Wever Exits Furnishing Fabrics
September 7, 2005
BAD HERZFELD, Germany — The owners of Ad. Wever GmbH & Co. KG have decided to close down the design studio and sales/marketing department of the furnishing fabrics division. "Production of all current upholstery fabric collections is guaranteed," said Ingrid Kruger and Hubert Gunther, the principals.
"All commitments to upholstery customers, particularly wholesalers and editeurs will be honored," the company said. Wever, founded in 1860, is now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
In addition, the company said "negotiations are presently undertaken with various European mills to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the production of Wever upholstery fabrics but results of these talks cannot yet be reported.
Thomas Kaminsky, director of Wever furnishings fabrics sales and marketing will leave Wever by October 31, 2005. "I am certainly planning to stay within this industry. I am currently talking to some companies, but as of today, no final decisions have been made. I expect to have some further talks at Decosit."
"The market for upholstery fabrics has been suffering from extreme competition," the two Wever principals said. About three and a half years ago, Wever began to reposition their furnishing fabric lines at the higher-end of the market—with a strong focus on the international contract market segment. At that time, Thomas Kaminsky was hired to manage that process. The new Wever image was well accepted in the contract market and the placement of fabrics and collections was very successful, the company said.
"This re-launch was financed substantially by the strong automotive upholstery fabrics division. However, after the loss of a major order from an automotive customer, Volkswagen AG, the furnishing fabric division is lacking this financial support. The massive amount of investments involved to further expand and strengthen the upholstery activities would have been too great a risk in light of the global market situation."
Consequently, the owners said they decided to focus their activities on the automotive sector, which is still an attractive market for Wever. Volkswagen AG continues to be a key customer, Wever said.
Wever will show at Decosit at stand 7 E 17 and management says it will be happy to answer any questions.
"All commitments to upholstery customers, particularly wholesalers and editeurs will be honored," the company said. Wever, founded in 1860, is now in its fourth generation of family ownership.
In addition, the company said "negotiations are presently undertaken with various European mills to evaluate the feasibility of integrating the production of Wever upholstery fabrics but results of these talks cannot yet be reported.
Thomas Kaminsky, director of Wever furnishings fabrics sales and marketing will leave Wever by October 31, 2005. "I am certainly planning to stay within this industry. I am currently talking to some companies, but as of today, no final decisions have been made. I expect to have some further talks at Decosit."
"The market for upholstery fabrics has been suffering from extreme competition," the two Wever principals said. About three and a half years ago, Wever began to reposition their furnishing fabric lines at the higher-end of the market—with a strong focus on the international contract market segment. At that time, Thomas Kaminsky was hired to manage that process. The new Wever image was well accepted in the contract market and the placement of fabrics and collections was very successful, the company said.
"This re-launch was financed substantially by the strong automotive upholstery fabrics division. However, after the loss of a major order from an automotive customer, Volkswagen AG, the furnishing fabric division is lacking this financial support. The massive amount of investments involved to further expand and strengthen the upholstery activities would have been too great a risk in light of the global market situation."
Consequently, the owners said they decided to focus their activities on the automotive sector, which is still an attractive market for Wever. Volkswagen AG continues to be a key customer, Wever said.
Wever will show at Decosit at stand 7 E 17 and management says it will be happy to answer any questions.
