volume 31/number 3 I www.floorcoveringnews.net I the industry’s preferred publication I July 18/25, 2016 I $2.00

THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Gettingbetter with age

NEWSPAPER

floorcoveringnews

14 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

YEAR COMPANY DIVISION ACQUISITION/MERGER

1986 Burlington Masland Carpet Formation of largest carpet mill with $651 million in annual sales.

1987 Shaw Industries West Point Pepperell Began wave of purchasing activity; consolidated the industry; created first billion-dollar mill; carpet and rug division gave Shaw Cabin Crafts and Stratton brands.

1988 Beaulieu of America Conquest Carpet Mills Enabled company to get into the polypropylene business in a big way through downstream integration.Armstrong American Olean Expanded ceramic tile business.

1989 Shaw Industries Armstrong’s carpet division Gained Evans & Black brand; added 5% market share, resulting in 20% stake in soft surface, 3 times the size of nearest competitor.

1990 Beaulieu of America Coronet Carpets Largest acquisition in the carpet business to date; gave company Canadian presence.Domco Azrock Domco expanded distributor network in U.S.; Azrock increased international presence.Queen Carpet Patcraft Mills Put mill squarely into the commercial market.

1992 Shaw Industries Salem Carpet Mills Boosted Shaw’s domestic carpet share to approximately 31%. Congoleum Amtico Synergies via merger included joint promotion of both lines and sharing of showroom space.Royalty Carpet Mills PacifiCrest Mills Put Royalty in the design/specification market.

1993 Mohawk Horizon Industries Became eighth-largest mill with $630 million in sales.Mohawk Fieldcrest Cannon Acquired Karastan and Bigelow brands; positioned company as second largest mill with sales of more than $830 million.Dixie Group Carriage Industries Acquired industry’s largest supplier to the manufactured housing business.Dixie Group Masland Carpets Added $50 million in sales; gave company foothold in higher-end residential business.Interface Prince Street, Bentley Mills Enhanced leading position in commercial arena; diversified product mix.Mohawk Aladdin Mills Highest amount—$450 million—paid for carpet mill; merger gives Lorberbaum family 42% of Mohawk’s outstanding common stock

1994 Domco Nafco $97 million purchase bolstered luxury vinyl tile portfolio.Queen Carpet Tuftex Purchase of $14 million California mill boosted Queen’s annual sales to $565 million.Western FCA AFA Formed World Floor Covering Association, brought Chris Davis into the industry.

1995 Mohawk Galaxy Carpet Mills $200 million purchase enhanced position at mid-level price points.Dal-Tile American Olean Merger brought together largest tile manufacturers in U.S., creating estimated capacity of nearly 450 million square feet.

1996 Mohawk Diamond Rug & Carpet $60 million transaction added lower-priced residential carpet to the mix.Tarkett Domco Merger created second-largest hard surface manufacturer in North America with $500 million in sales.

1998 Mohawk World Carpets Acquisition of $430 million company put Mohawk at $2.5 billion in sales.Mohawk Image Industries Put company in recycled polyester fiber business, turning plastic bottles into yarn used to manufacture carpet.Shaw Industries Queen Carpet Added $800 million in sales and four brands to its portfolio: Queen, Tuftex, Patcraft and Designweave.Armstrong Triangle Pacific Diversified Armstrong’s product portfolio; became No. 1 hardwood flooring producer, adding well-recognized Bruce brand.Armstrong DLW Regained position of world’s top resilient flooring producer with acquisition of German linoleum tile and sheet company.Beaulieu of America Columbus Mills Added credibility to Beaulieu Commercial within the A&D community; eventually folded into Coronet.Beaulieu of America Marglen Industries Gave company entrée into the recycled polyester carpet business.Beaulieu of America Peerless Carpet Gave company a dominant position in the Canadian carpet market.Dixie Group Multitex Corp. Globaltex division had major presence in the big boxes; added $85 million in sales.

1999 Collins & Aikman Monterey, Crossley Combination of three carpet mills resulted in eventual formation of Tandus, one of the leading commercial manufacturers.

2000 Hanley-Wood Surfaces World Floor Covering Association secures its financial future via $40 million sale, plus 25-year annual annuity.Berkshire Hathaway Shaw Industries Allowed Shaw to focus on long-term goals rather than month-to-month.Beaulieu LDBrinkman Purchase of industry’s largest distributor put mill in the hard surface business.Dixie Group Fabrica Enhanced position at the upper end of the market.Mohawk Durkan Patterned Carpets Purchase of $110 million company put it squarely in the hospitality sector.Carpet Co-op of America Flooring America Company is renamed CCA Global Partners; became dominant retail group with roughly 2,000 stores under its umbrella.

2001 Mohawk Dal-Tile Vaulted to the top spot among U.S. flooring manufacturers after $1.63 billion purchase.

2003 Mohawk Lees Carpet Acquisition of $250 million commercial broadloom and tile mill broadened contract business.

2005 Mohawk Unilin Company gains domestic manufacturing via new, state-of-the-art facility in North Carolina as well as licensing rights to Uniclic locking system and Quick•Step brand.

Shaw Industries Synthetic Industries Purchase of backing manufacturer continued push to be 100% vertically integrated and having total control of its own products.Shaw Industries Honeywell’s fiber division Gained Anso and Zeftron brands; acquired 50% stake in Evergreen Nylon Recycling facility (eventually acquiring full ownership).

2006 Mohawk Propex Purchase of secondary backing plant, coupled with 2005 purchase of Wayn-Tex, fulfills most product mix requirements.Tarkett Johnsonite Gained more commercial market leverage as well as access to Johnsonite’s extensive product portfolio, including rubber flooring.

2007 Shaw Industries Anderson Hardwood Floors Positioned Shaw among top three hardwood suppliers, gaining a line with hallmarks of innovation, styling and quality.Mohawk Columbia Acquisition of key supplier, which included four plants, enabled company to manufacture wood rather than just market and sell it.

2009 Mohawk Wear-Dated Gained one of top three consumer fiber brands, which carries 63% aided recall awareness among target audience.

2011 DreamWeaver Catalina Alliance combines brand recognition of Catalina’s Stainmaster products with value inherent in Dream Weaver’s PET.

2012 Mannington Amtico Acquisition expands Mannington’s global market reach as well as the scope of its domestic manufacturing capabilities.Tarkett Tandus Purchase puts Tarkett into the commercial carpet business in North America and Asia Pacific. Mohawk Pergo Largest flooring manufacturer adds most recognized laminate flooring brand in U.S. and Europe to its portfolio for $150 million.

2013 Mohawk Marazzi $1.5 billion acquisition gives Mohawk total annual tile revenues of $2.75 billion, making it the world leader in the category.

2014 Haines CMH Space Purchase gives flooring’s No. 1 distributor annual sales of more than $500 million.All Tile Carpet Cushion & Supplies Acquisition vaults All-Tile to fourth-largest distributor with combined sales of $150 million; allows distributor to provide

for below the floor.Dixie Group Atlas Adds high-end manufacturer to commercial carpet portfolio that includes Masland Contract.

2015 Mohawk IVC $1.9 billion purchase of fastest growing manufacturer of LVT in Europe positions Mohawk to meet rapidly growing U.S. market.Lexmark Northwest Carpets Strengthens Lexmark’s position in the hospitality market.

30 (x2) acquisitions & mergers

30 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

FCICA offe

storiesthe

After Joe Maffettresigns as president ofWorld Carpets, JohnShaheen is named tosucceed him.

July Burlington Industriesacquires 92% of Masland,forming the largest carpetmill with $651 million insales. Two months later, Frank Greenberg becomes chairman andCEO of Burlington.

General Electricsells CoronetIndustries to CIHoldings, headed byformer World Carpetspresident Joe Maffett.

Mannington’s new Allusions isbilled as offering “dimensionallayering” designed to createluster and depth.

Armstrong enters the ceramic business via theacquisition ofSummitville Tiles.

FCICA offers a beginners’installation school.

1986

There is the story ofStainmaster, a story thatencompasses the vision,

the energy and the courage thatpropelled those who took mas-sive risks to make it more than atechnical improvement in theperformance of carpet. It is thestory of how the name came tobe—a $10,000 “blind” purchasefrom a Philadelphia attorney; ofthe men and women who sawthe chance for a major marketbreakthrough with, at the time, areadily available chemical to beupgraded by DuPont’s labs; toturn a short-term product advan-tage into an enduring brand suc-cess. It is the story of researcherslike Armand Zanato and BobShellenbarger who, with astrategic planner on my staff—Chris Rielly—conceived the firstsense of somethingthat would be big-ger than a productimprovement, sig-nificant as it was. In the early fall

of 1985, Riellybrought Zanato tothe flooring divi-sion’s managementto present hisawareness of thisstain-resist discov-ery for carpets—atechnology previ-ously used by theapparel industry as a dye-resistagent. Unbeknownst to both ofthe researchers, Zanato andShellenbarger, but known toRielly, was the existence of aconfidential six-man marketingteam headed by Bruce Koepcke,under the direction of BobAxtell, that had been studyingthe various instruments andmethods of consumer advertis-ing that could stimulate demandfor DuPont’s carpet products; aproject that had a pre-authorizedbudget of $10 million if the rightcombination of product andopportunity could be found. In a truly secret undertaking

that had only six members of mysenior management fully in theknow, the stain-resist technolo-gy was married to the findings ofthis covert marketing group,which had conducted year-longconsumer test studies through-

out the U.S. The group includedconsultants with experiencefrom P&G and BBDO. They hadspent their year studying everyfacet of marketing, advertising,promotion (both retail andnational) and quality assurance.They had studied many productfeatures, most “feeding” off the

established Antron trade name.The marriage of the newfoundstain resist and the finding ofthis group proved to be an explo-sive combination. In November, 1985, I gave

the go-ahead to make the mar-riage and instructed his team toproceed as rapidly as possible tocommercialization. Exhaustivepre-market testing under thestrictest secrecy covenants withfour leading carpet mills was ini-tiated. These covert mill testsled, six months later, to amoment of decision. The decision was “go!” Eight

more mills were added in thesummer of 1986 based onDuPont’s fiber capacity andanticipated demand. An intricatebut massive rollout plan wasorchestrated so thousands oftrucks carrying rolls of the newcertified product would be

How Stainmaster became the industry’s No. 1 brandBy Tom McAndrews, former president, DuPont Flooring Division

JanuaryMannington Mills acquiresLinwood ManufacturingCo., putting it into thehardwood flooring andveneering productbusinesses. The newdivision will operate underthe Mannington WoodFloors moniker.

