FloorCoveringNews

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.

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.”

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.

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. 

by Matthew Spieler

In recent years, manufacturing has gotten to the point where some low-end products have a high-end look and feel. This is especially true in laminate. In fact, there are products that if brought back in time to just 10 years ago, they would qualify as mid- to high-end goods. So what’s a retailer to do to show consumers the differences between a quality product and one constructed not to perform very well?

by Kelly Kramer

Early on in my sales career I decided if I had to use negative and deceptive closing tactics, I would have to find a different profession.

Everything I was taught was to “never stop asking for the sale.” Terms like “over come the objection and close.” Then repeat that until the customer said yes or walked out. Another was “ABC: Always Be Closing.” Basically meaning that you never give your customer any information without it ending with a closing question. For example: If I could get you the upgraded eight pound pad at no additional charge, would you buy today?

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.

by Warren Tyler

My feeling has always been to listen to criticism, try to accept it and change for the better.

Anytime I find something I think that will make the industry more efficient, I write or speak about it. For instance, while I believe that our manufacturers make beautiful and practical flooring, I do see issues.

by Melissa McGuire

Lancaster, Pa.—Armstrong has come into 2012 loaded with significant introductions in its laminate and hardwood portfolios along with a focus on its 2011 Altera Reserve intros that are just now gaining traction in the marketplace.

With luxury vinyl tile all the rage these days, Armstrong believes Alterna and its step-up Alterna Reserve offer the best visuals on the market. As such, the company is positioning these collections not versus competing LVT but rather the real thing—the stones they emulate, according to Allen Cubell, vice president of residential resilient products.

by Louis Iannoco

As technology has allowed manufacturers to become more innovative than ever, one flooring segment that has benefited arguably as much as any is luxury vinyl tile (LVT). Its state-of-the-art designs allow suppliers to make the surface of the finished product consistently mimic the real thing. But, according to executives, this is just one of the many reasons why this segment is enjoying growth in both sales and popularity.

by Emily J. Cappiello

During the past few years, nylon has been losing market share to polyester in the residential carpet fiber market. While nylon remains the top dog in the commercial segment, industry insiders predict that the shift toward the use of polyester on the residential side will continue during the next few years.

“Solution-dyed polyester is continuing to experience strong growth in the first quarter of 2012 at the expense of nylon,” said James Lesslie, assistant to the chairman, DreamWeaver/Engineered Floors. “If you look at the worldwide marketplace in synthetic fiber, polyester is a 90 billion pound marketplace and nylon is a 6 billion pound marketplace.”

COMMUNITY PRIDE: Here’s a heartwarming, Small Town, USA, story where the floor is the centerpiece of the tale. White Lake, Wis., is a tiny town—population is less than 400—in the northeast part of the state. As FCNews was going to press, the community was holding the groundbreaking of a $3.5 million community recreation center at the White Lake School building. Its gymnasium floor will truly be a one-of-a-kind, unique floor thanks to 90 cords of hard maple logs donated by local residents from their land. The idea was spawned by resident Todd Lambert who said he was thinking about ways to get people involved in the project after it had passed a referendum.

Shanghai—Two years ago, Flooring Industries introduced the License To Clic (L2C) program (FCNews, April 19/26, 2010) to distinguish those companies that are legally licensed to use its patented intellectual properties from those that are infringing on its patents. During the recent Domotex asia/ChinaFloor show here (FCNews, April 2/9), the company announced as of April 1, all licensees, even those with cross-license agreements, must incorporate a specially designed sticker on product boxes which signifies their affiliation.

by Steven Feldman

When I first sought out the schedule for the National Wood Flooring Association convention last week in Orlando, Fla., I noticed that Ken Schmidt was delivering the keynote speech. I didn’t recognize the name, but when I saw he was the former director of communications for Harley- Davidson, I expected another one of those Zig Ziglar-esque motivational speeches. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only was his address on brand building and corporate positioning compelling, but there was a lot for attendees to take back to their businesses. A few nuggets:

New York—Brazilian exotic hardwood flooring manufacturer IndusParquet recently made its mark in the Big Apple with its custom booth at the Architectural Digest Home Show (AD Show). The annual four-day event attracted more than 40,000 home design enthusiasts and professionals.

Washington—Recently, a group of carpet industry executives along with members of the Dalton-Whitfield Chamber of Commerce traveled to the nation’s capitol for the Carpet & Rug Institute’s (CRI) annual “Hill Visits and Legislative Reception.”

Designed to give carpet and area business leaders the opportunity to speak directly with lawmakers about pressing issues, the two-day visit saw the delegation visit 25 congressional offices representing a half dozen states and host a reception in the Capitol Visitor’s Center for more than 75 congressional members and their staff.

by Steven Feldman

Orlando, Fla.—Just about a year into Michael Martin’s reign as CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA), the organization is embarking on more initiatives than it ever has, ironically with less staff. And it comes at a time when business is picking up. That fact was illustrated at the association’s recent convention here, which saw a 40% increase in attendance and 100 more booths than last year.

“We are getting a sense things are much better than what we’ve been seeing recently,” Martin said. “Everyone has had a good first quarter. Contractors are telling us they’re busy. It’s being driven by pent-up demand. Consumers are ready to spend. And flooring has been the one thing put on hold through the recession.”

by Steven Feldman

Ahaheim, Calif.—The World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) is urging floor covering retailers, distributors and manufacturers to throw their support behind the Marketplace Fairness Act. The proposed bipartisan legislation, also known as Senate Bill 1832, is designed to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar retailers and Internet or e-commerce sellers.

DALTON — The perfect luxury design solution has never been more attainable. Karastan is extending a strong consumer rebate offer as part of its semi-annual National Karastan Month sales event. The rebate encompasses many of Karastan’s design-driven broadloom and rug styles, and includes Karastan’s premier wool, SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona, Wear-Dated and Stainmaster fibers. Consumers can earn up to $1,000 cash back on select styles during the celebration, which takes place April 18^th through May 30^th.