Since its inception H S Trading has gained a solid clientele providing a versatile range of indoor and outdoor fabrics. Despite a competitive market, the company has successfully expanded its services while maintaining the superior quality of their products. Recently the company launched its new name H S Fabric Collection as it continues to serve their clients both local and international.
By Dilesha Dias
Having initiated in the year 1990 as a sales outlet for a company that was established in 1970, H S Trading has successfully expanded their reach. The company can now lay claim to a journey of two decades, providing quality fabrics for their clientele and the augmenting fabric industry.
A year since its inception; in 1991, the first sales outlet moved to Dehiwala, as a small-scale showroom that tied up with H S Fabric Centre. In 1992, the name was changed to H S Trading and thereafter the company ventured into importing and distributing interior fabrics, as business grew at a steady pace.
“In 1992, the company was able to set up a showroom in Kandy. It commenced operations as a separate company in association with an international entity called Ateja in Indonesia, that produced high-quality international standard fabric, not manufactured in our country. For a period of six months, Ateja appointed our company as the agent in Sri Lanka, which was extended for another six months after the successful completion of the initial trial period. Then in 1992, Ateja appointed us as their sole agent in Sri Lanka,” said Jinali Hettiarachchi, General Manager of H S Fabric Collection, formerly H S Trading.
Ateja, with its wide global network and products exported to more than 55 countries has been recognised with a number of international certifications. Gaining confidence and realising its potential to progress and develop, H S Fabric Collection was appointed as the exclusive representative in Sri Lanka. From this moment on, the company gathered momentum in its expansion and development of its line of work.
The company has taken steps foward to facilitate customers through the use of modern equipment. Jinali Hettiarachchi attributes the progress of the company, to the implementation of a new system that linked every showroom through a well-maintained network system. The focus was to make the company function faster and efficiently while offering convenience to customers. Thus equipped with such excellent service, H S Fabric specialises in mainly two categories – indoor and outdoor fabrics.
“Until the year 2000, we were delivering only interior fabrics, which indeed was limited to indoor fabric solutions. But as we advanced, many more designs and varieties of fabrics were included into our product portfolio. The expanded interior fabrics can now be categorised as office interior fabrics, home furnishing and artificial leather while we recently introduced curtain fabrics as part of our product portfolio,” stated Jinali Hettiarachchi.
“The office interior fabrics are primarily for the office and industrial purposes, to enhance and uplift the interior designing. The home furnishing fabrics cater to the use of domestic purposes as well as for the hotel industry. Artificial leather fabrics offer comfortable and quality fabric selections for furniture items,” explained Jinali Hettiarachchi.
However, interior fabrics remain the main focus for H S Fabric Collection and will continue to lay more emphasis on its expanded array of interior fabrics while providing after sales service for the growing client base. Outdoor fabrics are the latest inclusion to the company’s product portfolio.
“Outdoor fabrics are specifically designed and manufactured to use in an external environment. As such they are water repellent and does not fade when exposed to sunlight. There is a high demand for this category in the Sri Lankan market. With a lot of hotels coming up, outdoor fabrics are mostly for the hotel industry, but can also be used for domestic purposes. An individual may wish to use chairs or any other furniture in an outdoor setting and it is then essential to have a comfortable cushion with well-designed fabrics suitable for the outdoors. We are also very concerned about the colour schemes, especially for the hospitality industry. The demand for our outdoor fabrics range has grown to quite an extent due to its durability, as well as the wide-range of colour schemes,” she stated.
The company’s success can be attributed to its standard of supplying the finest fabric, which has allowed them to remain competitive in an expanding market. Over the years H S Fabric Collection has been awarded with many special accolades. For instance an award of appreciation from Ateja in 2004 for the progress shown, and the merit award for the best stall presentation at the Architect exhibition in 2005 are noteworthy achievements. In the year 2008, H S Fabric Collection was assigned as the agent for Maldives by Ateja – another significant accomplishment.
While there have been instances where the company has had to change their strategy in order to move forward, it remains confident in facing any new challenge that comes along their way. Throughout the years H S Fabric Collection has continued to update their stocks according to customer requirements. Most importantly they maintain these fabric stocks to facilitate clients.
“Maintaining a huge amount of stocks is not that easy, but we continue to provide samples and maintain stocks for a wide colour range. The new system we are working with has made this easier and has given us the advantage of delivering a service that will be very helpful to the customers. We will continue to do so, while maintaining the finest quality in fabrics.” stated Jinali Hettiarachchi.
Whilst Providing The Requisite Service Before And After The Products Have Been Delivered To The Clients, It Is Their Primary Attention To Deliver The Finest Fabrics To Suit Versatile Needs.
Moreover she expressed the future plans of the company, “we have many plans this year. To begin with, the refurbishment of this showroom. We have already completed the layout for the ground floor, and it will turn out to be a very modern showroom. Another notable change is that we have officially changed our name to H S Fabric Collection to make it more customer-friendly, which will be a significant and gradual change to look forward to.”
The company has further expanded their reach by setting up two branches in Kandy – which was recently opened – and Nawala, while an outlet is also located in Slave Island. Not with stopping there, at present they supply fabric to Maldives as part of their expansion programme. Whilst providing the requisite service before and after the products have been delivered to the clients, it is their primary attention to deliver the finest fabrics to suit versatile needs.
144A, Galle Road, Dehiwala South
Tel: (+94 11) 273 2613
Fax: (+94 11) 273 2615
E-mail: hstcl@sltnet.lk
hstradingsl.com
