Karastan, the high-end brand within the Mohawk family, continues its 30-plus-year tradition of helping dealers jumpstart the ever-important spring selling season. The brand recently kicked off its annual National Karastan Month promotion, which runs through the end of May. This exclusive, limited-time event aids retailers in their sales while simultaneously promoting the Karastan brand.
“The significance is really to promote the Karastan brand, especially those consumers who are looking for more of a luxury style,” said Janel Hernandez, director of channel marketing, Mohawk. “Not only is it more of a luxury, it’s a luxury product with a wide appeal to those consumers who are more style conscious, more fashion conscious of their homes.”
This year, Karastan completely restructured the promotion in order to better cater to a wide variety of customers and drive more traffic to stores. “This year, it is up to $1,000 rebate and it’s a shared expense,” Hernandez explained. “Mohawk will actually reimburse the consumer and then reimburse the retailer for their portion, 50%, of the rebate. That is what’s a little different—we’re structuring it so we help financially offset some of that burden for our dealers.”
While promoting the Karastan brand, the company also aims to simultaneously build awareness of the entire Karastan portfolio, according to Hernandez. The sale not only features products from Karastan soft surface but also Karastan LuxeCraft resilient flooring and Karastan BelleLuxe hardwood.
“We are supporting the entire portfolio and that’s really evident in the video assets as well as the point-of-purchase kits that we had created for our retailers,” Hernandez noted.
Also aiding in driving this sale is the special financing of 0% for up to 36 months exclusively available from Mohawk. The company has negotiated strong rates with its partner, Synchrony Financial, that are provided to Karastan dealers, specifically those who are with Mohawk Edge.
“Having the [special] financing available actually helps appeal to that broader consumer,” Hernandez said. “Specifically, those millennials who are definitely wanting to be able to finance these larger purchases; having that financing option also helps them make that purchase decision.”
Dealers praise opportunity
Dealers who have participated in National Karastan Month in the past say they are excited about the opportunities the promotion provides. “Karastan is one of our top partners,” explained Susan Hadinger, CEO, Hadinger Floors, Naples, Fla. “They do a great job of staying on the forefront of trends and coming out with great products that will speak to our consumers.”
Hadinger has participated in the promotional event as long as she can remember and said she feels that the National Karastan Month sale is a great way to bring people into her store and grab consumers’ attention. “Karastan Month is a great promotion and it definitely drives sales and brings people in the door,” she noted.
Hadinger is not alone.
Aaron Johnson, partner with Johnson & Sons Flooring in Knoxville, Tenn., said his store has seen an uptick in traffic each time National Karastan Month begins. “Nobody does anything like Karastan as far as the type of sales they put on,” he stated. “We’ve seen a lot of effort on their part to add value to dealers.”
