Function Keeps Kitchen, Table Goods from Fading

摘要

Somewhere between the kitchen and the dining room, two emerging trends collided in 2007 - the start midyear of the economy's steady downward spiral, set against the booming popularity of cooking TV shows encouraging more at-home entertaining.rnTbgether, these two forces concocted mediocre - yet surprisingly palatable - sales for kitchen textiles and table linens in a year that suppliers had forecast far less appetizing results.rnWhile the 2% sales decline in kitchen textiles and 4% volume drop in table linens are not much to boast about, suppliers nonetheless agreed business was better than expected in some respects. In 2007, kitchen textiles rang up $597.4 million at retail, down from $609.9 million the year prior, and table linens posted $820.5 million, off from $854.9 million in 2006.