FloorCoveringNews

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. 

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 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.”

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 Matthew Spieler

Ask people from just about any sector and they will say since December, sales have been steadily picking up. While this is welcome news for anyone who has suffered through the economic downturn, for those in the wood business, it is a breath of fresh air.

As one of the hardest categories of products—flooring or otherwise—hit by the recession thanks to being tied so closely to the housing market, among other factors, a positive growth trend could not have come at a better time. Though final figures for 2011 are not yet available, most experts said the year should have ended slightly better than 2010, which would be the first time the wood category finished in the black since 2006 when the industry reached its peak in sales at more than $2.5 billion.

From March Madness and the Grapefruit League to spring sales and rebates, many phrases and terms make their way into the conversation this time of year. Numerous flooring companies gear up for the season by running special springtime promotions, an annual rite of the season. Here are just a few specials being offered.

Cartersville, Ga. — Shaw Contract Group opened a showroom in Mexico City on March 1, providing its customers with greater access to Cradle to Cradle certified flooring products and services. The showroom, a LEED-registered Commercial Interior showroom, pending Retail certification, showcases the complete range of flooring solutions available to customers in Mexico City.

Dalton—Shaw Floors has announced the comprehensive Celebrate Your Home Sale, a spring promotion that inspires consumers to create a beautiful home environment for themselves and those they love with the help of a new Shaw floor. Offering special, per-room pricing, the incentivizing campaign includes retro-inspired bright and bold POP for participating retailers who can capitalize on the act-now messaging. The simplified sale includes carpet, area rugs and laminate floor offerings of $499 for one room, $899 for two rooms and $1,199 for three rooms. Hardwood floors are included in the pre-room selections for an added $100 to each price offering.

Company will break ground on manufacturing facility in April

Cartersville, Ga.– Shaw Contract Group opened a sales office in Shanghai recently to provide customers in rapidly growing Asian markets with greater access to its high performance Cradle to Cradle certified carpet tile. The US-based flooring manufacturer’s LEED-registered Commercial Interior space, pending Gold certification, will be followed by sales offices opening in Beijing and Hong Kong later this year.

Ask Eric Demaree, president of Carpet One, what he is most excited about for 2012, and he cites no specific new product or program. Rather, he is enthused about the fact he believes Carpet One members are taking market share. “Our members will probably grow this year two to three times the independent channel as a whole.”

Las Vegas—When the National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA) meets here each year on the morning prior to Surfaces, one of the primary goals is to expose its members to vendors not present at the group’s two major gatherings in the spring and fall. Referred to as tier 2 suppliers, members have the opportunity to spend three hours with “specialty vendors” in a table-top trade show format, allowing them to fill in gaps and/or further differentiate their product lineup from their competition.

Dalton – During a kick-off event held recently at the International Builder Show in Orlando, Fla., Shaw Floors publicly announced the company’s national sponsorship of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway. Throughout 2012 Shaw will support the far-reaching fundraising campaign as the project’s exclusive flooring provider. To date, the Dream Home campaign has raised more than $220 million in 20 years to support the lifesaving mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Dalton – Shaw Industries, recently announced a national sponsorship of the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway, a fundraising campaign that has raised more than $220 million in over 20 years for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other deadly childhood diseases.

Dalton—Shaw Industries has released dates for its 2012 winter markets. During these events, the mill will unveil a variety of introductions within the Anso nylon and ClearTouch brands along within the new HGTV Home Flooring by Shaw program. Tuftex will also display a variety of new carpets. And in the hard surfaces arena, new floors will be introduced in the Epic hardwood collection, as well as visuals in the solid hardwood, laminate, resilient, and tile and stone categories.

100% recycled product on sale through December

Dalton—Shaw Industries is holding the first-ever sale on its Grand Canyon hardwood collection. Running through Dec. 31, it includes an impressive discount for consumers. Kevin Thompson, hardwood product category manager, said the sale includes a minimum of 25% off depending on the product. (Ask your sales rep for specific details.)

Dalton—Featuring a fashionable silhouette design that catches the eye and positions the female buyer as its target audience, Shaw is introducing the 2011 “Dream It, Do It” fall promotion. This season, consumers will be enticed with numerous incentives noted LaShon McGinnis, the mill’s marketing manager.

