07/14/2017
July 7, 2017
RE: Operation of the Winston-Salem Facilities
For Immediate Release
As it has been previously reported in various news outlets, HPFABRICS, Inc. – a subsidiary of our Turkish holding company, Tukek Holding, A.S., headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey – can confirm that, in April 2017, it has acquired a substantial portion of Microfibres’s United States and Chinese assets. The company will be chaired by Rafet Tukek, Ilknur Omay-Tukek, and Guliz Tukek.
A part of HPFABRICS’s acquisition included manufacturing facilities located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In an ongoing effort to make a financially feasible and socially responsible decision regarding the United States operations, we are pleased to announce that HPFABRICS has chosen to operate the former Microfibres facility located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We have also decided to manufacture some of our upholstery and related products in the United States under the Microfibres brand. We expect to have a complete line of products by Fall 2017.
Our decision to operate in North Carolina was not an easy one; however, the vast local support we have received from the city, county, and the state has provided us with further encouragement that we can achieve some of our goals here in North Carolina. HPFABRICS, once in full operation, will constitute and represent an important arm of the largest flock producer in the world with sister facilities in Turkey and China and a global reach spanning from the far east to the Americas. With this expansion, we hope to further buttress our global leadership in the flocking industry and “hope to improve trade relations between Turkey and the United States of America.”
As expressed by our President Rafet Tukek, “HPFABRICS is committed to growth both here in the United States and abroad; a growth derived from its employees and the surrounding communities in which it operates.” As such, we hope that HPFABRICS’s expansion will not be limited to North Carolina. Although we are not yet prepared to make any further comments on this issue, we hope to operate other facilities in the United States. We will provide further information on these plans as relevant discussions progress.
HPFABRICS is also pleased to announce that it will start its local recruitment efforts in North Carolina. Thus far, we have named Steve Trastelis, a 40-year veteran of the textile industry, as our Chief Operating Officer. His office will be located in Winston-Salem. We have also appointed Mike Czarnecki as head of sales and marketing and he will be focusing his attention to establish and improve our national and international sales network. His office will also be in Winston-Salem.
As HPFABRICS, we would like to thank Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines and his staff, Forsyth County officials, Governor Roy Cooper, his staff, and members of other state agencies for their efforts and warm welcome. We also would like to thank Robert Leak, the President of Winston Salem Business, Inc., and his office for their assistance and guidance throughout this tedious process. We hope that our presence here will benefit all parties involved and will help bring back manufacturing jobs to North Carolina and the United States of America in general.
