American fabrics shine at Heimtextil
Carole Sloan, Senior Contributing Editor -- Furniture Today, January 27, 2008
One of the surprising things about the Heimtextil show in Frankfurt, Germany, earlier this month was the positive vibe coming from the decorative fabrics show spaces in Halls 4 and 5.
For a product category that has been viewed as somewhat imperiled in recent years, the density of show spaces for decorative fabrics and the crowds that walked the aisles certainly contradicted any assumption about its demise.
Even on the periphery of the Heimtex venue, in nearby hotels including the Maritime and the Marriott, fabric suppliers from the United States and Europe held court. Their rationale for showing outside the show's halls was that they have a small customer base they could easily welcome in the hotels, and they could keep their fabric collections away from the prying eyes of cell phone cameras — a scourge of trade shows globally.
Comments from both exhibitors and visitors expressed wonderment that there were not more American companies present — especially in view of the enormous bargain offered by American fabrics because of the weak U.S. dollar.
The point, a number of visitors noted, is that there is indeed an American look, and it's one that is broadly welcomed in many parts of the world. It's just that U.S. companies generally have a reputation of being fair weather friends. When business is good domestically, their global attention decreases; when business at home is bad, global business becomes a major objective.
There are some U.S. decorative fabrics companies, both exhibiting at Heimtex or not, that have substantial global programs in place. Any they are profitable.
It was the same story at the furniture fair this month in Cologne, Germany, where the lineup of American exhibitors was sparse at best. Hopefully more American companies will get with this "new" idea of selling their goods to eager overseas buyers.
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