Royal Velvet Revisited

NEW YORK -- The Royal Velvet bath towel is getting its second makeover in two years as the consortium group that owns it along with licensee partner, Li & Fung, is relaunching the line, accompanied by a national advertising print campaign.

Royal Velvet, the midtier and jeweled brand formerly owned by Pillowtex, was launched in February last year and soon after hit the shelves of Kohl's, among other retail chains. The towel, first sold at $9.99, was soon on clearance at Kohl's.

"There was nothing wrong with the towel, it was the price/value proposition," said Jack Toolan, executive vice president of Li & Fung USA's Home Brands Group, which includes licenses for Royal Velvet, and Cannon and Cannon Royal Family brands. "The initial problem with Royal Velvet is that we launched a towel, while we kept on talking of launching a brand. And that was a mistake."

Along with the bath towel, Li & Fung and other licensees gathered by Official Pillowtex LLC, the new owner, are introducing sheets, comforter set, coverlets, slipcovers and down comforters at the textiles market. The Cannon brands will also be launched at market.