September 14, 2011—Sam Burger, VP of Sales for Lexmark, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights from the Hospitality Design Boutique show which is currently underway at the Miami Convention Center. Listen to the interview to hear Sam talk about the traffic and business conditions from the floor of the show.
September 13, 2011—Ron Dunn, Co-CEO with Alliance Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss key take-aways from Ron's "trip across America" where he and his wife personally visited with 100 members in a 30 day period. Listen to the interview to hear some great success tips on product diversity, focus on fashion (with vignettes and Ipad presentation tools).
September 12, 2011—David Duncan, Vice Persident with Mohawk, and Kemp Harr discuss Mohawk's "Operation Rebuild" hurricane relief initiative to help retailers and consumers recover from the effects of Hurricane Irene in the Northeastern U.S. Listen to the interview to hear David talk about what Mohawk is doing for their dealers to get them back in business and for the consumers--by offering extended credit through a program developed with GE Money.
September 12, 2011—Kaye Gosline, Creative Director with IVC, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlights from the first day of the Maison show in Paris. Listen to the interview to hear Kaye give a designer's perspective on this semi-annual international home and gift show.
September 9, 2011—Kurt Zanelotti, Owner of Contract Carpet Systems in Beltsville, Maryland, and Kemp Harr discuss the workplace fraud act of 2009. Listen to the interview to hear how this state law is complicating the relationship between flooring retailers and their installation contractors.
September 8, 2011—Jonathan Young, CEO of Brintons Americas, and Kemp Harr discuss the Carlyle Group's acquisition of Brintons for $64 million. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this deal and some valuable information about the company's market focus and plans for profitable growth.
September 6, 2011—Jon Pierce, General Manager with Pierce Flooring and Design--an 8-store flooring retailer in Montana, and Kemp Harr discuss how they view the internet and social media in their promotional mix. Listen to the interview to hear more details about the ratio of promotion spending that Pierce applies to web marketing.
September 2, 2011—Anthony Minite, President of Bentley Prince Street, and Kemp Harr discuss Bentley's Couture Design promotion where students at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising collaborated with Anthony's staff to create striking ladies dresses made out of carpet. Listen to the interview to hear the strategy behind this Los Angeles themed fashion promotion and go to this link to see the dresses being worn by models in a recent TV news program.
September 1, 2011—Peter Spirer, Marketing Director with Max Windsor, and Kemp Harr discuss Max Windsor's move into the vinyl flooring sector with a new LVP (luxury vinyl plank) collection. Up to now, Max Windsor has focused only on the engineered wood category. Listen to the interview to hear Peter talk about the strategy behind this decision. And for those listeners who have been in this business for a while, this is the same Peter Spirer who was formerly CEO of Horizon Carpet.
August 31, 2011—Richard Longwill, with Airbase Carpet Mart, a 12-store retail chain in the Delaware/Pennsylvania region, and Kemp Harr discuss business conditions overall but especially as a result of Hurricane Irene. Listen to the interview to hear more details and also how Airbase competes with the national home centers.