Decorator Industries Inc.

Decorator Industries Inc.

Dating Hugh and Ion which, after all, was unpublished and unknown in its own time, might seem to be (merely) an exercise in gynocritical canonical recovery, were it not for the fact that this poem provides a crucial early link between the discourses of imperial expansionism and social purity that would dominate almost all English-Canadian constructions of national identity from the mid-1880s to the end of the Second World War. Hugh and Ion not only "documents" the ideology of western expansion in the way critics have argued Malcolm's Katie does: it also demonstrates how imperialist -- and especially expansionist -- rhetoric of the 1880s produced and exploited a specific literacy and understanding of an iconography of decline and regeneration, sexual pollution and pastoral renewal. To establish this poem as one written in 1885 is to situate it as a text in which the juxtaposition of the "problem" of the city and the "fallen woman" as repositories of disease with the purifying potential of the "virgin" west suggests engagement with contemporary debates about the condition of Canada, the British Empire and the "imperial race" of Anglo-Saxons.In the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Decorator continued to pursue growth through acquisitions, a strategy that it had begun in the 1970s. In February 1988, it acquired the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, business and operations of Keck's Draperies Mfg Co. One year later, however, Decorator sold the business and certain assets of its printing division to QF Industries, Inc. for $2.48 million in cash and a $500,000 promissory note. The division, which operated under the name Qual Fab, underperformed with an erratic earnings history. The sale also allowed Decorator to pay off all short-term bank debt except for a building mortgage. With the sale of the printing division, Decorator planned to pursue internal expansion of its remaining businesses, primarily focusing on its lines for hotels/motels and recreational vehicles.Going forward, Munro said retailers will show more texture and woven fabric treatments on comforters, from Wal-Mart to the more fashion-driven chains like Bradless and Target.Robert Alan Burns's recent contextualization of Hugh and Ion within the contemporary reportage of the events surrounding the Second North West Rebellion and the arrest, trial and execution of Metis leader Louis Riel in 1885 provides compelling evidence that Crawford's narrative and her character Hugh owe something to the story of Riel that was being played out in the Red River settlement and in newspapers throughout the Dominion (Burns, 1996 67-70). Burns argues that "The similarities between Louis Riel and Crawford's Metis protagonist Hugh are numerous and striking ... [first, in that b]oth are intensely religious, idealistic Metis with messianic ambitions to establish utopian communities in the Canadian wilderness" (67). Hugh, however, is also identifiably Saxon: indeed, descriptions of him in the poem stress this racial strain. Thus, while his "eyes h[o]ld all the heritage of light,/From Council fires that fac'd a thousand moons" (558-59), his external appearance rather belies than supports the identification of Hugh as Metis:By the end of the year, Decorator announced that it expected fourth quarter net income to be 70 percent lower than the year before but still anticipated net income to increase by 13 percent. The company attributed lower earnings in the second half of 1984 to expenses associated with the opening of new manufacturing plants in Lakeland, Florida, and Salisbury, North Carolina, and to training costs associated with new machinery. For the year, however, sales rose to an estimated $20 million from $14.5 million in 1983. In April 1985, Coury Investments, which then held an 18.9 percent stake in the company, filed requests for two seats on Decorator's six-member board. In its Security and Exchange Commission filing, Coury said it wanted board representation to better monitor its investment in Decorator. In addition, on September 1985, Decorator acquired Liberia Manufacturing Co. for $1.13 million in cash.David Beyda, executive vp at Town & Country, said that while business this fall has been "up and down, week-to-week," he sees "most retailers taking aggressive positions for spring: they know they need to make changes to keep assortments fresh and keep customers happy."Animal prints are booming in parallel to their popularity in apparel. Ginghams, still strong, are complemented by a wide range of florals, strawberries and pears. Americana has never been stronger.In July 1984, as the stock market began its historic bull run, Decorator forecast that earnings for the first six months would almost triple the $126,315 of the year earlier. Now headquartered in Hialeah, Florida, the company also projected sales in the six-month period would be about 50 percent higher than the $6.9 million of the previous year. Also in July, the company purchased Taylor Draperies, Inc. of Thomasville, Georgia for $187,400 in cash and $25,000 in treasury stock. The company's rapid growth attracted the interest of Coury Investments Ltd., a Coral Gables, Florida-based investment partnership, which acquired a 5.4 percent stake in the company as an investment for future appreciation. From August to December 1984, the investment concern lifted its stake in Decorator from 8 percent to 15.5 percent on soaring earnings reports. Patrick Bell, who managed Coury, told Decorator chief executive officer Earl Rappaport that the acquisition of the company's stock was strictly an investment, but Rappaport expressed uncertainty about the investment firm's intentions, especially since Decorator did not pay dividends.Licensed product is in demand. "We see (Disney's) Dalmatians and (Warner Bros.) Space Jam as blockbusters, both for third and fourth quarter this year and beyond," said Beyda. "Disney is committing to make Dalmations move to a perennial status. Jam has all the makings; I see it making the transition."Noting that vendors are challenged to provide better defined looks and lines for fewer and fewer retail chains, Beyda said the retailers are getting better at pulling in trends sooner.The most widely anticipated innovation of all is the expansion of the Martha Stewart program at Kmart. By spring 1997, this program will have all-new look and feel in its most extensive redesign the debut in 1987. While both Kmart and its key suppliers continue to play the details close to the vest, a clearly defined and lavishly coordinated line is expected.

In November 1993, Williams Bassett, Decorator's 56-year-old president and chief executive officer, was named to the additional post of chairman of the company's board of directors. Bassett, who succeeded Earl Rappaport, continued the strategy of building the company through acquisitions. In 1995, the company purchased Paragon Interiors, a producer of draperies and bedspreads for the manufactured housing and recreational vehicle markets located in Goshen, Indiana. The company subsequently established Paragon as a division to design and manufacture draperies, valance boards, bedspreads, and mini-blinds for the recreation vehicle and manufactured housing industry. The company believed the acquisition would provide new growth opportunities in the Indiana market, which comprised almost 60 percent of total U.S. production of all motor homes, travel trailers, and conversion vans. Decorator's strategic moves caught the attention of Business Week, which in 1995 listed the company as one of the top small companies in America. In addition, the company was named in a September 1996 Barron's article on small cap stocks entitled "Sifting Gems," and in Forbes Magazine as one of the 200 best small companies in America in 1996.

Author: Bruce Montgomery