FloorCoveringNews

Baltimore, Md. – Fishman Flooring Solutions has announced that it has purchased all outstanding shares of the company’s stock, giving its employees 100 percent ownership of the business.  The company is one of the largest distributors of flooring installation supplies in the nation and is the leading distribution firm in the markets it serves.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Ontario, Calif. — Flexitions, manufacturer and marketer of the line of stainable flexible transition moldings, has developed an innovative and proprietary product line of doorway thresholds for use within residential multi-family housing, commercial and hospitality applications. Appropriately named, “Flexitions Forever Doorway Thresholds”, they will simply last forever and come with a lifetime guarantee.

On April 22-24, 2012, Gilford’s entire Sales Team toured both Somerset Hardwood and IVC. These tours were part of Gilford’s education program to further equip their dealers on education of both IVC and Somerset products. 

Calhoun, Ga.–Mohawk Home reports nearly 500 followers on its recently debuted Pinterest page, which provides another social media outlet in addition to Facebook, Twitter and the company’s You Tube Channel.

Mohawk Home’s virtual cork boards located at Pinterest.com/mohawkhome are arranged by style or by room. They have categories set up for easy inspiration such as Traditional Rugs by Mohawk Home. Located there is an array of rug images, professional vignette shots or home snapshots of some of their most popular traditional, tried and true rugs for the home. There are also boards that are set up by room. Bloggers or anyone on the web can pin their new Mohawk Home additions to boards with names like Kitchen Rugs by Mohawk Home or Home Office Flooring by Mohawk Home.

by Consumer Reports Staff/Consumer Reports — May 3, 2012

If you’re reading this article, chances are good you have a page on Facebook, too. More than 150 million Americans already use the site, and the number grows daily because Facebook makes it so easy to keep up with friends, family, and colleagues, discover great content, connect to causes, share photos, drum up business, and learn about fun events.

To deliver this service, Facebook and other social networks collect enormous amounts of highly sensitive information—and distribute it more quickly and widely than traditional consumer data-gathering firms ever could. That’s great when it helps you find old classmates or see ads for things you actually want to buy. But how much information is really being collected about you? How is it being used? And could it fall into the wrong hands?

One of the great advantages for companies that make product both abroad and in the U.S. is the ability to control their fate. In the case of quality control, firms that manufacture here are able to shape their own destiny as they reassure customers that product will get to them in a timely—and profitable—fashion.

Finding aftermarket potential for PET is next frontier

by Matthew Spieler

San Diego—While members of the carpet industry had been working on ways to divert products from the landfill and recycle them into either new carpet or another end-use product since the early 1990s, it wasn’t until the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) was created 10 years ago that things really began to happen.

But start of spring uncharacteristically slow

by Steven Feldman

Dove Mountain, Ariz.—The soon-to-be 40 members of the National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA) found business slowing in April after a stronger-than-usual first quarter. While things usually pick up in the spring, the warm winter may have driven consumers to make flooring purchases that in other years would have been postponed to April.

by Emily J. Cappiello

Social networking is no longer an added part of success; it has become one of the main tools to help businesses thrive. Social networking allows companies to get closer to their customers and can even help consumers find local flooring stores, since Facebook is becoming an ever-increasingly popular search engine as well as social networking site. YouTube can enable people to network with each other but can also be used to supply partners and potential customers with educational information about products. And with new additions like Pinterest, social networking is growing by leaps and bounds.

COVERINGS UP: Maybe it was the improving economy; maybe it was the show’s return to Florida; maybe it was the abundance of firsts offered. Whatever it was, the 2012 edition of Coverings not only stopped a three-year decline, attendance jumped 19% for the nation’s largest tile and stone show. According to show officials, registration figures climbed above 22,000 and helped make Coverings the success it was. It appeared all segments were up, with the biggest increase going to architects and designers, which saw an 84% spike in attendance, followed by fabricators (up 69%), installers/contractors (up 26%) and distributors (up 16%). While admitting the economic turmoil is far from settled, Karen Fendrich, show director, said, “These numbers are valid indicators the tile and stone industry is in a recovery mode.”

