May 16, 2003—Mike Barker, Investment and Retirement Management discusses the market in the past week describing the factors he draws on to evaluate the market. Barker looks at the pros and cons of a weak dollar and singles out some factors to watch for in the coming week.
May 15, 2003—John Wells, President, Interface Flooring Systems discusses the launched of the company’s new marketing campaign aimed at expanding the market for modular carpet. Wells talks about the goals of the campaign, the targets of the company’s efforts, modular and the prime commercial market segments, the new product offerings to support the program, the cost factor and the company’s sustainability stance.
May 13, 2003—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute discusses new research from the cleaning and maintenance community and scientific literature into the cleanability and sanitizing of carpet. One particular study, which discusses the comparison of the lifecycle costs of VCT vs. carpet over a 22-year, finds the expense of VCT 31% greater.
May 13, 2003—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus and FloorRadio Host Dave Foster discuss: The Chapter 11 filing of L.D. Brinkman; The recent reports indicating a pending sale of DuPont Textiles & Interiors to Koch Industries for more than $5 billion and; Armstrong’s first quarter results.
May 12, 2003—David Hartman, EVP, Sales & Marketing, Florim USA discusses his transaction from laminate to ceramic, Hartman assesses the state of the ceramic tile distribution network, discussing the “typical ceramic ” distributor and the demands that are being places on ceramic and floor covering distributors in today’s market, Florim as a domestic producer and its products and position with U.S. floor covering dealers.
May 8, 2003—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management discusses the recent Wall Street rally and what difficulty may be in store. Barker talks about the Federal Reserve action earlier this week and the real threat of deflation and what that could mean for the market.
May 7, 2003—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus and FloorRadio Host Dave Foster discuss: The decline in Armstrong bankruptcy reorganization payouts; The strike at an Armstrong Hardwood plant; The closing of the Honeywell/BASF nylon transaction; Tarkett Sommer’s bid for the shares of Domco Tarkett it does not own and; The Focus 100 retailer list, which will be published in the May issue of Floor Focus magazine.
May 7, 2003—Keith Hughes, VP, Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey discusses the carpet industry after price increases, recovery in the residential and commercial markets, the threat of Asian carpet imports in the long and short term and the likelihood of U.S. producers establishing facilities abroad.
May 6, 2003—John Dowdell, General Manager Carpet Backing, Amoco Fabrics and Fibers unit of BP discusses the anticipated growth rate in the carpet industry in both the long and short. Anticipated reaction to price increases in the industry. Changes that have occurred with the carpet backing sector and the company’s new products.
May 5, 2003—Rick Myers, President, Myers Carpet, a unique high-end floor covering retailer with locations in Dalton, GA, Atlanta and Nashville, discusses the recently remodeled and revamped Dalton location, which is located on that city’s “carpet row”.