Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Fabricut remains rooted in Tulsa

By LAURIE WINSLOW World Staff Writer
Published: 5/19/2012

Michael Guterman (left), chief operating officer of Fabricut, and CEO David Finer
stand in an aisle at a company fabric warehouse. They are second-generation officers
following in the footsteps of their fathers, Harry Guterman and Joe Finer, who
founded the business. CORY YOUNG/Tulsa World
To understand Fabricut's beginnings, you have to go back many years to when Joe Finer and Harry Guterman - two survivors of Nazi Germany - became friends during World War II.

In the early 1950s, they operated a drapery and slipcover store in Huntington, N.Y., and both had dreams of opening their own wholesale fabric operation somewhere in the Southwest. So Harry set out to explore locations and landed in Tulsa in 1954. Joe joined him five years later, and Fabricut was born. Today, the founders' sons, David Finer, the company's CEO, and Michael Guterman, its chief operating officer, continue what their fathers started, overseeing the Tulsa-based international wholesale distributor of fabrics, trimmings, decorative drapery hardware and wall coverings for the home-furnishing and hospitality industries. Here, David Finer answers some questions about the business.

How has the business changed or grown since it started? How many locations or warehouses does it have?
Obviously, the company has changed and grown significantly since its founding in the 1950s. Aside from the changes driven by technology, transportation, information processing and textile production offshore, Fabricut and its family of brands are much more a house of style and design today, rather than a commodity fabric house, which was its historical foundation. We have a Tulsa-based campus (administrative offices, customer service, operations) with three warehouses, a warehouse in Pryor, and showrooms - 11 corporate and over 60 agency partners - across the United States.

Why do you stay in Tulsa? Have you ever considered moving Fabricut to another city?
I've never seriously considered moving Fabricut to another city. In 1954, Mr. Guterman literally drove into Tulsa, immediately liked it very much and planted Fabricut's roots. We have a strong employee group here, comprised of both locals and those recruited here from outside Oklahoma, who make up the backbone of our company. Each employee is a part owner of the company, and our culture is our strength. Visitors from around the world constantly remark how nice Tulsa is and how friendly the people are. Who would want to change that? We are here to stay.

What are your future hopes for the business?
They relate back to my father and Mr. Guterman's initial dreams, just on a grander scale. Fabricut has grown to be one of the world's largest international wholesalers of fabric, trimming, decorative hardware and wall covering. I would like to see that course continued by adding additional products, brands and selling opportunities here and abroad, as we see fit. And, of course, I hope that all of our employee-owners see Fabricut as an interesting and fulfilling place to work, a place to secure their families' future.

What is it like for you personally, knowing that you’re helping carry on a business that your father helped start?
I feel a great sense of personal satisfaction in carrying on the work of our fathers. They started with nothing but strong work ethic, a belief in themselves and - both being refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe - a belief in America.

Where are Fabricut’s products sold?
We’re a wholesale to-the-trade company. Interior designers, decorators and specifiers can purchase our products through our national network of corporate showrooms and partners, sample-book programs and through each brand’s website.

How many fabrics does the company have in stock? How many orders are filled daily? We have 110,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) across six brands and between our fabrics, trimmings, decorative drapery hardware and wallcoverings. On average, we fill 1,000 orders a day.

In today’s increasingly environmentally conscious society, what does Fabricut do to be eco-friendly?
Working with our sources, Fabricut has designated products that embrace eco-friendly properties and are manufactured using environmentally stringent procedures as part of our Environment Plus initiative. We recycle our cardboard shipping boxes and office paper, and also ship fabric orders using unprinted, recyclable shipping bags.

What kind of impact did the recession have on the demand for decorative fabrics and home furnishing fabrics? How is business today?
The 2008 recession had a severe effect on the home furnishing and hospitality industries, and especially on companies like Fabricut that provide products and services for both. We primarily depend on discretionary spending; people don’t have to have what we provide. In this recession, more than any other since World War II, Americans felt timid, unsure and extremely cautious about their spending. Our industry is highly dependent on the health of the housing market and, as we know, housing has yet to really recover. Fabricut’s hospitality division is just beginning to see a pickup in business as hotels, restaurants, casinos and health care facilities are starting to put money back into their properties.

Small, but significant
Despite having a number of large employers, Tulsa actually is a small-business town. About 94 percent of employment in the metro area is at businesses with 100 or fewer employees, according to the Tulsa Metro Chamber. And many of those firms are very small: Approximately 80 percent of total employment is at businesses with 10 or fewer employees.

Fabricut Owners:
CEO David Finer, COO Michael Guterman and Fabricut employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan

Date established/location:
July 1954, Tulsa Address: 9303 E. 46th St. Workforce size: 300 Tulsa-based and 100 across nation Description of business: International wholesale distributor of fabrics, trimmings, decorative drapery hardware and wall coverings for the home-furnishing and hospitality industries.