KALEEN DEBUTS MAJOR BROADLOOM EXPANSION AT SURFACES; ANNOUNCES NEW YARN AND WEAVING FACILITIES IN INDIA
Unveiled at the recent Flooring America/Flooring Canada/ IDG conneXtion conference in Orlando, Kaleen will feature 12 brand new broadloom qualities, a new exhibit booth and new waterfall displays at The International Surface Event in Las Vegas.
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LAS VEGAS -- Kaleen is making a major statement in broadloom at The International Surface Event (TISE) unveiling today a brand new exhibit booth twice the size of last year's, new waterfall displays and a whopping 12 new broadloom collections. The debuting collections will be on view at SURFACES from Jan. 20 to 22, 2016 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.
The company, which premiered a branded Kaleen handmade broadloom line for direct distribution with 11 collections last year at SURFACES, will show a total of 23 collections this week in an expansive 20x30 foot display designed to communicate a commitment to, and growing focus on the category.
"We're one year into it, and we've more than doubled the line. The plan is to double it again in January 2017," says Blake Dennard, senior vice president at Kaleen. Although the Kaleen name is just a few years old in broadloom, the company has been private-labeling roll goods for over a decade. "We are now just about the only true manufacturer in hand-made broadloom. Other people come to us to make it for them," Dennard says.
EXPANDING OVERSEAS PLANTS
Inspecting a broadloom order headed for the U.S. from India are Blake Dennard, senior VP of Kaleen, and Radhe Rathi, CEO for MRT Family Holdings, parent company of Kaleen Rugs.
Kaleen is a manufacturer in India and has several joint ventures in China. The company controls production back to raw wool, handling all dyeing and spinning and is opening a new yarn facility in Bikaner, in northern India, which gives it advantages in managing materials costs.
Widely known for handmade and machine-made area rugs, Kaleen gained ISO 9001 certification for its Marudhar rug plant located in Mirzapur, India, in 2010. The Marudhar plant, which opened in spring 2009, produces hand-tufted and hand-loomed area rugs.
"We see broadloom as a long-term business. It is exciting to see the continued growth in our rug business and the expansion of our broadloom division. We invested in a total of five new facilities in Panipat and Bikaner in 2015, including yarn, weaving and finishing plants. Four facilities are already operational and another will soon be complete," says Monty Rathi, COO of Kaleen Rugs.
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"We see broadloom as a long-term business. It is exciting to see our growth and expansion in the category." --Monty Rathi, COO, Kaleen Rugs. |
Last year Kaleen launched its handmade flat weave broadlooms at SURFACES as well as heavy Berbers and natural looks, all made of 100 percent seasonal wool. "We're doing something that's a little bit different from anyone else with our hand-loomed flat weave products in broadloom. We make them in 13.2 widths and 16.4 widths, which is a big advantage--the wide goods eliminate the need for seams. A lot of dealers in the carpet side really like that. And on the rug side and the furniture side, where this product is fabricated into rugs, those 16 foot wide goods allow them to make a large 16x25 rug in one piece."
Kaleen introduced hand-loomed wool flatweaves such as this new quality, and opened the market to a broad base of consumers.
SURFACES BROADLOOM DEBUTS
This year the big news at Kaleen for SURFACES introductions are a collection called Necker Island and a Tencel broadloom collection, which premiered in early January 2016 at the Flooring America conneXtion convention in Orlando. The Tencel line features three textures: a ribbed design called Azalea, and the plush Magnolia and Holly qualities.
Blake Dennard shows off a brand new Tencel broadloom collection debuting for 2016 from Kaleen, which features from top to bottom: a ribbed design called Azalea, and the plush Magnolia and Holly qualities.
"Our philosophy is to bring the wool handmade business, which typically sells at cost $100 and up per yard, to a broader middle-class consumer market. We've taken that product down, all the way to $29 a yard for handmade wool. That completely opens up the market. The consumer doesn't understand machine tufted, but she does understand handmade and wool--both premium selling points," Dennard explains.
At the CCA Global conference he told RugNews.com: "Kaleen has given the average Flooring America dealer a way to sell handmade wool carpets. The consumer who cannot afford to buy designer broadloom at trade-only showrooms had nowhere to go for this look and quality. We're targeting the mainstream market with broadloom that had previously been priced out of their reach."
Fully vertical broadloom production at Kaleen includes new yarn dyeing facilities in India.
A handloom at a Kaleen plant in Bikaner, India.
Kaleen's new facilities in India include hand carving and finishing.
A heavy cable knit look is under development at Kaleen's broadloom facilities in Bikaner.