Flooring Podcast

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill and the Week in the Floor Covering Industry (35:24)

May 16, 2006—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill discusses: Home Depot’s first quarter earnings and the company’s reported weak flooring sales during the quarter; Interface’s announced deal with Ford Motor Co. that will see Interface Fabrics supply the company with recycled seating fabrics; The Floor Focus Annual Report, from the magazine’s May issue covering market share changes by company and by product segment.

Trivers on Selling Direct & the Distribution Community – Part 1 (17:32)

May 14, 2006—Jon Trivers, Marketing Wit & Wisdom in the first of a three part series talks about Armstrong’s recent move to sell direct to the NFA, and the expanding trend that is seeing manufacturers increasingly selling directly to larger retailers. Trivers also discusses the affect this trend is having on the distribution community, the growing volume of flooring imports from China coming into the U.S., the general health of the distribution sector in 2006 and Mohawk’s dual-channel approach in offering laminate produced by its Unilin division.

Trivers and the Future of Selling Direct -- Part 2 (16:10)

May 14, 2006—Jon Trivers, Marketing Wit & Wisdom in the second part of a three-part series talks more about manufacturers selling product direct to retail customers and Mohawk’s dual-channel approach to selling laminate produced by its Unilin division. Trivers discusses his view on the probability of this approach changing in the future and his view in the possibility that the industry will see more and more hard surface producers increasingly offering product directly to retailers. Also discussed is the potential increase in the link-up of Chinese wood and ceramic producers with U.S. distributors.

Trivers the CARE Program & Doing the Right Thing -- Part 3 (13:45)

May 14, 2006—Jon Trivers, Marketing Wit & Wisdom in the third part of a three-part series discusses CARE, the Carpet America Recovery Effort program, a program, which has as its goal the diversion of 40 percent of post consumer carpet from landfills by the year 2012. Trivers discusses the benefit of this program to the industry and to the benefit to retailers who ultimately become involved in the program. He also talks about the gains to all in the industry for simply electing to do the right thing. Trivers also discusses the retail market for environmentally responsible products and its promise in years to come.

Dan Rogers on Omnova and SB Latex – Part 1 (23:54)

May 14, 2006—Dan Rogers, Business Director, Carpet, Omnova Solutions, in the first part of a two-part series, discusses the company Omnova Solutions and it spin-off from Gencorp along with its long history in the carpet and the floor covering industry. Rogers discusses SB latex and the dramatic reduction of VOC levels that have occurred in the past decade in this product. He also discusses the company’s fit in both the laminate and vinyl sectors of the floor covering industry.

Dan Rogers on Omnova and SB Latex – Part 2 (18:08)

May 14, 2006—Dan Rogers, Business Director, Carpet, Omnova Solutions, in the second part of a two-part series, looks at the string of price raw materials increases that have occurred in the industry, how the industry has handled those increased and how they have affected the SB latex business. Rogers shares his expectations for price increases in the future, his view on how further vertical integration may play out in the industry and Omnova’s corporate approach to recyclability and sustainability.

Barker on the Market

May 11, 2006—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management discusses the market’s reaction to the statement issued by the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee on Wednesday, and some of the press reports interpreting that statement. Barker also discusses the comments made to a journalist by the new Fed chairman Ben Bernanke at the recent Washington social function and the repercussions of those comments. Barker also evaluates some of the recent positive economic news and oil prices and the threat it holds for inflation, future moves on the part of the Fed and its possible affects on the market.

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill and the Week in the Floor Covering Industry (33:42)

May 9, 2006—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill discusses: The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) annual survey revealed that 224.6 million pounds of post-consumer carpet was diverted from landfills in 2005; Home Depot’s move into banking and its new marketing partnership with Six Flags; The resolution of Congoleum’s asbestos dispute with St Paul Travelers; The latest on Solutia’s bankruptcy; The move of Tarkett’s headquarters to Paris; and the addition of deep cleaning systems to the CRI Seal of Approval Program.

Bart Levich, The Floor Club – Part 1 (I6:59)

May 8, 2006—Bart Levich, President, The Floor Club, with locations in the Detroit area, in the first part of a two-part series, talks about the history of this closed-showroom, wholesale operation that services designers, interior decorators, retailers, builders, remodelers and other trade professionals and the differences between this type of an operation and a standard specialty retail operation. Levich discusses business in 2005 and 2006, the locations and showrooms, the rationale behind the showroom layout and how designers typically shop the Floor Club.

Bart Levich, The Floor Club – Part 2 (13:26)

May 8, 2006—Bart Levich, President, The Floor Club, with locations in the Detroit area, in the second part of a three-part series, discusses the basic business proposition of a closed-showroom, wholesale operation that services designers, architects and other trade professionals and the margins of companies with business models of this type. Levich also discusses his product philosophy, the breath of product each location carries and his approach toward trading up, selling style and fashion and his approach to providing service.