Tales Of A Fourth Generation Textile Executive: A Letter From The President…..Of Studioe

Dear Customers, Fans, Employees, Sales Reps, Consumers, Suppliers, Family & Friends,

This is the perfect time for me to express my thanks to each and every one of you for a great year and for everything that you do for our companies.  We try our best, year after year, to try to improve and grow. This certainly isn’t as easy as it sounds, but we do try.  We all work very hard in a challenging business, but continue to push on year after year and come in to the office everyday with a smile. 

On top of the managerial type business challenges, there is the fact that the fabric business and fabric are not perfect.  Fabric is unique.  Unlike soup or soda that comes in a certain number of ounce bottle, fabric piece sizes vary greatly.  The printing doesn’t always come out perfect.  The double and rolling doesn’t always result in perfectly aligned selvedges.  The greige goods aren’t always perfectly woven.  The fabric sometimes is dirty or has holes.  Sometimes there are overages and sometimes there are shortages.  Other times, the fabric is perfect. 

Unfortunately, those are some of the pitfalls that we deal with in fabric and the biggest culprit is that so many people are touching the fabric before it gets to the end consumer.  Needless to say, we do our best to work around all these issues, especially making sure that our customers and the ultimate consumer is happy because we know that a happy customer and consumer keeps coming back for more.  We know the business isn’t perfect and we work diligently to resolve any issues like those mentioned above.  We stand by our fabric 1000% because that is something that we can control.  That being said, if you are not satisfied with something pertaining to my companies, contact me directly….I am easy to find.  It is my business to make sure we don’t lose any customers because those are the most important assets we have.

Another important aspect of the fabric business is that our products have many appealing aspects.  Fabric projects (quilts in particular) could be considered art.  They could be charity for those in need of a warm blanket.  They could be calming for the creator.  They could be educational for the student.  They could be support to those in need of support or a crutch.  They could be our way of showing patriotism to our troops.  I can go on and on, but I think you get the idea.  We aren’t selling soup or soda, we are selling inspiration, dreams and imagination.  Therefore, I think fabric has earned the ability to be unique in all its own ways.

I am not sure if I got off on a tangent or my message is clear, but the long and the short of it is that we are in an amazing industry.  Fabric is awesome.  Fabric is fun.  Fabric is our lives.   

Thanks for being a customer, a fan, an employee, a sales rep, a consumer, a supplier, a family member, or like one, and most importantly thanks for being a friend.  I love you all and want to wish all of you a Happy New Year!  May 2015 be filled with lots of life, love, happiness and of course some perfect FABRIC!

Studioe President

Scott Fortunoff