Jeffrey Fabrics Anticipates Mill Ownership
October 29, 2003
NEW YORK - In order to stay afloat, Jeffrey Fabrics intends to acquire company factories overseas during the next wave of consolidation in the industry, said Jeffrey Erdheim, principal at the company.
Erdheim attributed the move to price deprecation in the home textile industry and customer demand for cheap wares.
''Due to retail pressures, pricing is deflationary in the home textile business and customers don't want to pay more for great product today,'' Erdheim said. ''Mass consolidation at retail has created this problem. Manufacturers don't have the leverage they used to have.''
Jeffrey Fabrics started out propitiously in 1987 as a fabric converter, working with greige mills to create fabrics for home textile manufacturers, who then sold their finished product to retailers. While the company still maintains relationships with manufacturers, it has lately reformed into a ''semi-converter, manufacturer-importer,'' Erdheim said.
He added that his customers too have significantly altered their business objectives. ''Some of our customers are no longer manufacturing finished textiles,'' he said. ''They too have become distributors and importers directly from off-shore mill suppliers.''
Though the American textile business is dwindling, Jeffrey Fabrics has managed to maintain a loyal customer base by providing top-notch service. ''The U.S. manufacturer still needs Jeffrey Fabrics for our technical, design and sourcing abilities,'' Erdheim said. ''They [overseas] can't do it as well as we can. We can buy it better. We have special relationships with our mills and...a highly diversified product line, which makes us more important to our manufacturer's customers. We have shower curtains, bedding, window treatments and tabletop.''
Erdheim asserted that preserving Jeffrey Fabrics's stronghold on the American market is crucial to the company's success. ''We think and hope we are unique in the U.S.A. in what we do,'' he said. ''We are selling more of these products to a shrinking customer base.''
His tactic is to maintain design and product exclusivity while keeping up the fabric diversity that launched the company. ''We do made-ups because we are fabric oriented,'' Erdheim said. ''We engineer the base cloth and create our own designs for our customers. We do wovens for use as a print vehicle or for itself.''
Erdheim and fellow principal Jeff Goldman spend about 20 percent of their time traveling to the different countries where they uphold business relationships. They also have two full-time salespeople based at the company headquarters New York City.
Their efforts have yielded a new strength. ''There has been a marked increase in our bedding business,'' Erdheim said. ''We were never strong in bedding until now. Our strength has always been in window treatments. Bedding has taken off while the fabric business has dwindled. We don't sell piece goods anymore.''
Erdheim attributed the move to price deprecation in the home textile industry and customer demand for cheap wares.
''Due to retail pressures, pricing is deflationary in the home textile business and customers don't want to pay more for great product today,'' Erdheim said. ''Mass consolidation at retail has created this problem. Manufacturers don't have the leverage they used to have.''
Jeffrey Fabrics started out propitiously in 1987 as a fabric converter, working with greige mills to create fabrics for home textile manufacturers, who then sold their finished product to retailers. While the company still maintains relationships with manufacturers, it has lately reformed into a ''semi-converter, manufacturer-importer,'' Erdheim said.
He added that his customers too have significantly altered their business objectives. ''Some of our customers are no longer manufacturing finished textiles,'' he said. ''They too have become distributors and importers directly from off-shore mill suppliers.''
Though the American textile business is dwindling, Jeffrey Fabrics has managed to maintain a loyal customer base by providing top-notch service. ''The U.S. manufacturer still needs Jeffrey Fabrics for our technical, design and sourcing abilities,'' Erdheim said. ''They [overseas] can't do it as well as we can. We can buy it better. We have special relationships with our mills and...a highly diversified product line, which makes us more important to our manufacturer's customers. We have shower curtains, bedding, window treatments and tabletop.''
Erdheim asserted that preserving Jeffrey Fabrics's stronghold on the American market is crucial to the company's success. ''We think and hope we are unique in the U.S.A. in what we do,'' he said. ''We are selling more of these products to a shrinking customer base.''
His tactic is to maintain design and product exclusivity while keeping up the fabric diversity that launched the company. ''We do made-ups because we are fabric oriented,'' Erdheim said. ''We engineer the base cloth and create our own designs for our customers. We do wovens for use as a print vehicle or for itself.''
Erdheim and fellow principal Jeff Goldman spend about 20 percent of their time traveling to the different countries where they uphold business relationships. They also have two full-time salespeople based at the company headquarters New York City.
Their efforts have yielded a new strength. ''There has been a marked increase in our bedding business,'' Erdheim said. ''We were never strong in bedding until now. Our strength has always been in window treatments. Bedding has taken off while the fabric business has dwindled. We don't sell piece goods anymore.''
