BRIARCLIFF MANOR, New York -- These companies give a new meaning to the phrase "You have to role with the punches." As the effects of Chinese Mills become more and more evident, those who are ready to step up to the challenge they pose are using innovation to maintain their long-standing positions. In the stories to follow you will see how two European mills – Escolys (Belgium) and Enzo Angiuoni (Italy) – and the US converter Richloom have come up with ways to explore new markets and most importantly keep their product fresh and their customer on their toes.

Angiuoni Sees a Dynamic Market in Selling to Chinese

Family Firm Targets 40 Million Euro Sales

COMO, Italy—In the past five years, the Italian jacquard weaver Enzo degli Angiuoni has spent 30 million Euros on a new factory with state of the art looms.

Based on this investment, Enzo himself is targeting 40 million Euros in sales within the next five years, a big increase over current sales of about 30 million Euros, he said.

An increased presence in the USA is part of this strategy with sales expected to rise from 10 to 20 percent in the States, Angiuoni said. Right now, the best export market for Angiuoni is the UK, which accounts for 25 percent of sales, followed by France and Germany with 30 percent.

Italy accounts for 20 percent of sales at Angiuoni.

The company has opened offices and showrooms in Paris and London and a warehouse in Birago, Italy. These showrooms are for the use of the wholesaler who buys from Angiuoni—not the end user. "We have no interest in competing with our immediate customers," he said. As managing director, Enzo shares this position with his son Roberto. Enzo's wife Mary is the design director and the creator of the interesting and thematic presentations buyers see during Proposte.

Angiuoni's Dornier looms are a unique cross between jacquard and dobby machines which enables the fabric to maintain the same warp while changing only the weft filling, Enzo said.

By having a flexible production, Enzo can operate the business with as little as 50 meter minimum orders, even in custom yarn dyed colors, he said, with delivery in as little as four weeks. The line is priced between eight and 28 euros per meter with the bulk of the sales in the 12-22 Euro range.

"Our prices are moving up and have seen no impact on our sales from Chinese suppliers; but we know the future of this business lies in China as an export market. We intend to go to China through the efforts of our European customers who will take our goods there. We will not produce goods in China," Enzo emphasized.

"We can offer a greater variety of products with less stock required." During the last Proposte exhibition, Angiuoni introduced an expanded window sheer collection as well as upholstery collections in many different qualities. The same designs are available in silk, linen, polyester, cotton or viscose depending on the application. The customer does not have to ask for special runs because Angiuoni does everything up front, said Jason Asch, owner of Diamond Foam in Los Angeles. "I never had a problem with the Angiuoni products in terms of quality," he added. By doing everything up front that the buyer might want, Angiuoni is free to work on new ideas at the mill.

In addition to the technology changes employed in Enzo's business, the company has hired W. Stuart Schneider Jr. as sales director for the North American market. He replaced Kelly Picard who has moved on to other activities.

Schneider (no relation to the publisher) comes from a similar position at Prosetex where he was for several years after leaving Quaker Fabrics in Fall Rover, MA. Schneider lived in Italy for several years while at Prosetex but has since moved back to America to handle the Enzo Angiuoni line fulltime. He reports to Stefano Morotti, export manager for the mill. This is a new position for the company since Enzo himself previously handled the export. Enzo will now focus on manufacturing and wants as much business as possible. Morotti had served as the quality control manager for the mill since 2000.

Schneider expects to further penetrate the USA with the Angiuoni product, especially on the East and West Coast where he has established offices for the company.

Escolys Adds Coordinated Drapery in Major Market Strategy Shift

Nico Vandeweghe joins drapery effort with in stock inventory

INGOOIGEM, Belgium—Escolys will introduce its first drapery fabric collection at Decosit, according to Jean-Paul Depraetere, principal of this 20 million Euro mill.

The drapery products are designed to coordinate with many items in the Escolys residential upholstery line. With this addition, Escolys plans to introduce five to six different drapery collections three times yearly going forward with the same aim for upholstery. The company shows at Decosit, Heimtextil and Proposte.

The two million Euro investments in the 50-year-old plant include additional space for finished inventory. As part of the move, Escolys hired Nico Vandeweghe as the manager of drapery fabrics. He joined the company in April after being with Deslee for ten years.

As part of the expansion, Escolys is now putting the finishing touches on a 2,200 square meter addition to its main plant in order to house finished pieces of upholstery and drapery for immediate shipment to its customers. "To stay in this business today, you have to assume some of the wholesalers' responsibility for maintaining stock. This represents an expansion of 20 percent in the Escolys facilities," Depraetere pointed out. He says this expansion is generated from internal operations without taking on additional debt. That's a plus since many mills have run into trouble taking on debt to expand in what has become a lower margin business.

