8 I February 21/28, 2011 fcnews

Bliss collection of 32 styles sort-ed good/better/best. All featurelifetime stain protection and a“You’ll love it or we’ll take itback” guarantee.

The mill also launched anew Magic Fresh display. “Thekey thing about the rack is thereis a little bit of everything on it,”said Ralph Boe, president andCEO. “We have Stainmasterwith Magic Fresh, our own in-house nylon and polyester prod-ucts. So, even if a retail salesper-son has an aversion to one ofthose three, he can go to thatrack and get what he wants tosell to the consumer.”

Another new entry for 2011will be Bliss by BeaulieuHealthyTouch, a 20-productcollection designed to addresstwo desires of today’s carpetcustomer: softness and durabili-ty. Thanks to Beaulieu Soft-Sense polyester fiber technolo-gy the consumer can have both,Flavin noted. Built-in to the col-lection are Magic Fresh andSilver Release technology thatinhibits the growth of odor andstain-causing bacteria, moldand mildew. All HealthyTouchcarpets carry the 3M Scotch-gard Protector lifetime stainprotection and the “You’ll love itor we’ll take it back” guarantee.

On the commercial side,Beaulieu launched six collec-tions into its Hollytex Main

Street line.

The Dixie GroupThe mill featured oneof the most consistent-ly busy booths atSurfaces.

With its Maslandbrand, the emphasiswas on nylon productsmade with Stainmas-ter fiber. “We’vebrought out a new col-lection of Luxerelleproducts that offers anice combination ofluster and soft hand,”said Paul Comiskey,president of The DixieGroup’s residentialbusiness, “all coordi-nating with the same45 colors.” Masland’s

Inverness, a classic basketweavewith subtle striations, was also abig hit, while new Stainmasteradditions to the MaslandAvenue collection—using thecompany’s proprietary tuftingtechnology to create the lookand feel of tufted wool—werealso a popular choice amongdealers.

The big news for the mill’sFabrica brand included addi-tions to the Chez collection.

With the Ultra Chic pattern, theChez yarn is used to create whatComiskey called “the ultimatepindot,” which is backed by a48-color line. Another Fabricahighlight was the developmentof a new fiber that helps recre-ate the look of wool and viscose.“This new fiber features the softhand the high-end customerwants.” The new fiber is fea-tured in three new products.

With Dixie Home, themantra is affordable fashion.Canoe Ridge is a Stainmasterproduct that uses different lus-ter levels at a more moderateprice point, while with Charles-ton Place, “The pindot is takento a new level by not just usinga cut and loop construction, butby using different yarns and dif-ferent luster levels,” Comiskeysaid.

Glen EdenDiane Murphy, the mill’snational sales manager, said shehad never seen a more positiveoutlook after a show than whatshe saw at Surfaces. “People aremuch more optimistic now.”

A broadloom called Art Silkwas the hot item in the GlenEden booth. Featuring a syn-thetic nylon that took threeyears to develop, “It has a goodhand and a good sheen,” shesaid, “and it has a life span com-parable to that of wool. It hascleanability and durability. Andit’s made right here in the U.S.,so it’s a quick delivery. That’s ourbuzz [product] for this market.”

GulistanSoft was hot, according to TonyPrespitino, executive vice presi-dent of sales and marketing. Tothat end, the most popularitems for Gulistan were severalintroductions featuring Stain-master Luxerelle fiber.

Eight Gulistan carpet stylesand 11 American Lifestylesproducts debuted at Surfaces.The introductions included 13Stainmaster carpet styles underthe Luxerell, Tactesse and Softbrands, and six AmericanLifestyles styles using Gulistan’snew 6,6 continuous filamentnylon system with Scotchgardcarpet protector.

“Our goal this year is to giveconsumers the best choices inthe soft categories—Luxerell,Tactesse and Soft—as well asour own new soft nylon,” hesaid. The 2011 styles are adiverse mix of on-trend tex-tures, contemporary friezes andpatterns.

