Flooring Podcast

Carpet One President Evan Hackel on Competition and Competiting – Part 3 (11:58)

August 20, 2007—Evan Hackel, President, Carpet One Floor & Home, in the third part of a five-part series Hackel talks about the recent shifts a Home Depot and shares his expectations as to the outcome of the home improvement retailer’s floor covering operations. Hackle discusses the competitive environment and some of the retail sector’s mid-tier and online operations and how Carpet One can best compete with these organizations, he also discusses his expectations for these players going forward.

Barker on Yesterday's Wild Market - (36:30)

August 18, 2007—Mike Barker Investment and Retirement Management looks at the extreme volatility in yesterday’s market, dropping as much as 341 points at mid-day to close off 15 points. Barker discusses the causes for the continued instability of the market, signposts that may indicate it’s bottoming out and how long he expects the cycle to last. Barker discusses yesterday’s housing starts report and his expectations for a housing market recovery, the Fed and how they may react to the market decline as well as gas and crude prices.

Carpet One President Evan Hackel Evaluates the Housing Market and Competition – Part 2 (10:12)

August 17, 2007—Evan Hackel, President, Carpet One Floor & Home, in the second part of a five-part series discusses how the company recommends its members best weather depressed times. Hackel discusses how the various segments within the industry have evolved, the impact that big box home improvement retailers and online retailers are having on the independent and the market share of each.

Carpet One President Evan Hackel on Summer Convention and the Marketplace – Part 1 (13:34)

August 16, 2007—Evan Hackel, President, Carpet One Floor & Home, in the first part of a five-part series talks about the recent Carpet One Summer convention held in Cincinnati, the turnout, the theme, “Turn It On” and the coop’s 2007 performance to date. Hackel discusses the housing and remodeling markets, his estimation as to the toll the housing slump has taken on players in the floor covering industry and his expectations for a housing recovery.

Floor Focus Co-Publisher Frank O’Neill, The Week in the Flooring Industry - (35:03)

August 15, 2007—Frank O’Neill, Co-Publisher, Floor Focus magazine looks back at the events of the past week in the floor covering industry discussing Home Depot’s second quarter earnings report and the tentative future for the sale of HD Supply unit and the company’s $22.5 billion recapitalization program; Congoleum’s second quarter earnings report; Shaw’s naming of a VP of Sustainability and Environmental Affairs; The launch of Milliken’s Stimulus, a process that allows precisely engineered overlay of random pattern elements in tandem with the company’s Millitron; Beaulieu Commercial move to offer post-consumer recycled content in all of its offerings; J. J. Haines’ acquisition of Orlando-based distributor Wheeler Inc.; And J. Mish’s move to Cartersville.

Analyst Keith Hughes on Mohawk, Interface & The Armstrong Auction – Part 4 (12:35)

August 14, 2007—Keith Hughes, Managing Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey in the final part of a four-part series discusses, Mohawk’s commercial business, the Dal-Tile unit and the role being played by the company’s newest manufacturing facilities. Hughes discusses the second quarter performance of Interface, the company after the sales of its fabrics unit, the company’s growth in the modular arena and its third quarter guidance. Hughes also discusses the Armstrong auction and reports that the prime potential buyers have dropped out. Discussed are the possible reasons for the wholesale withdrawal of would be buyers, the options for the auction going forward and his expectations for the auction and its timeline going forward.

Analyst Keith Hughes Assesses Mohawk’s 2nd Quarter – Part 3 (11:27)

August 13, 2007—Keith Hughes, Managing Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey, in the third part of a four-part series discusses Mohawk purchase of hardwood assets for Columbia Forest Products and what it means to the company, when the properties will become profitable, and his take on Mohawk’s inclination toward more hardwood acquisitions. Hughes also discussed is the Mohawk sector, raw material costs and carpet prices increases during the quarter and his expectations for increases in the third and fourth quarters.

Analyst Keith Hughes Assesses Mohawk’s 2nd Quarter – Part 2 (11:56)

August 10, 2007—Keith Hughes, Managing Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey in the second part of a four-part series, discusses Mohawk performance in the second quarter assessing the Unilin, Mohawk and Dal-Tile divisions and the European economy that was responsible for much of Unilin’s growth during the quarter. Hughes also discusses is shifts within the laminate sector, Unilin’s intellectual property.

SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey Analyst Keith Hughes Assesses the 2nd Quarter - Part 1 (10:13)

August 9, 2007—Keith Hughes, Managing Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey in the first part of a four-part series, looks at the second quarter in the floor covering business analyzing the housing and builder sectors as well as the remodeling and commercial sectors, comparing the floor covering industry with the furniture industry. Hughes talks about his expectations for the third and fourth quarters and evaluates the Mohawk’s performance.

GE Money’s Greg Pittman on Credit and the Floor Covering Industry – Part 3 (12:59)

August 8, 2007—Greg Pittman, VP, GM, Retail Sales, GE Money in the final part of a three-part series discusses Pittman reviews some of the credit products offered to retailers in the floor covering industry including the GE credit card program, credit cards issued under the retailers own brand and establishing a credit line for consumers. Also discusses is how retailers can use each of the available tools with maximum efficiency, recent trends in credit as Pittman shares his expectations related to the credit tools of the future .