An NAFCD surveyshows an increasingnumber of carpet millsare bypassingdistributorsfor contractsales.

September General Felt Industriespurchases Color Tile,which operates slightlyunder 700 floor coveringretail stores throughoutthe U.S.

February Felt-backed vinyl flooringand vinyl asbestos floortile are among severalproducts that will beaffected by the EPA’s planto phase out asbestos.

Congoleum and Tarkett celebrate their 100-year anniversaries.

The first NWFA convention attracts170 attendees.

April Robert VanBuren isnamedpresident andCEO of Azrock.

May Ralph Boe is namedpresident of HorizonIndustries succeedingPeter Spirer,who remainschairman and CEO.

LDBrinkman, thenation’s largest flooringdistributor, sells itscarpet and floorproducts operation toU.K.-based Crowtherfor $57 million.

June Tarkett unveils LifetimeInlaid Flooring, billed aseasier to install thantraditional inlaids, hittingthe market with alifetime wear andproduct defect warranty.

December Monsanto launches Wear-Dated Gold Label stain-resistant carpet.

October The Tile Council ofAmerica launches acampaign to promoteAmerican-made tile.

November Fieldcrest Cannon, parent company ofKarastan, agrees toacquire Bigelow-Sanford.

rolling all across America on thesame day in early September. Asthe trucks were cruising, a pressconference in New York’s PierreHotel gave the flooring media aconfidential preview, followeddays later by a similar presenta-tion to all of America’s leadingTV programs and networks(“The Today Show,” “GoodMorning America,” CNN, etc.)and America’s leading newspa-pers (New York Times, Wall StreetJournal, AP, etc.) and magazines.The first TV commercial—the“Ricky Plane” commercial, pro-duced by the “Pepsi Team” atBBDO—aired during the secondinning of the American Leagueplayoffs a week later. This his-toric commercial began a nation-al advertising campaign, the sizeand intensity of which had neverbeen seen before in the flooringindustry—or since.

The $10-mil-lion budget wasquickly increasedto $20 million asthe telephonelines at DuPontheadquarters inWilmington, Del.,went into melt-down. Thousandsof calls were com-ing from acrossthe land askingabout DuPont’sproduct break-through in carpet.

Axtell, my chief lieutenant,and my management team consisting of Koepcke, Koch,McLaughlin, Stucklik, Carna-vale, Baucom, DeMirjian, Culley,Jones, Johnson and Smith assist-ed by the army of retail special-ists of TMG, were crisscrossingthe United States with their“swizzle stick” POP promotiondisplays and their bundles of co-op advertising funds to furtherfuel the marketing blitz. Within weeks, sales to car-

pet mill customers were expo-nentially exceeding all forecasts,and in a truly startling effort,DuPont’s manufacturing organi-zation began building multi-million-dollar expansions,working 24/7, breaking allrecords of similar constructionto serve this new demand. The most senior manage-

Continued on page 91

32 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

storiesthe

Dennis Draeger isArmstrong’s new groupvice president of resilient.

New divisional vicepresidents of sales and marketing at Shaw: RandyMerritt for PhiladelphiaCarpets and Don Whitfieldfor Cabin Crafts.

1987

If you go back to 1987 [when Iwas president and CEO ofShaw Industries], we basically

had a lot of risk capitalists raidingthe textile mills because they hadlarge sums of money in their trustdepartment. Pepperell was undersiege and had to raise cash. It wasconsolidating back into the textilebusiness and the WestPoint (car-pet) division was something itcould sell because it was not coreto its business.

Cabin Crafts was our target; ithad a good name. That basicallymoved Shaw Industries into theupper end of the carpet industry.Up until that time, Shaw had justbeen a low-cost commodity pro-ducer.

Throughout all the acquisi-tions we made, we neverapproached mills; theyapproached us. The following yearArmstrong came to us with Evans& Black. Armstrong had theasbestos problems and was look-ing to spin off all it could beyondits core business. Like Pepperell, itwas consolidating back into itscore business.

The reality is there is nothingunique about our industry. Asany industry matures, as it getscloser to the GNP, there willalways be consolidation, and it’salways the stronger buying theweaker. And a fast-growing, pub-lic company must get into acqui-sitions as well as grow internally

to get the growth patterns WallStreet demands.

I knew very simply there couldonly be two types of companies:those that would be acquiring andthose that would be acquired. Andthere was no chance ShawIndustries would ever be acquired.We believed we were the low-costproducer, and in a commoditiesbusiness the low-cost producer isalways the winner. And no matterwhat we advertise, we are in acommodities business.

The consolidation continuedfor a few reasons. First, by makingacquisitions you advertise you arein the market for more acquisi-tions. And you have to be able toafford it. We were the only publiccompany, so we had access to pub-lic money that others did not.Second, there were too many bor-derline successful carpet mills—those having value, but not gener-ating enough money to grow to

any significant degree. We had abunch of mills doing between$100 million and $300 million.

Ultimately, aside fromincreasing market share, we werelooking for consolidation of amature industry. As much as wewanted to consolidate, DuPontwanted to keep it separated. Andonly when you get large enoughcan you backward integrate intothe yarn business and extrudeyour own fiber. We needed to dothat to compete with the Allieds,Monsantos and DuPonts.

If you asked me 30 years agowhere consolidation would endand how many major mills therewould be today, I would have toldyou there would be a leader, astrong second, a weaker third anda bunch of also-rans. All you haveto do is look at the automotiveindustry. Before the Japanesecame in, you had General Motors,you had Ford as the strong com-petitor and Chrysler was the dis-tant third. And No. 1 makes threetimes as much money as No. 2 andNo. 3 combined, and that wasabout the case in the carpet indus-try. We were always the low-costproducer and had done morebackward integrating. We boughtHoneywell and extrusion fromBeaulieu. The more backwardintegrating you do, the moreadded value you generate. Themore added value, the greatercapability of controlling the profit.

Pepperell purchase was the shot heard around the world

By Bob Shaw, chairman and CEO, Engineered Floors

April The latest hardwoodtrends, according to the NWFA, are lighterfinishes and morenarrow widths.

March Abbey Carpet announcesplans to open 200-plusfranchised floor coveringshowrooms within thestores of nationaldepartment store chainMontgomery Ward. Thecompany says it is thefirst time independentcarpet dealers canestablish shops withinthis type of national chain.

May Tarkett launches its 12-foot-wide Lifetime Inlaidflooring system tominimize seams.

December The Retail FloorcoveringInstitute changesits name to theAmericanFloorcovering Association.

October PermaGrain offers theindustry’s first acrylic-impregnated product,Tupelo Wood Plank, saidto combine colorconsistency withperformance.

Swedishcompany Kährssets up shop inCalifornia withUlf Kähr as president.

Congoleum takes thewraps off Triumph, whichfeatures a high-glossurethane finish.

Dean McKinney is tapped tolead Flex, the industry’s first

consumer creditprogram.

Dave Cicchinelliis namedpresident ofCarpetland USA.

July Collins & Aikman pegsCharles Eitel aspresident of its floorcovering division.

November David Hartman is named vice president ofmarketing forMannington’s resilient division.

February 3M introduces ScotchgardStain Release, a systemthe company claims is thefirst in the industry tooffer combinedsoil and stainprotection forcarpet.

The mills that Shaw Industries gradually acquired over time madesense from a strategic standpoint. The purchases not only increasedthe company’s market share, but also added new capabilities.

Bob Shaw

34 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

Milliken improves itssuccessful Capture dry carpet cleaner.

1988

Back in 1972, a company rose from a disasterto become a storybook success.

Horizon Industries was named for theuncanny ability to look way beyond where you cansee, to find a place of wonder called the horizon.Originally, the company was TCA, Tile Company ofAmerica. Within three years it had become an ashheap of failed dreams. This little enterprise madethe first carpet  tiles in the U.S., 12 x 12 nylon shagsquares with attached foam rubber cushion.Merchandised as Carpetin a Carton, everySears, Montgomery Wardsand JC Penney store inAmerica sold them. For ayear or two TCA squareswere a retail sensation.

And then the bottomfell out.

The Federal TradeCommission (FTC) decid-ed to check the compli-ance of the carpet indus-try with recently enactedregulations passed byCongress, requiring allhome textiles to pass the Textile FlammabilityAct. Lawyers from theFTC’s Compliance sectiondescended on northGeorgia carpet mills, pick-ing up samples and testingthem to see if they passed the methenamine pilltest, the standard established for determining theburn spread of a high energy ignitor (the pill) onhome textiles, including carpet. Few, if any, did.The industry was in deep doodoo.

Lacking the technology to slow the spread orextinguish the burning pill, the carpet industrywas a sitting duck, and failures were found fromthe largest manufacturers to the smallest. TCA,being in the latter category and easily identifiedby its red, white and blue boxes in every chainstore in every state, was the company the FTCdeemed easiest to prosecute and least able todefend itself. Within a year or so following itsmarch through Georgia, the FTC lawyers forcedus to recall 15 months of production. When thegoods was returned, it was sent to the Daltondump to be destroyed by burning. Thus, did TCAperish in the flames.

Note: TCA’s legal defense had to be abandonedwhen it became financially unable to continue thefight. Two prodigious events followed:  Thelarge  companies whose carpets failed to pass the“pill test” banded together and sued the FTC, usingTCA’s exact claim, namely  that Congress  had notgiven the Federal Trade Commission the authorityto recall. TCA’s lawyer, Dick Gimer, was retainedby these major mills  to press the case. He won,hands down. Secondly, latex  chemists developed asure cure for extinguishing the methenamine pill,a chemical known as aluminum trihydrate, which,

when heated, dispersed water and extinguishedthe flames. Both developments came within a yearof TCA’s misfortune.

Forced to discontinue shipping failing carpettiles, TCA sold its tile cutting equipment to astartup venture in the commercial sector calledInterface. We changed TCA’s name as well. Theonly things remaining were our building and alarge tax loss to carry forward. The newly namedcompany, Horizon Industries, was based on anindeterminate future but a very real philosophy.In a word, this philosophy was “dare.” 

