August 21, 2009—Patrick Flaherty, the owner of two Texas retail flooring stores, and Kemp Harr discuss key take-aways from Flooring America's recent summer convention. Listen to the interview to hear Patrick talk about what he is doing differently as a result of attending this meeting.
August 20, 2009—Kermit Baker, Chief Economist for American Institute for Architecture, and Kemp Harr discuss the slow but steady improvement in the AIA index. Kermit predicts that the non-residential downturn, which lagged the housing downturn, will not be as long or as severe. Listen to the interview to hear how the commercial and residential markets are interconnected and what's driving the recovery of the housing market.
August 18, 2009—Frank Douglas, VP of Business Development at Crossville Tile, and Kemp Harr discuss the company's many expansion projects and its performance in light of the current economy. Listen to the interview to hear more about the installation of the world's largest porcelain tile press, Crossville's new crusher (allowing it to take back post consumer tile and recycle the material back into new products) and its new kiln. (approx 6 min). You can see a photo of the world's largest tile press in the recent industry events section of this website.
August 17, 2009—Chip Wade, Celebrity Contractor with HGTV's "Designed to Sell," and Kemp Harr discuss Mohawk's Smartstrand Challenge, where the company has installed carpet in Rico the Rhino's habitat at the Birmingham Zoo. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this 14-day torture test.
August 14, 2009—Eric Demaree, President of Carpet One Floor & Home, tells Kemp Harr about bargain hunting consumers and how his organization is driving traffic to his members' stores. He says salespeople need to be "hunters, not huggers" but that his membership is generally optimistic about the industry and the future. Listen as he describes his group's value proposition.
August 13, 2009—Vinnie Virga, President of Flooring America and Flooring Canada, tells Floordaily's Kemp Harr why membership in the organization is growing despite a weak economy and just how the organization is helping its members through programs like private label products.
August 12, 2009—Dan Frierson, chairman and CEO of Dixie Group, provides details about the company's decision to cut an additional $8 to $10 million worth of operating costs. Listen to the interview to hear more about Dixie's changes in personnel and streamlining of support functions (primarily on the residential side of the business). Approx 10 minutes
August 10, 2009—If you're curious to know what the leading market analyst has to say about the Flooring Industry's publicly traded manufacturers, this is a good interview to listen to. In this interview, John Baugh, managing director with Stifel Nicolaus, takes us through the 2nd quarter results for Mohawk, Armstrong, Interface and briefly, Dixie, telling us concisely what the performance and outlook is for each company. Listen to the interview to hear where John thinks the market is by segment.
August 7, 2009—Neil Poland, President of Mullican Hardwood, and Kemp Harr discuss the potential shortage of lumber that could affect hardwood flooring prices as early as January. Listen to the interview and learn that U.S hardwood harvests have declined 50% in the last 10 years resulting in a decline in the number of logging companies and sawmills that produce domestic hardwood. In the interview we also provide a quick overview of how Mullican's business has changed while Neil has been at the helm.
August 6, 2009—Sean Cilano, Director of Marketing at Florida Tile, and Kemp Harr discuss the company's recent decision to move its headquarters from Lakeland, Florida to Lexington Kentucky. Listen to the interview to hear more about this strategic decision and the company's recent investments in digital printing technology. Florida Tile was started as a family business in the mid-50's in Lakeland and is now owned by the Panaria Group and operates an ultra-modern porcelain plant in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.