April 2, 2009—Sean Cilona, Florida Tile's new Director of Marketing, and Kemp Harr discuss the company's new third party porcelain certification. Listen to the interview to hear more about the strategic decisions that Florida Tile is making to be successful, plus some market trend information.
April 1, 2009—Georgina Sikorski, the newly appointed Executive Director of the Carpet America Recovery Effort, and Kemp Harr talk about Georgina's new role and what she hopes to achieve in the coming year. Listen to the interview to hear more about CARE, its membership and especially the progress the organization is making toward minimizing the amount of post-consumer carpet that ends up in the nations landfills. CARE's website is www.carpetrecovery.org
March 31, 2009—Maryanne Adams, CEO at Avalon Carpet Tile and Flooring, a 13 store business in the greater Philadelphia marketplace, and Kemp Harr discuss some of the reasons why this major independent flooring retailer continues to do well. Number one, Avalon continues to advertise and number two, it knows floorcovering is a fashion industry. Listen to the interview to hear more about Avalon's ad mix, ad message, Internet strategy and when Adams thinks the economy could start to improve.
March 26, 2009—Recorded early this morning (local time) on the closing day of Domotex China, Richard Franks, Executive VP with Propex, discusses yesterday's news about Propex's new owners. Listen to the interview to hear more about Propex's core business, the auction process and a few comments about the Domotex show in Shanghai China.
March 25, 2009—Tom Lape, Mohawk's Residential Flooring Business President, and Kemp Harr discuss the Federal Trade Commission's recent and rare decision to reclassify PTT fiber to a new generic polymer called Triexta. Listen to the interview to hear that this decision was based on the improved performance characteristics of Triexta, used for Sorona and Smartstrand carpet fiber, compared to traditional polyester. You will also hear how this carpet fiber will be positioned in the market. (approx. 15 min.)
March 24, 2009—Jim Dion, a renowned retail expert with 40 years experience, and Kemp Harr discuss the right advertising strategy for flooring retailers who want to build store traffic in this down economy. Listen to the interview to hear what emphasis to put on promotion versus brand image and which media are most effective. (approx 8 min.)
March 23, 2009—Filmed at the shore of the Cumberland River in Nashville Tennessee, John Smith, President and General Manager of Crossville, discusses the magnitude and capability of the company's new Italian press, which not only increases Crossville's capacity but also expands capability and allows it to make larger format tiles. (approx 8 min.)
March 20, 2009—Listen as Kermit Baker, Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects, tells Kemp Harr about the uptick in the index in February and how the recent rise in the Inquiries Index to 49.5 may signal that the construction slowdown is coming to an end. Baker says that institutional work is the brightest spot for designers and it stands to benefit from the federal stimulus package.
March 19, 2009—Natalie Jones, VP of Brand Development for Mannington Commercial, and Kemp Harr discuss the details around Mannington's Tx:style Design Challenge and the big finalist event this weekend in Calhoun, GA. Listen to the interview to hear how Mannington is using the Internet to facilitate this design contest targeted at young designers. In the end, the designs from this contest will be used to create some of the carpet styles that Mannington will introduce at NeoCon this year.
March 18, 2009—Bart Rich, Brand Director for Mohawk's Soft Surface Brands, and Kemp Harr discuss the success of Mohawk's retail programs for 2009. Now with all of the road shows and buying group meetings behind us, Mohawk is assessing the success of its new retail products and programs. Highlights include its new color wall, the purchase of the Wear Dated brand and its new Custom Weave collection.