Istanbul, Turkey — Oktay Karabasoglu has been named country manager of JAB-Turkey as of April 1, reporting to Chris-Jacob Schminnes, JAB Manager, F&FI has learned.

This news has also been confirmed by Chris-Jacob Schminnes.  

“JAB Turkey will be operational during the second half of 2015, Schminnes says, “with a working showroom in the Nisantasi area. The focus will be on our flooring, furniture products and the main target group are the interior designers.”

Karabasoglu was formerly the European Export Manager for Vanelli, a well-known fabric manufacturer in Bursa. He was with Vanelli for 12 years, sources say. Vanelli expects to replace him soon.

Persan, the leading fabric wholesaler in Turkey with 11 outlets, previously represented the JAB line exclusively. That relationship was ten years old but JAB was not satisfied with volume levels for its products in the Turkish market, an informed source told F&FI. Nevertheless, Schiminnes says “JAB’s relationship with Persan on the fabric side will remain; Persan and JAB are long-lasting partners…and will continue to be.”

“Nobody close to this situation feels that Persan will continue to represent JAB once the new showroom is opened but Schminnes wants to put a good face on it,” a source close to Persan says. JAB is in the process of establishing its own showroom in the Nisantasi district of Istanbul. JAB is based in Bielefeld, Germany and is one of the largest wholesalers of fabrics in the world.

JAB has a policy of never issuing any announcements to the press in advance of their moves. It will only comment when confronted with the details.