July 20, 2011—Santo Torcivia, the leading economist who focuses on the Flooring Industry, and Kemp Harr discuss the latest edition of the U.S. FLOOReport. Listen to the interview to hear Santo talk about his economic outlook, anticipated increases in exports with reductions in imports, continued shifts in where consumers buy flooring and which product categories will grow in the coming years.
July 19, 2011—Tom Levi, President and Co-owner of Levi's for Floors, and Kemp Harr discuss Tom's growth and continued success as an independent flooring retailer in central Ohio. Listen to the interview to hear more about his successful strategy.
July 18, 2011—Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist with the National Association of Manufacturers, and Kemp Harr discuss Chad's outlook for economic growth for the second half of 2011. Listen to the interview to hear Chad discuss why he has a positive outlook for the second half of the year.
July 12, 2011—Ron Braam and Mike Junkins with Manufacturers Chemicals, and Kemp Harr, discuss the company's success at moving away from petroleum based chemicals to chemicals made from plants or waste stream by-products. Manufacturers Chemicals produces yarn processing lubricants, specialty dyes, levelers and dispersants. Now owned by publicly traded Synalloy, Manufacturers Chemicals is one of the original core chemical suppliers to the carpet industry.
July 11, 2011—Kermit Baker, a Harvard Economist with the Joint Center of Housing Studies and the American Institute of Architecture and Kemp Harr discuss both the residential and commercial markets. Listen to the interview for an update on residential housing and commercial architectural projects.
July 7, 2011—Phil Koufidakis, President of Baker Brothers (an 8 store retail flooring chain in Phoenix) and Kemp Harr discuss this week's unprecedented dust storm and current sales conditions in the greater Phoenix area. Phil also discusses changes he is making to his internet marketing tools to increase store traffic.
July 6, 2011—Gary Cissell, Director of Flooring at Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Kemp Harr discuss his year over year sales trends and how retail flooring is trending in the Midwest. Listen to the interview to hear Gary talk about how creativity and promotion are key components in today's retail flooring market.
June 29, 2011—Scott Perron, President of Big Bob's Flooring Outlet--a 37-store buying group, and Kemp Harr discuss how the highlights from their annual meeting held this past week in Kansas City. Listen to the interview to hear how their members are doing, how they position themselves to consumers and other highlights from the meeting.
June 28, 2011—Frank Hurd, VP and COO with the Carpet and Rug Institute, and Kemp Harr discuss California's Office of Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) unfounded concern for caprolactam as a potential hazard to humans. Despite recent data proving otherwise, OEHHA is attempting to reduce the allowable exposure levels of caprolactam by a factor of 50. This action could have a far reaching impact to the use of Nylon 6 fiber in commercial applications.
June 27, 2011—Natalie Jones, VP of Brand Development for Mannington Commercial, and Kemp Harr discuss the Vivendi Collection, which won a Best of NeoCon Gold award in the new healthcare category. Listen to the interview to hear details about Mannington's collaboration with HOK on this new product, plus more details about the traffic at NeoCon.