Flooring Podcast

Fred Poses/Gary Lanser, Ascend, on Business Strategy Behind Acquisition of Solutia's Nylon Business

June 5, 2009—Fred Poses (CEO) and Gary Lanser (VP of Flooring Business) with Ascend Performance Materials, and Kemp Harr discuss the business strategy and motivation behind this new company's acquisition of Solutia's nylon business. Listen to the interview to hear about SK Capital and this new company's competitive advantage in the nylon, and more specifically, the carpet fiber business. Fred Poses has a long history in the carpet fiber business with Allied Signal and Gary Lanser worked with Monsanto.

Christine Whittemore Discusses New CRI Consumer Blog

June 4, 2009—Christine Whittemore, Industry Consultant, and Kemp Harr discuss the recently launched CRI Consumer Blog. Listen to the interview to hear how consumers can find useful information and dispel some of the leading myths about carpet. To access the new CRI blog, go to www.CRIblog.org.

Jack Thomasson Discusses The Flooring In HGTV's Green Home

June 3, 2009—Recorded at the HGTV Green Home in Port St. Lucie, FL, professional house planner Jack Thomasson and Kemp Harr discuss this new home's LEED certification and the flooring products that were used. Listen to the interview to hear more about how consumers are becoming more environmentally aware. Also hear how Jack cuts through "greenwashing."

Jim Bethel Discusses J&J's Winning of the Georgia Small Family Business Award

June 2, 2009—Jim Bethel, CEO of J&J Industries (a 52 year old commercial carpet manufacturer) and Kemp Harr discuss what it takes to be a successful family business. Listen to the interview to hear more about the award and the criteria that's used to select the winner.

Al Kabus Discusses The Mohawk Group's Re:work Program

June 1, 2009—Al Kabus, President of The Mohawk Group, and Kemp Harr discuss Mohawk's Re:work seminar series designed to provide unemployed designers and architects help in securing future employment.  In this 10 city tour, Mohawk, the IIDA and Interior Design Magazine have teamed up to provide A&D professionals with outplacement assistance that includes portfolio evaluation, financial planning, resume writing assistance and job opportunity networking services.  Listen to this 8 minute interview to hear more about how this came about and where they are in the process.  To see the schedule and locations,  go to www.themohawkgroup.com/rework

Patrica Flavin Discusses Beaulieu's Bliss Consumer Sweepstakes

May 29, 2009—Patricia Flavin, Beaulieu's VP of Marketing, and Kemp Harr discuss Beaulieu's recent share growth, its continued success with the Bliss brand and details about its new Consumer Sweepstake. This is a great interview for retail flooring showroom salespeople to listen to for tips on selling flooring to women.

Ohio Retailer Tom Levi Discusses Recent Increase in Consumer Store Traffic

May 27, 2009—Tom Levi, Owner of Levi's 4 Floors in Ohio, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategic changes Levi's has made to increase sales. Listen to the interview to hear Tom's thoughts on the economy, changes in consumer buying habits and what makes this seven store Ohio chain successful.

Jim Seger with GE Money Discusses Consumer Credit Trends & GE's Long-term Commitment to the Business

May 22, 2009—Jim Seger, VP of Flooring Industry Sales for GE Money, and Kemp Harr discuss the consumer credit market and how the market has changed with rising unemployment and declining net wealth. Listen to the interview to hear about GE Money's leadership position and service improvements it will be implementing soon.

Kevin Sanders, VP of Shaw Hospitality, Discusses HD Expo in Vegas

May 21, 2009—Kevin Sanders, Vice President of Shaw Hospitality, and Kemp Harr discuss last week's Hospitality Design trade show in Las Vegas. Listen to the interview to hear more about the show, the hospitality market overall (including design trends) and Shaw's new programs for 2009.

Jack Ganley at Mannington Commercial Discusses New VCT Recycling Program

May 19, 2009—Jack Ganley, President of Mannington Commercial, and Kemp Harr discuss Mannington's new post consumer recycling program, which takes used vinyl composite flooring and recycles it back into new commercial product. This process took 18 months to develop and is on track to divert 19 million pounds of VCT from landfills. Listen to the interview to hear more about Mannington's long range plans to ramp this program up to 40 million pounds a year.