Creatively Competitive Strategies Paying Off in Today's Marketplace.

Thinking outside of the typical market box is helping Maureen Kelly, president of The Design Loft Inc. (TDL) and The Flag Loft (TFL) in St. Louis, Mo., deal with the economy, which she says is her biggest competition.

"It's just killed The Design Loft side of the company because I work with so many hotels and the hotel industry on the building side is down 60 percent," Kelly says. "In the last two years, we've had eight good projects that were scheduled and at the last minute they'll pull the plug on it because costs have gone up."

The Design Loft creates site-specific fabric metal sculptures that are permanently installed in hotel lobbies, museums and other architectural spaces. She works with industrial fabrics that are durable and can withstand long-term exposure to the sun or light, and also with woven metals like copper and stainless steel. Her overall business is up 20 percent this year, and now supplies not only the flags that cities insist fly from cell towers, but also the lighting systems and power panels that she contracts out to technicians around the country.

From IFAI's Specialty Fabrics Review magazine. Read the full article.

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