Globaltex' Clarke Brothers Sell Prints

April 22, 2008

LANCASHIRE, United Kingdom—"Prints and patterns are back in the fabric business," said Lee Clarke, managing director and principal of Globaltex, a 9-year-old fabric converter.

"Globaltex is enjoying resurgence in prints to the point where it's 50 percent of our business," according to Lee, who is in the business with his brother, Duncan Clarke. "Europe has been selling more prints in the last couple of years and since most converters cut back on their printed ranges, we are benefitting by the shortage of prints right now."

"We also import woven goods into the UK from Italy, Belgium, Spain, Turkey and China which we distribute to retailers and designers, but our printed collections have taken off for us because we stock every item for quick delivery in Europe. Three years ago, we went into export and now, we're expanding the business in the USA through my brother, Duncan," he said.

The Globaltex lines are being sold to American converters and jobbers in one piece minimums. All products are stocked in its 300,000-square-foot warehouse in Haslingden near Manchester. The printed range is narrow width and pigment printed in the UK in $6-$25 price points per meter in slub cotton or in silk at the higher range.

The U.S. business is being handled via 50 collections in sample book format in plains, prints and jacquards. Lee's brother, Duncan, has 25 years of sales experience in the medical devices field but will help market the prints and the whole collection in the USA based on the West Coast. Lee has 25 years in the textile business and began to show Globaltex product at Decosit in 2005 and was also showing in Hall 3.1 at Heimtextil this year.

"I have been exporting fabrics since I was 17 years old," Lee said.



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