WestPoint Stevens Looks to New Shanghai Office as Key to Enhancing Asian Sourcing Operations
03 September 2004 - 7:33AM
PR Newswire (US)
WestPoint Stevens Looks to New Shanghai Office as Key to Enhancing
Asian Sourcing Operations WEST POINT, Ga., Sept. 2
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WestPoint Stevens Inc. (OTC:WSPT)
(BULLETIN BOARD: WSPT) ( http://www.westpointstevens.com/ )
announced today that the Company moved into its new Shanghai office
on August 30. William T. Walker, Managing Director and President -
Asian Operations, said, "Having a daily presence in Shanghai is
vital to the Company in key ways: It will enhance our already
strong position in Asian sourcing, enable us to build closer
relationships with our current sourcing partners and expand our
reach by giving us access to an even broader Asian supply base in
multiple product categories." The WestPoint presence in Shanghai
will also spur the Company's continued drive to improve global
product development, quality assurance and logistics, Mr. Walker
pointed out. "As Asia - particularly China - continues to grow as a
global supplier and in domestic consumption, our team in Shanghai
will be focused the continuing upgrade of product and service
support to our customers." When the decision to open the office was
announced in April, WestPoint President and CEO M.L. (Chip)
Fontenot noted that, "We have spent the last several years building
our direct offshore sourcing operations. We have now reached a
point of critical mass, currently running at over $400 million of
our revenues, such that a direct presence overseas is warranted. We
have chosen China initially because of its strategic importance in
the globalization of the home fashions industry." The Shanghai
office, located in the WestGate Mall Building at 1038 Nanjing West
Road, opened with six associates. That number is expected to
increase to 12 by year-end. Shanghai native Mingzi Ye recently
joined the Company as Sourcing Coordinator to help facilitate the
office opening. Ms. Ye earned a BA in English with a minor in
Marketing and Business from Shanghai Teachers' University and an MS
in Science from Clemson (SC) University. WestPoint Stevens Inc. is
the nation's premier home fashions consumer products marketing
company, with a wide range of bed linens, towels, blankets,
comforters and accessories marketed under the well-known brand
names GRAND PATRICIAN, PATRICIAN, MARTEX, ATELIER MARTEX, BABY
MARTEX, UTICA, STEVENS, LADY PEPPERELL, SEDUCTION, VELLUX and
CHATHAM - all registered trademarks owned by WestPoint Stevens Inc.
and its subsidiaries - and under licensed brands including RALPH
LAUREN HOME, DISNEY HOME and GLYNDA TURLEY. WestPoint Stevens can
be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.westpointstevens.com/
. Contact: Lorraine D. Miller, CFA Senior Vice President Finance
and External Communications 404.378.0491 DATASOURCE: WestPoint
Stevens CONTACT: Lorraine D. Miller, CFA, Senior Vice President
Finance and External Communications of WestPoint Stevens,
+1-404-378-0491 Web site: http://www.westpointstevens.com/
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