Nine new styles are craftedusing soft Stainmaster Luxerelltype 6,6 continuous filament

nylon. The productsinclude the Plaza good-better-best textures withrich luster; ParadiseTouch, a texture withwool-like luster; a good,better, best offering in anultra-soft contemporaryfreize in natural toneswith a berber-fleck accent;and a combination ultra-soft mid- and heavy-weight casual frieze in bar-berpole tones.

Richton, a newStainmaster Tactesse style,is a contemporary contin-uous filament texture witha frieze look. The huesshare a common palettewith the successful ParkAvenue texture productwhich is already in themarket.

Fairlane and Kaileydebuted as two entry-levelStainmaster Soft casualfriezes, with Kailey available asone of two roll specials. Windly,a classic cut-and-loop patternmade with StainmasterExtraBody II 6,6 BCF nylon,also debuted as a roll specialwith its nine colors comprisingthe best of the Windridge line.

Under its American Life-styles brand, Gulistan intro-duced six styles built with type6,6 continuous filament Softnylon and finished with 3MScotchgard. Braxton I andBraxton II are better-best heavy-weight textures; Garbo andGarbo Tones showcase stylish,dense, heavyweight textureswith refined finish (solid andtonal); Grantly Art offers a casu-al frieze with kaleidoscopemulti-colors; and Viesta pro-vides a heavyweight frieze-shagwith earthy multi-tones.

J. MishThe mill enjoyed a very strongshow, according to Don Karlin,vice president of sales. “Therewere moments during the firsttwo days where there weremore customers than we hadpeople to handle them.” Even onthe market’s third day, he noted,the mill offered a 2,400-yardsale to dealers who came in tobuy rolls.

J. Mish received a greatresponse to three products fromits Silk Impressions collection.Allure, a wool/silk combinationthe mill debuted last year didvery well, Karlin said, as didWilliston, which also offers awool/silk effect “without thelofty investment necessary intrue silk-accented carpets.”Tufted of New Zealand wool tocreate a soft patina background

with a high luster Sateen,Williston is also applicable forcommercial. The last of thethree is Intuition, another fauxsilk product.

“The difference betweenour faux silk and those of ourcompetitors is our competitorstend to be importers which useviscose as the shiny componentin the wool,” he explained.“Viscose, frankly, is not a goodfiber for the floor. We are usinga Sateen nylon as our shiny, silk-like component.”

Kane CarpetBruce Kurtz, vice president ofsales and marketing, waspleased with the reaction to themill’s new open line updates for2011 as well as its new venture,Weave Masters, a state-of-the-art space technology.

“This new nylon printedprogram has the depth of claritylike nothing ever seen before,”he explained. “We have the abil-ity to place over 50 colors to anydesign. And visitors to our FortKnox room got to see theremake of our famousQuadrille, a wool/nylon blendAxminster. With this, we trulybelieve we will be able to finallyfill a void Milliken lost yearsago.”

Natural Carpet Co.The company that specializes innatural fibers did much betterthan expected at Surfaces,according to Norman Marks,president, who also saw muchmore optimism from the buy-ers. “We hope that translatesinto optimism from the con-sumer as well. But we believethe dealers have been willing to

In what hopefully will be aportent of things to comethroughout the year, the

majority of carpet mills exhibit-ing at Surfaces 2011 seemed gen-uinely happy with the way theshow transpired as they reportedbrisk business in their booths.Attendees were greeted withnew collections and additions toexisting lines as mills once againraised the bar by utilizing state-of-the-art technology to place anemphasis on fashion, design,innovation as well as an environ-mentally friendly story.

Beaulieu of AmericaThere was a lot of news from themill’s booth, including a totallynew website. “The entire pur-pose of this new site is quite sim-ple,” said Patricia Flavin, seniorvice president of marketing. “Wewant to support our dealers withthe best website possible toentertain and educate the floorcovering customer about Blissproduct and drive them to Blissdealers to make the sale.”

According to Michael John-son, account director for Defini-tion, the marketing agency thathelped design the new site, theconsumer can now see the “dif-ferences with warranties, back-ing, filament, everything sheneeds to know. Then she can

find the dealer near her who hasthat carpet. She can print outher project, bring it into a deal-er and tell him, ‘This is what Iwant.’”

