KETS, De Leo to boost Showtime space
Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2005
Fairfield, N.J. — De Leo Textiles and Kadifeteks, or KETS, the Turkish line distributed in the United States by De Leo, will have a larger, shared space at Showtime fabric shows.
CEO Craig De Leo said January's Showtime was a giant leap in KETS' bid to establish itself in the upholstery fabric business. The United States currently is its fourth-largest market, and the company wants to make it its No. 1 market.
"We received a record number of sample requests (at Showtime) and key manufacturers told us to expect a lot of placements," De Leo said.
Baris Ertin, KETS sales manager for the U.S. market, extended his stay after the show in order to visit with key Southeast and Midwest manufacturers.
Also, Bob Heintz has joined De Leo Textiles as a West Coast representative. The 40-year textile industry veteran has represented such companies as Quaker Fabric, Elmo Leather, Anthem Leather and J.L. de Ball, and will work with both manufacturers and jobbers.
At its Istanbul headquarters, KETS has more than doubled its design staff, adding 25 designers to its staff of 20, and also increased its capacity to handle all aspects of developing product. The expanded department will focus on forecasting upcoming trends, styles and colors for new product. Several designers have been assigned exclusively to the tastes and requirements of the U.S. market.
Established in 1962, De Leo Textiles is a worldwide distributor of furniture, multi-use and automotive textiles, with a current line of over 300 traditional, transitional and contemporary SKUs.
The 35-year-old KETS has a 63,000-square-meter facility in Istanbul with the capacity to produce 15 million meters per year.
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