POMPANO BEACH, Florida —  According to Ahment Sapmaz, the 40 year-old vice president of strategic global business development for Valley Forge Fabrics, the fabric business used to be about the largest producer and the smaller producer but today it’s about the fastest and the slowest.

Sapmaz is known throughout the world as one of the most important buyers of fabrics for drapery, upholstery and bedding if the not the biggest buyer of hospitality textiles. 

“We are the largest decorative fabric supplier to the hospitality trade with great strength in upholstery, drapery and for the past four years, a growing presence in bedding fabrics and sheeting," said Sapmaz. "We prefer green suppliers because sustainability for us is a very important factor in the actual product and the way it's produced."

The perception is that green costs more but VFF started to cut profit margins even before the economic crisis, according to Sapmaz, and it changed the green model. The buyer started to focus on price and delivery; green was less important to them, he added.

“We're optomistic and 2012 should be a great year for the industry," said Sapmaz. “People have learned how to live in the economic crisis and survive. The consumer is looking for ways to improve lives without the same greedy spending frenzy we had before."

He explained that a lot of things are now happening in the hotel business: Revenue per room, or "RevPar" is up; occupancy is up; people are traveling more, sales of hotel properties are up and consequently franchises are changing and property is being renovated.

Sapmaz's business is unique because he gets specified in the job 18 months before the order arrives. He estimates that it takes this long for the hotel to be designed and then built. It takes VFF 18 months to get the order from the approved sample. With the business slowdown, Sapmaz explained, VFF was the last to feel the impact because it had business in the pipeline and it took longe to empty that pipeline and feel the slowdown. VFF is getting orders now and are starting to book more business.

Read the entire story in our summer issue here.