QST Opens Facilities in Eastern Europe, North Africa
QST Industries, the Chicago-based interlining and apparel-component company, is opening two new European facilities in a bid to give its customers producing in Europe greater access to QST products.
The new facilities are part of QST’s new QST Europe division, formed to complement the company’s existing operations in Asia, the Middle East, and North and Central America.
QST Europe will be headquartered in Bucharest, Romania, where the company will offer product development, manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.
Also under the QST Europe umbrella is a new facility in Casablanca, Morocco. QST purchased the Locke Group Maroc, a waistband-manufacturing and distribution facility in Casablanca. The company also plans to open a distribution facility in Tunisia.
The company has been in Asia since opening its QST Asia Ltd. office in 1984. The company has since opened QST Industrias de Mexico to service the Mexico market and QST Dominicana LLC to provide manufacturing and warehouse facilities in the Caribbean.
The company has several offices in the United States, including its West Coast headquarters in Vernon, Calif., where Kenny Weinbaum is vice president and on the board of directors.
“The way business is, it’s a global business,” Weinbaum said. “At QST Vernon, we depend on the Southern California garment industry to make our living, and a good majority of them are doing business overseas. We’re following the manufacturers to the different areas and opening offices around the world.”
QST’s Vernon facility will continue to serve the West Coast market, providing products such as QST’s branded Ban-Rol, a patented “non-roll” waistband interlining; Q-Loop, an interlining designed to prevent denim belt loops from fraying; and Quick Stretch, a clear elastic that can be laundered and dry-cleaned without losing its stretch recovery.
The company stocks products in Vernon for sampling and for small production runs. The company employs about 20 people, including salespeople who work directly with local designers and patternmakers. QST customers can sample and spec garments locally and then have QST product drop-shipped from one of more than 50 international offices.
“It’s like a relay race, and the race starts here in L.A.,” Weinbaum said.—Alison A. Nieder
