Lorberbaum, Saul and Gutierrez to enter WFCA Hall

Anaheim, CA, January 23, 2007--A husband joining his wife, a son joining his father and a pioneering retailer all are inductees in the 2007 class entering the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) Flooring Industry Hall of Fame this spring, according to the WFCA. Alan J. Lorberbaum, founder of Aladdin Mills, who passed away last September, joins his wife, Shirley, as a fellow inductee. She also was inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously, in 2003. Julian Saul, who last July retired as president of Shaw Industries, joins his late father, Harry I. Saul, who was inducted in 1994. Phil Gutierrez, chairman and CEO of Abbey Carpet, one of the original floor covering franchise systems, rounds out the inductees for 2007. The new inductees will be honored, along with all members of the WFCA Flooring Industry Hall of Fame, at a black-tie gala benefiting the Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF), which will be held Saturday, April 28, 2007 at Cipriani’s-42nd Street in New York. “This is an excellent and well-deserved group of individuals to be added to the Industry Hall of Fame,” stated WFCA chairman of the board, Robert Hill. “They all meet or exceed the standard of excellence established by previous inductees.” Each year the WFCA calls for nominations, which are then screened by a special committee. There were no inductees in 2006, and Jim Walker of the International Certified Floorcovering Installers Association (CFI) was the lone inductee in 2005. The three new inductees join the 32 inductees to the Hall of Fame since its inception in 1992, according to Chris Davis, president & CEO of the WFCA. Lorberbaum and his wife Shirley founded Aladdin Mills in 1957 as a rug and bath mat business and built it into one of the industry’s most formidable carpet manufacturers. Aladdin was one of the first carpet producers to invest in fiber extrusion, new technologies and distribution systems to provide a higher level than then existing industry standards. In 1994, Aladdin merged with Mohawk Industries, with Lorberbaum becoming the largest stockholder and joining the Mohawk Board. His son, Jeff, is the current chairman and CEO of Mohawk, which is the largest mill in the floor covering industry. Julian Saul joined Queen Tufting in 1963 after graduating from Georgia Tech. At that time the company, founded by his father, Harry, produced products such as chenille robes. Julian’s allergic reaction to cotton dust forced Saul to discuss with his father about changing the business to produce carpet from synthetic yarns. They made that switch in 1969 and never looked back. By 1995, Saul, who was now president and CEO following his father’s death in 1994, had built Queen into the fourth largest carpet manufacturer, and was acknowledged by Forbes Magazine as the 277th largest privately held company in the U.S. In 1998, Queen merged with Shaw Industries and Julian became president of Shaw until his retirement last July. Shaw was purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 2001. Julian’s philanthropic efforts have been significant, particularly his work on behalf of the Floor Covering Industry Foundation, of which he was an early and tireless supporter contributing both time and money. Phil Gutierrez has been in the floor covering industry for over 40 years, beginning as a buyer at Richard’s Department Store in Miami. In the late ‘70’s, he took ownership of Abbey Carpet, which at that time had a negative net worth and only a handful of members. From those humble beginnings, Gutierrez has built a company (Abbey, Floors To Go and The Floor Club), into over 1,000 franchises. Prior to Abbey, there was no such thing as a “group.” Through Gutierrez’s vision and leadership, the strength of marketing or buying groups now play an important and vital role in the distribution of flooring products. Abbey has historically and consistently been acknowledged by franchise business publications as one of the best franchise operations.

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