Roxboro, Quebec – Kingsway's fabrics division has seen its sales to retailers and furniture manufacturers increase 60 percent since Catherine Shearson joined the company in early 1999 as President.

''We've completely changed the look of the fabrics we design and sell,'' she said. ''Originally, we coordinated fabrics to wall coverings, but we've branched out to make just nice fabrics. We're two separate entities: wallcovering and fabrics. We also make coordinating borders with some fabric collections but most of the fabric SKUs stand alone. Right now, beautiful botanical florals on linen fabrics are selling well. Rooster is our signature pattern and single best seller to date.

''We pay a lot of attention to detail on our original, registered designs,'' she said, ''We always try to come up with new things. Our colors are vibrant and our designs are intricate.'' Shearson said that all the company's designs are produced in Toronto on the Kingsway's CAD system.

''Our typical collections feature 20 patterns averaging 12-14 screens each with three to four colors per pattern,'' said Shearson. ''We introduce new collections twice a year in January and July at Showtime. Our line consists of vat-printed fabrics in the mid- to high-end range, all converted in the U.S.A.''

Shearson said that the ''team-oriented'' company has recently revamped its sales force as well ''We have the right sales people now.'' She said that Kingsway now has 15 field sales people in America. For the April High Point market we had 25 placements. In October, we had 63 placements. We're kicking butt.''

Future plans call for weaving of tapestries and jacquards, she said. ''We'll continue to target retailers and the furniture industry as well as the top-of-bed and pillow business,'' Harrison said. We plan to look at export in the future, but our main concentration is in the U.S.A.''

In her new position, Shearson works closely with Alan Fine, President of Rosedale Wall Coverings which is a publicly held Nasdaq small capitalization company with sales of $20 million, which includes the 10-year-old Kingsway, division. For 10 years previously, she was with Montreal-based Karentex, a converter/ jobber of bedding and readymade and window treatments with distribution in Canada.

''This is my dream come true,'' Shearson said. ''In my new position, I'm running Kingsway, including the sales, greige goods sourcing and manufacturing. I get to be creative and also buy and sell.''

Kingsway has offices in Toronto and Montreal as well as a showroom in New York at 261 Fifth Ave. Shipping and receiving is in Ozone Park, N.J.