FloorCoveringNews

City of Industry, Calif. — Bentley Prince Street, an industry leader in commercial carpet design, quality and sustainability, is honored to receive its third Evergreen Award from the U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Integrated Workplace Acquisition Center (IWAC) since 2001. Every year the GSA IWAC invites environmentally conscientious business partners to participate in its Evergreen Award program, which was developed to recognize efforts in recycling, affirmative procurement and waste reduction that can set an example for other IWAC business partners to follow. The Evergreen Award itself “closes the recycling loop” in that it is made from recycled glass.

City of Industry, Calif. – Bentley Prince Street, Inc., an industry leader in commercial carpet design, quality and sustainability, is pleased to introduce Holly DeBrodt as the company’s new director of sustainability. DeBrodt has been with Bentley Prince Street since 2009 and previously served as a sales representative based in Portland, Oregon. Her background in sales will be beneficial to both associates and customers, as she will bring a valuable perspective to Bentley Prince Street’s multi-faceted sustainability philosophy and programs.

Bentley Prince Street has received an inaugural Climate Leadership Award for Excellence in Green House Gas (GHG) Management (Goal Setting).  Winners were announced recently by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change), and The Climate Registry (TCR). The awards recognize corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in addressing climate change and reducing carbon pollution. From setting and exceeding aggressive emissions reduction goals to reducing the emissions associated with shipping goods, these organizations are improving efficiency, identifying energy and cost saving opportunities, and reducing pollution. The awards were handed out during the inaugural Climate Leadership Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Anthony Minite, President, Bentley Prince Street, Inc.

After reflecting on our first big trade show of the year, I think we all need to come clean about sustainability. It seems every manufacturer is claiming to be the leader in sustainability and backing it up with huge advertising and marketing campaigns. It’s time to talk about making an honest commitment to sustainability. You can talk all you want and blast it on the biggest billboards and in the glossiest magazines, but without proof, it’s all just talk.

Since Bentley Prince Street is committed to responsible manufacturing, we have nothing to hide and see no need to confuse the marketplace with an inundation of green claims and labels.  For this reason, we provide third-party verification of our sustainability claims with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

As other areas of floor covering have lost market share, (FCNews, June 27/July 4), Main Street, carpet tiles, have grown noticeably among many of the manufacturers surveyed by FCNews.

FASHION SHOW: Earlier this summer, Bentley Prince Street (BPS) helped underscore the theme of its latest carpets—art, culture, fashion—during a special event in downtown Los Angeles by showcasing models wearing gowns and dresses constructed with the California mill’s latest products, including the Silver Screen Collection which won a Best of NeoCon Gold in the broadloom category at this year’s show. The outfits were designed by alumni of the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and were displayed during a presentation at the AT&T Center’s 30th floor penthouse. This was a follow up to NeoCon in which the innovative company had its showroom decorated in glamorous 1940s era Hollywood to accentuate the new products.

As the third quarter of 2011 comes to a close, FCNews asked a few important questions of a few important players in the carpet industry: How has business been? Have this year’s challenges been different from those we saw in 2010? What are consumers buying? What is the deal with all this carpet-related legislation coming from California?

Overall, last year’s increase in spending from the first-time homeowners tax credit gave consumers a boost in confidence to remodel—though on a smaller scale than in years past—and has begun to wane. Commitment to new production technologies, new trends and a resilient frame of mind has kept residential carpet sales relatively flat over the last nine months and given a lift to the commercial market.

by FCNews staff

OPERATION REBUILD: The end of August saw five states—Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut—hit by Hurricane Irene resulting in extensive damage to residential and commercial establishments. To assist dealers in these states, Mohawk has launched Operation Rebuild, in which sales and credit teams from Mohawk and its Karastan division have been instructed to work together to help rebuild stores and provide retailers with the necessary credit to continue operations. In addition, an aggressive finance offer, complete with buy downs, has been prepared for both Mohawk and Karastan, allowing consumers to finance their flooring needs at essentially no cost. Both soft and hard surface products are included in the promotion. For more information, contact your Mohawk or Karastan territory manager or call 877.275.6648.