As the smallest of themore than 300 carpetmills of the time (1972),Horizon needed to benoticed. Barwick Carpets,then the industry’s  largestmanufacturer, had justintroduced cut and looptechnology, made withnewly designed electron-ic scroll pattern tuftingmachines.  Desperate forsuccess, we decided toroll the dice and buy oneof these machines. Wefelt sure that the beautifulcut and loop designswould  stand out amongthe pedestrian, base-grade cut piles, level looptweeds, polyester “splush-es” and shags. After all theturmoil with TCA we

opted to roll the dice to regain lost time.In hindsight, our act of desperation was the

perfect stroke. We needed a major breakthroughand we got it. Beau Rivage, Horizon’s first productintroduction, was a big hit. With the bravadospringing from success, we followed up withMystique,  Sabra,  Le Plaid, Le Mans  andAmerican  Folkweave. The more daring ourdesigning became, the faster the business grew.As it turned out, consumers were starved  forinnovation. When they discovered it theyresponded enthusiastically. We even made aremarkable pattern (which didn’t sell) basedon  the hippy era  LOVE design. Then we intro-duced the industry’s first line of printed animalskin patterns, a blockbuster called Safari.

We had our failures. Sampling a product withlittle or no financial recovery is risky business. Welearned to manage risk by seeking the opinionsof  dealers before launching, and then samplingonly a small percentage of our customers to testreaction before going  full blast. 

By 1980 we had passed  Barwick in size andwere among the top 10 carpet mills. In 1983 wewent public, and in 1992 we becameMohawk’s  first acquisition. Our high-risk philoso-phy hadn’t changed, but we did manage to slip insome commodity products  to pay  the light bill.

Moral of the story: Follow your instinctsunless (or until) they lead you up a blind alley.Then, throw the Hail Mary pass.

Horizon Industries, like the mythicalphoenix, literally rose from the ashes

By Peter Spirer, CEO of MaxWoods

storiestheJanuary Frederick Berman,chairman of Benj.Berman, passes away at age 78.

March Jim Trawick is the new president ofDomco’s U.S. division.

February Dorsett Carpet Millsbecomes the firstAmerican carpetmanufacturer to extrudeits own BCF nylon.

Roger Hunt is named executive directorof the Flexconsumer credit program.

Don Finkell is appointedpresident of AndersonHardwood Floors.

World Carpets appointsBill Waters vicepresident of marketingfor all divisions.

Dorsett Carpetmills becomes thefirst American carpetmanufacturer todevelop and extrude itsown BCF nylon, thecompany claims.

December DuPont signs a letter ofintent to purchaseHercules’ olefin carpetfiber business. The movewill more than doubleDuPont’s olefin fibercapacity.

Changes at LDBrinkman:Jeff Sills isnamed seniorvice presidentof sales andmarketing; Mike

Klingele isappointed president ofthe West Coast division.

The Chicago MerchandiseMart cancels its retailresidential market forJanuary, citing a shift infocus to designer/specifier.

Monterrey Carpets ispurchased by Larry Jonesand Kevin Allen.

Armstrong announces plansto purchase all outstandingshares of American Olean capital stock from NationalGypsum.

May Odyssey acquires J.P.Stevens carpet group.

August Carpet One introduces anational real estateprogram, a sales training plan and its owncredit card.

June Congoleum launchesMarathon, its first heavyduty inlaid sheet,marking its entranceinto the commercialsheet goods market.

October Stanton Carpetsacquires CarpetDistributors of America.

42 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

August Mohawk purchases HorizonIndustries for $86.5million. With combinedsales of approximately$630 million, Mohawkbecomes the industry’ssecond largest carpet mill.

The industry debates themerits of fiber companies’strategy of selling whatwould normally bebranded fibers to mills asunbranded goods.

Hoechst unveils TreviraOne, an all-polyestercarpet system that iscompletely recyclable.

The flooring industry’sHall of Fame isannounced with 11 people named asinaugural members.

1992

The vision was to build a co-operative where floor cov-ering retailers could

achieve the same market advan-tages as the national chains. Themission was to formu-late a plan that wouldcombine marketingwith buying power andmanagement tools. Theresult was Carpet One.

It was 1984 whenHoward Brodsky andAlan Greenberg, friendsfrom their days as influ-ential members of theRetail FloorcoveringInstitute (RFI), beganthinking about whatwould formally belaunched as Carpet Co-op of America. Theirtarget was aggressive atthe outset but rather modest inhindsight: 330 retailers. Not intheir wildest dreams could theyhave ever imagined a meetingwith 11 other retailers inJanuary 2005 spawning inar-guably the most powerful retailflooring entity, a group that col-lectively sells more than $4 bil-lion annually.

The story is one for theHarvard BusinessSchool: How to build asuccessful co-op. Thestory is also an unlikelyone. Greenberg had lefthis family business, TileTown, to launch SunCarpet in St. Louis.Brodsky’s Dean’s Carpetin Manchester, N.H.,was the typical All-American dealer. But together,they were as good as itgets.�“Alan and I built a greatfriendship,” Brodsky toldFCNews. “We were both presi-dents of RFI. Then we were co-chairs of the Billion DollarCarpet Sale. That was the firstevent we did together, and weknew a lot of dealers around thecountry. After that was success-ful, we started strategizing:What would happen if we got agroup that would buy together,market together, advertise

together and have some prod-ucts together.”

It was a different time backthen. “Home centers were justbecoming a factor. The industrywas fragmented. There were400 mills. At the time $200 mil-lion was a huge mill. The mar-ket share of the largest mill wasjust 2%. So I think we saw anopportunity.”

Brodsky and Greenbergbegan to do their homework.First, they met with each otherand started listing things thatwould be part of the concept.Next, they looked at otherorganizations that had somesimilarities.

Then they started talking toexperts from other industrieslike Larry Zehfuss, CEO of the

ServiStar hardware co-op. “Wespent an afternoon in Butler,Pa., trying to understand theidea of a co-op. We came awaywith the feeling that this wouldbe a great concept for us.”

From there Brodsky andGreenberg started to formalizethe business plan. “We put ourconcept together and invited 11people to Atlanta, friends weknew from different parts of thecountry, and all we had was aflip chart of the concept. Weasked them if they wanted to be

in, and they all said yes.”The premise presented to

these 11 retailers was relativelysimple. Running a successfulcarpet store was likened to anequilateral triangle with thethree sides consisting of buying,management and marketing. Onthe marketing side was directmail, television, radio and print.Under buying was purchasing

more competitivelyand private labeling.Management centeredon all facets of training.

“From day one, webelieved strongly that ifwe only focused onbuying we weren’tgoing to help anybody,”Brodsky said. “If all wedid was management,then we couldn’t getthe margins we want-ed. We knew we had toleverage all three—including marketing—together. All three hadto be working together

simultaneously.”

The early daysSandy Mishkin, the only presi-dent Carpet One has ever knownand one of the industry’s greatestnegotiators, was a key compo-nent from the start, convincingthe mills to sign on. It wasn’teasy. Many of the mills did notsee a group of dealers getting

together as positive for them. SoCarpet One did what anyonewould do—it phoned afriend.�“The original mills werepersonal, close friends, andthat’s who sold us,” Brodsky said.“Doug Foster of Salem and DonMercer of Mohawk were theearly supporters. We wanted toget some private-label lines anda better discount than what wasbeing offered to the market. Wewere able to get a pretty wide-ranging collection that webranded Carpet One.”

How Carpet One blossomed into the premier retail group

By Steven Feldman

storiestheJanuary Bob Van Buren is namedpresident and CEO ofAzrock while continuingin his role aspresidentand CEO of Domco.

Lees Carpets launchesLees for Life, whichfeatures a patentedprocess that allowsproducts to resiststains for the life ofthe carpet.

October DuPont’s Partnership forCarpet Reclamation islaunched. This network ofcompanies will worktogether to collect anddistribute post-consumercarpet products.

February American carpet millshave been ordered by theCanadian Department ofNational Revenue’scustoms and excise branchto pay anti-dumping dutiesbetween 5.3% and 5.5% onall product sold intoCanada.

Shaw’s purchase ofSalem Carpet Mills willpush the company overthe $1 billion mark inannual sales and give ita market share ofapproximately 31%.

March More than 2,500 retail-ers, contractors anddesigners attend ExpoEast ’92, an industrytradeshow put on byFloor Covering News at the MeadowlandsConvention Center in New Jersey.

May BASF files for a patentthat will allow it torecycle carpet made withnylon 6 by depolymerizingthe fiber into reusablecaprolactam, its original monomer.

Fabrica starts listingsquare-foot prices nextto square-yard pricesin an effort to endconsumer confusionabout price andquantity needed.

July Carpet One starts CarpetOne University, acomprehensive trainingprogram that tours thecountry in an effort to

educate andmotivatesalespeople.

December Congoleum and Amticomerge with Roger Marcusnamed president and CEO.

November The industry blasts theCBS Network after fea-turing a segment con-cerning the effects of carpet and IAQ, stemmed fromAnderson Labs reportsthat have been denouncedby the industry and otherexperts.

(Reprinted from the Carpet One25th anniversary issue, publishedby FCNews in 2009.)

‘‘ ’’At the time $200 million was a huge mill. The market share of

the largest mill was just 2%. So I think we saw an opportunity.

—Howard BrodskyCo-founder, chairman and co-CEO, Carpet One

44 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

July Kentile Floors will nolonger produce residentialresilient flooring.

Charles Eitel is new CEOof Interface.

1993

It was 1981 when I leftSweden, the country I calledhome throughout my entire

life, to become CEO of NorthAmerican operations for thenewly formed Tarkett, Inc.

Tarkett had just acquiredGAF’s worldwide flooring busi-ness for $56.6 million becausewe needed a distribution net-work in the U.S. The companywas so badly managed in boththe U.S. and Europe, and wewere the only company in theworld willing to purchase bothbusinesses. They could not selltheir European business; wewere the only one willing to takeit on because we knew how tocorrect it.

