September 23, 2015—Mahesh Ramanujam, incoming CEO of the USGBC, and Kemp Harr discuss Mahesh's background with Lenovo, IBM, the past six years at USGBC and how it's prepared him for his leadership role with the U.S. Green Building Council. Listen to the interview to hear about the organization's challenges to remain relevant in the future of the global built environment.
September 22, 2015—Pami Bhullar, Director of Retail Development for the Stainmaster brand, and Kemp Harr discuss Pami's observations on what works in today's market when a sales associate is working with a consumer on a floorcovering purchase decision. Listen to the interview for more details. Pami is giving a free seminar on this topic on October 2 in Atlanta. Pami has spent the last 17 years of his life working with retailers to help them be more successful.
September 17, 2015—Brendan Phillips, Owner of Smart Carpets and Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss Brendan's unique mobile shop at home model for selling floorcovering to consumers. Listen to the interview to hear about the history of Smart Carpet and Flooring and about the shift in consumers' priorities since the last recession.
September 16, 2015—Tim Baucom, Executive Vice President for Shaw's residential business and Kemp Harr discuss Tim's promotion and the background in his career that has prepared him for this position. Listen to the interview for more details.
David Crowe, Chief Economist with the National Association of Home Builders, and Kemp Harr discuss the current housing figures and the factors that have been keeping the growth down to a moderate pace. Listen to the interview to hear more on this plus what action the Feds may take later in the week and the outlook for housing in 2016.
September 10, 2015—Neil Poland, President of Mullican Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss Mullican's 30th celebration at the Greenbriar Resort, 10 miles from where the company began in 1985. Listen to the interview to hear Neil give an historic perspective, talk about current business conditions, and the outlook for the future.
September 9, 2015—Dan Sullivan, Director of International Logistics for Mohawk Home, and Kemp Harr discuss how Dan conceived the idea to build an inland port in 2005 which will now finally be completed in 2017. Listen to the interview to hear more about the benefits of this $24 million inland port to the region and to the Northwest Georgia based flooring suppliers.
September 8, 2015—Joe Yarbrough, President of the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI), and Kemp Harr discuss the CRI's recent revisions to it's carpet installation standards. Listen to the interview to hear more about these revisions and the CRI's plans to publish these standards on their website in a few weeks.
September 3, 2015—Cathy Buchanan, Operations Manager at Independent Carpet One Floor and Home, and Kemp Harr discuss the current sales volume and her promotion plans for the fall selling season at her retail store just outside Detroit, Michigan. Listen to the interview to hear her advertising and diversification plans. So far her business is up 16% this year.
September 1, 2015—Terry Green, General Manager for Rubenstein's Contract Carpet, and Kemp Harr discuss the hype around the replacement of 80,000 square yards of commercial carpet at the Portland Airport. Listen to the interview to get the contractor's perspective on the scale of this project, how the old carpet compares to its replacement in construction and why this project has created such a social media frenzy. Rubenstein's installed the original carpet 28 years ago and was chosen to do the replacement work. The Port of Portland, which owns the PDX airport was extremely diligent in the selection and construction of the new carpet.