Flooring Podcast

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill and the Week in the Flooring Industry

June 28, 2005—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine discusses the reported bidding by equity firms and Mohawk for a position in laminate producer, Unilin Holding and the progress on Unilin’s Thomasville, NC manufacturing facility, which is nearing completion. Also discussed: The sale of Hanley Wood, the owner of Surfaces the trade show; Home Depot’s designer recruitment efforts at NeoCon and the company’s acquisition of Williams Brothers; Godfrey Hirst’s proposed merger with Feltex; Clayton Homes pending acquisition of Karsten Homes and Mannington celebrates 90 years in the business.

Trivers on Retailing and the Evolving Consumer

June 27, 2005—Jon Trivers, Marketing Wit & Wisdom discusses trends within the nation’s big box retail community and how these trends could ultimately affect floor covering retailers. Trivers looks at Wal-Mart’s move to attract more upscale consumers equating it to a similar move at Home Depot. Also discussed are the types of consumers who buy more expensive merchandise, the role that the in-store environment plays in shopping and why consumers shop at major home improvement stores.

Retailer Roundtable - Part 3, Saving Time & Money with B2B

June 26, 2005—This is third part of a four-part roundtable sponsored by the WFCA. In this segment four retailer 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 the reaction of their personnel to B2B in their operations, and the speed with which their people adapted to it. The panelists discuss the company-wide cost reduction and systems improvement each enjoyed once B2B was incorporated within their operational systems, offering specific examples of cost savings. Each panelist also talks about the investment they made to acquire industry-specific software and the effort expended to train their staffs.

Customer Focus and the Bottom Line with Craig Cunningham

June 23, 2005—Craig Cunningham, President, Customer Integrated Solutions discusses customer focus - a management component that’s often overlooked in today’s internalized, cost-cutting environment. Cunningham talks about linking an organization to customers to identify their real needs and expectations and developing strategies to improve sales, and distribution management and the bottom line.

Treister Discusses the Changing Ceramic Industry

June 22, 2005—Ron Treister, President of the marketing firm Communicators International, looks at the industry’s ceramic sector discussing the changing approach many offshore manufacturers are taking in their marketing efforts and the changes in the U.S. distribution channels following Mohawk’s acquisition of Dal-Tile. Triester discusses the increase in attendance at the trade show Coverings 2005 and the increasing level of sophistication among the domestic manufacturers.

Floor Focus’ Frank O’Neill Looks at Neocon

June 21, 2005—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine discusses NeoCon 2005, the traffic, the mood and his overall impression of the show as well as the new product offerings in broadloom, modular and hard surface and his observations on some of the prevailing trends at the show including bright colors and patterns trends. O’Neill also reviews the awards that were presented at the show and his impressions of the architects and designers who attended the show.

Tom Rennie on the De Clerck Announcement

June 20, 2005—Tom Rennie, Principal, TLR Consulting and Editor, Commercial Carpet Digest discusses the recent announcement made by five members of the Belgian De Clerck family seeking to form a joint industry group among their five separate carpet mills. Rennie looks at the state of the European carpet industry and the possible rationale behind this move.

CRI’s Werner Braun the Launch of NASA Carpet Technology

June 20, 2005—Werner Braun, President, Carpet and Rug Institute discusses an upcoming visit of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, to the CRI and an industry forum on NASA-based x-ray florescence technology, which is currently being used in the carpet industry. The forum will take place at Georgia Tech and will be followed by a launch of the Kennedy Space Flight Center at Cape Canaveral. Braun also offers an update on the CRI’s Green Label Plus and what it means to the industry.

Retailer Roundtable - Part 2, Comparing B2B with the Old Way

June 19, 2005—



In this the second part of a four-part retailer roundtable sponsored by the WFCA, retailers: 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 and talk about their perceptions of current retail attitudes about B2B and industry-specific software. Each panelist discusses the process they used to assure they had made the correct software choice that would allow a fully integrated B2B process in their operations. Panelists also discuss the specific B2B functions that are available with their software packages and they compare the time and effort requirements to execute transactions using B2B verses the older paper, telephone and fax method.

Tom Rennie On NeoCon2005

June 16, 2005—Tom Rennie, Principal, TLR Consulting and Editor, Commercial Carpet Digest shares his impressions of NeoCon 2005, the crowds, the showrooms and the overall mood of the show. Rennie talks about the broadloom and modular products, styling and colorations that caught his eye, the best showroom presentations and how architects, designers and facility managers shop NeoCon.