Arlington, Texas—FCNews is here for the Southwest Flooring Market. The trade show had already surpassed last year’s attendance figures within the first 90 minutes. Unlike last year when a snow/ice storm kept many attendees away, this year’s group was welcomed by sunshine and 80-degree temperatures—weather that reflected the optimistic feeling inside the Loews Arlington Hotel.
“We hit it out of the park this year,” Lori Kisner, co-founder and managing partner of Market Maker Events, the producer of the Southwest Flooring Market, told FCNews. “By 10:30 Thursday morning we had already registered more people than we did all last year—400 attendees in the first 90 minutes. The sense I got is there are a lot of people who more optimistic about the economy than I have heard in a long time. Last year it was tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. This year people are more optimistic about an improving economy.”
Anchor tenant Shaw Industries occupied its own space at the show, where it unveiled a slew of new offerings across its family of brands—Shaw Floors, Anderson Tuftex and COREtec. Down below, 50 vendors exhibited their wares amid swarms of dealers. “I personally walked by every booth to see if there were any vendors just sitting there by themselves and couldn’t find one,” Kisner said. “Everyone had a buyer at the booth, which is almost unheard of at a trade show.”
The regional show appealed to vendors because of what they see as a more intimate setting. “We don’t have that many regionals left,” said Mitch White, vice president of key accounts and promotional sales for Stanton Design. “This is a good way to kick off the show season. If it wasn’t a good show, we wouldn’t be here. But it’s a good show and we stand out. We’re one of the only carpet mills here, and the others are more niche-like. On the other hand, we’re one of many hard surface suppliers.”
Flooring dealer Blake Huddleston, manager of BLH Floors, Southlake, Texas, said he regularly comes to the Southwest Flooring Market “to see my customers, my friends, my competitors—who are my friends—but mainly to network.”
Huddleston said the Dallas market has evolved over the years, but in a good way. “Ten years ago, everyone was in different hotel rooms, more spread out. It was hard to see them all. Having it in this venue is better for business.”
Kisner said the regional show model is alive and well. “Regionals serve a purpose,” she said. “You cannot expect every buyer in the country to be at Vegas for that one week in late January. There is a reason Mohawk and Shaw do regional shows; it’s because they work. You have to take it to the dealers. Dealers can drive in, work this show for a day and drive out the next day.”