May 14, 2014—Larry Jones and Paul Lieske, two of Jack Mishkin's close friends and business associates, discuss their memories of what made Jack so unique and gifted. Jack, who contributed to the success at four carpet mills (Hollytex, Bentley, Monterey and J-Mish), died last week of Mesothelioma (at age 67). was a truly great carpet designer. Listen to the interview for more details.
May 13, 2014—David Sheehan and Natalie Jones, VP of Hard Surface and VP of Marketing (respectively) with Mannington Commercial, and Kemp Harr, discuss Mannington's $50 million investment in the Amtico LVT plant in Madison, Georgia. Upon completion, this investment will quadruple the capacity, double the footprint and bring over 200 new jobs to the area. Listen to the interview to hear Mannington's goal of producing all its LVT here in the U.S. plus hear about their new service guarantee that only a domestic supplier could offer.
May 12, 2014—Barclay Payne and Rick Moon with Mattex USA, Managing Director and Sales Manager (respectively), and Kemp Harr, discuss Mattex's $60 million backing facility that will produce primary and secondary backing in Chatsworth, GA. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this Saudi Arabian company's investment here in the U.S. and the products it manufactures.
May 9, 2014—Recorded at the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) Annual Meeting in Seattle. Thomas Holland, President of Corporate Floors and Texas Carpet and Construction Recycling, based in Grapevine, Texas, and Kemp Harr, discuss Thomas' recognition as the CARE Person of the Year and some of the key issues CARE is facing. Listen to the interview to hear more details about how CARE is addressing the used carpet that today has little, if any, post-use value.
May 8, 2014—David Crowe, Chief Economist of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), and Kemp Harr, Publisher of Floor Focus Magazine, discuss David's optimistic outlook for the housing market. Listen to the interview to hear more about GDP growth, household formation numbers, the disconnect between new home sales and existing home sales, and more factors that influence this outlook.
May 6, 2014—Karin Fendrich, COO with NTP (the show management company for the Coverings Expo), and Kemp Harr, discuss a year over year comparison on the Coverings Expo and what National Trade Productions is doing to keep the show healthy.
May 5, 2014—Doug Rain, President of Specialty Tile Products (an Atlanta based tile distributor), and Kemp Harr,discuss his experience at Coverings last week in Las Vegas. Listen to the interview to hear Doug talk about the show and the special treatment he got as a result of being one of the winners in American Olean's Lucky Seven promotion.
May 2, 2014—Hector Narvaez, VP of Sales with Marazzi, and Kemp Harr, discuss Mohawk, Daltile, Marazzi's relative size in the U.S., the new factory in Dickson, Tennessee, and some of Marazzi's trendy new products. Listen to the interview recorded at Coverings in Las Vegas.
May 1, 2014—Lindsey Waldrep, Vice President of Marketing for Crossville Tile, and Kemp Harr, discuss Crossville's growth, market position and core message for the distributors at Coverings. Listen to the interview for more details.
April 30, 2014—Donato Grosser, an international ceramic tile consultant, and Kemp Harr, discuss the latest tile consumption numbers and how the recession changed the industry. Listen to the interview to hear more details of this interview that was recorded on the opening day of the Coverings Expo in Las Vegas.