October 9, 2004—John Dowdell, Director of Sales & Marketing, BP Fabrics and Fibers talks about the announced acquisition of the company by three investment firms and plans for the unit's future as an independent company. Dowdell also discusses the investment companies’, product and expansion plans and the possibility of acquisitions in the future.
October 9, 2004—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute discusses industry consolidation and its effects on the association. Braun also provides a progress report on the Carpet America Recovery Effort(CARE) and the CRI’s cleaning and maintenance initiatives and also looks at the rising cost of petroleum and how the industry may deal with that in the future.
October 7, 2004—Bob Miller, President & CEO, and Don Roberts, Vice President Sales Edge Flooring in the first part of a two-part series talk about a new flooring category that permits the installation of ceramic tile, granite and stone with the click-joint the ease of installing laminate. Discussed are the company’s Dalton, Georgia assembly operation, it's D-I-Y program at Lowe’s and the company’s planned launch with independent retailers.
October 7, 2004—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute discusses the association’s new logo and new look reflecting its and the industry’s environmental and advocacy-oriented direction.
October 7, 2004—Bob Miller, President & CEO, and Don Roberts, Vice President Sales Edge Flooring in the final part of a two-part series talk about this new flooring category that permits the installation of ceramic tile, granite and stone with click-joint the ease of installing laminate. Discussed are the company’s Dalton, Georgiaassembly operation, its D-I-Y program at Lowe’s and the company’s planned launch with independent retailers.
October 5, 2004—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine and Dave Foster Host, Floor Radio discuss: Recent price increases in the hard and soft surface sectors; Lowe’s policy of holding the line on vendor price increases and its new Roll-Back Pricing Strategy; Cuts at a Honeywell nylon plant; The outcome of a Milliken/Interface patent infringement suit; Turner Construction goes green: International plastics firms plans for biodegradable and bio-based products; and CCA/FCIF Golf Tournament yields $120,000 for the FCIF.
October 3, 2004—Jon Dougal, Sustainable Design Associates, looks at energy and the future in light of dramatically increasing oil prices. Dougal discusses the likelihood of petroleum substitutes being developed including an economy based on hydrogen, looking at the strong and weak points of this option. Also discussed are the possible substitutes for plastics derived from petroleum such as nylon, polypropylene and vinyl.
September 30, 2004—From Cersaie 2004 in Bologna, Italy, Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine reviews this giant international ceramic tile show discussing the venue, the exhibitors, the attendees and the level of excitement, O'Neill also talks about the colors, textures and new product offerings at this show.
September 29, 2004—Zahir Palanpur, President of the Atlanta-based Azul Arc International discusses outsourcing and the considerable cost savings available to industry companies that outsource tasks such as, digital/ web, CAD, graphic and 3D design services, business application functions and even customer-focused functions such as research, analytics customer support.
September 29, 2004—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management looks at the market over the past few days and its relationship with rising oil prices. He evaluates the 3.3% jump in GDP and other recent economics reports and discusses upcoming 3rd quarter earnings reports. Barker also looks at the market's current focus and talks about when it may break from its current trading range.