August 3, 2016—Celia Lehrman, deputy content director for Consumer Reports, and Kemp Harr discuss Consumer Reports' process for selecting and testing the flooring products that the magazine rates on an annual basis. Listen to the interview to hear more about how they select and source the products and how they come up with their ratings.
July 29, 2016—Brandon Kersey and Gary Hollowell, brand manger and VP of sales and marketing (respectively), and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy and products behind Engineered Floors' foray into the mainstreet commercial carpet market. Listen to the interview to hear more about how this move is a natural next step as part of the integration of Engineered Floors and J+J Flooring Group.
July 27, 2016—Lee Tucker, Founder of the Floor Educational Guild, and Kemp Harr discuss the educational curriculum Lee is pulling together to augment the FloorTek show in October. Listen to the interview for more details. Go to www.flooringinspectorsguild.org for more specifics on the classes and times offered.
July 25, 2016— Dave Munson, owner of Floor to Ceiling in Mankato, MN and Chairman of the Board of Preferred Brands, and Kemp Harr, discuss Dave's background as a second generation flooring dealer and the decision that Preferred Brands made to transition the Floor To Ceiling franchise business over to the Floors & More umbrella. Listen to the interview for more details plus hear more about the inaugural Floors & More meeting held last week in Minneapolis, MN.
July 22, 2016—Cathy Buchanan, Co-owner of Independent Carpet One in Westland, Michigan, and Kemp Harr discuss her retail flooring business performance this year and the highlights of the Carpet One summer convention held last week in Michigan. Listen to the interview for more details.
July 20, 2016—Vinnie Virga, CEO of Floors and More, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy and growth plans for the new Floors and More buying group which held its inaugural meeting this week in Minneapolis. Listen to the interview to hear more about what sets them apart from other groups. Floors and More is the umbrella for Big Bob's Flooring Outlets and Floor to Ceiling full service retail design centers.
July 13, 2016—Eric Demaree, President of Carpet One Floor and Home, and Kemp Harr discuss highlights from this week's Carpet One summer convention held in Dallas. Listen to the interview to hear more about the meeting and also hear Eric talk about business conditions, share shift and buying local.
July 12, 2016—Rochelle Routman, the newly appointed chief sustainability officer at Metroflor/Halstead, and Kemp Harr discuss Rochelle's new focus as she shifts her focus to the LVT category in one of the oldest resilient companies in the flooring business. Listen to the interview to hear more about Rochelle's responsibilities at Metroflor.
July 11, 2016—Keith Spano, President of Flooring America, Flooring Canada and Floor Trader, and Kemp Harr discuss the focus at the group's summer convention in Dallas this week. Listen to the interview to hear more about the group's continued focus on digital marketing and merchandising as well as a new focus on the Floor Trader outlet model.
July 8, 2016—Aern Hetem, President of Tricycle, and Kemp Harr, discuss how the company has evolved over the last 15 years to stay relevant as digital imaging technology has become more mainstream. Listen to the interview to hear more about the services Tricycle provides to the flooring specifiers and manufacturers.