November 14, 2012—Bill Parks, Vice President of Contract Sales for Arizona Wholesale Supply, which serves the builder market, and Kemp Harr, discuss the turnaround in the Arizona builder market, the growing trend toward more hard surface flooring, and why consumers are becoming less focused on value and are pursuing the products they really want.
November 13, 2001—Joe Mascari, age 91 and still a sales territory manager with Beaulieu of America, and Kemp Harr, discuss Joe's 60 years in the carpet business. Joe, a former owner of six appliance stores in western Pennsylvania, moved to California as a young man and began his career in soft surface flooring. Today he works out of Atlanta.
November 12, 2012—Trey Thames, the new Vice President of Marketing for Shaw's residential business, and Kemp Harr discuss Trey's 20-year history with the company, how he views his new role, and how the end of the election should help retailers, especially in the battleground states. Listen to the interview to hear more about Shaw's current promotions, as well as its winter markets and the upcoming aligned dealer meeting.
November 9, 2012—Santo Torcivia, an economist with Market Insights/Torcivia, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy behind Mohawk's decision to buy Pergo. Listen to the interview to hear Santo talk about the growth of the laminate market and how these two companies fit both today and into the future.
November 7, 2012—Nate Kredich, VP Residential Market Development with USGBC, and Kemp Harr discuss next week's Greenbuild Conference that starts Wednesday, November 14, in San Francisco. Listen to the interview to hear a quick summary of the outlook for the show and the key speakers and education tracks that should be attended.
November 6, 2012—Phil Schrimper, Owner of JP Flooring (a successful retail flooring business based in Cincinnati, Ohio), and Kemp Harr discuss how politics in Ohio have affected his business. Listen to the interview to hear Phil talk about the challenges of growing his business in light of all the attention Ohio is getting from the candidates during this presidential election.
November 2, 2012—Walter Eckhardt, CEO with Kraus in Canada, and Kemp Harr discuss the debt restructuring the company has gone through this year and its current business strategy. Listen to the interview to hear more details about the company's ownership, where it focuses its business energy, and current economic conditions in Canada.
November 1, 2012—Rita McGlone, Executive Director with the University of Pennsylvania, and Kemp Har discuss the leadership education program sponsored by four of the flooring industry's trade associations. Listen to the interview to hear more about the type of business leaders the course targets, the cost, the timing and more specifics around what the participants will learn. The sponsoring associations are the WFCA, the NWFA, the NAFCD and the ARCS (rug cleaning).
For more specific information, go to www.starwoodmeeting.com/book/theinstituteforleadershipandbusinessgrowth.
October 30, 2012—Kaye Gosline, a freelance color consultant, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights from the Color Marketing Group's annual meeting held last week in Miami, Florida. Listen to the interview to hear what effect the economy has on color and which direction color is forecasted to trend in the coming year.
October 26, 2012—Marc Ammen, President and CEO of Universal Fibers, and Kemp Harr, discuss Paul Ryan's campaign visit to Universal's headquarters in Bristol Virginia yesterday. Listen to the interview to hear a few of the key points Ryan made during his brief visit to one of the flooring industry's key yarn suppliers.