Flooring Podcast

Lefort & Martel Roll-Out Nafco PermaStone Modular

May 24, 2004—Pierre Lefort, GM, Nafco by Tarkett and Diane Martel, VP Marketing, Tarkett Commercial discuss the vinyl market and its luxury vinyl segment. Also discussed, the launch of Nafco PermaStone Modular, a collection offered in a variety of newly sized tiles, designed to be assembled into modular units. Lefort and Martel also talk about the line's unique development process, its “keep it simple” approach and their expectections for the line.

John Simonson, Webstream Dynamics, Assessing the Industry’s Internet Effectiveness -- Part 1

May 23, 2004—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the 1st part of a 2-part series discusses today’s Internet, offering a statistical view of how consumers use the Internet. Simonson also assesses the floor covering industry’s Internet sophistication level on both the B2B and B2C levels, evaluating how large and small retailers and buying groups use the web to interact with consumer and reviews some of the newest tools available to companies to improve Internet efficiency.

Mitch Urbytes, Tennant on the Newest in Maintenance Equipment

May 20, 2004—Mitch Urbytes, Product Manager, Soft Floor Coverings, Tennant Co., producers of commercial floor maintenance equipment, discusses the company and the pressures facility managers deal with in maintaining floors. Urbytes talks about the prime factors under consideration in the process of developing flooring maintenance equipment, the company’s newest vacuum offerings and what every flooring company rep should know about maintenance.

Lew Migliore, The Industry’s Trouble Shooter & the Mysteriously Shrinking Carpet

May 20, 2004—Lew Migliore, The Industry’s Trouble Shooter, President, LGM Technical Carpet Services discusses a phenomenon, which he seen several times in the field in the past months it involves commercial carpet that has shrunk after it was installed.

SI Flooring Systems’ Kemp Harr

May 19, 2004—Kemp Harr, VP, Marketing, SI Flooring Systems, discusses the year 2004 business levels, raw materials prices and his expectations for the remainder of the year. Harr discusses the company’s Softbac program and new developments in the commercial market including a new backing material for modular and six foot wide carpet and innovations in the company's Patternlok program.

Greg Colando, President, InterfaceFLOR

May 18, 2004—Greg Colando, President of InterfaceFLOR provides an update on this unit of Interface, which produces and markets modular carpet for the residential market. Colando discusses the product and its options, the company's unique marketing approach, which includes offering product via the Internet and catalog and the newest introductions.

Frank O’Neill, Publisher, Floor Focus Magazine

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.

Paul Friedrichsen Seeking Marketing Info on the Internet

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.

CRI’s Werner Braun on Carpet for a Better Environment

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.

Lori Dowling, CEO, StarNet

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.