October 15, 2009—Gary Cissell, Director of Flooring at Nebraska Furniture Mart, tells Kemp Harr about the major remodeling of the firm's Omaha store, including the installation of a huge two-tier floorcovering feature wall to grab the consumer's attention. He also discusses how the strategy of selling floorcovering, furniture, and appliances all in one store leads to higher flooring sales.
October 14, 2009—Jeff Macco, President of the National Floorcovering Alliance, and Kemp Harr discuss the current tone of the membership, its outlook for 2010, and its latest new member. Listen to the interview to hear more about the group, its meeting, and its newest member--Levi for Floors.
October 13, 2009—Chris Davis, President and CEO of the World Floor Covering Association, tells Kemp Harr a little about the organization's history and its early roots as a labor negotiator for installers, along with details about this year's induction of new members into the organization's Hall of Fame. He also talks about his member's cautious optimism about the economy.
October 12, 2009—Russell Grizzle, Milliken's President of Global Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss the recent news of Milliken's acquisition of Constantine. Listen to the interview to hear more about the synergies of the two companies and their integration plans moving forward.
October 8, 2009—Jay Smith and Dave Gheesling, President and CEO of the FEI Group (formerly FloorExpo), provide an overview on the health and scope of their organization and discuss the highlights from their annual convention held this week in Austin, Texas. Listen to the interview to hear details about what the economic recovery in the builder market might look like in the next couple of years.
October 5, 2009—Massimo Barbari, Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Florida Tile, and Kemp Harr have a candid conversation that provides valuable insight on the Cersaie show. Listen to the interview to hear more about the traffic, who attends, and the overall impact on the world tile market. Massimo also provides a brief update on Florida Tile's innovation initiatives. (approx. 10 minutes)
October 2, 2009—Armondo Cafiero, Managing Director with the Italian Tile Trade Association, and Kemp Harr discuss the source of the Italian tile leadership, the tone and traffic at Cersaie and growth opportunities for tile in the U.S. Listen to the interview to hear more from the man who runs the world's largest tile trade show and the Italian tile trade association.
October 1, 2009—Michael Johnson, a professor at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, talks to Kemp Harr at the Cersaie international tile show about the ways he uses flooring in his design projects. Find out why he prefers to use solid black or solid white tiles throughout an entire house as a way to show off the furnishings of a home rather than the floor.
September 30, 2009—Angelo Carusi of Atlanta architecture and design firm Cooper Carry, in an interview at the international Cersaie tile show in Bologna, Italy, tells Kemp Harr about how his firm is adapting to a difficult commercial environment, and exactly what he's looking for in porcelain tile for his projects, many of which are governmental and other institutional work. He also discusses how his firm is preparing for the future with a growing interest in sustainable design.
September 29, 2009—Jeff Meadows, Executive VP of Beaulieu Residential, and Kemp Harr discuss Beaulieu's new collaboration with Armstrong World Industries. In this new relationship, Beaulieu of America will manufacture, sell and service Armstrong branded carpet in a bundled program with Armstrong. Listen to the interview to hear more information about how this program came about and other details.