LOS ANGELES, California —Belagio Enterprises has built a $25 million operation by bringing fashion apparel styling into the home decorative trim business.

Currently, rhinestone and ‘blingy’ products with high eye appeal are selling well at Belagio, according to the owners, Farshad Melamed and his cousin Danny Elyassi, Vice President, Sales and Marketing.

The company has 4,200 sku’s of trim including outdoor, jute, linen, crystals, laces, embroidery, leather and even feather trimmings.

Farshad arrived in the USA in 1981. He bought Art Sales, shortly after arriving. Art Sales was started in 1945 to sell laces and trims to the apparel industry. It was also a master distributor for Conso Trims. He bought a 40,000 square foot building and a second bonded warehouse near Los Angeles Airport to support the business.

In 1985, Farshad bought R.J. Singer, a handbag and notions company. He built this business into one of the largest suppliers of leather items in the world. It helped bankroll Belagio when his cousin Danny joined the business and started Belagio Trim in 2001. “We learned a lot about business from supplying companies like Rayovac battery and Gillette,” Farshad points out.

During the time Belagio started, the domestic apparel business disappeared along with the apparel trim business. Danny saw the potential of the home decorative trim business. He originally had a store in downtown Los Angeles, Imperial Trimming. He sold it prior to joining Farshad. Under Danny’s management, Belagio became an importer of trim, working with factories in Dalian, China and further south.  

Today, 70 percent of the trim comes from China and the balance is from India, Thailand and other countries, Danny says.

Belagio bought out Skyline Trimmimg, Nantucket and Bomar and is in negotiation to buy other trim companies. “We can grow through acquisition alone,” Danny says.

“We can increase our share of a declining market. Trimming has been soft. Trim companies with high operating costs have disappeared.”

“We don’t sell retail. Our market is the bedding and furniture manufacturer. We service them China to China; retail chains are 30 percent of our businesses today while the jobber and converter is 40 percent of our business. We do another 30 percent internationally with the legitimate retailer and distributor in Japan, UK, Germany, Netherlands, and France.  Italy, Russia, Spain and Australia.

“We have an office in Hangzhou, China under the Belagio name. Zoey is the manager of that operation,” Danny points out.

“Our China-to-China business is growing and so is our domestic business. The overall business will also grow along with the economy. We are self financed and have no debt,” Farshad says.

Belagio brings out two collections a year. “We ship from stock in one to three days from receipt of order; special order can be shipped in eight to ten days.,” Danny says. “We cover trim price points from $1 for simple trim to $10 a yard for rhinestone and silk trim.”

“We’re looking for more trim distributors. We show our lines at Showtime USA twice a year; Las Vegas twice a year, New York, Los Angeles and we’re thinking of showing at Heimtextil in Frankfurt.