Their strategy in the U.S. wasa complete disaster. They had nounique products. The profes-sionally installed segment wasthe most important business.But it was not a priority for GAF.They did not spend on productdevelopment and had no mar-keting strategy. They could notdevelop a marketing strategybecause they didn’t have theproducts. What they would do isgive distributors a 3% discount.That is a stupid strategy.

When I took over, I had tochange everything. The firstthing I did was analyze our com-petitors. At the time, Armstrongwas by far the largest manufac-turer of vinyl in NorthAmerica—and the world—andwe were the largest in Europeand second largest in the world.As such, we had no interest inpositioning ourselves againstMannington or Congoleum. Wewanted to position ourselves asthe alternative to Armstrong, avery fine company that I havealways respected.

My only way of accomplish-ing that goal was to generatesome good attention. Everyonewas neglecting us. GAF had nopower. Everything they wereselling was on discount. So thefirst area where I really madenoise was with asbestos.

The interesting thing is sev-eral analyses in the market aboutasbestos were all from the U.S. Ihad a problem understanding

that there was no one in theindustry who had read any ofthese studies. But we knewabout it. We followed all thestudies about asbestos. I felt wecould not continue to producewith asbestos when workers onthe floor could get sick. So thisdecision was the right thingfrom both a strategy and moralpoint of view.

Without any question, ourbest product development wasnon-asbestos. Carl Sempier (theformer CEO of Mannington)said to me at one point, “Yousaved the entire industry fromcomplete disaster.” If I did nottake action in the asbestos area,things would have continued asthey were for another five toeight years. I can’t imagine howmuch more damage would havebeen done. As of September1981, we did not produce withasbestos.

Then I studied Armstrong.How does a disaster companylike GAF compete? Armstrongwas great in many areas,but I particularlyapplaud their mar-keting strategy.One weakness:They had notdeveloped enoughnew products in thelast seven years. So weput a lot of resourcesinto productdevelopment.We took ourbest man fromE u r o p e ,brought himover and invest-ed in product development.I had meetings every otherweek in Whitehall. I guidedthe team product by prod-uct, and what I expectedthem to develop. If youchallenge people they willrespond.

I traveled more than mycompetitors. I knew where wewere weak and where we werestrong. Customers will tell you,and I wanted to know. I visitedretailers who we had businesswith and those who we did not.No one traveled in the market

like I did. I got a lot of hell, but Ilearned from it.

We developed productswhere we could prove they werebetter than Armstrong’s. That’sbecause we could never followArmstrong in their strategy.They spent tons of money inconsumer advertising. If wetried to copy them it would havebeen suicide for our company.We did, however, do enoughconsumer advertising to keepthe distributors somewhathappy.

Instead, we chose to spendour money in trade advertising.We had more trade advertisingthan Armstrong, Mannington orCongoleum. It was throughtrade advertising where we chal-lenged Armstrong.

We were specific. We chal-lenged them one area at a time.The only way to do it right is tohave credible, independent, fairtesting. No Mickey Mouse test-ing. And after that you mustkeep referring to those tests.

What Armstrong didn’t

How Tarkett took aim at Circle A

By Ingvar Backhamre, former CEO, Tarkett Inc.

storiesthe

August Shaw continues itsexpansion in the U.K., bypurchasing AbingdonCarpets. Combined withits recent acquisition ofKosset Carpets, Shaw isconsidered to be thelargest seller of carpet inthe U.K.

Mannington changes atthe top: Scott Smith,chairman and CEO, hasresigned after 18 yearswith the company. TonyKelly, COO, will assumeSmith’s CEO duties.Meanwhile, KeithCampbell has beennamed executive vicepresident and Ed Duncansenior vice president ofmarketing.

January The 65-store chainCarpeteria is expandingits Western regionalpresence by openingstores in Arizona,Colorado and Texas.

Shaw’s much anticipatedTrustMark retailprogram hits the streetwith an initial offering of 150 residential styles.The mill sets a goal of2,500 U.S. retailers tobuy into the full-disclosure program.

September George Lorch is electedpresident and CEO ofArmstrong WorldIndustries, replacingWilliam Adams, whoremains chairman.

October The EPA is unable toindependently replicate thefinding of AndersonLaboratories concerningcarpet emitting toxic fumes.

March Mohawk purchasesAmerican Rug Craftsmenfor $20 million.

A storm that dumps 24 inches of snow causesthe roofs of more than 50 carpet mills within a30-mile radius of Daltonto collapse. Most millsare back to full operation10 daysafter thestorm hit.

April DuPont introduces threebranded fibers—Stainmaster Plus,MasterLife and GrandLuxura—that will be usedby only 18 mills. Thecompany also announcedthe formation of theDuPont MasterStoreconcept with the ultimategoal of having between2,000 and 3,000 locations.

May Tarkett goes head-to-headwith Armstrong’s Corlonline. Ingvar Backhamre,Tarkett’s president andCEO, debuts a gun-slingingcowboy outfit in makingthe announcement.June

Mohawk signs anagreement for $140 million withFieldcrest Cannon topurchase its KarastanBigelow carpet unit.Karastan’s $236 million in annual sales will push Mohawk ahead ofBeaulieu into the No. 2 spot among carpetmills with $835 million.

December Mohawk’s purchase of Aladdin Mills for $386.5million sets an industryrecord as the highestamount paid for a millacquisition. The purchasewill push Mohawk’s annual sales to more than$1.3 billion.

November Ed Weaver, chairman andCEO of Diamond Rug &Carpet Mills, dies of aheart attack at age 48.

GOAL WAS TO PROVE ITSELF AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ARMSTRONGTHROUGH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING

Ingvar Backhamnepresident & CEO,Tarkett, Inc.

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 45

know was that Iknew American lawas well as my com-petitors. They saidwe will take you tocourt. I said youcould do that, but ifyou want to get rid ofmy ads, the best wayis to convince me I’mwrong. Then I willdrop my ads andapologize. If youcan’t do that then it isnone of your busi-ness. Then I wouldask if they had in-house lawyers. I toldthem in-houselawyers are not the best in themarketplace. I had RudyGuiliani as my lawyer. This wasbefore he became mayor of NewYork. He is a wonderful man.Rudy and I speak the same lan-guage. So the very last meeting Ihad with them they offered me acompromise. I turned this down.

Armstrong is a very fine com-pany. They would not have beenthe biggest in the world if theywere not very good in manyareas. In my ads I never said theywere bad. I just said in someareas we were better. For us to betrusted by the retailers, we need-ed to prove we had several prod-ucts better than Armstrong’s. Wegot so many more retailersbecause of those ads.

Everyone thought we weregoing after Armstrong. That wasnot true. We were just out toposition ourselves as an alterna-tive to Armstrong. You musthave a very simple message forthe market. So we never tried tobadmouth them. We never triedto say they had bad products. Wejust tried to say in some areas wewere better. We had no hardfeelings toward Armstrong. Theywere the best in the industry.

One of those products wasLifetime Inlaid Flooring, whichwe positioned against their suc-cessful Solarian line. It was a dif-ferent kind of inlaid, and it was12 feet wide where we eliminat-ed most seams. If there was oneproblem with Solarian it wasseams. Our product was also bet-ter in wear tests. It beat Solarianby far.

People also remember thetrade ad I once ran with mewearing a black cowboy outfitholding a couple of guns where Ichallenged Armstrong to “makemy day.” You know, we musthave some fun, too. I found theflooring business boring. Theywere no fun. When I challenged

Armstrong product after prod-uct, the press asked if I was will-ing to meet Armstrong. Where?I suggested the O.K. Corralbecause that is the best-knownWestern. Life is too short. ThatClint Eastwood ad may havebeen a little provocative, but itwas just another way to have alittle fun.

Passing the torchI retired from Tarkett in

1997, and the company hasstruggled to achieve the level ofsuccess we enjoyed in the 16years I served as CEO. I amoften asked why. I would say Iwas very independent withinTarkett. I was not only CEO forTarkett Inc., but I was executivevice president for the wholegroup for more than 10 years. Ifyou take the market strategy inU.S., I did it by myself. We wentfrom a losing company in NorthAmerica to become the mostimportant company profit-wisewithin Tarkett worldwide.

I did it very differently thanEurope. Their consumer busi-ness in Europe was not good.They were selling vinyl as acommodity business based onthickness. My boss came overfrom Europe and asked meabout the thickness of someproducts. I said it was irrelevant.He was mad at me. Everyonetalked about thickness. It wasstupidity.

The management fromEurope after me messed thingsup. Do you think they wanted toask for advice from the previousboss? They didn’t understandhow it works in America.Everyone here got it right:Armstrong, Mannington,Congoleum, us. We stressed iteven more with our productdevelopment. Europe focusedon construction. It was like hav-ing an engineer come in to

focus on marketing. Stupid. Andwhen it comes to distribution, ifyou lose a distributor you can-not wait one year to appointanother. What happens with adealer base? They go to some-one else.

Another issue I remember:There was a big distributor inthe U.S. who handled vinyl for acompetitor. He came to me andsaid they were thinking of lining

up with Tarkett. My firstthought was are they serious orare they going to go back totheir present vendor and pressthem for concessions. So I wasdragging my feet. Eventually Isaid, “I cannot legally terminatefive distributors in your areaand give the line to you.” He saidhe was still interested. Then Iknew he was just playing us.

When I left Tarkett they had

re-hired the mar-keting director Ihad fired. He wasbluffed into givinga proposal to thatmajor distributor.That distributorwent back to hiscurrent vendor.Word leaked outand distributorslost confidenceand didn’t want toinvest.

The mostimportant thingsabout being a man-ufacturer are R&Dand marketing. If

you don’t have the products, andyou can’t copy the market leaderbecause of economies of sale,you must be better in some keyareas. For us, eliminatingasbestos was critical.

I moved back to Sweden in2013 after 32 years in the U.S. Westayed much longer than I hadplanned. I love the United States,but it is nice to be home againwith old friends and family.

46 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

July Recycling is the buzzword at NeoCon ’94 as theA&D community startsshowing a big interest inenvironmentally friendlyoptions.

1994

In the 1980s, in the smallSwedish town of PerstorpVillage, a laminate countertop

manufacturer began experi-menting with laminate thatcould be used for flooring.