April is in the rear view mirror. The Kentucky Derby has been run. I can smell Memorial Day weekend, which means summer is just around the corner. Sort of.

Last month was nothing short of a whirlwind. If I was in the office for five days it was a lot. National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA). Coverings. Starnet. National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA). Manufacturer visits. Good for frequent flyer miles and strengthening relationships, bad for just about everything else.

by Matthew Spieler

Fajardo, Puerto Rico—Twenty years ago, changes were taking place that still reverberate today: In politics, Bill Clinton and the Democrats were taking office; in entertainment, Jay Leno replaced Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” and in flooring, 12 flooring contractors got together to form what is today the Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Cooperative.

by Louis Iannaco

Orlando, Fla.—Coverings, the nation’s largest ceramic tile and natural stone show, returned to its roots here from April 17 to 20 as more than 800 exhibitors strutted their stuff for the entire A&D community and more to see.

Things seemed to be looking up as reactions from most participants surveyed were very positive. Toward the end of the four-day event, Karin Fendrich, COO of National Trade Productions (NTP), the company that runs Coverings, said the show had exceeded expectations. “We had set a goal for sales a year ago that we would see some growth, particularly over what we did last year in Las Vegas, and we hit our goal.”

Deerfield Beach, Fla. – MAPEI Corporation has joined the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and has registered a number of its adhesives, mortars, grouts and waterproofing products with the CHPS High Performance Products database. “We believe the programs that have evolved from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools provide a standard that sets the bar for manufacturing companies who want to demonstrate their sustainability in the construction market,” said Neil McMurdie, Director of Research & Development for MAPEI Americas. 

Vancouver, Wash. – The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) is initiating the revision of ANSI/IICRC S520: 2008 Standard and Reference Guide on Professional Mold Remediation.

Luxury vinyl tile manufacturer Centiva announces the launch of a new video on The Centiva Green Way. This is the second in a series of video pieces on Centiva and its products. The video features company employees as they discuss its environmental initiatives and their importance to the brand and its future. The video campaign furthers Centiva’s commitment to social media and reaching customers through new media channels.

Cleveland — Marble Institute of America, the authoritative source for natural stone standards and education, and studiomarmo, the renowned Italian expert on natural stone graphic and web design, have announced the much anticipated release of iStone, a natural stone swatch application for the iPad that is available in the Apple App Store.

Titusville, Pa. – HomerWood  Premium Hardwood Flooring has garnered two ADEX (Award for Design Excellence) awards—the distinction awarded by Design Journal, a leading international design trade magazine. Competing from among record 2,000+ entries, HomerWood received ADEX Gold for its superior Oil Naturals Finish and top-level Platinum for one of its hot custom hardwood flooring designs.

“Being chosen as a Platinum and Gold winner of the 2012 ADEX Awards brings the kind of third-party validation that money can’t buy,” said HomerWood General Manager Paul Walker.

City of Industry, Calif. – An award-winning film starts with a great story and Bentley Prince Street’s latest product offering has just that. Oscar Worthy is a celebration of the company’s love for the creative arts, but also continues its heritage of environmental sustainability by incorporating remnants of the company’s top five yarns into its design. The result is a product with a random structure that exemplifies natural beauty and rustic style. Oscar Worthy coordinates well with popular product lines, Urban Scene, Kings Road and International Glamour and is available in broadloom, carpet tile and area rugs. It functions beautifully in the Corporate, Government, Healthcare, Higher Education, Hospitality and Retail environments.

The industry leader uses first-ever carpet pad consumer research to reinvent its brand and shape an interactive, store-tested approach to selling

Carthage, Mo. — Diversified manufacturer Leggett & Platt announced that its Carpet Cushion division has unveiled a new brand look and sales technique based on in-depth consumer research, the first of its kind in the industry. The brand and selling strategy were introduced to select stores, which experienced a remarkable 38% increase in profits.

“We are greatly encouraged by the results of our test group of retailers,” said Erik Kempf, Vice President of Sales for the Carpet Cushion division. “They hit it out of the park. We believe any retailer can have the same results.”

