January 24, 2017—Ed Duncan and Joe Amato, President and VP of Design, respectively, with Mannington's residential business, and Kemp Harr discuss business conditions, outlook and design strategy from the firm's exhibit at Surfaces 2017. Watch the video to see more details about Mannington's new products and strategy.
January 23, 2017—Piet Dossche, CEO with US Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss the big news items for the Coretec brand, which include Shaw's acquisition of the brand, continued investment in the brand, and new products and visuals. Watch the video to see more details from US Floors' exhibit space at Surfaces 2017.
January 20, 2017—Don Maier, President and CEO of Armstrong, and Kemp Harr discuss Armstrong's first year as a publicly traded, stand alone company and a few highlights of the 2017 new product introductions. Listen to the interview to also hear about Armstrong's aligned dealer program.
January 18, 2017—Andreas Gruchow, Board member with Deutsch Messe, and Kemp Harr discuss a total reformat of the layout for Domotex Germany in 2018. Changes are being made to accommodate the shift in the type of flooring products that are being sold today. The show is also adding a theme that will change year to year that will be based on flooring trends in the marketplace. "Unique Youniverse" will be the theme for 2018.
January 17, 2017—John Rietveldt, CEO with Innovations 4 Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss recent Intellectual Property (IP) decisions related to patents and labeling requirements for click systems used in hard surface flooring. Listen to this interview, recorded at Domotex in Hannover, to hear more on these court and customs decisions, as well as more details around I4F's new partnership with the Classen Group.
January 16, 2017—Jan Vergote and Michel Vermette, CEO of IVC and President of the Mohawk Group (respectively), and Kemp Harr discuss Mohawk Industries' plan to build a modular carpet tile plant in Belgium. Listen to the interview to hear about the timing of the facility, the type of products it will produce and the role of IVC in selling the plant's products once it is completed. Also hear Michel talk about the footprint of Mohawk's many brands at Domotex in Hanover.
January 13, 2017—Randy Merritt, President of Shaw Industries, and Kemp Harr, discuss the highlights of Shaw's aligned dealer convention in Orlando which starts this Sunday and celebrates Shaw's 50th anniversary. Listen to the interview to hear Randy talk about this convention's focus on family relationships, on networking with other dealers, on consumer research, new product introductions as well as Randy's outlook for growth in 2017.
January 12, 2017—Jonathan Witt, Senior Vice President at Oriental Weavers USA, and Kemp Harr discuss the rising price points within the area rug business, the continued shift in where consumers buy area rugs, Oriental Weaver's plans for continued investment in US manufacturing capacity and the outlook for business growth in 2017. Listen to the interview for more details.
January 6, 2017—Stephanie Coffaro, an Interior Architect, and Kemp Harr discuss Stephanie's engagement as the designer on the Surfaces trends home at this year's expo in Las Vegas in two weeks. Listen to the interview to hear more about the design trends that helped drive her material choices for this year's exhibit. Floor Focus has been a long-time sponsor of the trends hub which, this year, has changed into more of a home.
January 5, 2017—Jenny and Eric Cross, new Franchisee owners with Floor Coverings International along with Tom Wood, the President, and Kemp Harr discuss Jenny and Eric's decision to leave the corporate world and pursue owning a shop-at-home floorcovering franchise in the greater Atlanta area. Listen to the interview to hear more about what drove this mid-career decision and also, hear Tom give some background on Floor Coverings International.