December 6, 2011—Kent Clauson, VP of Brands with Mohawk, and Kemp Harr discuss several of the research projects that he has conducted to streamline Mohawk's brand message. Listen to the interview to hear about the Smartstrand consumer satisfaction research and about Mohawk's new market optimization tool for dealers.
December 5, 2011—Tom Lape, President of Mohawk's Residential and Commercial Carpet Business, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights of Mohawk's Floorscapes and Colorcenter aligned dealer convention held last week in Nashville. Listen to the interview to hear Tom talk about some of the new products and programs as well as the business outlook for 2012.
December 2, 2011—Greg Waleke, CEO of Redi Carpet, the largest multi-family flooring contractor in the country, and Kemp Harr, discuss the 30th anniversary of the firm and what has enabled the company to become so successful. Listen to the interview to learn why the firm has focused on the replacement business and intentionally avoided the builder market.
December 1, 2011—Beth Shoshan, RVP for Bentley Prince Street in New York, and Kemp Harr discuss the annual Interior Design Best of Year Awards which is scheduled for tonight in Manhattan. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this big annual awards event that recognizes design excellence in the interior furnishings market.
November 30, 2011—Stefan Hoher, Director of Marketing Technology for Tuftex, and Kemp Harr discuss the release of his new book called Marpeting - which was written to help carpet retailers be more successful by using marketing and advertising techniques that are used every day by seasoned advertising professionals. This book is free to all Tuftex dealers and refreshingly, it does not promote Tuftex carpet but does offer some great tips that retailers can use to be more successful.
November 29, 2011—Bob Murray, VP of Economic Affairs with McGraw-Hill, and Kemp Harr discuss his Construction Outlook Publication for 2012. Listen to the interview to hear Bob say that construction spending for 2012 will be up 10% for for single-family housing, up 18% for multi-family housing, up 8% in commercial buildings but slip 2% in institutional buildings (McGraw-Hill puts schools and hospitals in the institutional category).
November 28, 2011—Victoria Redshaw, Interior Trends Forecaster with Scarlet Opus, and Kemp Harr discuss the current trends in the interior furnishings market and her upcoming presentation at the Surfaces Expo. Listen to the interview to hear details about what the consumer wants to know about a product before they buy, and what her buying trends are telling us about the frequency and quality of the products she buys.
November 28, 2011—Lou Morano, Owner of Capitol Carpet and Tile (a six store flooring retailer in Palm County, Florida), and Kemp Harr discuss Lou's recent business success. Listen to the interview to hear more details and also hear Lou talk about the upcoming Mohawk Floorscapes/Color Center meeting scheduled for next week in Nashville, Tennessee.
November 21, 2011—Paul Friederichsen, Owner of Brand Biz, and Kemp Harr discuss the Future Focus awards created to identify and give recognition to the rising leaders of the floorcovering industry. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this noteworthy initiative and the process for nominating candidates.
November 18, 2011—Alexander Collot d'Escury, Chief Commercial Officer for Desso, and Kemp Harr discuss recent independent research by TNO in Holland that proves carpet absorbs more particulates from the air than hard surfaces. Listen to the interview to hear how the European carpet market is using this information to reverse the trend by asthma and allergy doctors to advise patients to remove their carpet.