De Leo, Kadifeteks forge profitable fabric team
By Susan M. Andrews -- Furniture Today, April 23, 2007
Istanbul, Turkey — De Leo Textiles, celebrating 45 years in business, has become the largest supplier of Turkish upholstery fabric in the United States since it partnered with Kadifeteks in 2003 in an arrangement that continues to benefit both companies.
President Craig DeLeo said, "We're now Kadifeteks' fifth-largest customer and they have dedicated sales and design staff for us."
Turkey has a special position in the world of fabric suppliers, being a unique blend of European and Asian cultures. Fittingly, Istanbul itself is located in both Europe and Asia.
In the $20 billion global textile market, Turkey represents $3 billion and Kadifeteks is one of the country's best-known producers of upholstery fabrics. The company is completely vertical, bringing in raw fiber and shipping out finished fabric, with the capacity to produce 22 million meters of fabric per year.
Established in 1962, De Leo Textiles is a major worldwide distributor of furniture, multi-use and automotive textiles, with a current line of more than 300 traditional, transitional and contemporary SKUs. The company maintains about 140,000 square feet of warehouse space in South Carolina.
Kadifeteks, whose brand is KETS, has been operating for more than 35 years and supports its brand through a commitment to quality. "It's the only way to differentiate yourself in the market. Otherwise, you are too close to China and what everyone else does," said President Hasan Topbas.
More than 1,000 people are employed at the 680,000-square-foot plant in Istanbul, and several containers full of rolled fabrics are shipped from the plant every day, as well as dozens of trucks that deliver goods daily in the European market.
Everything, from the company's marble-floored reception room to the dedicated company chef, is upscale.
In the penthouse suite of its eight-story plant, Kadifeteks has created a showroom that boasts meeting rooms decorated in various styles to reflect its varied client list. For example, there are rooms with Middle Eastern décor and others in Oriental décor, as well as classic and contemporary areas that appeal to Europeans and Americans.
De Leo is a favorite of many upper-end furniture manufacturers such as Pearson, Southern Furniture, Kincaid, Miles Talbott and Marge Carson.
For Showtime, June 3–6 in High Point, De Leo also is launching a lower-priced line from Kadifeteks under the banner Top Tex (see story at lower left).
