ShawMark Completes Latest 'Torture Test'

Dalton, GA, August 3--For years, ShawMark Carpets, a division of Shaw Industries, has conducted a series of "torture tests" on its proprietary Anything Goes! carpets. The tests are designed to illustrate the exceptional performance capability of these products, and the latest test features a style from the company’s new Anything Goes! Elite collection, which was recently installed in the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The test at the Tennessee Aquarium began in January of this year, and the carpet - "Home Appeal," from the new Anything Goes! Elite collection - was installed by Shaw Technical Services in the section of the Aquarium known as the Tennessee River Overlook. Visitors had to pass through this area before they began their tour, and the carpet remained in place until late July, when more than 1,000,000 foot-traffics had been recorded. As in all past torture tests, the Anything Goes! Elite style stood up to the punishment and retained its tight twist and original appearance. Created originally in 1979 by Armstrong Research and Development, Anything Goes! was designed as a product with real value that would make retailers different from their competition. The product was two years in development before the first test was performed in August of 1981 at the Hershey Chocolate Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. With the intent of subjecting Anything Goes! to maximum punishment, the Hershey test set the standard for later tests: 880,685 people trekked across the carpet. Other torture tests have been conducted through the years, including several since Shaw purchased the carpet division of Armstrong World Industries in 1989. Shaw has subjected Anything Goes! to this unusual method of punishment at Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport and Walt Disney World’s EPCOT Center in Orlando. Illustrating the effects of extreme foot- traffic, more than a pound of dirt per square yard of carpet was removed from the EPCOT test piece. ShawMark’s Anything Goes! no mat/no crush warranty is the only warranty of its kind that does not exclude stairs and hallways and is transferable. ShawMark is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Anything Goes! carpets this year.

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