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.
July 7, 2016—Paul Cleary, the newly appointed CEO of Lexmark Carpet Mills, and Kemp Harr, discuss Paul's focus as the new leader of Lexmark. Listen to the interview to hear more about Lexmark's focus in the market and what sets them apart from their competition. Most of Lexmark's business is focused in the commercial hospitality sector but they are growing their residential presence as well.
June 30, 2016—Kermit Baker, a Harvard Economist, and Kemp Harr discuss the health of the May Architectural Billing Index as well as the strength of the housing market overall. Listen to the interview to hear Kermit's positive outlook for the U.S. economy based on the strength of construction activity in both the commercial sector and the housing sector.
June 29, 2016—Jackie Dettmar, VP of product development and design for the Mohawk Group, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm's new showroom, product highlights, and their NeoCon show experience. Listen to the interview to get Jackie's take on this year's NeoCon.
June 28, 2016—Jeff Collum, President of Shannon Specialty Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm's new partnership with Spartan Surfaces. Listen to the interview to hear more about Jeff's background, about Shannon and about the strategy for this new alliance.
June 27, 2016—Brenda Knowles, VP of Marketing for Shaw's commercial business, and Kemp Harr discuss Friday's groundbreaking on Shaw Industry's Create Center in Cartersville, Georgia. This $24 million facility was designed by Gensler and will be built by EMJ construction company. The three story glass structure will be the new home for Shaw's commercial marketing and design teams. It is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2017.
June 23, 2016—Jim McCallum, President of Milliken's Flooring Business, and Kemp Harr discuss Lapidus, which won the top modular carpet award at NeoCon 2016. Listen to the interview to hear more about this product, about the growth of the firm's LVT business and Jim's outlook in the commercial sector for the rest of the year.
June 23, 2016—Dan Pelton, the newly appointed CEO of W.F. Taylor, and Kemp Harr discuss Taylor's decision to move its headquarters from Fontana, California to Dalton, Georgia and the firm's strategy moving forward. Listen to the interview to hear more about Dan and Taylor's plans for future growth.