Fabric supplier will market its brand, new Wesley Mancini line separately


VALDESE, N.C. — Fabric supplier Valdese Weavers plans to realign its Southeastern sales force, creating a sales agency called VM Textiles to take a team approach to the region.

The agency consists of Jay Clifton, Neil Barrier, Blake Lindsay and Lisa Kakassy, who will focus on residential accounts in Virginia, North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

In addition, Steve Lindsay, formerly a sales representative in the Southeast who has been with Valdese for over 20 years, moves to a new position of key accounts representative to work with top furniture clients nationwide.

The moves coincide with Valdese’s rollout of a new brand, Wesley Mancini by Valdese Weavers. Clifton and Barrier will focus on the historic Valdese Weavers brand while Kakassy and Blake Lindsay will concentrate on the Mancini line. Steve Lindsay will represent both brands.

“Historically, our Southeastern representatives functioned independently of one another, but we felt like we needed to create a partnership to strengthen and support the sales effort for our historic brand, as well as for the launch of the Mancini brand,” said Zack Taylor, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

“While the two brands share the same production facilities, we are eager to create and maintain a separation of the brands within the marketplace. Dedicated sales representatives are critical to that end,” he said.

Clifton and Barrier have represented Valdese for more than 10 years. Blake Lindsay has been a rep for three years. Kakassy recently joined the company after spending about eight years as a Southeast rep for Quaker Fabric.