ISTANBUL, Turkey — K.C.G. Textile Egypt S.A.E., a division of the Kucukcalik Group, says it is having great success in competing with Chinese suppliers with its Premier Home brand of readymade curtain sets in Cairo, Egypt for the American and European markets.

The company is now churning out $85 million annually for the U.S. and Europe according to Sabahattin Fazlioglu, Board Member.

Fazlioglu, a 20-year veteran of Kucukcalik is based in Istanbul at Kucuckulik headquarters but spends 20 days a month in Cairo. 

Outside of some Chinese suppliers, the only other major competitor K.C.G says it faces would be Korteks of Turkey, owned by Zorlu, a major window coverings manufacturer plus a few other competitors based in Turkey.

“Egypt has the cheapest labor and is also the cheapest energy producer compared to China,” Fazlioglu says. “We can ship from Cairo to Europe and the UK in just five days and 18 days to the USA. Yilmaz Kucukcalik, Principal of Kucukcalik with Claire Duncan, K.C.G. Designer and Sabahattin Fazlioglu, Board Member, K.C.G. Textile Egypt S.A.E.

K.C.G. started operations in 10th of Ramadan City, in Cairo in 2007 about 30 minutes from the Cairo airport. The company says it has successfully leveraged its duty free status for exports to the USA. “With a duty free Q12 license, we can effectively compete with China,” Fazlioglu says. K.C.G is a major supplier to J.C. Penney, Target and IKEA, producing 5,000 meters a month in plain dyed ready-mades and two million meters a month in jacquard woven designs in polyester, viscose and linen. Ten years ago, K.C.G. supplied a 100 percent polyester based product line to the retailer so this too has evolved.  

“While the duty free status certainly saves the K.C.G. customer money, the real strength of K.C.G lies in its ability to add value to the readymade curtain itself,” Fazlioglu says. Thanks to its UK based designer, Claire Duncan K.C.G. offers a trade up product as opposed to a bare frills product offered by competitors. This gets the retailer to pay around $50 a readymade set for different header treatments like velvet on the top and linen on the bottom or embroidery down the side,” Duncan declares. Duncan develops four trends for each exhibition, namely Heimtexil, Evteks, MoOD and Shanghai. This leads to 80-100 designs in each trend. K.C.G. also shows during the Proposte Fair across the street from the fairgrounds. K.C.G features a mix of 250 Sudacoma and Vamatex looms.