From its production facilityin Trelleborg, Sweden, Pergo waslaunched into Austria, Germany,France and Scandinavia, where itwas an immediate hit.

With momentum behind itand looking to broaden its mar-ket, Pergo took the product toDomotex Germany, Europe’slargest floor covering show. Thatis where, in 1992, Paul Murfin(now CEO of IVC) and I stum-bled upon the Pergo exhibit.Paul and I were at the show look-ing for new wood suppliers forMisco Shawnee, my Midwestdistribution company. Pergopiqued our interest. Theinstalled planks looked likewood but something about itwas different. Little did we knowthen how the chance discoverywould change our lives and theindustry.

We learned that Pergo couldnot launch in the U.S. marketbecause it lacked the infrastruc-ture: warehousing, logistics,sales force and internal opera-tions. Ironically, two years earli-er I had created DistributionServices Inc. (DSI), specificallyto handle logistics in America

for foreign manufacturers. Inshort order, Misco had a newproduct and DSI had a newclient.

Pergo’s president, Lars vonKantzow, had only recently beenhired away from Cricket Lighter,a division of Gillette (formerly adivision of the Swedish MatchCo.) where he had proven hisability to capture market sharewith a new product. As we dis-cussed his challenges, it becameevident he was committed tounderstanding the industry anddoing whatever it took to makePergo succeed. To head up U.S.marketing and advertising, Larshired Bill Dearing, previouslydirector of U.S. sales at Cricketand currently president of theNorth American LaminateFlooring Association. Othermembers of his Cricket teameagerly rejoined their leader.

Timing for a new product inthe market could not have beenbetter. Consumers and retailerswere tired of the same productswith their worn appearance andmaintenance problems; retailerand distributor profit marginshad been squeezed to a mini-mum as flooring categoriesbecame commoditized.Everyone was ready for some-thing new; Pergo had the prod-uct and the management, DSIcovered their logistics stateside.

It took awhile to organize allthe pieces before the launch. Toguarantee sales and recruit dis-tributors, one-year exclusiveagreements were signed withAlan Greenberg for Carpet Oneand Larry Nagle for Color Tile.With retailers in place, Larsrecruited a network of the bestwholesale distributors inAmerica. Without establishedcompetitors in the market,enhanced profit margins for dis-tributors and retailers sweet-ened the proposition. Prices andmargins held firm while the con-sumer benefited from a newproduct with improved perform-ance.

When Pergo launched in theU.S., Misco was the first distrib-utor and my company DSI wasthe machine behind the curtaintaking orders, warehousing andprocessing claims. Everyone

Coming to America: The Pergo phenomenon

By Jim Gould, president, Floor Covering Institute

storiesthe

September Chris Davis is namedexecutive director andCEO of the Western FloorCovering Association in preparation of its mergerwith the AmericanFloorcoveringAssociation.

August Pergo laminate is nowavailable in the U.S. Thenational rollout of itsrevolutionary floor isbeing led byColor Tile and CarpetOne.

October Industry mourns thepassing of Harry Saul,founder of Queen Carpetand philanthropist. He was 85.

February An estimated 29,000 peopleturn out for Surfaces ’94,officially marking it as theindustry’s national show.

A new “floating floor”lands in U.S. Italy’sAbet Laminati debuts ahigh-pressuredecorative laminate tothe U.S. builder market.

April Domco buys NationalFlooring Products Co.(NAFCO) to bolster itsresidential tile business.

May Color Tile, the nation’slargest specialty retailer,has added carpet to itsproduct mix as softsurface sales are greatlyoutpacing the rest of theindustry.

Queen Carpet acquiresTuftex Industries, thesecond purchase of aWest Coast mill in aweek.Diamond, Dixie,Interface, Mohawk,Queen and Shaw areamong the carpet millssubpoenaed by the U.S.Justice Department in afederal antitrust probe.

June Dixie Yarns will purchasePatrick Carpet Mills.Primarily a high-endcommercial mill, theWest Coast company hadsales of approximately $20 million in 1993.

December Mohawk purchasesGalaxy Carpet Mills fromPeerless Carpet Corp.for $42.4 million.

November Western Solutions, adivision of E.T.C. CarpetMills, is the first carpetmanufacturer in the U.S.to say it will make all itsproducts out ofrecyclable nylon fibers.

Maxim acquires GCO CarpetOutlets for an estimated$10.5 million. The purchasegives Maxim access to thecash-and-carry business.

Close to 200 installers fromaround the country come toKansas City, Mo., for thefirst-ever convention of theInternational CertifiedFloorcovering InstallersAssociation (CFI).

Lars von Kantzow

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 47

dialing 1-800-PERGOreached a DSI/Miscoemployee whoanswered, “Thank youfor calling Pergo.”Orders shipped fromDSI’s Pergo inventoryto distributors acrossthe country, andCarpet One and ColorTile exceeded every-one’s—except Lars’—expectations.

Customer satisfac-tion and service wereparamount to Pergo.The company flew inas many pallets as nec-essary to fill orderswhen a SKU sold out.If an installer did notfollow the installationinstructions, and sub-sequently caused afailure, Pergo suppliednew material free of

charge. Since 80% of claimswere installation related, Pergostarted training installers. Later,certified installers were requiredor the warranty was voided uponinstallation.

Most importantly, Larsunderstood how to build a brandin a brand-starved industry.Inheriting a name that was morereminiscent of spaghetti saucethan flooring, the company gam-bled millions in a sustained,multi-year advertising cam-paign, wisely spending $10 mil-lion a year in shelter magazines,industry press and general pro-motions. The impact was equalto some corporations spendingin excess of $25 million per year.Paid advertising was enhancedby consumers enthusiasticallytelling their friends about theirexciting new floor. Word ofmouth spread the news moreeffectively than purchasedadvertising, an early example of“peer reviews.”

A simple retail display with ahigh heel and a challenge to con-sumers to try to dent the flooreffectively demonstrated thePergo story. Mrs. Consumerwatched in amazement as thesalesperson calculated the costof the project with a magicmarker on the Pergo plank theneasily wiped the board clean.Smokers watched a demo of alighted cigarette that did notmark the floor.

As one very close to the oper-ations of Pergo, I watched Larsorchestrate sales, advertising,marketing and operations withwizardry. By 1996, Pergo beganto manufacture flooring inGarner, N.C., continued to dom-

inate what had become anentirely new flooring category.

Post mortem: The fate ofsuch a highly successful compa-ny could be a case study at the

Harvard School of Business.Competition introduced lessexpensive direct pressure lami-nate (DPL), overcoming limita-tions in design and performance

of earlier DPL products.Competitors introducedbeveled edges, embossed-in-reg-ister designs and glueless instal-lation systems. The family thatcontrolled Perstorp chose not toimmediately respond by invest-ing in new equipment, andPergo fell behind as a conse-quence. A decision to sell direct-ly to Home Depot in hopes ofkeeping competitors out of thatchannel broke the support andconfidence of many of Pergo’s

original distributors. While today the DIY market

represents more than 60% oflaminate sales, back then thedecision to sell to big boxes wasquestioned and criticized.Today, Pergo lives on as a divi-sion of Mohawk Industriesjoined by its once archrival,Unilin. Lars von Kantzow is theCEO of the highly successfulNomaco, the world’s largest pro-ducer of synthetic bottle stop-pers for wine.

‘‘ ’’As one very close to the operations

of Pergo, I watched Lars von Kantzow orchestrate sales, advertising, marketing

and operations with wizardry.—Jim Gould,

president, Floor Covering Institute

48 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

Jeff Lorberbaum isnamed president andCOO of MohawkIndustries whileretaining hisresponsibilities aspresidentand CEO ofthe Aladdindivision.

July Perstorp, maker of Pergolaminate flooring,announces it will breakground on a manufactur-ing plant in Raleigh, N.C.

LDBrinkman, theindustry’s largestdistributor, has thrown itshat into the laminate ringby becoming the exclusivewholesaler of Fibo-Trespoin its 34-market territory.Fibo would ultimatelybecome Alloc.

The management groupthat purchased JPSCarpet Corp. from JPSTextile renames thecompany Gulistan.

1995

“It was really about pre-senting fashion to thefloor covering retailer at

a time when many companieswere not really doing it. Thatwas the mindset driving thatwhole system.”

That’s according to SherryQualls, a former advertising andmarketing executive withArmstrong WorldIndustries, reflecting onthe concept behind thedevelopment of theinfamous Questresilient floor coveringmerchandising systemthat Armstrong official-ly launched in 1995.Primarily devised as ameans to squeeze com-peting hard surfaceproducts off the show-room floor, observerssay it actually resultedin more space beingdevoted to laminateflooring, then an up andcoming category.

Massive and bold in its pres-entation, the Quest displayclaimed to be the first such sys-tem to utilize large-scale, free-standing samples and the first ofits kind to incorporate actualroom-scene photography on thereverse side of those samples.The system was also built on agood/better/best platform thatappealed to retail sales associ-

ates and consumers alike. “The idea was to give the

specialty retailer permission tofeel more comfortable aboutbeing in the interior fashionbusiness,” said Qualls, who for 17years managed the residentialand commercial flooring brandstrategies at Armstrong. As sheexplained: “Everyone atArmstrong felt it was reallyimportant that we didn’t differ-

entiate between resilient andlaminate flooring as much as wewanted to reinforce the fact thatwe were giving customers a vari-ety of choices in a display systemthat was beautiful as well asfunctional. The goal was to takean elevated approach to the tra-ditional retail presentation.”

But that was only part of thereason behind the development

of the Quest merchandising pro-gram. With Armstrong-brandedresilient flooring products andsignature collections gainingmore prominence within homecenters, the company needed away to address the rising chan-nel conflict caused by the unrestthat was brewing among inde-pendent specialty retailers whostruggled to compete head-to-head with the big boxes on the

same branded products. “Yes, that was a very impor-

tant strategy, obviously,” Quallsrecalled. “There were a numberof products, especially lami-nates, that were finding theirway into the big box retail loca-tions. In those days it was veryimportant to Armstrong tomake sure there was a veryclear differentiation, and one of

How Armstrong’s ‘Quest’ for floor spacepaved the way for laminates

storiesthe

OctoberCarpet One enters thewholesale business withthe opening of DistributionOne in Dalton.

