NEW YORK—Strong reports place Chad Stark as President of a soon to be merged operation that includes Old World Weavers Fabric division of Stark Carpets and Scalamandre Fabric brands. Chad is also Senior Vice President of Stark and the President of the Decorative Fabrics Association. (DFA) The combination is supposed to take effect in early 2017. The merged brands include a joint head office, independent fabric collections, combined warehousing and showroom space, the latter within the Stark location in the D&D Building in New York. The new arrangement is expected to save both companies substantial operating costs. Louis Renzo, the owner of Scalamandre will be Chief Operating Officer of the combined fabric business operating out of 8,000 square feet of showroom space leased by Stark. Previously, Scalamandre had leased 2,500 square feet of space in the D&D Building from Stark. Renzo has owned Scalamandre since 2009. The venerabe brand has been around since 1929. It was learned that Susan North will stay on in her design role at Scalamandre and Lorraine Lang will continue to design collections for Old World Weavers, Grey Watkins and Stark Essentials. Nobody was available at Stark to confirm these details. Chad Stark and his father Stephen are on holiday until January 3. It is expected that the deal will be signed by then. One industry veteran says “it is a good deal for both if the personalities can get along.”