HIGH POINT — Carroll Leather recently gave a seminar about its Purely Protected leather during the recent Interwoven, the textile tradeshow in the heart of High Point.

The global supplier of fine leather in the residential and hospitality industries gave Purely Protected its first big launch in 2019 for homes, hotels, offices and restaurants looking for quality aniline leather that is resistant to scratching, fading, staining and color variation.

The collection takes on the aesthetics of aniline, wax or oil leathers, with durability similar to protected or pigmented leathers. Each hide is aniline dyed and then receives Purely Protected treatment resulting in a silky feel and subtle matte finish.

During the seminar, Kelly Hartford, marketing and sales, and Kym Bauguess, vice president hospitality sales, passed around samples of Purely Protected leather, comparing it with natural aniline. They also showcased how stains are handled with Purely Protected vs. aniline by pouring red wine on both leathers and allowing the audience to watch the cleanup process.

Bauguess addressed that Purely Protected does not use red list chemicals or VOC emissions and is done at the highest level of sustainability currently available.

“Purely Protected really reflects on the aniline category. Aniline needed to be addressed because no one in the industry was addressing it, no one had anything on the market that was an alternative to aniline that looked like aniline,” said Bauguess. “We kept going round and round on what we wanted this to mean and be called, so we picked up ‘pure’ as in this is a pure aniline, and we wanted to take a pure aniline and make it ‘protected’.”

Highlights in the Purely Protected collection include:

• Cheyenne was inspired by the constant need for a wax/crackle leather that won’t easily scratch. Featuring the Purely Protected technology, which provides a vintage look, Cheyenne also has protective treatment suitable for high traffic areas.
• Childs Play boasts a matte finishing with a two-tone effect and offers protection against scratching and standard wear while maintaining its genuine aniline feel. Childs Play can be used in high-end hospitality or in high traffic residential settings.

• Ever-Last features natural looking leathers that protect against fading, scratching and sun damage. It has a wax/crackle effect and is an ideal option for high traffic applications where color consistency and texture are necessary.
• Road Warrior is designed to give the look of wax tipped leather without color variation or staining. The tipping process adds brightness to the surface and contrasts to the leather.
• Run Wyld is inspired by the look of dusty cowboy boot leather, giving a distressed look and softness with the same protection of a protected leather. Hand sanded by leather craftsmen to give a random two-tone effect, Run Wyld withstands heavy use.

Carroll Leathers stocking program is for all customers ordering 50 to 50,000 square feet.

See also:

• American Leather Holdings names new CEO
• Precision Textiles adds warehouse capacity in N.C.

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HIGH POINT – Furniture Today and its sister publication Home Accents Today are conducting an exclusive retail research study to better understand how retailers are using markets and which markets they are using in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are a retailer and want to weigh in, this is your chance!

The pandemic has severely disrupted traditional cycle of markets and trade shows as well, with many having to reschedule and others being cancelled altogether. Even those that have managed to open their doors have seen their traditional level of traffic decline as company travel policies and individual concerns about attending large gatherings have caused many retailers to seek alternatives.

Whether it is attending events expected to be lower traffic, such as the newly emerged “First Tuesday” in High Point or the traditional “Premarket” held the month before each fall and spring High Point Market, retailers have looked for creative ways to conduct business face-to-face during the pandemic.

With consumer demand at all-time highs and inventory levels depleted by a broken supply chain new buyer-seller dynamics have emerged over the past 18 months. With major suppliers prioritizing their highest volume retail accounts, many smaller retailers are now in the market for new sources of supply. Even larger retailers unable to find goods from traditional sources are now casting a broader net. Furniture Today’s research survey will explore all these avenues, to determine which markets are most likely to capture traffic for the remainder of 2021 and into 2022.

The exclusive study, the results of which will be available for purchase in late September, will also look at the key product segments that retailers will be looking to buy as well as the areas in which they are seeking new sources of supply.

If you’re a furniture retailer, we want to hear from you. Please take a few minutes to fill out the survey at this link to be entered in a drawing to win one of three $100 American Express gift cards.

We want to hear what you think!

