Croscill Builds Off-Shore Sources
January 5, 2001
Frankfurt — Croscill, a leading American readymade manufacturer has increased its import program to the point where it makes 75 percent of its curtains from imported fabric. This week, Croscill executives including president David Kahn and bedding designer Greg Davidson will be on the lookout for new woven and sheer fabrics at Heimtextil.
"Five years ago, imports were not a big factor for us," said Cheryl Johnson, product manager for the window division.
Now that has changed. "India and China are becoming more important resources in woven fabrics —for both narrow widths in powerloom fabric from India for curtains, and wide width from China for bedding. However, you have to be careful with quality," she said.
Croscill is purchasing apparel-weight goods in 100 percent polyester for curtains from Korea and Japan. The company works through international selling agents in these countries.
"We also have a cut-and-sew program in Hong Kong for readymade curtain panels. We are buying woven jacquards for the window from Hungary and Turkey," she said.
"We do our own product development, with our own look and stamp. We do 75 percent of our cut-and-sew work in our own plant, but this will be reduced as we bring in more finished product from India. We deal with about two resources in each country, which offer the right look, good quality, consistent delivery and consistency in color — which is most important.
"China is not there yet in terms of quality. The consistency of color in China is far from perfect. This takes time. One customer — even Croscill — can't influence China. We have to match what's in the store. You can't let quality slide just because you can buy it at a great price. Croscill is not interested in the lowest cost supplier. We want good quality that is competitive." (Croscill's Raghi Anand is in charge of purchasing the internationally sourced fabrics.)
"We print where we source the goods," said Johnson. "We're thinking about transfer-printing voile from overseas. We'd have more control if we do the printing.
"There are two seasons a year in this business, but the lifecycles are coming faster. There's more fashion in this business than there was five years ago. Solid colors last longer but fashion changes every 18 months," she said.
Meanwhile, the company is relying on offshore weaving sources for bedding to a much lesser extent.
"We're still sourcing top-of-bed in the U.S.A., although we keep the door open to the Far East," said Greg Davidson, product manager for Croscill's bedding division. "We're weaving in China, using novelty yarns. We currently have one program in washed jacquard woven from Taiwan. We've narrowed down our U.S. suppliers to eight or 10 mills. About five of these mills get 80 percent of our business in top-of-bed today. Delivery offshore is excellent — about eight to 10 weeks. Domestically, it's about six to eight weeks. We're committed to domestic producers in bedding.
"With the upgrading of looms to computerized jacquards we can get development much more quickly. The mills in the Far East are not too keen to provide heavy sampling while we can get the support we need from local suppliers.
"The Chinese can copy well, but they lag in new product development. Four or five years ago, Croscill was a print house. Now, about 85 percent of our bed business today is prints. Today, the retailer is considering more lavish bed treatments. Our retail price point has gone from $250 to $400 in the last five years for a comforter, dust ruffle and two shams. There must be a way to reinvigorate prints in bedding. Maybe digital printing is the answer," he said.
Davidson said that digital printing offers more control by using a sophisticated CAD system in-house. "We're still out there with prints. We still do a lot of heat-transfer for bed and window fashions, but pigment printing may come back big in the future if we tailor the print to maximize the look.
"You will always need opening price points of $250 using prints. All the time, we're exploring new substrates for printing. Committing to warps and loom time is more demanding than doing prints. For example, we have to commit to 5,000 yards per item woven domestically while it's only a 2,500-yard minimum overseas. Sometimes, we'll call in a domestic mill to meet the demand on a hot item that we produce overseas. We're looking into a strategy to provide for offshore and domestic manufacturing.
"Five years ago, imports were not a big factor for us," said Cheryl Johnson, product manager for the window division.
Now that has changed. "India and China are becoming more important resources in woven fabrics —for both narrow widths in powerloom fabric from India for curtains, and wide width from China for bedding. However, you have to be careful with quality," she said.
Croscill is purchasing apparel-weight goods in 100 percent polyester for curtains from Korea and Japan. The company works through international selling agents in these countries.
"We also have a cut-and-sew program in Hong Kong for readymade curtain panels. We are buying woven jacquards for the window from Hungary and Turkey," she said.
"We do our own product development, with our own look and stamp. We do 75 percent of our cut-and-sew work in our own plant, but this will be reduced as we bring in more finished product from India. We deal with about two resources in each country, which offer the right look, good quality, consistent delivery and consistency in color — which is most important.
"China is not there yet in terms of quality. The consistency of color in China is far from perfect. This takes time. One customer — even Croscill — can't influence China. We have to match what's in the store. You can't let quality slide just because you can buy it at a great price. Croscill is not interested in the lowest cost supplier. We want good quality that is competitive." (Croscill's Raghi Anand is in charge of purchasing the internationally sourced fabrics.)
"We print where we source the goods," said Johnson. "We're thinking about transfer-printing voile from overseas. We'd have more control if we do the printing.
"There are two seasons a year in this business, but the lifecycles are coming faster. There's more fashion in this business than there was five years ago. Solid colors last longer but fashion changes every 18 months," she said.
Meanwhile, the company is relying on offshore weaving sources for bedding to a much lesser extent.
"We're still sourcing top-of-bed in the U.S.A., although we keep the door open to the Far East," said Greg Davidson, product manager for Croscill's bedding division. "We're weaving in China, using novelty yarns. We currently have one program in washed jacquard woven from Taiwan. We've narrowed down our U.S. suppliers to eight or 10 mills. About five of these mills get 80 percent of our business in top-of-bed today. Delivery offshore is excellent — about eight to 10 weeks. Domestically, it's about six to eight weeks. We're committed to domestic producers in bedding.
"With the upgrading of looms to computerized jacquards we can get development much more quickly. The mills in the Far East are not too keen to provide heavy sampling while we can get the support we need from local suppliers.
"The Chinese can copy well, but they lag in new product development. Four or five years ago, Croscill was a print house. Now, about 85 percent of our bed business today is prints. Today, the retailer is considering more lavish bed treatments. Our retail price point has gone from $250 to $400 in the last five years for a comforter, dust ruffle and two shams. There must be a way to reinvigorate prints in bedding. Maybe digital printing is the answer," he said.
Davidson said that digital printing offers more control by using a sophisticated CAD system in-house. "We're still out there with prints. We still do a lot of heat-transfer for bed and window fashions, but pigment printing may come back big in the future if we tailor the print to maximize the look.
"You will always need opening price points of $250 using prints. All the time, we're exploring new substrates for printing. Committing to warps and loom time is more demanding than doing prints. For example, we have to commit to 5,000 yards per item woven domestically while it's only a 2,500-yard minimum overseas. Sometimes, we'll call in a domestic mill to meet the demand on a hot item that we produce overseas. We're looking into a strategy to provide for offshore and domestic manufacturing.
