Qualitex from Písek, Czechia: how folklore and quality beat Temu

Josef Handrejch, co-founder of the textile company Qualitex from Písek in South Bohemia, has found a way to withstand the onslaught of the Chinese platform Temu: instead of a price war, he bet on premium materials, sustainable production and his personal love of folklore. The first results of the new strategy look encouraging.

It all began in 2011. Josef was finishing his bachelor’s thesis in Liberec while his wife Lena was on maternity leave. From an ordinary flat in a panel block in Písek, the couple launched Qualitex, which makes bed linen, sheets and other home textiles. The business grew, in 2020 the family even bought its own industrial building in Písek, and turnover exceeded CZK 20 million.

The turning point came at the end of 2023, when Temu arrived in Czechia in earnest. “It was three years of erosion, percentage by percentage. Not one day when customers suddenly turned away, but thousands of small decisions: why pay 600 crowns for Czech bed linen when something similar on Temu costs two hundred,” Handrejch says. In the online shop alone, sales fell from CZK 16.9 million to CZK 11.7 million, a drop of 31%.

Qualitex’s total revenue fell by 11.6% between 2024 and 2025, from CZK 23.4 million to CZK 20.7 million. Gross profit plunged by 71%, from CZK 1.52 million to CZK 441,000, while the value of inventory rose from CZK 1.55 million to CZK 2.54 million. “This is concrete financial proof of the pressure from cheap Asian competition; our goods piled up in the warehouse,” the entrepreneur admits. Even so, the team grew to six people, and the company decided to invest in a new brand.

Betting on quality instead of price. Qualitex now produces exclusively from premium European materials, keeps its Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certificate and is replacing the plastic packaging typical of parcels from Asia with eco-friendly materials. “We have never regarded quality control as a cost; it is the foundation. What comes from Asia through marketplaces today would not be allowed to leave any European factory,” Handrejch says.

Folklore as a brand. Authenticity became the main trump card. Handrejch has been doing folk dance since the age of thirteen, has been a member of the Písečan ensemble since 1995, now leads it, and also runs the International Folklore Festival in Písek. With the ensemble’s consent, he carried its values over into a communication brand, “Pepa z Qualitexu” (Pepa from Qualitex), built on honest craftsmanship and love of tradition. “I usually don’t like mixing the personal and the professional, but here the link felt natural: I work in textiles, I dance traditional dances and I love movement,” he explains.

The company launched the new brand and a revamped online shop at the beginning of February this year. So far the decision looks like a good one: online shop revenue grew by double-digit percentages for most of the year. Qualitex’s story is a clear example of how a small family firm can win back ground from Asian giants not on price, but with character, quality and the founder’s personal story.