January Industry stalwart M.B.“Bud” Seretean is app-pointed chairman of TheMaxim Group, succeedingRichard Kaplan.

“Cotton’s Future in FloorCovering” is a one-dayseminar held in Dalton byCotton Inc. as theorganization makes a pushto bring the fiber back tothe industry.

August Kentile, at one time themost well-known brand ofresilient floors, ceasesoperations.

Armstrong sells itsAmerican Olean tile division to Dal-TileInternational.

February Karastan becomes thefirst licensee of thenew Wools ofNew Zealandbrand.

Shell Oil entersthe flooringindustry with anew fibernamed Corterra. Thecompany says the polytrimethylene terephthalate(PTT) polymer exhibits thebest characteristics ofnylon and polyester.

AprilStanton Carpetpurchases Royal DutchCarpet Mills.

MayMinnesota forms theCarpet RecyclingProgram, CA-RE throughUnited Recycling. This isthe forerunner to theindustry’s Carpet AmericaRecovery Effort foundedin 2002.

June Countertop heavyweightWilsonart announces itsentry into the flooringindustry with a brandedline of laminate flooring.

December Armstrong unveils Quest,the most comprehensiveprogram in companyhistory, to roughly 1,000distributor and retailguests in Orlando, Fla.

November Dick McAdams, founder ofGeorgia Carpet Outlets(GCO), has stepped downas president and CEO. Hewill continue to serve aschairman and remain onboard of Maxim, GCO’sparent company.

Wunda Weve is acquiredby World Carpets. Thepurchase comes asWunda Weve filed forChapter 11 bankruptcyprotection.

The quest display system with all itscomponents.

By Reginald Tucker

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 49

the things that the Quest dis-play did was to demonstrate avery real difference betweenwhat was being sold at HomeDepot and Lowe’s vs. the full-service, more curated approachwe wanted to take at the spe-cialty retail location. We reallybelieved specialty retailers werein a better position to deliverthat curated experience so itwas very important to createdisplays and products that putsome distance between the spe-cialty retailer and the big box.Granted, we knew there weregoing to be some cross-overproducts at the lower end of thespectrum. But we were tryingto encourage the specialtyretailer to not worry aboutspending so much time or spacestaying focused on those lower-end products being marketed atthe home centers.”

Quest was also designed tomake life easier for the salesper-son, so they did not have toknow every nuance about everyindividual product. As Quallsrecalled: “We designed the dis-play so that there was very cleardifferentiation between thegood/better/best products. RSAsdidn’t have to know, on theirown, all the things that madethose products different fromeach other.”

Right about the same timethat the Quest program wasrolling out, Armstrong haddecided to revamp its brandedoffering by separating theSolarian brand from the rest ofthe Armstrong family and add athird brand, Vios, specificallyfor independent floor coveringretailers. The Armstrong brandbecame the value offering, sell-ing for less than $17 per squareyard while Solarian targeted themid- to high-end consumer will-ing to spend as much as $38.Meanwhile, Vios was a com-pletely new, high-end productthat featured a glass-fiber rein-forced construction.

The main idea behind thestrategy was for home centers to carry the two well-knownbrands—Armstrong andSolarian—while specialty retail-ers who participated in theQuest merchandising programwould have exclusive rights toVios. Despite the best inten-tions, though, there were diffi-

culties surrounding the launch(including a “yellowing” prob-lem that surfaced out in thefield) that would soon cause theentire game plan to unravel. Ontop of that, many specialtyretailers were not so supportiveof adopting a relativelyunknown brand in Vios whilehome centers got to keepproven performers likeArmstrong and Solarian. Andany modest success the Questprogram managed to generate

backfired when it fell apart.Many observers believed thisallowed laminates to grab evenmore retail floor space.

By 1997 Qualls was nolonger working for Armstrong.(She left the company about ayear and a half after the Questrollout to establish WhiteGood, a full-service marketingand communications agencyspecializing in the furnishings,decorative finishes and buildingproducts industries.) And

although the Quest program nolonger exists, she believes theconcept laid the groundworkfor many practices and formatsthat are commonplace in homefurnishings retailing today.

“What Quest did was toencourage specialty retailers tocreate more beautiful, welcom-ing environments that weremore easy to shop,” Qualls said,citing the nascent Perch homefurnishings retail chain as anexample. “The whole Perch

concept we see today cameabout in a small way because ofsome of the things thatArmstrong and other compa-nies did over the past 40-50years with respect to displayevolution. While I wouldn’t saythat we went the full length towhere we are today in terms ofexperiential retail—wherethere’s a lot more hands-onactivity taking place—theQuest display certainly pavedthe way for it.”

Today’s hard surfacemerchandising formats bear thehallmarks of groundbreakingdisplay systems that precededthem, Armstrong veterans say.

50 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

S haw will soon celebrate 50 yearsof leadership that has been builton the legacy of innovation. Over

the decades, Shaw’s portfolio of productsand services has expanded, the cus-tomers it serves has broadened and thetechnology it uses has advanced.However, one thing remains the same:the company’s steadfast commitment togreat people, products and service.

Shaw’s longevity in the business hasafforded the company a front-row seatand leadership role in the numerousindustry shifts over the past 30 years.

What began as a small business thatdyed tufted scatter rugs is now afull-service flooring provider withmore than 20,000 associates and$4.8 billion in annual sales.Headquartered in Dalton, Ga.,Shaw has salespeople and/oroffices throughout the U.S. as wellas Australia, Brazil, Canada,Chile, China, India, Mexico,Singapore, United Arab Emiratesand the United Kingdom.

This expansive portfolio ofproducts and geographic reachallows the Berkshire Hathawaycompany to supply carpet, carpettile, custom rugs, hardwood, lam-inate, resilient, tile and stoneflooring products and syntheticturf to residential and commer-cial markets worldwide. Thisbroad selection offers customers adiverse array of products fromwhich to choose.

Customer demands, productpreferences and construction norms haveshifted rapidly in recent decades, resultingin the introduction of products that didn’texist just a few years ago—much less 30years ago. Through those perpetual shifts,Shaw has remained keenly focused onanticipating market demands, taking risksand innovating and cultivating mutuallybeneficial relationships with its customersand partners for collective success. Thisfocus led to the development of EcoWorxcarpet tile, Epic Plus engineered hard-wood, LifeGuard carpet and resilient prod-ucts as well as countless other productsthat have shaped the industry and cus-tomer expectations of flooring over theyears.

Shaw’s deep and profound understand-ing of the market, combined with newways of thinking, will continue to driveinnovation for the company, fueling thecreation of a next generation of productsand services that are unimaginable today.

Retail partnerships. Alongside thesignificant changes in product mix overthe past three decades, the channels

through which customers can researchand/or purchase flooring have broadened.Amid the rapid evolution seen in recentdecades, there’s still a strong demand forhigh-touch, consultative sales that’s onlyavailable from well-informed retail salesassociates.

Shaw’s award-winning education andtraining programs and marketingresources offer retailers support amidinevitable market shifts, continually pro-viding helpful tools and education to assistretailers in keeping up with the latestchanges in the flooring industry and mar-keting channels.

Advanced manufacturing. Shaw’soperations are increasingly sophisticated,with more than $1 billion invested in newequipment, technology and processes overthe past few years. These efforts create abetter product, foster a safer work envi-ronment, and make the best use of naturalresources.

Customer-centric focus. Shaw pro-vides the foundation upon which memo-ries are made and billions of life events

occur. In many ways everythinghas changed. Yet there’s still aconstant thread through it all:The role flooring plays in bring-ing beauty, style and comfort tothe home and work environ-ments. That experience remainsat the heart of Shaw, as it hasbeen for the past few decades.

Fostering a culture that cele-brates differences, diversity andinclusion is foundational to thecompany’s commitment to inno-vation and growth. It allowsShaw to better understand cus-tomers and their needs and tosolve some of the industry’s most

complex challenges. Similarly, creating spaces that acceler-

ate the pace of discovery and foster collab-oration and problem solving is also instru-mental to Shaw’s customer-centric focus.Continuing to invest in helping its associ-ates reach their fullest potential, Shaw hasa tremendous history and foundation forsuccess and innovation. More than a floor-ing company, Shaw is a collection of morethan 20,000 individuals bound together bya common vision and united in its abilityto make a positive impact on the world.

History’60s and ’70s. Shaw got its start as StarDye Company, a small business that dyedtufted scatter rugs. Star Dye Companyexpanded dramatically when it added car-pet finishing to its service offerings andbecame Star Finishing Company. In 1967,a holding company was formed to acquirePhiladelphia Carpet Company (founded in1846), and Star Finishing was added to thefold a year later, marking the manufactur-er’s first foray into carpet manufacturing.

This significant step almost 50 years agolaid the foundation for Shaw’s commit-ment to innovation.

By 1971, the holding company hadgone public as Shaw Industries, Inc.,with approximately $43 million in salesand 900 employees.

’80s and ’90s. In 1985, Shaw madeits first appearance on the list ofAmerica’s largest corporations—theFortune 500—with more than $500 mil-lion in sales and roughly 5,000 employ-ees. Additionally, modernizing plantsand equipment in the early 1980sallowed Shaw to employ breakthroughssuch as stain-resistant carpet. Similarly,the launch of its hard surface division inthe late 1990s and its entry into the carpettile business laid the foundation for Shawto become a full-service flooring provider.

2000–2015. Shaw began a new chap-ter in its history in 2001 with the comple-tion of the sale to Berkshire Hathaway,Inc. The holding company of investorWarren E. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway isknown for buying and holding businessesthat have a dominant market share, expe-rienced management teams in place andare considered undervalued in the stockmarket.

The past two decades have seen signif-icant product innovation. Shaw intro-duced its EcoWorx backed carpet tile in1999 and by the early 2000s it had set anew standard for carpet tile performanceand sustainability. The debut of high-per-formance, sustainable Epic engineeredhardwood in 2006 and the next-genera-tion product, Epic Plus in 2015, propelledthe category forward as did the introduc-tion of LifeGuard water-resistance tech-nology in carpet and resilient products.With the addition of a take-back programfor commercial and residential carpetproducts, the development of a diverseportfolio of recycling options over the pastdecade and a half, and an impressive 65%of products being “cradle to cradle” certi-fied, the company’s commitment to creat-ing sustainable flooring products hasnever been more apparent.

