New York–based consumer bed and bath brand Kassatex is now debuting a hospitality line. Three bedding collections, three towel sets, three beach towels in five different colorways, and three luxury robe options—in addition to custom product via its hospitality program—are now available in the brand’s first-ever commercial offering.
Kassatex is the latest in a number of residential brands making bigger moves to commercial. The brand’s president and CEO, Ernesto Khoudari, tells EAL that now is the right time for his expansion, for a number of reasons—namely, a certain customer demand for a homier feel while traveling.
“Because guests want the experience of travel with the comforts of home now more than ever. We offer products that are very high quality hospitality grade, but with the aesthetic and feel of home. We have been approached consistently by hotels with the desire to make their rooms have a more ‘at home’ feel and we have been very successful with our products in translating this feeling to their customers.”
While producing hospitality products poses its own benefits—for example, says Khoudari, “less SKUs with much higher production runs,” and a schedule that is “not seasonal, in terms of fashion”—there are also certain challenges. Brands that move between categories, as Kassatex is doing, have to manage different sales strategies, for one. Between residential and commercial, there are “two completely different distribution channels, with different buying and selling strategies. Basically, we need to handle as a completely different business because it’s a different product and different distribution channel.”
The brand, which currently occupies bath, bedding, pajama, accessories and kids categories, was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Manhattan's Garment District.
