Flooring Podcast

Gary Johnston Discusses Stainmaster Top Dog Competition

August 13, 2015—Gary Johnston, Marketing Director for Stainmaster, and Kemp Harr discuss Invista's Stainmaster Carpet Top Dog Competition which runs for two months starting in September. In this competition, flooring retailers who grow their Stainmaster carpet sales by the highest percentage will win designation as the Top Dog and their sales associates will receive prizes. Listen to the interview for more details and also hear about Invista's national consumer advertising plans.

John McGrath Discusses Install's Solution for the Flooring Installation Labor Issue

August 12, 2015—John McGrath, Director with Install, and Kemp Harr discuss what the organization is and what Install is doing to solve the flooring industry's issues around having enough trained floorcovering installers to satisfy the demand.

Rick Morris Discusses USF Contract's Commercial Business and Support of Nicholas House in Atlanta

August 10, 2015—Rick Morris, VP of Sales Commercial, for USF Contract, and Kemp Harr discuss Rick's new role at the commercial division of US Floors, his decision to join the company and a recent charity event held last week in Atlanta at the Nicholas House. Listen to the interview to hear about the business and a unique branding idea that replaces trade show giveaway items.

Mitch Dancik Discusses the Sale of Dancik International to UK based Kerridge Commercial Systems

August 7, 2015—Mitch Dancik, Founder of Dancik International, and Kemp Harr discuss Dancik's acquisition by UK based Kerridge Commercial Systems. Listen to the interview to hear how the firms differ and how they complement each other and what this will mean to Dancik's North American Flooring software business.

Karen Bellinger Discusses the Strategy Behind the Schönox Worst Subfloor Contest

August 6, 2015—Karen Bellinger, VP of Business Development for HPS Schönox, and Kemp Harr discuss the second annual Man Versus Floor Worst Subfloor in North America contest and the smooth performance award. Listen to the interview to hear the strategy behind the worst subfloor contest and the firm's best distributor award that was recently awarded to CDC based in Cincinnati.

Dan Frierson Discusses The Dixie Group's Performance Versus the Market

August 5, 2014—Dan Frierson, Chairman of The Dixie Group, and Kemp Harr discuss the firm's performance in relationship to the market numbers. Listen to the interview to hear Dan talk about Dixie's sweet spot and challenges, his outlook moving forward and hear a brief discussion about Bob Shaw's news yesterday that he's building a carpet tile plant.

Jim Curtin Discusses Surya's Rug Business and Rug Trends

July 31, 2015—Jim Curtain, VP of Sales, National Accounts for Surya Rug, and Kemp Harr, discuss Surya's presence at the Atlanta Rug Market, Surya's growth, trends in the rug market and how independent floorcovering retailers should approach the area rug business.

Kermit Baker Discusses his Outlook for Economic Growth in the Housing & Commercial Building Sectors

July 30—Kermit Baker, a Harvard Economist that tracks the housing and commercial building markets, and Kemp Harr, discuss June's stellar Architectural Billing Index and the slow but steady growth in the housing market. Listen to the interview to hear Kermit forecast that we'll see a 15% increase in the housing market for 2015 plus other factors effecting the economy.

Harlan Stone and Russ Rogg Discuss Metroflor's New Calhoun Design Center and LVT's Rapid Growth

July 29, 2015—Harlan Stone and Russ Rogg, CEO and President with Halstead and Metroflor (respectively), and Kemp Harr, discuss this week's ribbon cutting on the firm's new design center in Calhoun, Georgia. Listen to the interview to hear more about the investments that Metroflor is making to capture a leadership role in the global LVT flooring business - currently the fastest growing category in the flooring business.

John Bowes Discusses XGS' Ownership Change and Floorcovering Focused Logistics

July 28, 2015—John Bowes, President of Xpress Global Systems, Inc., and Kemp Harr,  discuss the recent ownership change and services offered by XGS. For the past 30 years, XGS has been a division of U.S. Xpress and is now a standalone company. Listen to the interview to hear John talk about the specialized services and magnitude of this freight logistics company that focuses solely on the distribution of floorcovering products.