Beaulieu also unveiled sev-eral collections. The mill’s popu-lar and proprietary odor-reduc-ing formula, Magic Fresh, getsits own carpet collection in2011. The company selected themost popular colors, texturesand weights when it created this

Royalty’s Paul Engle catches up with Becky Pate of Interior

Specialists in Anaheim, Calif.

Beaulieu’s Patricia Flavin and MichaelJohnson of marketing agency Definition 6

were happy with the way the mill’sredesigned Bliss website was received.

Carpet mills offer fashion, texture, performance to By Louis Iannaco

surfaces

take risks they weren’t willing totake for the last couple years.And they are re-investing.”

Through a lot of marketingand hard work in the past year,he noted, the company has beenexpanding. “We’ve been veryproactive, found new marketsand worked twice as hard toexpand. Our push has been toadd new clients.”

A trio of major develop-ments were unfurled at theshow. Already known for itsabaca and raffia handmade nat-ural fiber products, NaturalCarpet has started to add colorto its products. Marks noted thecompany’s dyed multi-colorshave taken off.

Another new initiative is thehand tufting it is now doing inChina, which Marks acknowl-edged many other companiesare also involved with but not atthe quality and “incredibly com-petitive price points” NaturalCarpet is offering.

Lastly, but perhaps most sig-nificantly, are the company’sSunbrella handwoven productsthat can be used indoors andoutdoors. The product com-bines Sunbrella fabrics withnylon and fishing line which areUV stabilized. “We’ve createdwhat looks like a luxury indoorproduct that can be used out-doors,” he explained.

Nature’s CarpetAccording to Chris Dragan,president, the first two days ofthe show were “quite active” as“there has been a more consis-tent amount of traffic than lastyear. There’s a lot more opti-mism and positivity in the air.”

For Nature’s Carpet, thestory is all about being environ-mentally sensitive as all prod-ucts are 100% wool. A hot itemwas its Dark Green line, whichis chemical-free and contains ajute, natural rubber backing sys-tem. It is a 100% sustainable,biodegradable product. “That’sthe product that’s getting themost attention at the show,” heexplained.

Royalty Carpet MillsPaul Engle, vice president ofmarketing, said the first day ofSurfaces was “very active.” Newproducts that created a buzzincluded several Stainmasteradditions to the mill’s Camelotand Royalty lines as well as sev-eral nylon 6,6 Scotchgard-treat-ed products. “Patterns are verystrong right now, especially forthe nylon market,” heexplained. “Where the premi-um nylons are playing better intoday’s value-oriented market is

in the patterned goods.” Royalty also introduced its

Nubond/Super Rebond pad-ding. The features includeMicroban antimicrobial treat-ment and DuPont’s Hytrel, aone-way breathable moisturebarrier. Engle said the companyis positioning Nubond/SuperRebond as the pad of choice fora “safe, clean, healthy, environ-mentally friendly, consistentcarpet cushion that promisesgreat resiliency for the life ofyour carpet.”

Stanton CarpetSurfaces was “excellent,” ac-cording to Jonathan Cohen,

COO. “We have many of our topcustomers coming in. Every-body is optimistic and peopleare buying.”

In addition to 15 new Wiltonpatterns, a category that hasbeen a mainstay for the compa-ny for years, one of the majorhighlights was a new Antrimdisplay. “Antrim is a great prod-uct line featuring many hand-woven wools imported fromIndia,” Cohen said. “We neededa new merchandising vehicle toact as a go-to for the line. Wechanged the color and styling ofthe display. We’ve sold a lot ofthem.”

Also new for Stanton was a

serious broadloom buyers

fcnews February 7/14, 2011 I 9surfaces

sisal pattern added to its Sisaland Seagrass lines introducedlast year. “It has a fabulous designelement to it,” he explained.

The mill also added eight

shag products to its portfolio.“We introduced a few last yearand had pretty good successwith them. Now we’ve got somegorgeous shags in all polyester.”

Dixie’s Paul Comiskey, left, and Dan Phelan show off products from the mill’s Masland brand.