Flooring Podcast

CRI's Warner Braun Answers Question on Seal of Approval - Part 1

January 15, 2007—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute, in the first part of a two-part series, talks about comments made by floor covering retailers concerning the CRI’s Seal of Approval program on carpet maintenance. Werner discusses the communication efforts of the program, the availability of products and services at a local level that have earned the seal, his expectations for the number of approved products that will be available in the months ahead and the rational behind member mills connecting the Seal of Approval with warranties program in January of 2007.

Bill Tsagrinos, Owner T-Brothers Tile – Part 1 (13:01)

January 14, 2007—Bill Tsagrinos, Owner T-Brothers Tile, a ceramic tile, stone and granite contractor based in Las Vegas, in the first part of a three-part series discusses his company, the market segments the company serves, the unique aspects of the Las Vegas market, the competitive situation in the market and how the market has changed over the last 12 months.

Bill Tsagrinos, Owner T-Brothers Tile – Part 2 (11:44)

January 14, 2007—Bill Tsagrinos, Owner, T-Brothers Tile, a ceramic tile, stone and granite contractor based in Las Vegas, in the second part of a three-part series, talks more about competition in the Las Vegas market, the floor covering retail segment of the market. Tsagrinos also discusses the granite segment of his business, doing on-site fabrication and his relationship with installers.

Bill Tsagrinos, Owner T-Brothers Tile – Part 3 (13:33)

January 14, 2007—Bill Tsagrinos, Owner, T-Brothers Tile, a ceramic tile, stone and granite contractor based in Las Vegas, in the final part of a three-part series talks more about the relationship his company has with installers, the employee purchase program he launched and his growth expectations for the future.

Host’s Geoff Greeley on Cleaning and Maintenance in 2007 – Part 1 (17:00)

January 10, 2007—Geoff Greeley, director of training & technical services, Racine Industries, in the first part of a three-part series, discusses the state of the carpet maintenance sector in the year 2006 when carpet sales have been somewhat soft and the most significant events and challenges the sector has seen during the year. Greeley also talks about consumer and retailer as well as architect, designer and specifer attitudes involving carpet maintenance.

Host’s Geoff Greeley on Cleaning and Maintenance in 2007 – Part 2 (11:47)

January 10, 2007—Geoff Greeley, Director of Training & Technical Services, Racine Industries in the second part of a three-part series discusses the changing approach toward maintenance on the part of carpet manufacturers, the CRI Seal of Approval program and the move on the part of carpet manufacturers to tie their warranties to maintenance.

Host’s Geoff Greeley on Cleaning and Maintenance in 2007 – Part 3 (11:13)

January 10, 2007—Geoff Greeley, director of training & technical services, Racine Industries in the final part of a three-part series discusses and the role he sees the Seal of Approval program playing for players in the industry and the ultimate results of the program. Greeley discusses Host’s involvement with the program and the company's involvement in both the residential and commercial markets, the Host system’s environment elements, the eradication of dust mites in carpet and his expectations for 2007 and beyond.

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill and the Week in the Flooring Industry

January 9, 2007—Frank O’Neill, co-publisher of Floor Focus magazine, looks back at events in the floor covering industry over the past two weeks discussing: Bob Nardelli’s resignation from Home Depot and his the naming of his successor Frank Blake; The sale of Bud Jennings Carpet One and the probability that a great deal more mergers and acquisitions among top-flight independent retailers will be taking place in the future; The progress of Tarkett and ATC’s joint-venture; Pergo’s deal with Sam’s Club; Solutia’s updated bankruptcy plan and; iFloor.com’s planned location in Minneapolis.

L.A. Fiber’s Ron Greitzer Collecting Post-Consumer Carpet for Evergreen – Part 1 (16:23)

January 7, 2007—Ron Greitzer, president of carpet recycling firm Los Angeles Fiber, in the first part of a three-part series, discusses the company, its history and the carpet pad that the company produces from post-consumer carpet. Greitzer estimates the number of post-consumer carpet collection companies in operation in the U.S and discusses L.A.’s west coast collection network, his expectations for Shaw’s Evergreen facility when it begins operations later in the first quarter and how he anticipates it will affect the L.A. Fiber operation.

L.A. Fiber’s Ron Greitzer Collecting Post-Consumer Carpet for Evergreen – Part 2 (15:45)

January 7, 2007—Ron Greitzer, president of carpet recycling firm Los Angeles Fiber, in the second part of a three-part series discusses the processing of post-consumer carpet, the size of the company’s collection network and how it operates, some of the variations among the nation’s collectors and how Shaw will interact with dealers who become members of collection networks.