.” Furniture powerhouse Flexsteel features Flocktex products distributed by Deitch Plastics in New Haven Connecticut but Dan Kennedy, fabric buyer for Flexsteel could not be reached for further comment. Zeiler recently hired Mike Czarnecki as Vice President, Sales & Marketing as part of the marketing strategy to handle the increased demand for Flocktex products. Czarnecki, a 30-year veteran of the flock industry is helping the sales of Flocktex goods in the USA and Europe. He is supported by Shaya Zeiler, Vice President of Sales and one of seven Zeiler children active in the business. Mayer Zeiler has a total of ten children and seven grandchildren, many already working at Flocktex. “When we started this business in 1976, the flock market was $4. We have taken flock out of the commodity market and made it a high end, high tech fabric. We were successful in trading up the market with a better product,” Zeiler states. “Everyone tried to copy Impala when it first came out but 14 years later, it is still our bestseller and nobody succeeded in reaching our quality level,” he says. “Sure, there are cheap knockoffs of Impala but there are quality problems with the copies,” he says. Since the original Impala products, Flocktex has made many “sons and daughters” including the latest fashion in worsted wool and linen looks with Flocktex’s Velsoft finish in the 12-15 Euro price category. “These products are geared for top end furniture where we are selling container loads.” Mayer Zeiler is now looking for more stocking distributors who believe in his product range. Consider yourself lucky to tour the Flocktex plant. Very few people are invited if only because Zeiler doesn’t want anyone to learn his manufacturing secrets concerning flock, a notoriously difficult product to make.