KALEEN BUILDS 300K MANUFACTURING FACILITY TO MEET SURGING DEMAND
Kaleen's fast growth in its broadloom business, which contributed to a record breaking first half of 2018 -- has prompted the company to add a new 300,000 square foot manufacturing facility in India. Shown, the in-out Boca BOC13 |
DALTON, Ga. -- Area rug and broadloom maker Kaleen has been breaking records in recent months, and to keep up with heightened demand the company is building a 300,000 square foot facility in India that will be operational by year's end.
Blake Dennard, senior vice president, Kaleen, told RugNews.com in an exclusive interview that the company has experienced record-breaking increases in the first half of 2018 in both its area rug and broadloom categories, and expects that upward trajectory to continue well into Q3 and Q4 as new area rug collections are introduced this summer and fall, and as its latest assortment of broadloom samples hits the shelves.
"We are having an outstanding 2018 first and second quarters, and May, June and July will be record breaking months for us too," Dennard noted, pointing out that the company's expansion of its broadloom program, which it introduced in 2015 and which includes custom cut and sew rugs, has proved a winner. "We are seeing mid-teens growth in our traditional area rug business: it is a great growth number for us. And we are seeing 100 percent increases on the broadloom side."
Doubling Capacity
To meet the increased demand for Kaleen product, the company, which operates two manufacturing facilities in India, is more than doubling its capacity. "It will take our footprint in Panipat to 300,000 square feet (up from our 50,000 current square feet) with an option for an additional 200,000 square feet in the future. It is a brand new facility and should be online and operational by year end.
"It will give us added capacity in the broadloom and area rug categories. And, with the exception of yarn spinning, everything will be under one roof: all the weaving, the finishing, and the packing."
The Boca indoor-outdoor collection is one of about 20 broadloom debuts earlier this year by Kaleen.
On the area rug side, Kaleen, which produces all its rugs and broadloom in its India factories, has committed to the hand-tufted and hand-loomed categories, offering new summer collections in those constructions.
In the broadloom sector, Kaleen introduced about 20 collections during January markets (read more), with plans for more of the same for winter 2019. The company will continue to focus on what is becoming its niche: hand-tufted product.
"Furthermore, Kaleen is growing its assortment of indoor-outdoor area rugs, introducing Minkah and the recently debuted Zocalo, two PET collections crafted in India. Since the December 2017 closing of a Chinese plant which produced some of its outdoor rugs, the company has been moving production to its own facilities. "We are bringing some of our outdoor rugs to our India locations, where we are vertically integrated, so we have more control over our service and quality," Dennard said.
Kaleen's broadloom business has been growing by leaps and bounds and it plans to introduce another 20 collections in 2019. Shown, a design from the jacquard loomed flatweave Anegad collection.