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BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. – The Crypton Companies have formally renewed their partnership with textile mill Valdese Weavers through 2024, continuing Valdese Weavers’ exclusive license to manufacture Crypton Home Fabric.

The Crypton Companies produce performance textiles for the contract, home furnishings and apparel markets. The Crypton Home Fabric brand includes a range of residential indoor upholstery fabrics featuring Crypton’s patented performance technologies. Valdese Weavers has produced the residential line since its inception in 2015. To date, Crypton Home Fabric has produced thousands of performance upholstery collections.

“We have enjoyed working with the Crypton family for many years,” said Blake Milliner, Valdese Weaver’s chief sales and marketing officer. “Working together to position Crypton Home as one of the most trusted performance brands in the industry has been a truly rewarding experience for Valdese Weavers.”

To celebrate the continuation of their partnership, the companies will toast the agreement in Valdese Weavers’ sixth floor Market Square Tower showroom during the mill’s cocktail party during this week’s ITA Showtime event.

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HIGH POINT — Fabric resource Milliken Specialty Interiors will be expanding on its cotton and cotton/linen performance fabric offering at ITA Showtime market, Nov. 17-20, with a preview of its new digitally printed Artscape collection.

Created to bring new color and pattern capabilities to the company’s popular cotton textures, the collection offers modern takes on abstract and watermark patterns thanks to a proprietary pre-treatment. The treatment allows pigments to be directly applied to the fabric while still achieving both wet and dry crocking industry requirements to ensure colorfastness.

“The Breathe collection is changing the game in terms of establishing a category of sustainable performance,” said Dana Claire Larson, director of design and development, Milliken Specialty Interiors. “We know that consumers want sustainability, durability and choice. With Artscape, we’ve pushed our innovation in this category further by offering new and varied design options that offer eco-friendly performance.”

Four Artscape patterns — Brushstroke, Vogue, Enxo and Sedona — will be on display during ITA Showtime in Milliken Specialty Interiors’ fourth floor Market Square Tower showroom.

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HIGH POINT — Following the October launches of her new furniture, rug and lighting collections at High Point Market, celebrity designer and television personality Hilary Farr is set to return to High Point to celebrate the launch of her new fabrics with Covington Fabric & Design during ITA Showtime, Nov. 17-20.

First teased during the launch of her upholstered furniture collection with Braxton Culler, the full collection of patterns, textures and signature prints will be on display in Covington’s eighth floor Market Square Tower showroom.

Farr, best known for her role in HGTV’s “Love It or List It” design reality show, will be on hand in the showroom throughout the semi-annual fabric market, introducing the collection to buyers and designers. She will also take part in a luncheon and meet-and-greet on Nov. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the showroom.

Her new collection’s 63 unique SKUs range in assortment from sophisticated neutrals and grays to fun and fresh fuchsia, as well as black-and-white combinations.

Standouts include Wabi Sabi, described by Chari Voehl, vice president of design at Covington, as “an exceptional woven textured solid that acts as a building block within the new collection,” which is available in five color combinations. Other notable pieces include Lounge Lizard, a modern take on a textured reptile skin jacquard; Hello Polly, a digital print of parakeets perched on tropical floral vines; and Le Tigre, a print that calls on tribal flair to put a twist on a traditional animal skin look.

Across the board, Farr’s new looks are inspired by her connections to travel and causes, with prints like the Japanese landscape print Farr Away being inspired by her connections to Asian-inspired design elements.

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TUPELO, Miss. — Gum Tree Fabrics and Abercrombie Textiles have collaborated on a new domestic collection called Stateside.

The collection will be merchandised, sold and serviced through Gum Tree’s corporate home office in Tupelo, and it will be launched at Showtime, June 2-5 in High Point.

“This is an opportunity to partner with a domestic mill and diversify our product assortment for our customer base,” said Greg Morgan, director of sales and product development for Gum Tree.

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PARIS — The latest edition of Maison & Objet Paris saw an increase in French visitors, but a nearly double-digit drop in international buyers that would have been greater if not for increases from some neighboring European countries.

