NEW YORK, New York—Covington Fabrics & Design LLC finished out its July fiscal year 2016 with a gain over 2015, a record year for this converter according to Greg Tarver, President & CEO. Even the closing of the Hancock Fabrics chain in July failed to dampen Covington’s sales posture as it has more than made up for that loss, Tarver says. The company is now planning a 32 sku outdoor print collection for Showtime plus a 70 sku jacquard collection and the first Jennifer Adams contract collection at Boutique Design West. In general, Covington says it is moving on all fronts to become a more efficient competitor to other converters, says Tarver. In five years, Tarver and his team, Tom Bruno, Senior Vice-President, Sales; Chari Voehl, Vice President, Design and Stefanie Wotton, Director, Marketing & Contract Services, “took the company from creating a stable environment to building on customer ideas and a focus on creativity in all market segments,” Tarver mentions. “We took chances and tried different things,” he says. The Kahan and Rifkin families acquired Covington in 2011. Tarver says the business has doubled since the acquisition and he expects it to double again by 2018. In addition, he says that exports are also up since the company showed its lines at Heimtextil in 2016 although it is not back in 2017 as an exhibitor. “Michael Rifkin took over as our Export Manager this past year. We didn’t have anyone in that position previously but now it makes sense,” Tarver explains. “We’re getting traction in European markets as well as in South Africa, Canada and Russia,” he says. Furthermore, Covington is branching out to new markets, which include ready-mades, top of bed and decorative pillows produced in China according to Tarver, who has a background in bedding from his days at WestPoint Stevens. “We think the big box retailers are not as decorative as they used to be. This leaves voids to be filled by finished product specialists,” he says. “We are targeting those specialists for finished products and we are doing our own non conflicting lines as well.” “We have definitely grown market share for Covington at the expense of other domestic converters in the USA,” he points out. Covington, which was late to the game of jacquard wovens years ago, is now finding resurgence in printed fabrics. Under the design leadership of Chari Voehl the company is literally working hand in hand with the customer to develop special custom print and woven programs. “The customer even has input on which designs should be chosen and even how the prints should be colored,” Voehl maintains. “We let the customer review strike offs and art boards before we make a final decision,” Voehl says. With a design team of 10, Voehl has become more sales oriented as a designer. “Retailers don’t want to be shopped so they are developing proprietary programs with us, Bruno adds. Outdoor prints are expanding for Covington on textured polyester base cloths. A collection of 32 sku’s will be presented at Showtime,” Voehl says. “We’re hammering away at the wovens market,” Bruno says. “There’s a big market for outdoor prints with manufacturers of replacement cushions, manufacturers and retail chains,” he adds. Most important, Covington has elected to support its jobber customers. That means Covington will not do cut order. “That is the role of our jobber customers,” Bruno says. From an operations standpoint, Tarver points to tight control over sampling costs (ROSI) return on sample investment, which includes knowing which sales representatives and customers are most efficient in the use of samples. “We’re now moving more towards electronic entry of orders by the customer. We’re also moving certain operations—namely finance and converting functions to Spartanburg, SC from New York. This will leave us with a larger showroom space in New York,” Tarver explains. There is also an 80,000 square foot warehouse in Calhoun Falls, SC. December 2016 Showtime in High Point will also see an expanded Covington space in the Textile Tower with six showrooms and over 200 booked appointments expected.