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Deb Barrett
 Mary May had been looking for window treatments to coordinate with the custom bedding she had already purchased months ago. After numerous shopping trips and visits from her decorator resulting in a flurry of memos and swatches, May still was at a loss about what to do. She had even finished custom treatment projects in three other rooms while still on the hunt for that elusive bedroom treatment. MayÂ’s husband suggested that she start over and choose a new bedding set. Last week, she stopped into Country Curtains just for a look; however, she walked out with four pairs of sage linen /cotton, lined rod-pocket draperies and four sets of cherry rods to hang them on. By the time her decorator arrived a few days later for the next round, the draperies were already hanging in her bedroom and May was asking her what she thought. That decorator was yours truly. I lost a sale from a long-time customer that could have totaled thousands of dollars in the custom world. Why? What had I done wrong?
1. Quick Delivery
2. Price
3. Deliberately Limited Choices Part of her success is limited choice. Callan says: “The moment you say to someone you have 4,000 paint choices, you’ve lost them. Customers come to you for curtains because they think that you have sorted this issue out.” A recent New York Times article also addressed this issue: “If consumers have unlimited choices in the age of innovation, we simply don’t decide. In a switch from our traditional role, window-covering pros now have to act as curators of the myriad of choices available to the consumer. Our role as editor—to sift and sort out the trends, colors, and fabrics—is a new one to some of us.”
Another reason for the categoryÂ’s growth is the on approval concept. The customer can pick it out, take it home, and see if he/she likes it. ThatÂ’s exactly what my client Mary May did. Yes, we are selling in the home, but itÂ’s hard to do from 5x7-inch swatches, when thereÂ’s a lead time to order memos, the dye lots could varyÂ… need I go on?
Market Status
Casa Fiora was founded on the premise of avoiding too many choices, too many steps to get there, and too pricey goods. In 2002, Simpson and her sister started Casa Fiora with a mere 20 pairs of silk curtains and opened up a shop. She sold them all in three days and realized that there was a void in the market that their company could fill. From there Simpson showed her line at High Point and the rest is history. Designers gravitate toward this company for its natural fabrics, fashion-forward colors, and clean, fresh styling that the younger consumer demands. Companies that have added ready mades to their product mix tell us that even though the segment is less than 25% of total sales at this time, they are experiencing growth to be 10% to 20% and higher. Granted, some of this could be from a variety of unrelated factors, but when their sales projections for 2008 are in the double digits and in an economy like ours, double digits represent something to consider. Another company in the ready-made category, Chicology, manufactures custom window treatments, but also carries ready-made roman and roller shades, and panel tracks. So here we are, seeing the market expand into hard lines to again fill a void. A leader in the ready-made industry is Emdee International. With 80% of its business in semi-custom window fashions, Emdee has been on the leading edge of semi-custom design innovation and offers the broadest range of European goods on the market. The company is constantly experimenting with unique yarn combinations including wools, silks, and mohair. The company’s market has evolved to become more project driven and there is more interest from the hotel industry, as well as architects and designers working in other design specialties. How can we as window-fashions pros—both the designer and the workroom—take advantage of the ready-made/semi-custom niche? Last year at this time, we introduced the category to many of you (see the December 2006 issue of Window Fashions). Some designer workrooms voiced their concerns about my suggestion that this niche should be added to your product mix, thinking that I was taking business away from their table, but that was never my intention. Just like I got blindsided by my customer, workrooms face the same situation. It is an essential part of any successful business to know what’s going on elsewhere and what the client and competition are doing. Yes, some decorators are foregoing custom orders for high-end ready mades. But regardless, ready mades are a growth category and are here to stay. So let’s look at it as an opportunity. How can you capitalize on it? Through an e- commerce website? By offering your clients private-label ready-made production? Ready-made consultations? Installation?
What are other
designers and
workrooms doing in
this niche? or-
Not Just Draperies, a custom drapery workroom that offers a line of “custom” ready-made silk draperies and toppers along with all their custom services. or-
Design Your Own Draperies formed by four women with over 60 years of industry knowledge who saw a need for quality treatments at an affordable price and quick turnaround. They help you chose from their style selection and fabrics and you get window treatments in three weeks. This website is an extension of the full-custom drapery store in the Chicago area.
Other great examples of whatÂ’s out there
include:
ChristyÂ’s Draperies, in Plano, TX, provides both custom and ready-made work. Her ready-made offerings include faux-leather panels or chocolate and sky-blue taffeta panels for $350.00 online.
Home Dec in a Sec, is another resource. After listening to comments from clients, owners Sue Sampson and Ellen DeLucia decided to put their winning formula to work once again with an e-commerce site to eliminate the guesswork involved in ordering custom window treatments. Pairing their best selling designs with an array of top-quality decorator fabrics
was the first part, adding the Design-A-Window studio provides the second component—the opportunity to actually see your window fashions in the fabric of your choice.
Olde Towne Window Works, a custom workroom in Fredericksburg, VA, that offers the to-the-trade Uptown line of ready mades. The company even fabricates any of the styles in COM fabrics. Its Tailor Made line is a made-to-measure program of board-mounted treatments, shades, and panels with pre-set pricing.
WhatÂ’s on the horizon? Emdee International says because of their strong position in this niche, 2008 will see the company developing more specialty looks such as ready mades woven with a crystallized silk yarn, contemporary looks with Swiss fabrics, and extended specialty looks. Specifically, extending the lengths of panels will be a prevalent move; most of EmdeeÂ’s panels are 118-inches long. Ian Chen of Chicology is anticipating more demand for natural and green materials for 2008, allowing customers to get the look they want and reducing the environmental impact. Eastern Accents not only is adding hardware, but answering customer demands for more sheers, coordinating tiebacks, and larger widths. Bailey also sees a trend toward metallics and more ornate headings like goblets, inverted pleats, and smockings. Ready mades/semi-custom products can help you better position your business and product mix for the coming year. It is not business as usual anymore.
EDITORÂ’S NOTE:
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Bottom line, I did several things wrong in handling this client, but mostly, I hadn’t taken my own advice. The experience caused me to reflect again on the product category called Ready Mades or semi-custom—a mix of curtains, draperies, and now, roman and roller shades, and panel tracks that fill the void between store-bought treatments and custom.
This story is all too symptomatic of what is happening to our industry. Whether we want to admit it or not, designers and workrooms are being bombarded by unlikely competitors. Increasingly non-industry players are recognizing that window fashions can be a profitable niche and they also realize that ready-made/semi-custom product category is a great way to get in. There are several reasons why this is happening. For one, there is a shift in consumer buying habits and this niche is perfectly suited to what and how consumers are shopping for home furnishings. Ready made/semi-custom product category fulfills what the customer wants from their window-fashions purchase:
Amity Home added its drapery line in response to customer demand for coordinating draperies and bedding. With an extensive offering of bedding designs—over 80—it was impossible to carry such inventory to dress the window Amity Home began offering only solid silk draperies in coordinating colors. 
This move is echoed by other companies like Catania Silks and Casa Fiora. Catania Silks started out as an importer/exporter of silk fabrics and recently added ready mades to its line. Owner Dada Patil notes that even though ready mades were only introduced in March 2007, the company is experiencing double-digit growth. Yes, this is partially due to market penetration, but he says, “As customers come to realize that they can get their curtains made inexpensively and quickly to their specifications, we see great potential in the ready-made market.”