LAS VEGAS–The Global Textiles and Global Home Decor shows are taking place this week amid continuing uncertainty over both the U.S. and world home-textiles markets.
Exhibitors at the shows said the shape of the global economy, in particular the U.S. economy, has held back sales growth for them so far this year. However, they still hope for positive results from the two shows.
“At the moment, the textiles sector all over the world is slow,” said Usman Haroon Puri, director of Haroon Fabrics. “But we hope for a pickup down the road in the latter half of 2008. Retailers haven’t been buying for a long time, and they need to restock.”
“We see the textiles market as slow now, but we hope to book significantly more U.S. business this year,” said Muhammad Hussain Moosani, proprietor of Hussain Textiles. “We think there’s an interest in our products [which consist mostly of bath textiles] in the U.S. now.”
The U.S. dollar, which had hampered business for the exporters who are exhibiting here, has become less of a problem. “People have adjusted to the fall in the dollar,” said Arpan Chaturvedi, director of India Covers. “Now the dollar has stabilized, and everybody was affected by it so the playing field has been leveled.”