Canningvale
Canningvale Australia Ltd or Canningvale Weaving Mills Ltd or Canningvale Towels is one of Australia’s premier wholesale distributors of terry towels, beach towels and bed linen.
History
Founded in 1977 by Giovanni Prainito in Perth, Western Australia, the business was originally registered as San Marco Textiles Pty Ltd. Giovanni Prainito owned a small share in a boutique terry towel mill in Bergamo, Italy and after a fishing vacation to Perth in 1975, decided to move his business to Australia. Giovanni’s eldest son, Frank (Francesco) soon joined Giovanni in the business and by 1981 the company name changed to Canningvale Weaving Mills Ltd.
Today, Frank Prainito remains the sole owner of the business and CEO. Canningvale Australia Ltd is a privately owned, Australian family business.
The company was named after the Perth suburb of Canningvale, in which it was based. The company commenced as a small manufacturer of terry towels and by the year 2000, it had become the largest and most technologically advanced terry towel manufacturer in Australia.
In addition to manufacturing and wholesaling Canningvale towels, Canningvale also designed and manufactured towels for Country Road, Sheridan Australia, Sportscraft , Designers Guild and most major retailers’ private labels. In 1997, Canningvale began exporting terry towels to the USA. Canningvale designed and manufactured the first towel collection for Tommy Hilfiger. Canningvale also designed and manufactured significant towel ranges for Bloomingdales and Eddie Bauer.
Within a few years, Canningvale’s export division had grown to represent about 18% of its turnover. A stronger Australian dollar in 2005 made Canningvale’s export division increasingly less viable and in late 2005, Canningvale sold their export business to an overseas buyer.
At around the same time, after 6 years, Sheridan Australia did not renew their contract with Canningvale, choosing to no longer buy and market Australian-made terry towels. This contraction in production demand began a period of soul searching for the company, which at the time had the largest manufacturing capacity in Australia, however had in a very short period of time faced a significant decline in production. With the prospect of reducing import duties, plus a number of significant Australian retailers accelerating the importing of terry towels directly from Asia, serious competitive pressures were starting to have adverse affects on local manufacturing.
In July 2006, Frank Prainito announced that Canningvale Weaving Mills would cease manufacturing in Australia and would move its manufacturing offshore. By September 2006, the mill in Canningvale had all but closed down. All workers who were made redundant received their full entitlements and most were out-placed into new jobs by Canningvale. Canningvale towels are made in Egypt, India and China.
Today, Canningvale operates as an importer, wholesale/distributor of its branded products and private label products for some of Australia’s largest retailers. In 2008, the company changed its trading name to Canningvale Australia Ltd. 2008 also saw Canningvale become a corporate sponsor of the National Breast Cancer Foundation, donating money and raising funds through popular products such as the Pink Ribbon beach towel each year. Following the 2009 devastating brushfires in Victoria, Prainito donated $150,000 worth of terry towels to the many victims who had lost homes and loved ones.
Canningvale is a sponsor of Netball Victoria and the Melbourne Vixens.
Corporate management
- John Blood – Non Executive Chairman
- Frank Prainito – CEO and Proprietor
- Luis Albornoz – General Manager – Sales & Marketing
- Glen McLeod – Financial Controller
- Nick Stevens – Sales Manager