Comfortex
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| Comfortex Window Fashions | |
| Type of Company | {{{company_type}}} |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Maplewood, New York |
| Key people | Thomas Marusak, President John Fitzgerald, Executive Vice President Christine Yager, Vice President Finance Jim Barss, Vice President Manufacturing Peter Connery, Vice President Fabrication Jim Donnellan, Director of Sales, Northern Region Bart Gilpin, Director of Sales, Southern Region Dennis Madison, Director of Sales, Western Region |
| Industry | Window coverings products = |
| Employees | 800 (2005) |
| Website | www.comfortex.com |
Comfortex Window Fashions is a manufacturer and fabricator of custom window treatments. A wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Hunter Douglas company, they manufacture a complete line of custom window treatments, including cellular and pleated shades, wood alloy blinds and shutters, sheer window shadings, roman and roller shades, and cellular vertical blinds. Thomas J. Marusak serves as the President of Comfortex Corporation and is also one of the original founders of the company. Headquartered in Maplewood, New York, with manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Arizona and Melbourne, Florida, it has about 800 employees. Comfortex currently distributes its product line to over 50 countries.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] 1986-1991
1986: Tom Marusak and John Schnebly founded a window treatment company to manufacture window coverings for greenhouse windows. They devised a motorized shading system that combined insulating cellular fabric and solar battery technology, called Smart Shade.
1987: Comfortex authorized Hunter Douglas as the primary distributor of Smart Shade.
1988: Comfortex created Sunset and Starburst specialty arch top window covering applications and launched Oasis Sunshades and Skylights for skylights, greenhouse and standard windows. Symphony Cellular shades were invented and developed with a $50,000 grant from the federal Small Business Innovation Research program.
1989: The New York State Science and Technology foundation gave Comfortex a foundation grant of $34,577 for the further development of Symphony. Masco invested $4.5 million in Comfortex in exchange for a 40% ownership.
1990: Comfortex began fabricating and distributing Smart Shade worldwide.
1991: Comfortex launched Symphony and Soprano Greenhouse shades. Hunter Douglas/Comfortex patent lawsuit over Symphony.
[edit] 1992-1999
1992: Comfortex introduced the Composer Program enabling retailers to compete against national home chains by fabricating Comfortex products on site. Comfortex also entered into a agreement with Levelor to distribute Symphony to large big box stores like Home Depot and Sears.
1993: Comfortex received a grant from New York State Department of Economic Development to assist in exporting Symphony to the Asian Pacific perimeter. Matinee Room Darkening Double Honeycomb and Ensemble Pleated Shades were introduced.
1994: Metro Flame Resistant Double Honeycomb fabric was launched. Comfortex also received a grant from NYSERDA to develop new window coverings involving state of art electronic technologies.
1995: Comfortex launched Perfect Pitch Pleated Cellular Shades, Symphony Lite Double Honeycomb, and Softline Mini Blinds. Tom Marusak was appointed as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business
1996: Woodwinds Wood Alloy Blinds and Solo Single Cellular Fabric were introduced. Comfortex acquired Royal Wood in Phoenix, AZ.
1997: Comfortex received WCMA Product Innovation Award for Woodwinds product line. Balcony Skylight Shading System, Chordless Child Safety System, Ensemble Z pleated shades, and Shangri-La Sheer Horizontal shadings were launched. Comfortex acquired Verosol USA in Pittsburgh, PA. Shangri-La/Silhouette lawsuit began.
1998: Comfortex launched website, Comfortex.com. Shangri-La Nirvana head rail system and Softline Velvet Line were introduced.
1999: Comfortex announced Woodwinds Wood Tones, Serenade Roman Shades, and Acoustics “Soft Touch” double honeycomb fabric. Shangri-La/Silhouette lawsuit resulted in Comfortex merging with Hunter Douglas.
[edit] 2000-Present
2000: Comfortex became part of the Hunter Douglas family of companies. New products were introduced, including Virtuoso Single Honeycomb Cellular Shades, Omni-Rise Continuous Cord Loop, Universal Hardware Systems, Privacy Plus Room Darkening Blinds, Plantation ShutterBlinds, Shangri-La Room Darkening Shadings, and the Ensemble Designer Series Pleated Fabric Collection.
2001: The following Comfortex products were introduced: Stardust Soft Sheer Verticals and Baritone Single Honeycomb Cellular Shades. Universal Deluxe Hardware System was developed to Support Baritone fabrics. Comfortex was named EPA Energy Star Partner. ComforTrack Energy Saving Sidetrack was launched.
2002: Woodwinds Plantation Shutters, Harmony Cellular Verticals, and Chordless Ultra Cordless Cellular Shades joined the Comfortex family of products. Comfortex BlindCrafters program launched.
