Mohawk Bullish on Soft Fiber Technology

Dalton, GA, September 15--Mohawk thinks soft fiber will continue to grow, but to remain profitable for retailers it has be to carefully—and strategically—positioned. Soft fiber merchandising has expanded to include products at new, more competitive price points, and to include more upscale products with value added features. Creating a “balance” in the product mix is the challenge, say Mohawk executives, because the company feels this is critical to sales success. “In the last year, we’ve added a number of new soft fiber products,” said Ed Williams, senior vice president of marketing for Mohawk. “We’ve added them at a broad range of price points. We’ve added them with different fibers. We’ve introduced soft fiber with bold new styling options, and we’ve given consumers many more choices. If a consumer wants a soft fiber carpet, we’ve created a way to give it to her.” Williams noted that Mohawk offers products with soft fiber options in Mohawk Lisse’, Stainmaster Tactesse, Anso’s Caress, and Wear-Dated’s DuraSoft and Soft Touch. “One of the big advantages of soft fiber technology is that it immediately overcomes the consumer dilemma of choosing a product that feels good versus one that performs well,” Williams said. “Then when you can demonstrate value-added benefits like odor protection, unique patterns, and other features, the consumer quickly focuses in on the product that she wants for her home. We think that making sure soft fiber is paired with other benefits makes it easy for the consumer to make a decision. It’s not a hard sell."