May 18, 2004—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine and Dave Foster Host, Floor Radio discuss: The closure of Brinions USA’s Greenville, MS Plant and the future of axminster carpets in the U.S.; Floor Focuses’ 2004 Commercial Market Report; The removal of a judge from five asbestos Bankruptcy cases; and the first quarter earnings of Home Depot and Lowes.
May 16, 2004—Paul Friedrichsen, Executive Vice President of the Hauser Group, in an ongoing series on branding and advertising looks at some of the marketing and advertising resources and materials available on the Internet. Paul also reviews some of the printed materials on the subject and discusses setting up a Branding & Marketing Forum on FloorDaily.net.
May 13, 2004—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute, (CRI) discusses, Carpet for a Better Environment, an effort that seek out research to assists in establishing the positive aspects of carpet from an indoor air quality standpoint. Braun talks about two newly found studies one dealing with carpet in the slip and fall arena and a second that supports carpet as a vehicle for reducing asthma and allergy symptoms in a school environment. Also discussed are two additional testing programs being conducted by the association.
May 12, 2004—Lori Dowling, CEO, StarNet Commercial Flooring Cooperative, discusses the organizations, its growth and growth plans, its new initiatives and its recent annual membership meeting. Dowling also looks at the recent economic slump its effects on the nation’s contractors and her expectations for the future.
May 11, 2004—Larry Winter, Winter & Harris CPAs and FloorRadio regular looks at the dos and don’ts of job hunting and making the decision of opening your own business.
May 11, 2004—Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus magazine and Dave Foster Host, Floor Radio discuss: The changes within Invista and its Invironmentalists units after its acquisition by Koch; Berkshire Hathaway’s and Shaw’s 1st quarter earnings; Shaw’s CPCA recall and its new Bretlin products; and Home Depot’s acquisition of White Cap.
May 10, 2004—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management evaluates yesterday’s market plunge and Wall Street's reaction to fears of rising interest rates, instability in Iraq and rising raw materials costs. Barker looks at when the Fed may increase rates and how the market will react in the mean time.
May 9, 2004—SunTrust Robinson-Humphrey’s Keith Hughes on the 1st Quarter Keith Hughes, Director, Equity Research, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey looks at the first quarter in the floor covering and furnishings industries and discusses Mohawk's first quarter, its growth in the hard and soft surface sectors as well as its guidance for the second quarter.
May 6, 2004—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management discusses the market’s current concentration on interest rates. Barker also discusses the Fed’s recent comments on future rate hikes, rising oil prices and Home Depot’s CEO Bob Nardelli’s comment on how he lacks concern that rising interest rates will hurt the company’s sales, because its business is more closely tied to housing turnover and remodeling demand.
May 5, 2004—Werner Braun, President, Carpet & Rug Institute, (CRI) looks back at the recently held Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) 2nd Annual Conference, discussing the viability of its ultimate goal, which is to divert 40% of post consumer carpet from landfills by 2012. Braun also liiks at the business and government partnerships and the infrastructure being erected to help realize this goal.