July 13, 2005—Chris Davis, CEO, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), in the final part of a two-part conversation discusses the membership base and the makeup of the association's members and its new recruitment efforts. Davis also reviews the organization’s efforts in the insurance arena and its 2005 National Floor Covering month promotion.
July 13, 2005—Lew Migliore, The Industry’s Trouble Shooter, President, LGM Technical Carpet Services, reviews a situation in the field involving an installation of high-end carpet that developed a problem with matting and discusses how the retailer created additional problems with the way he handled the complaint.
July 12, 2005—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine discusses: Mohawk’s acquisition of Unilin Holding NV and its affect on the U.S. laminate market and the major U.S. players; The appointment of Roland Elbracht as president of Witex, USA and the naming of LET Industries as the company’s U.S. distributor; The finalization of the De Clerck family’s joint European industry group, Beaulieu International Group; the Stanton, Balta arrangement; and Shaw’s $10-million post-industrial carpet energy production operation.
July 11, 2005—Chris Davis, CEO, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA), in the first part of a two-part conversation reviews the association’s programs and goals including a prime goal of actively generating consumer interest in floor coverings and becoming a prime source for online consumer floor covering information. Davis also discusses the organization’s activities in the industry’s B2B efforts and the shift in ownership of Hanley Wood, the producer of the trade show Surfaces.
July 8, 2005—Mike Froning, CEO of Floor & Décor Outlets of America, a young and growing nine store, big box specialty floor covering retailer, currently operating in Atlanta, Jacksonville, Dallas and Phoenix markets, describes this organization, its concept, its stores, product offering and store layouts as well as the company's approach to the consumer. Froning, who comes from Circuit City also reviews the company’s expansion plans and discusses Home Depot’s Floor Stores in Dallas.
July 7, 2005—In excerpts from a conference call recorded earlier this week, Jeff Lorberbaum Mohawk Chairman, CEO & President and Mohawk CFO, Frank Boykin provide details on the company's $2.6 billion acquisition of Unilin, answering questions from analysts.
July 6, 2005—Keith Hughes, Director in Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey looks into the Mohawk/Unilin transaction discussing Unilin the company, its flooring, HDF and roofing products, its margins, its management and its positions in both Europe and the U.S. Hughes also talks about the selling price, $2.6B, the company’s strong, vertically integrated position in the U.S., the synergies between the two companies and his expectations for the future, in the U.S. and abroad.
July 5, 2005—In a conference call recorded yesterday, Jeff Lorberbaum Mohawk Chairman, CEO & President and Mohawk CFO, Frank Boykin discuss the details of the company’s pending $2.6 bilion acquisition of Unilin, answering questions from a number of analysts.
July 3, 2005—This is the final part of a four part of four-part series sponsored by the WFCA. In this segment four panelists: Aaron Pirner, CEO, CAP Carpet; Kurt Duitsman, EVP, Carpetland USA; John Brady, CEO, Floorz; and Rick Julius, CFO, Georgia Floors look at B2B technology in the floor covering industry discussing how this new technology stacks up against the technology used by big-box, home improvement competitors and the advantages that the industry system delivers to industry retailers. The four panelists look at the security aspects of the B2B system and also offer some helpful advice to retailers who are contemplating the addition of industry-specific software to their operations, and they also address industry suppliers who have not yet elected to transact business via B2B with their retailer customers.
June 30, 2005—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management looks at the Fed’s move yesterday when it raised rates for the ninth time in one year increasing the federal-funds rate to 3.25%. Barker also discusses the message that accompanied the rate increase and shares his views as to whether the Fed will continue to raise rates in the future, the market’s reaction to the increase, the state of market over the past few weeks and his take on oil prices.