The move also expands the number of weft yarns utilized by Escolys -- from 1800 yarn positions for upholstery to 2500 yarns for drapery and upholstery combined. In addition, Escolys recently expanded its finishing line with "better technology for improved finishing," Depraetere said, looking at his statistics which show 99.9 per cent first quality at this mill.

"We think the new drapery ranges will interest our customers in the USA and in Canada," he added, "but our first aim lies with our European customers." Depraetere also says that business this year is better than last year "which was a quite difficult year for us."

"We have a lot of customers who are not fond of China. Our customers know that beyond commodity items, they are limited in China. Our customers look to us for more designs and colorations. Escolys is a supplier of fashion ranges at reasonable prices by the piece and now the European customer especially can get it faster than ever; in as little as two to three days from stock."

"We use the same weaving and finishing technology with drapery that we employ with upholstery," Depraetere said. "This creates a second leg to the ground for Escolys and is our response to the Chinese mills that have moved into the business. We have increased the scope of Escolys and the speed of delivery; from four pieces per color in six weeks to one piece minimums within a few days from stock."

The new drapery line is priced from 3.95 Euros to five Euros while Escolys upholstery is sold at 4.5 Euros to 6.5 Euros and higher. In the future, Escolys expects to deliver 25 percent of its upholstery and curtain fabric sales from stock.

"We will stock the plain goods for curtains but the designed goods will be woven to order," Depraetere maintains. "Custom colored plains will also be woven to order," he pointed out. "Custom design work on curtains will compliment our jacquard upholstery ranges according to the request of our customer. Our stock position will not limit us," he said.

"Escolys' ability to sell from stock without limitation sets us apart from a typical converter who is limited. We're a mill and have all the advantages of a mill plus a converter and the unlimited possibilities of our in-house product design team."

Richloom Opens China Approved Trading Company

NEW YORK, New York - According to Tony Riggio, V.P. of Richloom's contract division and Andrew Riesel, Executive V.P., Richloom Shanghai Trading Company Ltd. has been approved by the China PRC government after initially establishing a representative office in Shanghai as Richloom Fabrics Group in 2004.

Since early this year, Jay Carlson has served as V.P. of Asian operations for this new entity which is wholly owned by Richloom Fabrics Group, it was confirmed.

Carlson has been part of the operation and moved to China with his family two years ago.

''Richloom contract is showing six new finished product offerings in Shanghai and then in Miami at HD Boutique for sale to the hospitality industry.'' The Chinese made and sourced collections include duvets, shams, scarves and bed throws for the hotel industry. Riggio is now targeting about 50 hospitality customers in the USA and Asian markets. ''I spent time at the second HD Asia in June and was very impressed with the quality of the visitors,'' he said.

Unlike many joint ventures between European and American companies in China, there are no Chinese partners in this company, Richloom confirms. It is strictly owned by Richloom, which is a departure from what many American companies have done in the past. What is truly unique about Richloom's transition is that it lies in stark contrast to other converters and importers who continue to operate as extensions of Chinese suppliers in the U.S. and Europe without being actively involved in the creation of the finished product. This leaves those companies vulnerable to retailers and sources that end up going direct, bypassing the middle man.

In addition, Riggio said that Richloom is producing finished bedding and fabrics for the hospitality industry in China for sale in China and throughout Asia and FOB China back to the USA.

''Our residential and contract bedding and fabric lines will be shown at Intertextile Shanghai for the first time in August,'' Riggio explained. ''We expect a flurry of sales and inquiries from Asian buyers.'' Richloom's V.P. of Global Sourcing Glenda Soloniuk Spangler, will attend Intertextile this year along with other Richloom team members. Designs for finished products and piece goods are being produced in the States as well as in the Shanghai office, Riesel said. ''While our main design studio is in New York, more design is being done by our Shanghai division than previously.''

With these announcements, Richloom Fabrics Group has made the transition into a trading and sourcing company, rather than being purely a converter of decorative fabrics.

The Shanghai based Richloom office employs 30 people on two floors with an active business buying, sourcing and selling fabrics made in China as well as finished bedding and ready-mades for the residential market, including outdoor furniture fabrics and decorative fabrics. ''Much attention is being paid to quality control operations, as well'' said Andrew Riesel.

''We are sourcing and producing products more and more in China but it is not our only source of supply. We do business in many countries including Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Europe and we're developing Vietnam,'' he said. ''We also have ongoing established relationships with fabric resources worldwide which we continue to utilize,'' he added. He further states that China will not be the only game in town for the future but it is currently the fastest growing sourcing area for Richloom, especially in commodity and mid-tier price points.