SHOWTIME® FEATURE
TEXTILE BUSINESS OUTLOOK
FOR
INDUSTRY SURVEY
BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS BALANCING SUPPLY TO DEMAND By Kim D. Shaver Home textile industry executives have an optimistic outlook for business this year, even as they confront and seek to mitigate stresses in the supply chain such as soaring freight rates, shipping bottlenecks and higher costs for sometimes scarce raw materials. According to Showtime Magazine’s recent Home Textile Industry Outlook Survey, 94% of the respondents are either “very optimistic” or “somewhat optimistic” about business prospects this year. One-third fall into the “very optimistic” camp, while no respondents report being pessimistic.
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www.InternationalTextileAlliance.org/Showtime
As home has become the center of the universe for millions of consumers during the year-pluslong pandemic, furnishings and textiles emerged as advantaged product categories early last summer, with surging demand that has shown no signs of abating. For the first quarter of 2021, nearly 70% of executives surveyed report solid-to-robust increases in sales compared to the same period in 2020, most of which was before the pandemic economic shutdowns. Year to date, one-third report double-digit increases in the 11% to 25% range; one-quarter of respondents report increases in the 10% range and over 11% report increases in the high-double-digits and up to double their business a year ago. Only 33% report their business is down compared to a year ago, with most of the decreases in the single-digit to low double-digit range.
