LAS VEGAS—Retailers attend Surfaces looking for exciting new products that will draw customers into their stores and boost profit margins. Those were two good reasons why Mohawk’s Wear-Dated carpet fiber, Re-vive, stood out at the 2011 show.
David Duncan, vice president of marketing for Mohawk Industries, said that while performance—softer, cleaner, longer lasting—is evident with the Revive collection, “the note- worthy point is that we are giving our retail partners the firs branded PET BCF carpet in the industry. This is important because we believe retailers can make great- er margins with a ‘branded’ carpet over a mill brand.”
Flooring retailers have a long history of getting a premium for branded nylon, he noted, and “we believe they can do the same with WearDated Revive featuring Scotchgard Advanced Repel technology.”
The new collection will have the power of three of the industry’s most important brands, Dun- can added—WearDated, Mohawk and Scotchgard. For this to happen, the PET fiber had to meet the WearDated brand certified performance standards.
Mohawk added a fiber cleaning process known as “scouring” to the Wear-Dated Revive offerings. Scouring is said to remove the lubricants used in PET BCF fiber manufacturing. This extra process cleanses the fiber resulting in improved strength and durability, improved soil protection (by locking in the Scotchgard Protector) and improved softness and fiber body.
As well, the new yarn has a green story because recycled PET plastic bottles are used in the fiber manufacturing, Duncan said. Mohawk recycles more than 3 billion plastic bottles a year, making the company the largest recycler of plastic bottles in the industry.
Despite the continued challenges in the industry, Duncan said he was encouraged by the reception toward its newest introductions including WearDated Revive.
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