2003: Comfortex introduced Shutter Specialty Shapes, Sonata Sunscreens, and Baritone Blackout Single Honeycomb Cellular Shades. Comfortex partnered with Mohawk Flooring. Comfortex began to fabricate Trio Convertible Shades for Hunter Douglas.
2004: 3” vanes and Linen fabric were launched in the Shangri-La Sheer Horizontal Product line. Comfortex introduced Fanfare Blackout Single Honeycomb Cellular Shades.
2005: Serenade Roller Shades, Saratoga Soft Shutters and Basswoods Blinds product lines were launched. Comfortex also introduced WoodChimes “pre made” wood alloy blinds fabrication, Shangri-La DoorStyle Shadings, and the Harmony Designer Valance Program. Comfortex received the Technology in Production award from the Center for Economic Growth for RF Gluing and the EMR process for Cellular Shades.
2006: Comfortex partnered with Somfy to launch Cellular Motorized shades. Ovation Cellular Slider, Fusion Insulating Roman Panel Shades, and Ballet Performance Drapery sheers were also introduced.
[edit] Comfortex BlindCrafter Program
The Comfortex BlindCrafter Program: A Strategy for Small Businesses
The early 1990’s presented a changing business landscape in the US. The growing number of “big box” stores was squeezing independent window treatment retailers into bankruptcy. In 1992, Comfortex created what was called the Composer Alliance, to keep its core customer base in business by providing independent window treatment reteailers with the ability to fabricate custom window fashions on-site. This allowed them to stay competitive with larger chain stores. The Composer program evolved into the BlindCrafter program in 2002, which provides these retail fabricators with marketing and advertising support, and on-site training from Comfortex. There are currently over 200 window fashion dealers in the BlindCrafter network, and they can fabricate any of the Comfortex product lines.
[edit] Locations
[edit] Northern Region
[edit] Southern Region
[edit] Western Region
[edit] Products
[edit] Cellular Shades
- Symphony® 3/8" Light Filtering Double Honeycomb Shades
- Matinee™ 3/8" Room Darkening Double Honeycomb Shades
- Metro™ 3/8" Light Darkening Double Honeycomb Shades
- Fanfare™ 3/8" Blackout Single Honeycomb Shades
- Virtuoso® 1/2" Light Darkening Single Honeycomb
- Baritone™ 3/4" Light Darkening Single Honeycomb
- Baritone™ 3/4" Blackout Single Honeycomb
- Acoustics® Soft Touch Double Honeycomb Shades
- Ovation™ Cellular Slider
[edit] Pleated Shades
- Perfect Pitch® Pleated Cellular Shades
- Ensemble Designer Series™ Pleated Shades
[edit] Roller Shades
- Serenade® Roller Shades
[edit] Cordless Shades
- Chordless Ultra™ Cellular Shades
[edit] Roman Shades
Serenade® Roman Shades: Classic Tear Drop style Serenade® Roman Shades: Flat Panel style Fusion™ Insulating Roman Panel Shades
[edit] Motorized Shades
- Motorized Cellular Shades
- Motorized Shangri-La® Sheer Horizontal Window Shadings
- Motorized Roman Shades
- Motorized Roller Shades
[edit] Wood Blinds
- Basswood™ Wood Blinds
[edit] Wood Alloy Blinds
- Privacy Plus™ Room Darkening Wood Alloy Blinds
- Woodwinds® Reed Wood Alloy Blinds
- Woodwinds® S Curve Wood Alloy Blinds
- Plantation ShutterBlinds™ Wood Alloy Blinds
[edit] Drapery Sheers
- Ballet™ Performance Drapery Sheers
[edit] Vertical Blinds
- Harmony™ Cellular Vertical Blinds
- Stardust® Soft Sheer Vertical Blinds
[edit] Shadings & Sheers
- Shangri-La® Eternity Light Filtering Sheer Horizontal Window Shadings
- Shangri-La® Moonlight Room Darkening Sheer Horizontal Window Shadings
- Shangri-La® DoorStyles Sheer Horizontal Window Shadings
[edit] Shutters
- Woodwinds® Plantation Shutters
- SoftShutters™
[edit] Cellular Slider
- Ovation™ Cellular Slider
[edit] Specialty Shapes
- Woodwinds® Specialty Shapes
- Cellular Specialty Shapes/Arches
- Pleated Specialty Shapes/Arches
[edit] Sunscreens
- Roller Shades with SilverScreen™ fabrics
- Roman Shades with SilverScreen™ fabrics
[edit] Memberships and Associations
Comfortex is associated with the following organizations:
- Window Covering Safety Council
- Window Coverings Association of America
- Window Covering Manufacturers Association
- Energy Star
