COMO, Italy — “There are more successful companies than Penelope if the criteria for business is only how much money you generate but our goal was to create a company that is long lasting as opposed to a short term success,” says Murat Tasman, co-principal of Penelope. What do you expect to hear from the owner of a mill named after the wife of the hero Odysseus in Greek mythology. Tasman’s other partner in the Bursa, Turkey based mill is Tamar Celebi. As a formally trained engineer, Tasman has always been on the technical side of the business with a deep knowledge in the design of software and hardware for jacquard systems while Tamar is a lawyer by trade and watches the money. Neither partner is driven by the money. They are very passionate about making beautiful fabrics and Penelope has gained a reputation over the past 22 years as a mill of great design talent. “We want to be a boutique mill. There’s no sense to be big in this business. We want to keep the passion for the business flowing first. Nevertheless, Penelope has been aggressive when it comes to sales. For example, in its largest export market, the USA, it has hired De Leo to market its upholstery to furniture manufacturers (Penelope by De Leo is the brand in the USA) and more recently, Penelope hired Franco Nannucci to work with American jobbers. Initially, Penelope worked with High Five to call on the entire trade but recognized the value in segmenting the American market between manufacturers and jobbers in the current super competitive environment. “Jobbers have more growth potential for Penelope but sales are currently split about 50/50 with furniture manufacturers,” Tasman explains. “The pressure on the bottom fabric level forces us to go higher and higher in what we do at Penelope. We’re trying to stay even with last year and trying to keep the business at the same level,” Tasman explains. We can survive where we are now—small and profitable with less than $10 million in sales.” Penelope is running three shifts with lower efficiency than it would like to have because the business done is with smaller orders, more sku’s and more sampling than ever before. The minimum order is one piece. “The important thing in this business is the fabric on the table,” he says. “We deliver fabric in six weeks to the USA, Germany, UK and Benelux region. We visit the customer more today than ever before.” Penelope shows at Heimtextil and is one of four Turkish mills now showing at Proposte in the Villa Erba Fairgrounds. Penelope is considered on a par with Vanelli in terms of quality and the two are considered at a very high level. “All the international buyers came to Proposte this year, maybe a bit more than last year for us,” he says.  At Proposte, Penelope featured ‘Lidia,’ a wool fabric that weighed 1.1 kilos, nearly 2.5 pounds per meter that sold for $40 a meter. This is the top end for this mill. You could also score a Penelope made polyester and acrylic blended fabric for $10 a meter. “Penelope takes risks with people and machinery,” says Wahlid Sfeir, a member of the Penelope sales and export team chimes in during this interview. This high end weaver has 38 jacquard looms housed in a Bursa based facility it moved to in 2008. “It’s more comfortable in this new factory than where we were before,” Tasman laughs. Penelope has an expertise in the design and production of novelty yarns which it uses for its collections and also sells to certain other weavers, Tasman explains. The weaving department consists of 80 people with an eight-man design team lead by Tasman. There are 140 employees in all. “For the past six years at least, the yarns we produce drive the business at Penelope,” says Tasman. Yarns are generated in acrylic and linen blends with viscose and wool. Wool yarns were introduced just two years ago and these yarns can lead to some pretty bulky upholstery fabrics—wool filling with cotton warps.