HIGH POINT, North Carolina — With the guidance and financial support of parent company STI, Brentwood Textiles has tripled its sales as a converter of upholstery and decorative fabrics since it was purchased in 2015 according to Sean Gibbons, STI’s CEO. “I won’t release sales figures,” Gibbons says, “but we forecast Brentwood will sell 300% more in 2017 than when we purchased it in 2015....hockey stick growth!” The two big things Brentwood did under STI’s ownership were hiring Kathy Dotterer full time after the acquisition; she had been doing part time design work for Brentwood for years. The second big thing STI brought to the party was to provide the capital and other resources needed to expand the line, lease a permanent showroom, and hire a larger sales force, Gibbons explains. “This is the reason I thought it was very important for Brentwood to have its own showroom and sales force.” Gibbons wants the two brands—STI and Brentwood to compete. Peter Drucker, the business lecturer always said: If someone is going to segment my market, it might as well be me!” Gibbons is obviously a believer in this message. “Sean and I envisioned when we partnered that Brentwood would be the more upscale division of STI and handle the OTC and jobbers which were already my customers,” says Perry Skeen, VP of operations and sales for Brentwood. He was the original owner who sold Brentwood to STI. Dotterer joined Brentwood as head of design after it was acquired by STI in 2015. Observers say she has an uncanny ability to develop new constructions using the Turkish yarns that represent quite a different type of handwriting from the STI line. (See separate stories on this page from Mayo and Craftmaster.) “Kathy and I have collaborated for more than 30 years and her design sensitivity lends itself beautifully to those markets. I am rejuvenated and having the most enjoyment in the exercise of my responsibilities in a long, long time,” Skeen adds. Skeen today covers OTC and jobbers with the Brentwood line. Kathy does all the styling. Skeen has a separate sales force while Kathy works with nine sales people in the furniture trade. Although Brentwood Textiles weaves about 75-80% of its line in the USA, it has become proficient in producing more decorative custom textiles offshore. “Still, 80-90% is open line,” she says. “Producing upholstery off shore in Turkey tends to be more decorative and can be higher price because of the constructions,” Dotterer says. “Brentwood Textiles offers a variety of looks and constructions appealing to a broad customer base. Our partnerships with a variety of mills in Turkey, Spain and China provide diversity to our predominantly domestic line of fabrics. Our line includes: Revolution plains and jacquards, digital prints, chenille jacquards and plains from Turkey, multipurpose fabric from China and floor cloths and fabrics from Turkey. Some of Brentwood’s introductions for Summer Showtime include: A collection of Revolution plains and jacquards with texture and interesting drawings… creating a cool modern twist to classic homespun look. A collection Revolution stripes… we are seeing as a growing trend. Dotterer says Brentwood has also expanded its digital prints adding designs and a new base cloth. Printing is done in Turkey and Spain, she says. A variety of base cloths from the basic looks starting at $3.95 up to colorful, textural high end looks around $12. “Since we are predominantly a domestic mill we are able to collaborate easily with our customers to create custom product for them,” Dotterer explains. “That being said, with our strong partnerships with other mills in Turkey we can also do custom work there. Our business thrives on partnerships; that is a strong focus of Brentwood Textiles. We are always looking for something innovative, exciting and saleable to bring to our customers. “The customer provides feedback; it pays to be a good listener,” Dotterer says. “Many collections and groups have come from a partner saying ’I see a need for’ or ‘we are looking for’ or ‘our customers are wanting.” “Obviously designing and converting Turkish goods is not something we do at STI, even though STI purchases a considerable amount of yarn from Turkey for our non-Revolution fabrics,” Gibbons chimes in. (Revolution yarns are all domestic). “The big difference is Kathy. She takes our same “toolbox” of filling and warp yarns and creates looks that are very different from the STI design teams’ patterns... a different artist with a different vision and style,” he says. “That’s what really sets the two lines apart. This is only possible because our yarn library is huge with thousands of sku’s, many of which we make ourselves,” Gibbons adds. Brentwood is a customer for STI since STI does a substantial amount of the weaving for Brentwood at its Kings Mountain, NC mill. Brentwood also weaves in several other plants in Turkey. Brentwood is entirely owned by STI, so it is not really a commission weaving situation,” Gibbons adds. “Of course, we convert and stock goods mainly from Turkey, and a little from China. Turkey is our focus and we have no current plans to source new products in China.” About the same time STI’s outdoor performance fabric line Revolution® brand started, STI bought Brentwood Mils from Perry Skeen. Brentwood makes most of its line in the USA but about 20 percent is produced in Turkey in acrylic chenille; “our own designs but we’re partners with a mill over there,” Gibbons explains. Brentwood produced a new line of Revolution chenille introduced a year ago as Revolution Plus®, a finer denier, multipurpose performance fabric; a machine washable fabric geared for slipcovers.