Brady Builds Croscill Export Around O'Brien, LaRovere
April 21, 2008
NEW YORK, New York—Croscill Home, one of the largest privately held bedding manufacturers in the world, has thrown its hat firmly into the export ring with a broad product offering covering better price points and diverse style ranges.
Croscill will be selling its global brand of U.S.-led design into China and India where it produces the bulk of its new collections of upper-end merchandise, including its 100 percent washable, all-cotton bedding introduced this past market.
The announcement was made by Croscill bedding and window lines president, Julie Brady, who recently added export sales responsibilities to Daphne O'Brien's job as vice president of international sourcing. "We are focused on the top tier at retail and have no intention of competing in the lower end," Brady confirmed. Croscill will be turning up at several textile fairs to sell its lines for the first time. "We have high hopes for our success internationally," she said.
"We are using our strength in the U.S. market to launch ourselves globally. Our top end range is White Label and this line is gaining friends for us everywhere in the world. We are now selling our products in China, India, the Middle East, Mexico, Canada and the UK with interest in the Benelux region." In China alone, Croscill has a 30-employee office.
"I see further interest coming from Russia for our bedding lines," O'Brien said. "As a result we are constantly recruiting and adding distributors who service the retail bedding trade. We also see interest in our top-end White Label brand which presents a real master bedroom look. With White Label, our customers are taking a comforter into the bedroom in that top tier environment as opposed to duvets. They like the overstuffed White Label design, especially the lux fabric that we offer for the traditional bedroom that people expect from Croscill."
O'Brien teamed up with partner Michelle LaRovere, vice president of bedding and window who joined the company in January. LaRovere was previously with a product development firm and was also national sales manager for Revman, another bedding firm. "I am pulling through product to the retailer and working with Daphne who does the sourcing to make sure we get it in time for markets." Croscill demands a 3 ½ to 4 month lead-time to weave, embroider and fabricate the finished products for customers. "Markets today are rolling markets," said O'Brien. "We have to get the product when the customer wants it. It's a race to the top. It's about how well we can make it, and we are not competing at the low end."
O'Brien is a seasoned sourcing and export professional with experience in the retail arena as well. She is a native of Melbourne and Brisbane Australia and spent five years in London and seven years in Hong Kong prior to coming to the states in 2000 where she worked for the International Textile Group in Greensboro, NC and then joined Croscill last July.
Croscill has been working to develop lines in India and China and in some cases; bedding is made in both countries with coordinated themes and accurate color matches between the Indian embroidered sheets and the Chinese made comforters.
Croscill will be selling its global brand of U.S.-led design into China and India where it produces the bulk of its new collections of upper-end merchandise, including its 100 percent washable, all-cotton bedding introduced this past market.
The announcement was made by Croscill bedding and window lines president, Julie Brady, who recently added export sales responsibilities to Daphne O'Brien's job as vice president of international sourcing. "We are focused on the top tier at retail and have no intention of competing in the lower end," Brady confirmed. Croscill will be turning up at several textile fairs to sell its lines for the first time. "We have high hopes for our success internationally," she said.
"We are using our strength in the U.S. market to launch ourselves globally. Our top end range is White Label and this line is gaining friends for us everywhere in the world. We are now selling our products in China, India, the Middle East, Mexico, Canada and the UK with interest in the Benelux region." In China alone, Croscill has a 30-employee office.
"I see further interest coming from Russia for our bedding lines," O'Brien said. "As a result we are constantly recruiting and adding distributors who service the retail bedding trade. We also see interest in our top-end White Label brand which presents a real master bedroom look. With White Label, our customers are taking a comforter into the bedroom in that top tier environment as opposed to duvets. They like the overstuffed White Label design, especially the lux fabric that we offer for the traditional bedroom that people expect from Croscill."
O'Brien teamed up with partner Michelle LaRovere, vice president of bedding and window who joined the company in January. LaRovere was previously with a product development firm and was also national sales manager for Revman, another bedding firm. "I am pulling through product to the retailer and working with Daphne who does the sourcing to make sure we get it in time for markets." Croscill demands a 3 ½ to 4 month lead-time to weave, embroider and fabricate the finished products for customers. "Markets today are rolling markets," said O'Brien. "We have to get the product when the customer wants it. It's a race to the top. It's about how well we can make it, and we are not competing at the low end."
O'Brien is a seasoned sourcing and export professional with experience in the retail arena as well. She is a native of Melbourne and Brisbane Australia and spent five years in London and seven years in Hong Kong prior to coming to the states in 2000 where she worked for the International Textile Group in Greensboro, NC and then joined Croscill last July.
Croscill has been working to develop lines in India and China and in some cases; bedding is made in both countries with coordinated themes and accurate color matches between the Indian embroidered sheets and the Chinese made comforters.
