Vision, the J. Ennis Converting Arm Relies On Quality, Speed to Market
Former Hockey Player Jim Ennis Still Follows Where the Puck Will Be!
November 25, 2025
Jim Ennis
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada–Vision is the converting arm of J. Ennis Fabrics started up by Jim Ennis, the owner, while J. Ennis is the jobbing division.
Ennis is a former ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers. “Nothing has changed since my days on the ice; “Wayne Gretsky used to say: ‘Don’t go to where the hockey puck is! Go to where it’s going to be!’ Ennis says: quality and speed still wins in this fabric game!
Vision produces fabrics for residential and assisted living, everything with the residential look and performance in the $3-$19 range. “The market buys $3 body cloth and spends $15 on the pillows,” he explains.
“We are a converter of original designs in the USA with six designers on staff but we are a converter/jobber in Canada,” says the second generation owner of the 250 employee firm started by his father in 1972. The third Ennis generation is already in place for J. Ennis with two of Jim’s children Abbey, (28) and Josh (34). There are four Ennis grandsons in the wings too.
“Most of our employees work remotely from home except for the warehouse staff in Indianapolis. I think we’re the only company which works like this as a result of the Covid era.” Ennis also owns 200,000 square feet of warehouse space in Indianapolis, Indiana with other warehouses in Nimbo, China, Vancouver and Toronto. “Inventory is up to the roof in Indianapolis,” he says.
Ennis feels it will become obvious next year who has a heavy debt load in the fabric business when there is a drop in revenue. That’s why he prefers to be debt free and carry a huge inventory.
“In the USA, we sell fabric to the furniture manufacturer and jobber. Our converted designs are developed from artwork we buy in Europe,” he explains. All of our solids feature our performance brand of Endurepel(r) finish which offers great stain resistance. “We buy fabrics from China, a little from Turkish and Indian suppliers as well as Mexico and Taiwan. We also buy from US suppliers Valdese and Crypton as well as being a distributor of Sunbrella(R) fabrics,” he says. “That breakdown is 60 percent from China and 40 percent from everywhere else.”
Vision stocks $22 million worth of pre tariff Chinese made fabrics in its North American warehouse. “This enabled us to beat the tariffs but I think this is settling down and will be less than it is now,” he feels.
“The tariffs have created uncertainty with our customers which have caused them to pause in their buying. Our reputation is in having lots of inventory on the shelf. If you order from us before 2:30 PM, we ship the same day from our Indianapolis based warehouse. There is a massive UPS hub in Indianapolis. We are a reliable supplier and also debt free. That’s what our customers want.. It still doesn’t make sense to move away from China sourcing. It would take decades to build the infrastructure that China has in the US plus the higher cost of labor here.”
Ennis is a former ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers. “Nothing has changed since my days on the ice; “Wayne Gretsky used to say: ‘Don’t go to where the hockey puck is! Go to where it’s going to be!’ Ennis says: quality and speed still wins in this fabric game!
Vision produces fabrics for residential and assisted living, everything with the residential look and performance in the $3-$19 range. “The market buys $3 body cloth and spends $15 on the pillows,” he explains.
“We are a converter of original designs in the USA with six designers on staff but we are a converter/jobber in Canada,” says the second generation owner of the 250 employee firm started by his father in 1972. The third Ennis generation is already in place for J. Ennis with two of Jim’s children Abbey, (28) and Josh (34). There are four Ennis grandsons in the wings too.
“Most of our employees work remotely from home except for the warehouse staff in Indianapolis. I think we’re the only company which works like this as a result of the Covid era.” Ennis also owns 200,000 square feet of warehouse space in Indianapolis, Indiana with other warehouses in Nimbo, China, Vancouver and Toronto. “Inventory is up to the roof in Indianapolis,” he says.
Ennis feels it will become obvious next year who has a heavy debt load in the fabric business when there is a drop in revenue. That’s why he prefers to be debt free and carry a huge inventory.
“In the USA, we sell fabric to the furniture manufacturer and jobber. Our converted designs are developed from artwork we buy in Europe,” he explains. All of our solids feature our performance brand of Endurepel(r) finish which offers great stain resistance. “We buy fabrics from China, a little from Turkish and Indian suppliers as well as Mexico and Taiwan. We also buy from US suppliers Valdese and Crypton as well as being a distributor of Sunbrella(R) fabrics,” he says. “That breakdown is 60 percent from China and 40 percent from everywhere else.”
Vision stocks $22 million worth of pre tariff Chinese made fabrics in its North American warehouse. “This enabled us to beat the tariffs but I think this is settling down and will be less than it is now,” he feels.
“The tariffs have created uncertainty with our customers which have caused them to pause in their buying. Our reputation is in having lots of inventory on the shelf. If you order from us before 2:30 PM, we ship the same day from our Indianapolis based warehouse. There is a massive UPS hub in Indianapolis. We are a reliable supplier and also debt free. That’s what our customers want.. It still doesn’t make sense to move away from China sourcing. It would take decades to build the infrastructure that China has in the US plus the higher cost of labor here.”
