Tangled tales from China's fabric scene
Carole Sloan, Senior Contributing Editor -- Furniture Today, June 20, 2005
As more and more folks in furnitureland become what amounts to commuters between the United States and the Far East, China in particular, some things already have come into sharp focus.
Probably the most basic is that doing business in China is radically different from doing business domestically.
For folks in the fabric and related segments of the home furnishings business, especially upholstered furniture, this is brought home quite clearly. Suppliers, upholstery makers and retailers all are soliciting the same sources.
Tales abound about furniture manufacturers visiting mills, seeing something they like, finding out which American fabric supplier, if any, is running it, buying it from the American source, then having it shipped to the furniture maker's Chinese source for copying.
This, of course, is the good side.
The reverse is when the furniture manufacturer/supplier negotiates for that fabric directly and has it sent to the furniture making factory, bypassing the U.S. company that designed and planned to market the product — all with the Chinese supplier's full awareness.
The trouble begins when the stuff comes here and challenges arise as to ownership. And that trouble seems to be happening more and more, say those who have watched the scenario unfold.
And, of course, there's the matter of communications. In many places, it seems that a commitment to a specific design can be interpreted by seller and buyer differently, all based on dollars or yuans in terms of yardage. And a commitment is good only as far as the early orders go.
According to one American fabric supplier, the design development, sale and swatching of a single SKU to result in major yardage orders can take a while. Quite a while.
And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned.