Armstrong Commercial Flooring was honored with a Bronze award in Sustainable Living/Environmental Preservation for STRIATIONS BBT BioBased Tile in the 2011 International Design Awards (IDA).

Architects and designers of interiors, fashion, products, and graphics submitted entries from over 65 countries throughout the world, proving IDA’s global emphasis. Winners were recognized for their excellence in originality, creativity, excellence of execution, and overall impact. 

Providing home design enthusiasts across the country with inspiration and an easy way to save their favorite ideas, Shaw Floors, the world’s largest carpet manufacturer and a leading flooring provider, is pleased to announce the launch of its official presence on Pinterest, an online community that allows users to save photos by “pinning” them to theme boards that are shared with other users of the site. Having already established a network of nearly 70,000 engaged consumers on the Shaw Floors Facebook page, Shaw is excited to extend its social media outreach to Pinterest’s expanding base of more than 17 million users – the majority of which are women. 

Dalton — Customers of Tandus Flooring’s Powerbond believe so much in a hybrid resilient sheet flooring, the company is launching a two pronged campaign to showcase the product’s unique attributes. The campaign rewards “Believers” of Powerbond with a chance to win $1000 a month through an online submission form, and for those who are not yet Believers, the campaign offers a chance to qualify for a free classroom mock up.

The I’m a Believer” campaign launched with Gaelynn Pippin, President of Edge Design in Chicago, the first of four featured “Believers.”  Pippin’s message was promoted using print, email and web communication and it is clear..she’s a believer! Following Pippin, Tandus Flooring will feature other “Believers” that represent architecture, facility management and school administration.

New floating LVT employs Uniclic locking system

Norwalk, Conn.—Anyone who attended Surfaces couldn’t help but notice the onslaught of luxury vinyl tile products utilizing the increasingly popular locking systems. Ironically, many of the companies introducing these products were not resilient suppliers but rather laminate and/or wood manufacturers.

One of the few pure resilient suppliers that took the wraps off its new click LVT was Metroflor, which introduced Engage at a cocktail party honoring its top distributors. What separated Engage from the masses was while others introduced a product, Metroflor came to the table with a full program.

There are many factors to consider when designing and developing a retail website. The list can seem endless, but in reality, if you look carefully, you’ll see there are certain elements more important than others—elements that are used consistently among the most successful retail websites.

Once you have completed the planning stages of your website, the rest of the elements fall into broad categories, ranging from user interface design to content creation to actual development. Of course, you also have to keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind.

Santa Monica, Calif. — Justin Timberlake is the latest celebrity to jump into the home arena with the upcoming launch of HomeMint, the newest celebrity-endorsed, subscription-based site from venture-backed e-commerce company BeachMint.

Calhoun, Ga. — Surya, a leading provider of area rugs and home accessories, is proud to announce the release of their new Spring 2012 catalog- Surya Square.  This is the 14^th edition of their catalog which is printed twice a year and sent to all current customers the week before High Point.

Surya’s Spring 2012 catalog is highly inspirational with editorial sections that highlight the Surya design process from design inspiration to completed rugs.  Surya Square also has an exclusive interview with Candice Olson spotlighting where she gets her sense of style and design philosophy, as well as Surya’s current colors and style trend inspiration sections.  “We think our catalog should be more than just product,” said Satya Tiwari, Surya president, “it should inspire our customers in a way in which helps them rethink their possibilities in merchandising accessories.” 

Deerfield Beach, Fla. – MAPEI continuously works to achieve social, environmental and economic sustainability. The company has recently directed its efforts toward environmental sustainability with the introduction of ecological refill packaging for its adhesives used in floor covering installations. During 2012 MAPEI will begin producing Ultrabond ECO 20, Ultrabond ECO 185, Ultrabond ECO 711 and Ultrabond ECO 810 in 1-gallon [3,79-L] plastic pouches, which will be packaged four per standard RSC corrugated box.  

Emeryville, Calif.— Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has announced its first three certifications under the tile industry’s brand new Green Squared certification standard. Certifications were awarded to tile manufactured by Crossville, Interceramic, and Metropolitan Ceramics by Ironrock.