May 2007

TIETEX INTERIORS ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE OFFSHORE FABRIC PROGRAM AND BUSINESS.

TradeWinds™ Brand To Help Customers Manage Complexities Of Offshore Sourcing.

HIGH POINT, NC -- Tietex Interiors (TI) has strengthened its international manufacturing presence with the introduction of TradeWinds™, an exclusive offshore fabric program and business aimed at giving customers ultimate global flexibility.

Mike Durham, TI president, said TradeWinds is a significant business initiative. "We have assembled integrated resources and developed a strategy to help mid-market customers manage the growing complexities of offshore sourcing," he said.  "There's not one customer out there who doesn't struggle to balance price point advantages against a broad array of other nagging issues."

Those other issues, he explained, are design, intellectual property, delivery, consistent service and quality. "A lot of companies can flout promotional price points, but very few can deliver the total benefits package; and that package is the compelling story behind TradeWinds.

"With our own manufacturing facilities in Thailand (Tietex Asia) and alliances with Asian partners, our international capability has been part of a balanced strategy for years," Durham said. "But," he added, "we've seen a definite up-tick in customer demand for offshore opportunity and this new business is uniquely positioned to meet it."

Durham noted that TradeWinds, as an international brand, is specifically dedicated to customers that already have made sizable investments to a global strategy. He said TI is prepared to serve customers who have their own cut-and-sew operations in Asia or those who have alliances with cut-and-sew partners.

At the outset, TradeWinds will offer 50 new patterns and 500 SKUS, including contemporary, transitional and traditional styles. "Our U.S. customers will have wide choices of body cloths and other ancillary patterns to complement any number of merchandising programs. We expect this initial offering to escalate very quickly, as customers begin to experience the advantages of our vertical capabilities at home and abroad," he said.

Durham said the advantages give Tradewinds instant credibility. "When you own the facilities and bring in your own people on-site in Asia, anything's possible," he said. "This goes way beyond product development and manufacturing. This means we have the administration functions to do business in Asia with other Asian companies. This means we control quality with the same processes and equipment of our U.S. operations."

Tietex Interiors is a division of Tietex International.

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