Organizers of the Jan. 22-26 event said that domestic attendance was up 4%. Of the 76,417 unique visitors, 52% were from France and the remainder was from 143 different countries.

International attendance was down 8%, led by declines from countries such as Japan, which sent 26% fewer buyers to the show. Officials said they were not surprised by such declines, which took place about two months after the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.

Attendance from European such as Belgium and the Netherlands were up 14% and 4%, respectively, while Spain had a smaller 1% increase in buyers.

The show featured products from 2,978 exhibitors from 59 countries, which officials said included 700 new companies at the show.

The next Maison & Objet show is scheduled from Sept. 2-6. For more information on the show, visit www.maison-objet.com/en.

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MANCHESTER, Conn. — Bob’s Discount Furniture will open its first two Mid-Atlantic stores Memorial Day weekend, making good on its previously announced plans to expand into the greater Washington, D.C., area from its Northeast base this year.

The 40-store Top 100 company will open approximately 30,000-square-foot showrooms in Falls Church, Va., and Hyattsville, Md. – about the typical size for a Bob’s showroom, said CEO Ted English. In Falls Church, the promotional to midpriced retailer is leasing a former Office Depot and in Hyattsville, a former Circuit City.

"It’s a very fertile retail market. It’s just got great demographics for our business," English said. "It’s exciting to be moving into a new territory and we’re looking forward to serving that market with our great values."

Currently, Bob’s most southern showroom is in South Brunswick, N.J. And while English said the new stores are "a big leap" for the retailer, it prepared in advance by opening a 672,000-square-foot distribution center in Perryman, Md., in the second half of 2010 to support the move. The facility services Bob’s store in New Jersey and now will handle the D.C.-area ones as well.

Despite a difficult economy, Bob’s powered ahead in 2010 with estimated sales growth of nearly 15% to $584.6 million, according to Furniture/Today estimates. English said the addition of five stores opened last year – primarily in metro New York – along with good growth at existing stores "really lead to another good year."

Bob’s has managed impressive growth in each of the past five years, expanding its store count from 27 in 2006 to 40 in 2010 and generating double-digit sales growth every year except 2008, when it was up an estimated sales was up 9.5% from 2007.

The Manchester, Conn.-based retailer operates stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

English wouldn’t disclose Bob’s investment or sales projections for the new territory nor the timetable for more stores in the region, saying only, "We’ll let that play itself out a little bit."

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NEW YORK — Industry trendspotter Hermine Mariaux will conduct a photographic tour of January’s Maison & Objet home furnishing show in Paris here on Feb. 25.

In conjunction with the New York chapter of the International Furnishings and Design Assn., she will present "Maison & Objet Defines Home Trends for 2010" at the New York Design Center, at 200 Lexington Ave. between 32nd and 33rd streets.

Mariaux will show highlights of products, fabrics and color trends. She has worked in branding and licensing and has been a writer and editor for The New York Times, House & Garden and Town and Country magazines. She also has developed and marketed home collections for designers including Calvin Klein and Valentino.

A continental breakfast will be served at 8:30 a.m. Feb. 25, followed by a photo tour of Maison & Objet from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The event will be held in the Special Events Room in the New York Design Center.

IFDA requests that those who wish to attend RSVP by Feb. 18. The cost until then is $20 for members, $35 for guests, $10 for student members and $20 for student guests. Starting Feb. 19, the cost is $35 for members, $50 for guests, $15 for student members and $25 for student guests. Tickets will also be sold at the door.

Reservations may be made at (212) 686-6020 or by e-mail at ifdanyny@verizon.net

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WESTERVILLE, Ohio — Exel Direct, a home and business delivery service with numerous furniture industry clients, has opened delivery hubs in Edison, N.J., and Hanover, Md.

The new facilities will provide home delivery services and retail replenishment to retailers in those areas. Exel also provides unloading of trailers, inventory management, staging, inspection and repair of products prior to delivery.

The Edison facility is about 116,000 square feet and includes 20 docks and 18 delivery trucks. It will average 400 deliveries per day.

The Hanover site is 40,000 square feet and includes nine docks and nine delivery trucks. It will average 125 deliveries per day.

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