By David Gill
They have been seen in retailers such as Kohl’s, Target, Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond: sets of towels in all different sizes, packaged together as an all-in-one buy.

By David Gill
Vendors of basic-bedding products are responding to the fact that Americans can’t get a good night’s sleep these days.
Consumer interest in quality of sleep has grown over the past few years. Results from medical studies have established links between lack of sleep and a host of physical disorders, including high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. With the oldest baby boomers advancing to the age in which the incidence of these health problems increases, it’s no wonder that interest in better sleep has soared.

By Allison Zisko
If the towel introductions showcased at last month’s New York Home Fashions Market are an indication, what’s old is new again and what’s new has gotten old pretty quickly.
After serving up a sea of solid-color towels for several seasons, manufacturers have returned to jacquards and patterns.

Vendors of high-end bed ensembles were bold with color at the New York International Gift Fair.
Historically, the upper end of bed fashions has been dominated by plain vanilla colorways—white, ecru, beige, neutrals, linen shades. However, the color palette for many of the ensembles seen at the Gift Fair was broader and bolder, presenting bright shades from a variety of color families.

The return of a notable textiles brand and an intriguing newcomer will spark the bed-ensemble portion of the New York Home Fashions Market.
Next week will bring Springs’ Global’s relaunch of the venerable Springmaid brand, which celebrates its 80th birthday next year. Details of the introduction were not available at press time, but in an interview earlier this year with HFN, Edward Cardimona, Springs’ chief global creative officer, said the intent is to establish Springmaid as “a complete home decor brand,” with broad retail-channel distribution throughout the nation.

By David Gill
The slump that hit the U.S. econo-my brought the bedding-textiles industry to a standstill in 2007.
U.S. retail sales of all bedroom textiles finished at slightly more than $7.7 billion last year, virtually break-even with 2006. Looking further into the two major segments of the industry, decorative bedding and basic bedding, HFN’s research found that sales in these two categories also finished last year in a virtual dead heat with the prior year.

By Andrea Lillo
FRANKFURT, Germany–Despite the struggling American economy, manufacturers were upbeat at the recent Ambiente show here. Absorbing costs and rising raw material prices now standard, many felt that consumers will buy if they feel the quality is there.
“People don’t want to overpay, but they’re willing to do one-step trade-ups when the quality is noticeable,” said Chad Price, vice president of sales for Schott Zwiesel. “Maybe they won’t go from $10 to $30 [for an item] but will make the jump from $10 to $14.”

By David Gill
NEW YORK–The impact of consumers’ desire for environmentally friendly products goes beyond the use of materials in manufacturing and packaging, as many of the decorative-bedding product introductions at this week’s New York Home Textiles Market will demonstrate.
Consumers’ growing eco-friendliness is also reflected in the design of these products. Many of the bed ensembles and decorative top-of-the-bed items that will be unveiled this week feature designs and colors that are drawn from the environment.

By David Gill
NEW YORK–With the prevailing trends toward adventurous design and eco-friendly fibers, quality and value have come to rule over the bath-rug market.
Both trends owe much of their strength to the fact that today’s bathrooms are growing larger. Newly built homes feature one or more fairly capacious bathrooms, and those in existing homes have renovated their bathrooms to add size.

By David Gill
While the move in the textiles community has been increasingly toward sourcing offshore for the past decade, it still makes sense for some U.S. manufacturers to do the lion’s share of their production here.

The weakening state of the U.S. dollar has created a new rash of problems for importers of textiles.
These difficulties are a result not so much of the fact that the dollar has gone south, but more to the fact that it happened so quickly. “It would not have been an issue had the dollar fallen over a period of time,” said Arpan Chaturvedi, director of India Covers Textiles. “But the falling of the dollar, and the strengthening of the rupee, happened in such a short span of time that we could not prepare ourselves well for the situation.”

By Christine Bockelman
The bedding forecast is sunny with a lot of color, according to industry design experts.
"Color is becoming more cheerful," said Aaron Stewart, creative director of Sferra. "We're using bright and bold colors more and more."