Dalton—It’s been said that industry legend Robert E. “Bob” Shaw has the uncanny ability to know where the market is headed before anyone else. He proved it in the 1980s with industry consolidation, and again in 2010 with a totally new approach to carpet. Both have had lasting impacts on the carpet industry.
“Mr. Shaw,” inarguably the most influential and impactful person in the history of the carpet industry, has been named the 2026 recipient of FCNews’ Al Wahnon Lifetime Achievement Award.
FCNews established the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 to recognize and celebrate individuals who have made significant contributions to the floor covering industry and, more importantly, worked toward its betterment over a sustained period of time. Simply stated, the award is intended to recognize service and leadership that is of a scope and duration to be considered a lifetime achievement.
While the Lifetime Achievement Award is traditionally given to an industry member who has not yet been inducted into the World Floor Covering Hall of Fame, FCNews for the first time opted to break that pattern to recognize Mr. Shaw. His entire body of achievements in general, but his last 15 years as chairman and CEO of Engineered Floors in particular. It took Mr. Shaw only 10 years to take a visionary startup to approximately $2 billion in annual sales. To put that in perspective, it took him 25 years to do that at Shaw Industries, and that was with the advantage of being a public company.
Act 1
Round 1: Under Mr. Shaw’s 47-year leadership, Shaw Industries evolved from a small north Georgia dye business to the largest carpet manufacturer in the world. He is famous for changing paradigms, such as bypassing traditional distribution and going direct. He started the consolidation craze that saw an industry that once boasted 300 mills end up with just a few major players. He took Shaw in—and then out—of retail within two years to counter the fiber producers’ downstream control. Acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 2001, Mr. Shaw stayed on as CEO until his retirement in 2006, having cemented his legacy as one of the true legends of the carpet industry.
End of story? Not so fast.
Most will work their entire lives and never make business history. Mr. Shaw works every day to rewrite it. The year was 2008. The housing bubble burst and the flooring industry started to tank. Dalton unemployment was skyrocketing above 15%. Things were grim and getting worse. For Bob Shaw, it was a perfect time to hang up the golf clubs and start building another dynasty that would become Engineered Floors. The idea: make the best carpet ever in the most efficient way.
It was now 2009 and Mr. Shaw had just turned 78. He could have built Engineered Floors anywhere but chose to keep it in his beloved home of north Georgia and Dalton. It’s where he grew up, where his mother taught school, where he was a high school football star and where people just “know carpet.”
“I’ve lived in northwest Georgia since I was 10 years old,” he told FCNews. “You have to understand that my hometown had unemployment of 15% in 2008. We figured we’d go back to our roots, and our roots was manufacturing carpet. We brought it all back to northwest Georgia, where we now have 3% unemployment. Not only that, we are making so much better carpet than we’ve ever made in the history of this industry—better carpet than the weaving machine made.” (Shaw was referring to the process of solution dyeing the carpet fibers.) “We all knew this was the best way to make carpet. But you had to make a major change, and that major change required a pretty good investment.” It was an investment only a greenfield company would make.
Act 2
For his next industrial masterpiece, Mr. Shaw didn’t go back to the drawing board. He threw out the drawing board and started over with a completely new one. He knew that in order to build a carpet company from the ground up, and one that would not just survive but thrive, he couldn’t do things the way they had been before. He had to reinvent them. And that’s what Bob Shaw set out to do with the company’s promise: “Innovation Reinvented.”
By 2010, just a year after the official end of the Great Recession, Engineered Floors’ first plant in Calhoun was producing its own PureColor solution-dyed PET carpet. The company purchased Dream Weaver and constructed two more plants, both in Dalton, with the newest becoming the largest single carpet making facility in the world. Everything from raw materials to dyeing is under one roof. That adds value. It still has expansion area to boot and is named after Clay Shaw’s favorite dog “Sam.” Altogether, Engineered Floors’ Sam Plant currently has 2.6 million square feet of carpet production under roof.
The not-so-secret sauce is the Engineered Floors model of disruptive technology by using the newest equipment, streamlined processes, full integration under roof and solution-dyed fiber. As the price differential abated with more supply, Engineered Floors also began solution-dyed nylon production in 2015, thus furthering its goal to become the largest carpet producer anywhere. And with the merger of J+J Flooring Group and launch of its Pentz brand, the company began its move into specified commercial and Main Street commercial, respectively.
Only Bob Shaw would not be surprised to build a $2 billion company in less than 15 years. “If I was going to play the game, I wanted to play to win. You succeed because of your competitiveness.”
But this win did not happen by accident. He had a game plan. “I think everybody, not just us, knew there was a better way of making carpet than what we were doing,” he said. “We all knew we were going to go to pre-dyed yarns. One of the harder things you have to do in business is obsolete yourself. Let’s face it, we have a little nylon going into commercial tile, but the rest of it is polyester. And the other thing we had to do was add value here where the foreign competition couldn’t compete with us. Other companies were concentrating on hard surface they thought they could get a better return. Other companies were making acquisitions, but none were in northwest Georgia. So this was a pretty good opportunity.”
