Susan M. Andrews
Also introduces Terrazzo acrylic outdoor line
HIGH POINT — Upholstery fabric supplier Quaker Fabric is banking on the new product it has at Showtime here this week, including the Quaker Global line of China-made fabrics and the U.S.-made Terrazzo solution-dyed acrylic outdoor fabric.

Quaker, which has been resizing and adjusting its business model to fit the changing textile landscape, produces the Quaker Global line in a China plant it operates in a joint venture with Hangzhou Zhongwang.

Prices range from about $3.75 a yard for plains to $6.95 and $7.95 for the bulk of the line, which are patterns that would be about $16 if produced domestically, said Tom Muzekari, vice president of sales and marketing.

He said that when Quaker decided on a blended strategy by sourcing from China, “we chose to work with just one mill and we’re setting up the finishing plant so our fabrics can be finished there.”

Duncan Whitehead, vice president of research and development, is working to get everything in place at the finishing plant in China.

“Finishing has always been the bottleneck,” for Chinese-made fabrics, Muzekari said. “When a supplier sources from a lot of different mills, you have to slug it out with all their other customers to get in line for finishing. With our finishing facility there at the same mill that is weaving for us, we won’t have that problem.”

Yarns used in China are the same ones used in Quaker’s U.S. plant in Fall River, Mass., and the loom setup also is the same, he said.

“Bea (Spires, vice president of design and merchandising) can do all the product development here because there’s no difference between sending designs electronically to the weave plant across the street than sending it to China,” said Muzekari. “We’ll have people there, too, but all the product development work will be done here.”

The Terrazzo line of plains and decorative jacquards features high-pickage construction for an upscale look and solution-dyed acrylic yarn specifically chosen for vivid color, according to Muzekari. Prices range from about $10 to about $25 per yard for furniture manufacturers.

The launch of the full line was delayed about a year by upheaval among North American suppliers of solution-dyed acrylic, such as Solutia, which opted out of the market altogether. But Quaker has lined up other sources and has brought about 700 SKUs to Showtime.

Quaker chose Boston-based marketing firm Partners & Simons to handle the marketing of the line.