Flooring Podcast

Santo Torcivia Analyzes the Industry’s Hard Surface Sector – Part 1

September 27, 2006—Santo Torcivia, President of the consulting firm, Market Insights/Torcivia and publisher of US FLOOReport, in the first part of a five part series, looks at the changing landscape in the hard surface sector of the floor covering business discussing the hard surface verses soft surface clash in the marketplace and some of the reasons behind carpet’s market share losses. Torcivia discusses growth among the hard surface product categories over the last several years and the reasons behind this growth, focusing on growth in the ceramic sector and the expansion of ceramic manufacturing facilities in the U.S.

Shaw Industries’ VP, International Sales John Davis, Looks at the International Market Place – Part

September 26, 2006—John Davis, VP of International Sales at Shaw Industries in the final part of a two-part series talks about the international floor covering marketplace focusing on areas of prime growth and some of the problems that have occurred in some international markets. Davis discusses growth in the some of the Middle Easterns markets, Shaw’s plans for launching new products at Domotex 2007 and his expectations for growth in 2007 and beyond in the international marketplace.

Floor Focus Co-Publisher Frank O’Neill and Industry Events of the Week

September 26, 2006—Frank O’Neill, co-publisher Floor Focus discusses the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) code of conduct, a requirement for retailer membership in the association and he also offers updates information regarding their new website WFCA.org. Also discussed: Comments made by Lowe’s officials concerning economic conditions over the next 12 months and the actions the company will take in response; The kick off of Cersaie: The launch of Interface’s new consulting unit InterfaceRaise and; The National Association of Home Builders Model Green Home Building Guidelines.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 1 (10:15)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the first part of a five-part serie, discusses some of the changes that have occurred on the internet within the floor covering sector and the growing level of consumer sophistication online. the general likes, dislikes of consumers and the growing level of traffic on the internet. Simonson also begins his review of the new or recently revised websites shawfloor.com, carpetone.com and wfca.org.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 2 (12:28)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the second part of a five-part series talks about some of the new features materalizing on industry websites including visualization tools, notebooks, live chats and upgraded store locators. He also discusses consumer reaction to these features and what the next round of upgraded features may bring. Simonson talks about the concept of following up on leads sent to retailers by manufacturer and other websites to determine the outcome of a store visit. Also discussed are the differences in dealer locators and the option of product specific locators as present on the shawfloors.com site.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 3 (11:14)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the third part of a five-part series discusses some of the similarities and the differences in the new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com. Simonson talks about the advantages and disadvantages of including price on websites and the possible limitations industry players may experiance with regard to including price an industry websites.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 4 (13:34)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the forth part of a five-part series discusses the consumer oriented information included on the new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com and the methods these sites use to help position their sites with consumers as an industry authority. Simonson also talks about the changing art of attracting consumers via keyword purchasing on internet search engines and his expectations as to how this practice will become more and more costly going forward.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 5 (11:28)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the final part of a five-part talks about the competitive nature of floor covering industry websites in particular new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com and the strength of brand on the internet. Simonson also talks about the options on the internet that are open to retailers on the internet and how retailers need to view affiliating with an industry website and the educational, promotional and resource commitment they need to make make an affiliation with an industry site produce a net gain.

Barker on the Market (22:54)

September 21, 2006—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management looks at the economic news of the week discussing the recent drop in oil prices, the reasons behind the drop, what it means to the economy and the market. He also offers his take on whether global oil prices will fall even further. Barker also looks at this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, discussing the Fed’s current bias and his expectations for Fed actions in meetings to come and his expectations for the upcoming earnings season.

Jon Dougal, the Future of Fiber Made from Renewable Resources and Biofuels – Part 3 (11:43)

September 20, 2006—Jon Dougal, President, Sustainable Design Associates in the third part of a four part series discusses producing polymers and fibers and fuel from renewable resources, such corn and other vegetable matter. Dougal talks about other plant material other than soy and corn that can be used in the production of fibers and fuels, how this production can be produced efficiently and when he expects this new technology hit the main stream.