Flooring Podcast

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill on Dixie, Distribution and the FloorWars

March 14, 2006—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill discusses The Dixie Group’s 4th quarter and year-end results: The expansion of Herregan Distributors’ Quick•Step territory and changes within the distribution sector including the importing of hardwood and ceramic; An upcoming Floor Focus article entitled, "FloorWars Home Centers vs. The Independents", written by Santo Torcivia, about the market share growth of the home improvement sector over the past 10 years.

Jon Dougal on Surfaces and Environmental Products

March 13, 2006—Jon Dougal, Senior Editor of iGreenbuild.com, discusses the product introductions at Surfaces 2006 from an environmental standpoint looking at the appeal of the industry’s residential products to a sustainable-oriented consumer. Responding to an unscientific poll he conducted among exhibitor sales reps with at the show, Dougal also talks about the general awareness levels that reps have about their company’s environmental policies. Also discussed is the market for environment floor covering products in the residential market plus consumer’s attitudes on recycling.

Mike Leary & Lashon McGinnis on Shaw’s Fiber Unit

March 12, 2006—From Shaw Industries, External Fiber Sales and Marketing, Mike Leary and Lashon McGinnis, discusses this unit, which had been Honeywell, its transition into the Shaw organization and the unit’s presence at Surfaces. Also discussed are the company’s plans with the Anso and Zeftron brands going forward, the unit’s relationships with its retailer affiliates and its relationship with other carpet producers in the industry.

Barker on the Market

March 9, 2006—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management discusses the two upgrades Mohawk received last month and he also looks at the nervous condition of investors and the resulting performance of the market over the past few weeks as well as the prime factors driving the market. Barker also discusses energy prices and their affects on the market, the Federal Reserve and his thoughts on where interest rates are headed and short- term factors affecting the market as he also offers some insight for 401K investors.

Interface President & CEO Dan Hendrix Reviews the Company’s 4th Quarter

March 8, 2006—Dan Hendrix, President and CEO, Interface discusses the commercial market's performance during 2005 and the company’s 4th quarter and year-end results. Hendrix also talks about the company’s segmentation strategy, its performance in the various segments of the commercial market, the growth within the North American and global modular marketplace and the company's position within the total modular market. Hendrix also talks about modular's position as the new product of choice across most commercial market segments and the 2005 performance in the Bentley Prince Street, fabrics and InterfaceFLOR sectors.

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill on The Industry Events of the Week

March 7, 2006—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus’ discusses; Berkshire Hathaway’s and Shaw's 2005 earnings; Shaw’s move to convert a shuttered yarn plant in Tennessee into a hardwood flooring plant; A comparison of Home Depot’s and Lowe’s 4th quarter and year-end results; The expansion of Mohawk’s carpet tile capacity and the company’s acquisition of a Propex carpet backing plant; Sun Capital acquisition of LINQ fabrics; And the acquisition of Florida Tile by Italian producer Panaria.

Tarkett Commercial's Diane Martel on the Mainstreet Market

March 6, 2006—Diane Martel, VP Marketing, Tarkett Commercial, in a conversation recorded at Surfaces 2006, discusses the commercial aspects of the show, the changing nature of the Mainstreet sector and the challenges facing retailers within that segment. Martel also discusses the company’s product philosophy and the products introduced at Surfaces.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Analyst Keith Hughes Looks at Mohawk’s 4th Quarter

March 4, 2006—Keith Hughes, Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, in the first part of a two-part series, looks back at the floor covering industry’s 4th quarter 2005 discussing Mohawk’s results during the quarter, the affects of the Unilin acquisition, the Unilin organization, the price of that purchase and the method the company selected to financing it. Hughes also looks at the results in the Mohawk and Dal-tile segments during the quarter, the company’s methods of dealing with rising raw materials prices, the company’s expansion projects, its culture and his outlook for the 1st quarter and the year 2006.

SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Analysts Keith Hughes Looks at Interface’s 4th Quarter

March 4, 2006—Keith Hughes, Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey in the final part of a two-part series looks at Interface’s 4th quarter, growth within the commercial and modular carpet sectors and the company’s performance in the quarter. Hughes discusses Interface’s dominant position in the modular sector, the growth within the Bentley Prince Street and fabrics units, Interface as a global player and his expectations for the commercial sector and Interface in the 1st quarter and for 2006.

McDevitt and the State of the Economy

March 2, 2006—John McDevitt, former 3M corporate economist, now in semi-retirement, assesses the economy and the economic news of the most recent 30 days. McDevitt discusses: 4th quarter GDP, the reasons behind the quarter’s softness and he also shares his forecast for growth in the 1st quarter and how business people can best read GDP numbers. McDevitt also talks about personal income and spending and the potential undesirable outcome of a negative savings rate, the consumer confidence index and its importance in reading the overall economy, the housing and construction markets, the Fed and future rate hikes, the manufacturing sector and his forecast for 2006 and beyond.