Textile firm Sirdar is hit by downturn in spending: they benefited greatly from the boom in high fashion yarns when Hollywood stars such as Julia Roberts took up hand knitting. But times change quickly in Hollywood and now other interests have taken over. It has been just announced that Julia Roberts - ON THE PHOTO - is expecting her third child with her husband, cinematographer Danny Moder. The carpets market is also facing strong competition from the fashion for natural wood flooring.

Sirdar, the floorcoverings and specialist yarns business warns that a downturn in the fashion for hand knitting yarns plus worries over consumer spending would hit profits this year, reports YorkshirePost.
The company based in Wakefield, East of the UK, had been expected to make an underlying pre-tax profit of £4.4m this year, but analysts are now expecting a profit of just £1.2m.

Sirdar benefited greatly from the boom in high fashion yarns when Hollywood stars such as Julia Roberts took up hand knitting. But times change quickly in Hollywood and now other interests have taken over. It has been just announced that Julia Roberts - ON THE PHOTO - is expecting her third child with her husband, cinematographer Danny Moder.
"The fashion boom for hand knitting is now over," said Sirdar's finance director Kevin Henry.
"It has been very buoyant for the last two years when there was high demand for unusual yarns, but that boom is now over."

However, FashionGates.com should raise an objection against this point of view: going from the UK to the global context, we have to note that the general passion for hand knitting cannot be reversed, as domestic arts of knitting and sewing are no longer considered as the lonely female chore as has come up as a hobby among the affluent class. Even Hollywood celebrities like already mentioned Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Uma Thurman, Madonna & Cameron Diaz are doing it.

Presently knitting is the most 'in thing' in the fashion world and clubs like ‘Stitch ‘n Bitch’ are coming up across the globe. Stitch ‘n Bitch, which promotes the art of knitting as a healthy, contemporary and creative pastime, has become a common term for modern knitting groups.

The group is hoping that more traditional yarns will pick up the slack, but the market was not convinced. Yesterday the shares closed the day down 16 per cent at 38.5p.
At the same time the downturn in consumer spending has hit the group's traditional carpets business.
"The carpets market is very difficult and we have seen depressed consumer confidence – carpets are an easily deferrable purchase," said Mr Henry.

The carpets market is also facing strong competition from the fashion for natural wood flooring.
The group is in the process of streamlining its business. Sirdar said that significant progress had been made with the reorganisation of the residential floor coverings business, which includes brand names such as Ryalux, Lomas and Pownall.
During the summer the group said that its Rochdale manufacturing facility had been relocated to Wakefield and that some sales, marketing and administrative functions would be reduced.
Yesterday the group said that as it was not able to predict when trading conditions will improve, it would continue to focus on controlling costs and overheads and the effective management of working capital.
Sirdar's carpet market has for several years been hit by cheap foreign imports and a move towards hard floor coverings, despite the fact that the group makes higher specification products aimed at more discerning customers.
The contract floorcoverings business, which serves shops and offices, is under less pressure and has received substantial investment.