New Headquarters Spur Integra Fabric's Growth Spurt
August 20, 2004
MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina—The upturn in the hospitality business and sales in healthcare cubicle curtains made it possible for Integra Fabrics buy its new 70,000 square foot headquarters in Loris, 30 miles from here, this spring. The new larger building will allow the company's current growth spurt to take off—they have grown every year for the past four years, making it through the hospitality slump that seems to have ended for Integra.
''With more new products coming, the expansion will help Integra's inventory position and provide room for further growth,'' said Debbie Purcell, Integra CEO.
The new headquarters came just in time—Integra Fabrics is having a growth spurt. Integra's designer division is converting 30,000 double-rub upholstery to pass all hospitality standards. "We have added a (continuously growing) collection of wovens for drapery, bedding and upholstery use as well as a 72'' fabric collection for use as cubicles and shower curtains. Our stocked sheer and dyed linings are continuing to grow as well. The addition of our own print facility will allow us to control the quality and delivery of our printed fabrics and provide us the opportunity to branch out into other markets," said Purcell.
Integra's evolution from prints to woven polyester jacquards with inherent FR properties for drapery, bedding, shower curtains, and upholstery has brought Integra's woven business up to about 20 percent with the balance in prints. The company recently provided the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas with a printed sheer, 118 inch wide headboard fabric.
"We have been getting extremely aggressive in our product offerings," Purcell explained. "Our wovens are done as collections so you can mix and match the patterns."
"All of the hotels we work with want to have a more residential upper-end look to the guestrooms," Purcell said. She has an edge in this custom business that calls for small orders because it is difficult for an offshore mill to fill up a container and compete with a niche player like Integra.
As part of the expansion, Purcell expects to increase her inside selling staff to cover new markets. She says she will add as many as 11 employees, bringing the total number of company employees to 30 or 40.
Integra International, supplier of U.S.-based contract work rooms, has also seen a big gain in the drapery lining business, said Chad Fisher, vice president of sales.
"In the last two years we have seen dramatic growth. We started with a small line of white polyester linings for the hospitality industry. We then added a 20-stock color line of dyed lining 18 months ago. We focused on fast delivery from one to two weeks typically. Service to us means fulfilling customer needs—whether it's as small as an overnight shipment of samples or tracking a 10,000-yard order to the location. We then make sure they are happy with the product," he said.
The new expansion will bring more new product lines to the Integra linings division, according to Fisher. The new products are geared toward the healthcare fabricator and supplier. They are launching a 72-inch tone-on-tone stock-dyed cubicle curtain program with three woven patterns in eight stock colors to start.
''With more new products coming, the expansion will help Integra's inventory position and provide room for further growth,'' said Debbie Purcell, Integra CEO.
The new headquarters came just in time—Integra Fabrics is having a growth spurt. Integra's designer division is converting 30,000 double-rub upholstery to pass all hospitality standards. "We have added a (continuously growing) collection of wovens for drapery, bedding and upholstery use as well as a 72'' fabric collection for use as cubicles and shower curtains. Our stocked sheer and dyed linings are continuing to grow as well. The addition of our own print facility will allow us to control the quality and delivery of our printed fabrics and provide us the opportunity to branch out into other markets," said Purcell.
Integra's evolution from prints to woven polyester jacquards with inherent FR properties for drapery, bedding, shower curtains, and upholstery has brought Integra's woven business up to about 20 percent with the balance in prints. The company recently provided the New York, New York Hotel in Las Vegas with a printed sheer, 118 inch wide headboard fabric.
"We have been getting extremely aggressive in our product offerings," Purcell explained. "Our wovens are done as collections so you can mix and match the patterns."
"All of the hotels we work with want to have a more residential upper-end look to the guestrooms," Purcell said. She has an edge in this custom business that calls for small orders because it is difficult for an offshore mill to fill up a container and compete with a niche player like Integra.
As part of the expansion, Purcell expects to increase her inside selling staff to cover new markets. She says she will add as many as 11 employees, bringing the total number of company employees to 30 or 40.
Integra International, supplier of U.S.-based contract work rooms, has also seen a big gain in the drapery lining business, said Chad Fisher, vice president of sales.
"In the last two years we have seen dramatic growth. We started with a small line of white polyester linings for the hospitality industry. We then added a 20-stock color line of dyed lining 18 months ago. We focused on fast delivery from one to two weeks typically. Service to us means fulfilling customer needs—whether it's as small as an overnight shipment of samples or tracking a 10,000-yard order to the location. We then make sure they are happy with the product," he said.
The new expansion will bring more new product lines to the Integra linings division, according to Fisher. The new products are geared toward the healthcare fabricator and supplier. They are launching a 72-inch tone-on-tone stock-dyed cubicle curtain program with three woven patterns in eight stock colors to start.
