NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Florida — Over 30 years ago, Rick Donoff planted his flag in the high end Miami fabrics business and evolved from agent to jobber as Walfab grew with the Florida population and is now a national jobber brand.

Sales in 2012 were up ten percent and for 2013, Donoff sees an 18 percent growth. ”Florida is back strong,” he says. About 60 percent of Walfab’s business is residential but it does the balance in contract, including a burgeoning condominium business which Rick personally covets by delivering unique designs to each project. “The customer is savvier today. You have to keep what you are doing cutting edge to get the business and keep the customer away from the catalogs,” he says. “We do not have an open line. We keep the integrity of our look; always looking to elevate. 

Donoff’s other challenge, was to continue the business for the next generation. Apparently, he has achieved that goal. Today, he adds his daughter Fina, James Ryan, vice president of sales and marketing (her husband of five years and Rick’s son in law) to the mix while Rick’s wife Elaine handles back office systems. “Elaine is a former math teacher and a meticulous note taker. She makes sure everything that was discussed is entered on the computer every night.” While on the road, they also work the table top shows set up by their agents around the country. Designers are invited to hear the Walfab pitch and see product at these events. 

Ten years ago, Fina and James met at Barry University in Florida where they studied graphic design and now, they computer generate new patterns for the huge tropical print lines associated with Walfab. There are 100’s of palm trees, pineapples and coral designs in the Walfab collection. Tropical is a third of the business for Walfab, Donoff says and it is growing in Florida, California and Hawaii. “Prints are on fire again,” Donoff adds.

James joined the business ten years ago and Fina has been with Walfab since she could walk, she says. The family, works, plays and travels together almost non-stop to visit the 30 agent showrooms and seven satellite showrooms around the country and monitor sales of their other lines.  Walfab represents Designs of the Times on an exclusive basis. This is a high end linen line from Belgium. Walfab also represents Scalamandre, Stout Bros., Maxwell, Brimar and Unique. Walfab prefers doing sourcing in the USA. Its favorite American suppliers are Valdese Weavers and Wearbest Sil Tex Mills. “We want to be important to a few American resources,” Donoff maintains.

Walfab sells product in the $30-$150 range to the designer trade. It has several families making sample books in house for the rural markets it serves and has innovated a ‘swatch box’ for customers in urban markets. The company started cutting and sewing samples in 2008, the same year it pulled out of DCOTA, what was a Dania, Florida decorating center which has fallen on hard times. According to Donoff, the Florida design industry has regrouped in Hollywood in the South Florida Design Park, now the home of Scalamandre, J. Nelson and Jerry Pair, Steven Turner, Robert Allen/Beacon Hill showrooms.  

Wallcovering is 30 percent of Walfab’s sales today. Here again, the company designs its entire product and contracts out the 1,000 yard minimums with other suppliers to make it. Walfab just completed the raffia wallcoverings and fabric installations for the Breakers and for The Terraces at Turnberry, two big Florida hotel projects. “We have the largest raffia offering in the country today,” Donoff beams. He expects to continue bringing out even more tropical lines and indoor/outdoor collections in the future. Walfab has five fulltime salesmen covering the Florida market alone. The company works out of 10,000 square feet of warehouse and showroom in North Miami.

Walfab’s newest agent showroom has been provided by Interior Trading based in Tampa. Its newest and third showroom has just opened in Jacksonville, one of the fastest growing markets in the USA.