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F Ob Int&FI a ser ern t P vat ati rop ory ona os /Ev l te/ tek s
Volume 25, Number 2
Spring 2015
The Global Home & Contract Furnishings Newspaper
Valley Forge Bets Big: High Roller™ Window Shade Mechanism Fabric Hotel specialist develops clutch for hospitality roller shade roll-out Sipco News Network
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Dan Dobin
OMPANO BEACH, Florida — Valley Forge is rolling out ‘High Roller™’ its first roller shade mechanism and decorative roller shade fabric program designed specifically for hospitality applications according to Dan Dobin, founder and Chairman of the 150-employee hospitality jobber. “The roller shade business is in its infancy. We expect to accelerate this business with the
Dicitex Adds Bedding Business Under Anali Arora
new products we offer the hotel owner and designer but we’ll be selling it through the workroom for the first time and encourage the owners and designers to install our products,” Dobin says. “We’re offering a 15 year guarantee on our steel and aluminum roller shade mechanisms.” At the same time, the hotel owner is catering to ‘Millennials’ who “prefer roller shades to the fullness of draperies,” he adds. “Valley Forge had to develop a new steel clutch –not plastic-
-for the hotel industry to insure that the weight of 96 inch roller shades do not strain what were largely plastic residential mechanisms. Hotel owners have been burned in the past with residential mechanisms but we solved that problem by designing a steel and aluminum mechanism tailored for the hotel room,” he said. “Our clutch, the XD clutch, is the best clutch in the business today,” he feels. He’ll be leading the charge to sell the new roller
shade program to workrooms which are morphing into engineered product manufacturers.” After 18 months of test marketing and a soft rollout, Valley Forge has committed itself to the “High Roller” program with three new collections of engineered fabrics, mostly imports including FR fabrics, including “very decorative blackout and solar shades” being presented to workrooms in March, May and July. (continued on Page 9)
Como Istanbul Bursa
Sipco News Network
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Joe Wheeler Shows Off Neutex Roller Shade Fabric • P18
UMBAI, India — Dicitex Furnishings Pvt. has named Sonali Arora Manager of its new bed sheet business featuring Warner Bros. characters in Asia under license according to Nimish Arora, General Manager of Dicitex and husband of Sonali. “Sonali has successfully managed our five Tresorie stores operation in India for the past 5 years, now a $5 million business. Arora expects she will build a $10 million business under the ‘DC Tex’ bedding brand. (continued on Page 22)
Turkey Meets Como
Letter from Turkey • P8
Vanelli Accepted by Proposte After A Decade of Applications; Joined by two other Turkish mills Penelope and Marteks
Dicitex Furnishings Adds 25 Belgian Velvet Looms - P22
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