Ulusoy Capitalizing on Post-9/11 'Nesting' by Consumers
January 13, 2003
Istanbul - Ulusoy, a major manufacturer of fancy voiles, said manufacturers are practically giving away plain voile in order to sell fancier varieties.
''It's that competitive out there,'' said Can Yureten, general manager. Together with Pinar Ulusoy, he is running the textile division of Ulusoy, a diverse family-owned Turkish conglomerate that includes construction, travel and transportation operations.
''Two or three years ago, voile was priced at $2 a yard with five to seven major producers in Turkey. Today, there must be 50 producers and the price is 90 cents to $1.50 for voile,'' he said.
''This has become a very low margin business. Organza is better priced at $2 to $3.50 a yard and double-woven organza is priced at $5 to $7 a yard. Since 1995, there hasn't been much of a profit margin in this business.'' Still, Ulusoy keeps plugging because the Turkish construction industry is slow and because it believes there is opportunity in the textiles industry.
''Several of our customers ran to China to order a few containerloads of voile, but they came running back to Turkey. However, the Turkish production had sold up and these same customers are sorry they ever got involved in China,'' he said. ''In China, you can't find a reasonable person to complain to if there is a problem with your order. The tear strength of the Chinese product is not very good either.'' Yureten said.
''We will never compete with China. We don't even compete with Turkish voile companies. It is hard to change your production from the better market to the mass market. We focus on the better market. Believe it or not, for the past three years we've been exporting our best quality organza embroideries in the $12 to $15 range of our line to wholesalers in China via Hong Kong and Taiwan. Typically, they'll buy the goods in 5,000-meter rolls while we sell 500-1,000 meters in our boutique varieties to European customers.
''We know our products end up in the hotel industry but we don't sell the hospitality customer directly. We're selling readymade products worldwide and in England, France and to the U.S.A. through Edpa, a Turkish wholesaler. In the last two years, readymade is growing at 25 percent a year while the demand for confeccion is low.
''The lady of the house doesn't want to run around any more looking for piece goods. She'd rather buy the readymade curtains, hang it and replace it in a few years. It's real fashion today. They don't even bother to wash it. They just replace it. Only the most expensive curtains are dry-cleaned.
''As a result, the wholesaler has two customers today -one for pieces and one for readymades. The customer is more focused on the home than ever before,'' he said. ''Our business grew after 911. People are spending more time at home now than ever before.''
In assessing world markets, Yureten finds that Poland, Russia, China and Lebanon buy lower quality voiles in higher quantities.
''We shop the market for the right PET to get the best yarn quality. It could be Turkish or Russian PET depending on what's available and the best price. Every lot of PET is different but dyeing darker color polyester is a problem unless the PET is the best quality possible.'' F&FI
''It's that competitive out there,'' said Can Yureten, general manager. Together with Pinar Ulusoy, he is running the textile division of Ulusoy, a diverse family-owned Turkish conglomerate that includes construction, travel and transportation operations.
''Two or three years ago, voile was priced at $2 a yard with five to seven major producers in Turkey. Today, there must be 50 producers and the price is 90 cents to $1.50 for voile,'' he said.
''This has become a very low margin business. Organza is better priced at $2 to $3.50 a yard and double-woven organza is priced at $5 to $7 a yard. Since 1995, there hasn't been much of a profit margin in this business.'' Still, Ulusoy keeps plugging because the Turkish construction industry is slow and because it believes there is opportunity in the textiles industry.
''Several of our customers ran to China to order a few containerloads of voile, but they came running back to Turkey. However, the Turkish production had sold up and these same customers are sorry they ever got involved in China,'' he said. ''In China, you can't find a reasonable person to complain to if there is a problem with your order. The tear strength of the Chinese product is not very good either.'' Yureten said.
''We will never compete with China. We don't even compete with Turkish voile companies. It is hard to change your production from the better market to the mass market. We focus on the better market. Believe it or not, for the past three years we've been exporting our best quality organza embroideries in the $12 to $15 range of our line to wholesalers in China via Hong Kong and Taiwan. Typically, they'll buy the goods in 5,000-meter rolls while we sell 500-1,000 meters in our boutique varieties to European customers.
''We know our products end up in the hotel industry but we don't sell the hospitality customer directly. We're selling readymade products worldwide and in England, France and to the U.S.A. through Edpa, a Turkish wholesaler. In the last two years, readymade is growing at 25 percent a year while the demand for confeccion is low.
''The lady of the house doesn't want to run around any more looking for piece goods. She'd rather buy the readymade curtains, hang it and replace it in a few years. It's real fashion today. They don't even bother to wash it. They just replace it. Only the most expensive curtains are dry-cleaned.
''As a result, the wholesaler has two customers today -one for pieces and one for readymades. The customer is more focused on the home than ever before,'' he said. ''Our business grew after 911. People are spending more time at home now than ever before.''
In assessing world markets, Yureten finds that Poland, Russia, China and Lebanon buy lower quality voiles in higher quantities.
''We shop the market for the right PET to get the best yarn quality. It could be Turkish or Russian PET depending on what's available and the best price. Every lot of PET is different but dyeing darker color polyester is a problem unless the PET is the best quality possible.'' F&FI
