Jaftex Story
Jaftex Story
Jaftex was established in 1930 by Jacob A. Fortunoff in New York, NY. For almost a century the company has been designing, manufacturing and delivering high quality fabric to quilting retailers both small and large. A true family business, the company is now run by the fourth generation of Fortunoffs. Jacob’s great grandsons, brothers Greg and Scott Fortunoff, run the business today. Scott serves as president and Greg is Chief Operating Officer.
Jaftex is the parent company of
The Mission
Over the years, the company grew from a manufacturer in the lingerie and sleepwear industry to a leader in the over-the-counter textile market. We strongly believe in the power of local quilt shops and delivering the highest quality fabrics to them for their customers. Our hope and mission is to produce fabrics that support local businesses that customers want to use in their hand-crafted works of art.
The Mission
Family of Brands
Since its inception, the company that started as Jaftex has acquired other fabric companies and woven them into the fold.
One of the family’s earliest acquisitions was Henry Glass Fabrics in the early 1990s. This was followed by the purchase of A.E. Nathan Co., Inc. in the late 1990s.
In 2010, the family bought Fabric Editions in Greenville, South Carolina. Fabric Editions catered to big box retailers, but was also the home of StudioE Fabrics whose fabrics were sold to quilt shops only. Studio E was spun off from Fabric Editions and its operations moved to the Jaftex home office in New York City. Since then, the Fabric Editions team added the 3Wishes brand to its roster.
In 2014, Blank Quilting Corporation was acquired and moved to the New York offices where Henry Glass, A.E. Nathan & Studio E were housed, as well as some brands that no longer exist like Stylemaker and Chanteclaire. The family made its largest acquisition ever in 2018. Scott and Greg Fortunoff bought FreeSpirit Fabrics and it made a dramatic impact on the company. It was the home of quilting stars and household names like: Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink, and Tim Holtz to name a few.
The majority of its fabrics ship from its G&S Warehouse in Seneca, South Carolina. More recently, the company acquired a shipping, packing and precut making facility in Burlington, North Carolina called Oxford Cutting & Shipping. This is where we distribute Fabric Editions from, where we make all Jaftex precuts and kits including Free Spirit, Henry Glass, StudioE and A.E. Nathan. Recently the company started to ship Blank Quilting and Stof from the facility, too.
Leadership
Scott Fortunoff
Jaftex Brands President
Scott Fortunoff is President of Jaftex. He is part of the fourth generation of the family to run the New York-based company with warehouses in the Carolinas. Scott is the public face of the company, sharing behind-the-scenes insights and connecting with the quilting community through social media and in person.
Greg Fortunoff
CEO, Jaftex Brands
Greg Fortunoff is a fourth-generation leader at Jaftex, where he oversees operations and management alongside his brother. He infuses fresh analytical and managerial perspectives into Jaftex after a career in trading and business leadership.
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