The next chapter In recent years, Shaw Industries hasexpanded and modernized its facilities,including the addition of more than half adozen new or significantly expandedplants from 2013 through 2016. This sig-nificant investment in added capacity,innovative manufacturing processes,reclamation and recycling, and its distri-bution network have positioned the com-pany and its customers at the forefront ofinnovative products for today’s and tomor-row’s consumers.

Shaw: A track record of feats and strides

P A R A L L E LP R O G R E S S

EcoWorx-backed carpet tile (left)set a new standard in performance;LifeGuard raised the bar in the category of water resistance.

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 51

evolutionadvertising

52 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

Why they stood out from the pack

makersdifference

Continued on page 54

A L W A H N O NFounder, FCNewsby Peter Spirer

Al Wahnon was one of the best men I’veever known. In many ways, Al’s careerparalleled with mine. We began workingin the flooring industry virtually on thesame day back in 1955—Al on the edito-rial staff of Floor Covering Weekly; I wasa sales manager for the flooring distrib-utor Stitt & Howell. The offices were ondifferent floors of the Textile Building at295 5th Ave.

Al’s boss, friend and mentor was thelegendary Irv Genett, who was thefounder and editor in chief of FCW. Al,who had returned from military serviceas an Army parachutist in World War II,was an idealist who could well havebeen a college professor had he not cho-sen journalism. He immersed himself inhis job and, as one of the most naturallyfriendly people on earth, became afriend to many hundreds of the indus-try’s men and women, forming relation-ships that would serve him well in

future years. Al’s passion was

the flooring industry.He was equally inter-ested in and respect-ful of sales reps, ware-house men andinstallers as he wasCEOs and company

officers. There was seldom a distributorgolf outing, awards dinner or carpetclub meeting at which he didn’t make aspeech. He was always looking for astory—and an ad—to say nothing ofsome free shrimp at the buffet table.

Al’s hunting grounds for advertiserswere right there in the Textile Building,which housed just about every carpetand hard surface manufacturer and dis-tributor. It was a rare month that passedwithout getting at least one or two visitsfrom Al and Irv, who tended to travel intandem. Both loved a good jawboningsession in some private office or other.

I always looked forward to their vis-its. Al would tell war stories, hysterical-

ly funny or chillingly serious. We’d talkabout whether tufting would ever catchon and whether Armstrong orCongoleum made better linoleum. Wediscussed important matters such aswhether Gene Barwick would wear abeaver or mink overcoat to the next win-ter market in Chicago.

As the years passed I saw less of Al. Imoved to Dalton and he was in New YorkCity. But we spoke at least once a weekand had dinner whenever the occasionpermitted. Al had a huge heart and hegenuinely loved the flooring industry. Hehad an aura of naiveté, even in his lateryears, and appeared to be bowled over atmildly surprising news. His dream tohave his own newspaper came tofruition in 1986 when he and Mike Blickstarted Floor Covering News. They builta wonderful publication, of which Al wasjustifiably proud.

Our friendship deepened in the late1980s and early ’90s, when, after theHarrogate Market in England, we decid-ed to vacation on France’s Cote d’Azur,

meeting old friends Pierre Lano, LucienVanWynsbergh from Belgium, and MikeBerns from California for a great week-long vacation. This went on for someyears. I doubt there was anything Al andI didn’t talk about of a personal or busi-ness nature.

After Mohawk bought Horizon in1992, I left the business for three years.We continued the friendship, mostly byphone, but as things seldom remainedthe same, we went in different direc-tions. He continued to be active as a co-owner and editor-in-chief of FCNewsand remained a beloved industry figurewhose regular column was not to bemissed.

A 50-year friendship left me withtreasured memories of one of the sweet-est, smartest, kindest and funniest men Iever had the pleasure of knowing—agreat friend to legions of flooring peo-ple, a terrific writer and profoundthinker and hero of our industry.

Peter Spirer is CEO of MaxWoods.

R AY A N D E R S O Nby John Wells

I worked with—and for—Ray Anderson foralmost 20 years at Interface. He had atremendous transformative impact on ourindustry, business in general and on mylife and career. Three words come to mindwhen I think of Ray—entrepreneurship,vision and purpose.

Ray was the quintessential entrepre-neur. In 1973, at age 40, he left a promi-nent job as head of R&D with a large tex-tile company to follow a dream to bringcarpet tile to the U.S. He borrowed moneyfrom friends and staked his future on atechnology without securing the first cus-tomer. Struggling at first, his company(Interface) went on to become a billiondollar leader in the flooring market.

It was in these early struggles thatRay deeply learned about the importance

of the customer. He would remind us ofthe early days when there were literallyno orders on the books and how that clari-fied the deep importance of our customeror as he would say—the “next heartbeat”of the company. This “love of customer”shaped my approach to business. Thisentrepreneurial spirit lived with Ray and isembedded in Interface.

Ray also had amazing vision. His hori-

zon was not thetypical strate-gic view of 3-5years, but moreon the order of20-plus years.In the late ’60s,Ray saw theemerging work-

space of the future that is still with ustoday—open, flexible and ever-changing,an environment perfect for moveable,changeable modular carpet tile. Perhapsmore notably, in 1994 at age 60, Ray envi-sioned a different future for Interface. Hewanted Interface to be the model for allindustry; that by 2020 Interface wouldredesign itself to eliminate all negativeimpacts the company had on the environ-ment. Ray was years ahead of his timewith this vision. His goal, or “Mission Zero,”

is a profoundly impact-ful vision that I amproud to say Interfacewill meet and exceed

while continuing to reshape the vision forgreater impact in the future. Ray will notsee Interface reach the peak of “Mt.Sustainability,” yet his legacy provides theimpetus everyday for his company tostrive forward and beyond Mission Zero.

John Wells is the former president ofInterface.

M A R V I N B E R L I Nby Bart Levich

Marvin Berlin was a leader, mentor,teacher and, more than that, my goodfriend and confidant for many years. Evennow, over a decade and half after hisuntimely passing, I often ask myself, ‘Whatwould Marvin do?’ if he were facing a diffi-cult action or decision. Amazingly, some-how, the answers just seem to mysterious-ly appear crystal clear.

I believe Marvin’s truest gift to theflooring industry was thinking ahead on aglobal scale. He was a student of the indus-try, always asking questions, learning,teaching. One greatexample was New YorkCarpet World’s semi-annual product style-outs. It was education-al for us but it was eye-opening for themanufacturers.

Along with business partner IrvingNusbaum, Marvin was determined to buildthe most successful independently ownedand operated retail flooring business in theU.S. His ultimate goal was to be coast tocoast. Unfortunately, he never lived to seethat come to fruition. He recognized in the1970s that the industry’s overcapacitywould lead to consolidation at the manu-facturing level. This consolidation wouldthen necessitate growth of critical mass onthe retail side for him to maintain NYCW’simportance to the mills. Thus began the

NYCW expan-sion beyondMichigan to 200locations in 17states.

With hisvision andhands-on lead-

ership, Marvin’s NYCW developed a com-puter system that linked every companylocation to NYCW’s enormous, private-labeled inventory in the company-owneddistribution center in Ringgold, Ga. Thisenabled all 200 locations to be within oneor two days’ delivery on over 95% of any

stocking SKU.The use of multi-ple computer-linked cuttingtables with bar-

coded rolls was the secret. The Ringgoldplant was the envy of most carpet millsand fiber producers at that time.

In the mid ’80s Marvin envisioned in-home measuring that would enable elec-tronic measuring, calculating, sales clos-ing and order placing to take place in thecustomer’s home. His team developed thisand introduced it for daily use. Today weknow it as MeasureComp, currently operat-ed by Home Depot.

Bart Levich is a former executive at NewYork Carpet World.

BENT ON BUILDING THE BEST

INDEPENDENT RETAIL BUSINESS.

HIS STRATEGIC VIEW WAS NOT 3-5 YEARSOUT, BUT 20-PLUS YEARS DOWN THE ROAD.

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 63

makersdifference

P E T E R S P I R E Rby Ralph Boe

I have known Peter Spirer for over 36 yearsas a customer, employer and, most impor-tantly, as a friend.

Peter [was among] the last of the groupthat grew the carpet business from the late’50s on and are still in the flooring businesstoday as octogenarians manufacturing andor supplying products to retailers.

Peter was always able to use his cre-ative talents to develop new looks or con-cepts that in many cases were ahead oftheir time. But patience was not a virtue forhim, so you had to move quickly to com-mercialize them and demonstrate sales orhe was on to the next invention. He had

many notable products at Horizon, withMystique and Silver Song being two of hisgreatest. (At least that’s how I viewed itbased on sales generated and customerwillingness to wait for them to be manu-factured.) And Peter always lived by themotto, “We’re going to make what we cansell, not sell what we can make.”

Peter hadan uncannyability to identi-fy marketingconcepts thattotally differen-tiated Horizonfrom the rest,launching pro-grams in a first-class manner

with a great deal of pizazz. With his charmand articulate presentation, he was able tosurround himself with outstanding talentand a large contingent of customers. Theyall wanted to be with Peter; it was a sad dayin 1992 when the announcement came that

Horizon would sell to its equal,Mohawk, ending an era. It wasthe value in that transactionthat gave Mohawk the ability

to march forward in the decades to come.Over the years, Peter and I have contin-

ued our great friendship. He has alwaysbeen a very generous individual and hashelped so many along the way.

Ralph Boe is the former CEO of BeaulieuAmerica.

P I E R R E T H A B E Tby Louis Morin

In 1984 a fire completely destroyed theBoa-Franc facility in St. Georges, Quebec.But Pierre Thabet did not walk away. Hispost-traumatic shock lasted about twohours and then he made the decision torebuild. He purchased a new building,brought in new equipment and had theplant operating after only three months.

What most people don’t know, howev-er, is that after only four months in produc-tion, Pierre realized that all his “new”equipment was not new, wasn’t reliableand was, in fact, obsolete. Recognizing hismistake, he didn’t whine about it. With astrong sense of urgency, he immediatelystarted shopping for better equipment andended up replacing all of the old machin-ery—for the second time. This time he got itright, and his Mirage brand of hardwoodflooring has been a shining example ofexcellence ever since.