Dalton — Shaw recently announced the company will once again be the exclusive flooring provider and sponsor for the HGTV Green Home Giveaway set for spring 2012. As the flooring partner, Shaw will provide stylish and functional floors from the HGTV HOME Flooring by Shaw collection to be featured in this highly-anticipated show home in the sustainable living community of Serenbe, Ga.

Dalton — Shaw Industries Group has received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) for Plant 95, an administrative facility on its corporate campus in Dalton.

Dalton – Four Shaw Industries manufacturing facilities in California have been recognized by the CalRecycle Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) for the seventh consecutive year. The awards are designed to recognize the leadership of businesses and organizations with highly successful waste-to-landfill reduction initiatives.

By Matthew Spieler

While 2011 seemed to mirror 2010 for the wood industry, manufacturing executives say it was expected and, considering the losses that mounted up since the recession started, not so bad. Though the overall economy doesn’t appear much brighter in 2012, many feel there will be some upward movement due to pent-up demand as well as other indicators that favor their products.

By Ken Ryan

The shift toward resilient products in the flooring industry away from other hard surface offerings has created market opportunities for leading suppliers, as well as increased competition globally, particularly from China.

On the plus side, the soft economy has favored lower cost, performance value options like vinyl flooring in both residential and commercial segments; however, skyrocketing raw material costs have prompted some major manufacturers to pass along the increases, making for a rather volatile market as 2011 comes to a close.

Dalton —Engineered Floors announced that James Lesslie, most recently COO of the nation’s third largest carpet manufacturer, Beaulieu of America, has joined the company as assistant to the chairman.

Dalton, Ga. – Shaw Industries Group, Inc. will become the exclusive provider of synthetic turf material used by ClosureTurf, LLC, an Atlanta-based landfill closure systems provider, the company announced today. Thispartnership will further diversify Shaw’s growing portfolio of synthetic turf-based businesses that includes Shaw Sportexe and Southwest Greens International.

DALTON—As flooring retailers throughout the U.S. begin preparing for the 2012 selling season, Shaw Floors is announcing the “Power Up” Winter Markets, a lineup of the company’s 2012 product, display and program introductions.

Ceramic tile has long been known as one of the most hygienically clean and environmentally friendly products the flooring industry has to offer. The segment is full of companies that take the matter of making a small carbon footprint to heart, and in practice, in a very big way. The following is an environmental update of what some companies are currently doing in the way of environmental friendliness.

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.

PHILADELPHIA—The Bayard Sales Corp. once again solidified its position of strength in the Mid Atlantic when it unveiled new products to its sales team here, on Oct. 18. New products and programs from Formica, Kährs and Shaw were rolled out to give the sales force a new arsenal when it comes up against today’s challenges.

Refreshingly, Don Wohlfarth Jr., Bayard’s president, didn’t cite the economy or a lull in building as one of the obstacles the group is facing. “One of our big challenges, frankly, is from the time we get our professional approach in front of our customers, the message is watered down and not introduced the way we want it introduced,” he explained. “You go to a specialty retailer today and she’s answering phones, loading vans, not hearing what we have to say.”

DALTON—Shaw Industries Group announced it will be cutting jobs at its Columbia, S.C. fiber manufacturing facility in the near future. The decision will impact 194 associates.

CANCER AWARENESS: October is national Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Carpet One Floor & Home has introduced its latest collection of Pink Ribbon Welcome Mats to help raise money to support breast cancer research. Since 2004, Carpet One Welcomes Your Support campaign has been raising funds through the sales of these mats to support organizations and researchers searching for a cure, with 25% of the sales donated between the The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), and the Canadian Cancer Society. The mats are sold year round at Carpet One stores for approximately $24.99 in the U.S. and $34.99 in Canada. To date, sales of the mats have raised more than $825,000 for the organizations. Myra Biblowit, BCRF’s president, noted “When consumers purchase these mats, it provides critical funding for innovative clinical and translational research at leading medical centers worldwide. They also serve as a great every-day reminder to keep fighting as we search for a cure.”