Mr. Shaw has always had a game plan, and he has always had foresight. But foresight takes you only so far. “It’s not that I had any different foresight than somebody else, but you have to have a gambling mindset,” he said. “You have to be willing to bet you’re right. You also have to say, ‘If I bet I’m right and I am wrong, correct it quick.’”
And a little luck never hurts. “Timing is important,” he said. “I was once a quarterback and we learned to throw to a spot rather than to the receiver because he was going to break to the spot.”
At some point the future leaders of Engineered Floors with be Mr. Shaw’s twin grandsons, Will and Joe Young. They have been well schooled over the past 15 years by a legend. “It has been an honor to have the opportunity to work with my grandad; his knowledge and perspective of the carpet industry is second to none,” said Joe Young, senior vice president, residential product and marketing.
And Will, senior vice president, residential sales, added, “Having the privilege to work with my grandad has given me the opportunity to learn a great deal about the carpet industry. Equally important is the example he has set for us to support and improve our community.”
Shaw celebrated his 95th birthday a few weeks ago and is still coming into the office five days a week. He is as sharp as he ever was. The secret? “You have to keep your brain active. It’s a muscle. If you don’t use your brain, it decays.”
He’s also having more fun than he ever has. “I love it. Is it work if you’re having fun doing it? You’re competing. It’s a game at 95. It’s hard work at 35. The reason I went to work 60 years ago was because I like to eat.”
One of the criteria for Lifetime Achievement awards is benevolence, and no one is more generous than Mr. Shaw. He is a big supporter of many causes, including the city of Dalton, the United Way and numerous churches, schools and hospitals.
“Mr. Shaw couples a strong work ethic with a passion for supporting the community in which we live,” said James Lesslie, president and COO. “I have learned a great deal working with Mr. Shaw over the last 15 years.”
Retailers laud Engineered Floors’ leader
Mention Bob Shaw and Engineered Floors in the same sentence and flooring retailers express amazement at the trajectory of the company—from start-up to full-service powerhouse—in 15 short years.
“Bob Shaw’s impact on the flooring industry has been remarkable,” said Michel Vermette, CEO, AFS Group, Columbus, Ohio. “Most recently, what he accomplished with Engineered Floors is a testament to his vision, determination and ability to challenge conventional thinking. Building a company from the ground up and transforming it into one of the industry’s most influential manufacturers in such a relatively short period is an extraordinary achievement. His leadership helped raise the bar for manufacturing excellence while creating a culture focused on investment, product innovation and long-term partnerships.”
John Bretzloff, manager, Barefoot Flooring, Castle Hayne, N.C., echoed those sentiments. “What Mr. Shaw accomplished with Engineered Floors in just 15 years is unprecedented and will never be duplicated in this industry.,” he said. “Successfully competing toe-to-toe with industry titans and revolutionizing how a fully automated production facility under one roof could produce carpet is simply incredible.”
Jeff Gardner, general manager, Cost Less Carpet, Pasco, Wash., got to witness that production facility firsthand and recalled the experience. “When they started, Bob [Shaw] sent his private plane over to eastern Washington and picked up Randy Rupp (owner) and me for a tour of the factory. We were amazed and got to spend some time getting to know Bob as well. They were the first to put all of the production process under one roof with pellets going in one end and rolls coming out the other. Dye lots were so close you can mix carpet over one-year-old and not notice. That’s consistency. And they kept pricing down through their processes, which others had to follow, especially their product being true color.”
Cost Less Carpet and the builders/retail customers that have purchased Engineered Floors products have had great success, according to Gardner. “Recently I had a friend that had a flood in his house. The water got halfway through one of the bedrooms and left a mark on the carpet. They called to tell me about it and said, ‘It looks stained; you said it couldn’t be stained.’ We mixed a 50/50 solution with bleach and water, and the discoloration came right out. Tell me another carpet you can do that with.”
Not only is the manufacturing process streamlined, but so is the sales process. “Engineered Floors is constantly asking, ‘How can we help you grow your business?’” said Liz Rivera, soft surface buyer, FCA Network, Shorewood, Ill. “They empower their people in the field to make decisions and put deals together without layers of approvals. From great-looking carpet at every price point—including standout styles like New Dawn—to their impressive new Evolve laminate collection, they give retailers products we’re excited to sell and make doing business easy and fun. At the end of the day, great product gets you in the game—but great people who know how to make business happen are what help you win.”
In good company
Bob Shaw joins an illustrious list of Lifetime Achievement Award winners that includes:
- Sandy Mishkin, the former president of CCA Global Partners
- Don Miller, CEO of Roppe
- Ralph Boe, who has turned many companies around
- Don Finkell, formerly president of Anderson Hardwood and American OEM
- Jeff Lorberbaum, chairman and CEO of Mohawk Industries
- Pierre Thabet, president of Boa Franc/Mirage
- Michael Goldberg, CEO of Rite Rug
- Piet Dossche, father of WPC and a $6 billion waterproof category
- Olga Robertson, president of FCA Network
- Harold Traister, 65-year industry veteran