LOS ANGELES—Bentley Prince Street has been recognized as one of the best places to work in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal for the fifth consecutive year. The honor was announced during an awards luncheon at the JW Marriott at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. Seventy-five businesses were selected as nominees in three categories: small (15-24 employees); medium (25-249 employees), and large (250+ employees) businesses. This is Bentley Prince Street’s first year in the large category, having been honored in the medium business category for the past four years.

CHICAGO—The commercial market is on the upswing, and NeoCon 2011 could not have been more reflective of that trend. Hotel room reservations were up 27% over the three-day NeoCon 2010 period, forcing many members of the A&D community to the outskirts of the city. Elevator wait times at the Merchandise Mart were longer than in recent years, and hallways on the floors housing the permanent showrooms were more challenging to negotiate—all signs of a healthy show.

PHOENIX—Commercial jobs appear to be picking up in many areas of the country, but increasingly tight margins continue to make it a tough environment. Nonetheless, at the annual membership meeting of the Starnet Commercial Flooring Cooperative here, the record-setting crowd was mostly optimistic the worst of times may be over and the long-awaited recovery is starting to take hold.

NEW ORLEANS—It may not be as dramatic as the 1960s anti-establishment rallying cry “Power to the people,” but the National Floorcovering Association board of directors is taking the concept and ceding more power to the membership at large.

According to Jim Mudd, president, a faction of the NFA believed the group needed to bring more of the decision making back to the membership. This would apply to issues such as:

Last fall, the state of California passed the Carpet Product Stewardship Act, otherwise known as AB 2398 and, since then, the industry has been scrambling to make sure everyone in the selling chain is up to speed on what the bill means and how it will affect them once it goes into full effect on July 1.

In a nutshell, the purpose of AB 2398 is to keep carpet sold in California from going to the landfill while at the same time encouraging the recycling of post-consumer carpet either back into new carpet or as a secondary product, such as the plastic molds used in automobile engines.

CHICAGO—While the economy’s continued struggles to gain momentum has dampened many areas of business, the green movement keeps plowing forward, at least according to the record number of exhibitors and attendees at the 9th Greenbuild International Conference & Expo here. And, as in previous years, the flooring industry came out in droves to showcase its ongoing leadership position within the building products industry that encompasses this massive show.

Official figures were not available as FCNews went to press, but according to the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), the market’s owner, more than 25,000 people from 112 countries had registered by the time the event’s opening general session began, and crowds of more than 30,000 were anticipated over the three-day event.

This is a wonderful update on what Bentley Prince Street is doing for green business from L.A.Times blogger Linda Daley. Click any of the links to get to the blog post.

It covers some of the points with which most of us are familiar like the company’s commitement to eliminate its negative impacts on the Earth by 2020, and measures taken within the factory to reduce energy consumption.

But read on to find out why BPS employees are dumpster diving!

CHICAGO—After more than a year of feeling the affects of a recession that played havoc with the residential market for nearly four years, the architectural and design community is beginning to see signs of life. That was the prevailing sentiment at NeoCon 2010, which was marked by an uptick in attendance, standing-room-only carpet showrooms, gains in exhibitors and exhibit space and, most importantly, immeasurable optimism.

LAS VEGAS—The hospitality industry may have suffered through the economic down- turn as much as any commercial segment in 2009 with estimates of a 30% to 40% decrease in business, but that doesn’t mean the sector is without optimism. This was evident at the recent Hospitality & Design Expo in Las Vegas, where more than 6,500 attendees had the opportunity to view the newest products and cutting-edge ideas from the nearly 900 exhibitors.

Most exhibitors with whom FCNews spoke said they noticed traffic and overall energy was up at the show. Comments such as, “We had all the right people visit us at our booth,” “Many [architects and designers] had new and exciting projects to talk about,” or “Not only are we seeing light at the end of the tunnel, we may be slowly coming out of the tunnel all together” were echoed in various forms throughout the three-day event.

MARCO ISLAND, FLA.—Though the commercial market continues to plod through the recession as its residential counterpart starts the recovery process, optimism was in the air at the annual meeting of the Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership.

While most admit a light will not come, unfortunately, until 2011/2012, they feel as if the segment has pretty much bottomed out and this year may even be better than 2009.

Under the theme, “The Power of Partnership,” all but six of Starnet’s 172 members were in attendance, and this feeling of hope resonated throughout the membership as well as a packed room of vendor partners who confirmed projects that had been put on hold are starting to free up.