NEW YORK, New York—Richloom Fabrics Group has created a new division under the banner of Richloom Cruise by Richloom Contract. The company expects to intensify its market share of the 875,000 cabins on the water each year and also the public spaces in cruise. “Refit requires four to six-week turnaround on installation of new interiors while new build requires a two to three-year period,“ says Glenda Spangler, Vice President of Global Sourcing and also the brainchild of the new division that will display its new brand and product line-up for the first time at the Sea Trade Show March 14-17. Spangler, who joined Richloom 29 years ago, says that the company has been successful in developing products like R-Bed, Kelly Hoppen for contract and now cruise. She has been involved in all of this development over the years. “I anticipate a 1,000 percent increase in our business within five years,” says Alex Petruzzelli, the new Director of Cruise Ship Division at Richloom He reports to Spangler and also to John Ringer, Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Petruzzelli, who speaks four languages is well known in the cruise industry having covered the market as an independent agent in the USA and Europe based in Southern Florida. He has represented Richloom since 2008 and now will take his new role as a fulltime employee of the company. Lisa Craft has also joined the effort as the Senior Designer for Richloom Cruise based in New York. She was previously with Sunbury Mills, the American jacquard weaver based in Sunbury, Pennsylvania. Sherri Mojica Director of Design for R-bed has been instrumental in creating bedding for the cruise industry for the past several years prior to setting up the new division. “We’ve been serving the cruise ship industry with our R-Bed and upholstery piece goods, dim out and blackout linings for eight years,” Spangler adds. She points out that all cruise product is certified for IMO and tested by Diversified, Intertech and Applied in the USA. Richloom now offers Trevira®CS partnering with mills in Italy and Turkey; Richloom’s R-Brand and its Fortress FR brand, also provides IMO certified product for cruise use. The new Richloom effort is in part spurred by the emerging market for cruise consumers in China, considered the largest emerging market for cruise in the world. “Richloom Shanghai is well located to capitalize on this growth, especially refits that will be done in China, Spangler points out. She had a hand in establishing Richloom Shanghai and well as the branch in India. However, she also says that the ships themselves are still built in Europe. Richloom will sell sheers, draperies, upholstery, vinyl’s and specialty fabrics which pass the IMO standards in the new effort. Products will be sourced from Italy, China, Turkey and India for cruise application. Previously, Richloom sold hospitality fabrics to the cruise industry but now dedicated resources will be used to develop purpose built products for cruise, Spangler emphasizes. “That means all products will meet the tensile strength and abrasion standards required by the cruise industry but even more importantly, a new aesthetic geared to cruise featuring a different scale and color of designs will be utilized,” she says. Spangler sees the dawning of a new age in cruise design that will employ higher end boutique aspects of the hospitality industry on large and small ships alike as owners try to differentiate their ships. “For the past two years, we have been doing IMO and wash testing on fabrics specifically made for the cruise industry with our customers in Italy, France, Germany and USA. These include major US and European design firms which specialize in cruise interiors and turnkey firms.” “We will focus on refit and new build projects with the new division working with the ship builders, owners and designers,” she says. Currently, Richloom is involved with refit projects like Norwegian Pride of America; Pearl, Gem and Jade refits; Also, Carnival Vista Family Spa Cabins and Disney Wonder refit; also Carnival crew cabins.