Flooring dealers call out their stars of the show
February 2/9, 2015; Volume 28/Number 16
With hundreds of new products on display at The International Surface Event (TISE), FCNews asked a number of retailers which stood out for them, left an impression or was something they already planned on adding to their showroom floors. Here is just a sampling of their responses.
Wendy Fried
Fried Carpet, Westbury, N.Y.
I was really impressed with Kane Carpet; they had some nice goods, the goods they used to have. I feel Kane was getting a little too funky—too loud, off the wall. But they did a really great job turning it around. They hit a home run. They deserve kudos.
Penny Carnino
Grigsbys Carpet, Tile & Rug
Tulsa, Okla.
We thought the Lexmark patterned introductions were very nice. We also saw quite a few PetProtect introductions, which will add lots of new choices to that category for the consumer. Stainmaster PetProtect has really been a go-to product in our store, so we are glad to see the expansion of styles. Milliken had some beautiful introductions that were Stainmaster and looked more like wool.
Mark Compston
Mark’s Floors, Minneola, Fla.
I loved the Pedross trims. Trims are so important and they offer a great selection. Another thing I was really impressed with was the Stevens Omni rug display, which can hold 40 rugs in a 6-foot space. I am planning to double the size of my area rug business in 2015, and this is the kind of display that would increase my presence. I also loved Kane Carpet; so many vibrant colors.
Terio Guzman
J&C Carpet, San Diego
Engineered Floors’ Dream Weaver brand appeals to us in terms of both price point and that dye lot stays the same whether we order it now or six months later. We do multi-family housing, we have a lot of end rolls, and a lot of times we can’t use them because it’s a different dye lot. You can with their new product, so it will save us a ton.
Roger Stafford
Stafford’s Discount Carpets
San Bernardino, Calif.
Zig from Inhaus looks like a great hybrid-type product. It has the wood and plastic core that doesn’t swell. USFloors also has something really impressive with COREtec. It has an [extruded] core and it’s waterproof—that’s the attraction behind it.
Kerry Baran
Koeda Forest Products
Kelowna, British Columbia
The DuChateau wood wall art has been the standout so far. And downstairs, Wickham has some awesome things like their square hardwood tiles.
Heather Lennon
Imagine Interiors, Phoenix
What I loved was the Provenza Curly Maple line. It’s a phenomenal product. The nuance, the diversity in the color palettes and the texture of the Curly Maple was amazing. We’re definitely going to be placing orders for it.
Earl Swalm
Moose Jaw Carpet One Floor & Home
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
I’d say two things really got my attention. The Wickham Hardwood Flooring area had a nice display—they’ve got some fantastic hardwoods there. The other is Acefloor’s click-less LVT. The click-less LVT 5mm is a cool product. The colors aren’t so great but they’ll make whatever you want.
Georgette Malooly
Malooly’s Flooring Co.
Las Cruces, N.M.
I like the thin slate from Natural Stone Resources. It’s only a couple millimeters thick and you use a little thinset on it. It’s tile but not meant for floors. It should be used on walls or in bathrooms. Also, Royalty Carpet Mills has a gorgeous new Stainmaster carpet.
Jason Stafford
Stafford’s Discount Carpets
San Bernardino, Calif.
Johnson Hardwood has the new Alehouse wood series that’s very nice. The styling and the distressed edge on it is what caught my eye.
Melissa Turner
Turner Floors,
Brandon, Manitoba
I really like the tile with the Velcro on the back [Rug Revolution] from Stanton; it’s definitely the one thing that stands out. It’s unique, very versatile and really soft. You can change the colors yourself and make your own area rug.
Ernie Prommer
Grand Forks Flooring
Grand Forks, British Columbia
Rock veneers have become popular in the last couple of years. Nova has a rock veneer on a cork that clicks together like a laminate floor. That definitely caught my eye. Quick installation for a rock floor.
Dave Larson and Mike Houssin
All Floors
Calgary, Alberta
Kraus has a nice LVT product offering. The different sizes are new—when they first came out they were all your basic 12 x 12s and now there’s an 18 x 36.
Leigh Bakhtiari
City Carpets
San Raphael, Calif.
We’re definitely seeing PetProtect everywhere. I’ve also seen some new wool manufacturers that I’m excited about—Cavan and J.D. Staron stood out to me—and we’ve been seeing some nice carpet patterns from Camelot/Royalty.
Mark Lewis
DeGraaf Interiors
Grand Rapids, Mich.
The new USFloors cork line is really sharp, and we do all our bamboo through them. They have their new Muse line of engineered bamboo. There are all those issues with bamboo, but theirs is really solid.
Deb DeGraaf
DeGraaf Interiors
Grand Rapids, Mich.
We liked Q-Wood with the reparable finish—it’s a morph between an aluminum oxide and an oil-finished floor, so it’s more reparable yet still durable. COREtec from USFloors is the next generation of LVT. And I truly believe that SmartStrand Forever Clean from Mohawk is going to change the way other people market their products—it’s really the ultimate carpet.
Andy Anderson
Five Star Flooring
Bothell, Wash.
We liked the design and texture of the Camelot carpets. Also, PetProtect from Stainmaster seems to be a big hit. I particularly liked Godfrey Hirst’s version of it. They went with a harder finish and I’m personally sick of the soft finish.
Laura Littrell
Littrell Flooring
Encinitas, Calif.
Some of my favorite products were those new wide boards from DuChateau, Fabrica’s new carpet, Fiberworks, and USFloors has a beautiful hardwood line.