Pierre embraces innovation andchange. When launching Mirage prefin-ished solid in 1990, he introduced panelsanding, staining and coating with a small-er, four-sided micro-V bevel and a five-coatfinish system. When others went to five

coats, he introducedseven coats, then 10coats, then Alumixand then Nanolinx.Today, with a strongtrend and interest inoil finishes, he intro-duced the DuraMatt

finish, a UV-cured polyurethane coatingthat is 20 times more wear resistant witheasier maintenance than most convention-al oil finishes.

Pierre is a very disciplined executive. Ifthere is something wrong, he seeks correc-tive action immediately. He’ll ask workers,“What have you done to make sure it doesnot repeat?” or “What have you proposed tomake it work?” He wants his people to beproactive in order to minimize problems.Many times when he has asked workers,“Have you mentioned this to your bosses?”

After almost 33 years, with a team ofmore than 440 (only three at the beginningin 1983), Pierre still leads his organizationwith the same determination with which hefounded the business.

Louis Morin is a former executive at Boa-Franc.

USED CREATIVITY TO DEVELOP CONCEPTS

THAT WERE AHEAD OF THEIR TIME.

64 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

makersdifference

by Jim Gould

When great forces come together, power-ful changes can occur. The “PergoPhenomenon” in the early 1990’s is anexample of a new product, an industry inneed, consumers wanting a change and,most importantly, a leader whose market-ing wizardry changed an industry.

Lars von Kantzow was that unique indi-vidual.

The Sweden-born president ofPerstorp Flooring, von Kantzow broughtPergo to North America in 1992, introduc-ing a new category of flooring. Through a

multifaceted attack on the market, hisstrategy was to tackle every potential bar-rier to success before it challenged hisplan. It was the successful implementa-tion of that strategy that created categorysales over $1 billion in 10 years represent-ing 5% of all floor covering. Like Kleenex isto tissue, “Pergo” became synonymouswith laminate flooring.

For consumers, searching for a productthat would exceed expectations, a creative

display with ahigh-heel shoe, amagic markerand a cigarettedemonstratedPergo was easyto maintain.Advertising dol-lars were wiselyspent and multi-

plied by consumers’ word of mouth fromsatisfied customers talking about thisincredible new product.

A network of independent distributorscovered the country to service the one-

year exclusive agreementssigned by Carpet One andColor Tile. Enhanced prof-itability assured Pergo that

retailers and distributors would show theproduct at every opportunity. Customerservice was Lars von Kantzow’s top priori-ty, air-freighting containers of material ifan item sold out.

Lars is currently the CEO and presidentof Nomaco, the largest manufacturer ofsynthetic corks for the wine industry.

Jim Gould is CEO and founder of TheFlooring Institute.

A LEADER WHOSE MARKETING PROWESS

HELPED DEVELOP A POWERFUL BRAND.

by Robert Varden

Over the past 20 years I have had theextreme fortune of traveling and training—even laughing—with Jim Walker. But mostof all, I learned from him.

Jim is one of the most interesting indi-viduals I have ever met. He could walk intoany room and display such a passion for theindustry that every individual in the roomwould be moved. And believe me, you neverhad to worry about what Jim was thinking;he had the uncanny ability to tell yousomething you hated to hear. Yet, at the

end, you thanked him for it.Jim’s knowledge of the industry and his

vision for the future always fascinated me.Just over 23 years ago Jim and a handful ofindividuals took a chance on training anddeveloping a group of individuals into “cer-tified flooring installers.” Jim and his CFIcompatriots knew that something had tochange in this industry, that installers hadto be trained and recognized for the pivotal

role they play. Because of

Jim Walker’s sacri-fice and dedicationto this industry CFIhas changed thelives of hundreds,possibly thou-sands, of individual

installers and retailers throughout theworld. Thanks to the work that Jim Walkerand CFI have done, countless claims havebeen redirected or prevented outright.

Over the years I have often watchedJim arrive (exhausted)on the morning of atraining presentationafter a prior eveningmarked by flight cance-lations or delays. And

yet, he would simply walk out and performas if he had just had a full night sleep. Noone would ever have known what he wentthrough the day before. He taught us that,no matter what, the show must go on. Onbehalf of myself, CFI and this industry,thank you, Jim.

Robert Varden is vice president of CertifiedFloorcovering Installers (CFI).

J I M WA L K E R

B O B W E I S Sby Jay Kopelson

Thirty years of friendship is hard to find thesedays.

Well, I have been fortunate to have one withBob Weiss, owner of All Tile. Bob and I first metat Indiana University in 1983 and became friendsfirst, then fraternity brothers (Sigma Alpha Mu)and we kept in touch after college. I had theprivilege of being in Bob’s wedding party. Later,in 1989, we became co-workers and a few years later we were competi-tors.

Relationships fizzle out over the years but not this one. Bob has been adear friend and we have been fortunate to grow up in the same great

industry. I havehad the pleas-ure to watchhim growsince he start-ed at All Tile,

working for his father-in- law, Don Rado, who was my first mentor in theindustry. Don was an icon in the flooring business and Bob proved hisworth and took over the company when Don retired.

I know family dynamics can be very difficult and so is living up to highexpectations. I am so impressed with what Bob has accomplished duringhis tenure at All Tile and the growth that he has been able to achieve. Heis aggressive and hard working and knows his people are very important tothe success of the company.

Bob is not only the leader of his company but has been a leader in theindustry. He has been very involved in the success of the NAFCD and theWFCA (I am very proud to have nominated him to the organization). In mymind the WFCA has the two best non-retailers on the board: KeithCampbell from Mannington and Bob Weiss.

Jay Kopelson is the vice president of corporate accounts for ManningtonMills.

A TIRELESS, DEDICATED ADVOCATE FOR THE

GLOBAL FLOOR COVERING INSTALLATION

COMMUNITY.

A PROVEN LEADER WHO UNDERSTANDS

THE VALUE OF HARD WORK, PEOPLEAND EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS.

L A R S V O N K A N TZ O W

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 65

makersdifference

T E R R Y W H E ATby Daniel Kennedy

As a young man in the late 1960s, TerryWheat was introduced to the wonderfulworld of floor covering through a like-minded friend of the same faith—ShaheenShaheen, founder of World Carpets.

He started off by merely carrying a fewcarpet samples in his car; next he wrangleda line of credit from World Carpet and soonopened a store in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It wouldappear Terry had found his profession.

It became apparent Terry was a vision-ary, showing a knack for seeing what liesahead and taking action. Early on he saw

how combining efforts with others helpedeveryone improve their business. As such,he was one of the earliest members of theCCA co-op as a Carpet One member.

Similarly, when computers becameavailable to the masses in the early 1980s,Terry knew this was the future. He realizedthat in life, as well as in business, you need

accurate infor-mation whenmaking impor-tant decisions.He bought acomputer andsome floppydiscs and start-ed playingaround with it.Now decades

later RFMS is a renowned internationalfloor covering software company.

These ventures allowed him and hiswife Elaine to travel the world meeting

people from all backgrounds. Ibelieve this has helped them trulyappreciate what we can learnfrom listening to others. Healways takes time to visit withcustomers to further develop his

software to meet customer needs. Terry has accomplished what many of

us find so difficult—balancing life, family,business, faith and success. It will be inter-esting to see what he comes up with next.

Daniel Kennedy is the president of PSWholesale Floors.

B R U C E Z W I C K E Rby Scott Roy

Over the past decade as president and CEOof Haines, Bruce Zwicker has achievedmore than most CEOs accomplish in a life-time. Under his leadership, the companynearly doubled in size, expanded into newterritories and created new, value-addedprograms that many distributors couldn’tafford.

While this would have been difficult atany time, Bruce launched a clear strategythat allowed the company to grow even asthe industry entered into the deepest

recession since the Great Depression.While many leaders took the cautiousroute and steered their companies to safeharbor, Bruce challenged the organizationto grow and expand through acquisitions,investments in inventory and services, andcreating new efficiencies to manage costsand better serve the customers.

The CMH Space acquisition was a gamechanger in the industry, and while it tooklonger than expected to fully integrate

both compa-nies, Bruce wassteadfast in hisleadership, driv-ing the organi-zation to stayfocused on inte-gration and oncustomer serv-ice.

One word tosum up Bruce

Zwicker is entrepreneur. That’s tough to dowith a company that is 142 years old.

Bruce’s passion for growthand expansion and his unwa-vering desire to lead Hainesto be the best is what will be

remembered most. While many leaders are influenced

solely through financial results, Bruce alsolived by the motto, “There’s more to busi-ness than just business.” He always placedcustomer and supplier relationships at thetop of his priorities and knew they were keyto the long-term success of the company.

Scott Roy is the CEO of Gilford-JohnsonFlooring.

CALCULATED RISK-TAKER WHO SAW

OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE THE BOX. MAINTAINS A STRONG FOCUS ON

WHAT’S BEST FOR THE CUSTOMER.

Thank You Floor Covering News for 30 years of dedicated service to the floor coverings industry.

American Biltrite | Armstrong | Beauflor EarthWerks | Gerflor | IVC | Karndean

LG Hausys | Mannington | Metroflor | Mohawk | NovalisNox | Roppe | Shaw Resilient | Tandus Centiva | Tarkett | Vinylasa

The Resilient Floor Covering Institute represents the major manufacturers of resilient flooring and associatedmaterials marketed throughout North America. RFCI has led the resilient flooring industry to the forefront of

sustainability with the development of a suite of environmental tools for purchasers and specifiers.

115 Broad Street Suite 201 LaGrange, GA 30240 +1.706.882.3833 www.rfci.com

66 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

In 2016 Floor Covering News celebrates its30th anniversary and USFloors cele-brates its 15th. Anniversaries are great

times to reflect on accomplishments andthe many opportunities that lie ahead toencourage us to test our innovative ideasand abilities and to strive to be a positiveinfluence in all that we do.Congratulations, Floor Covering News, onreaching this wonderful milestone. USFloors, located in the foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains in Dalton, is animporter and distributor of unique and sus-tainable flooring products such as cork,bamboo, FSC-certified hardwoods and thepatented COREtec The Original. USFloorshas become known in the flooring industryfor its innovative products and as being theleading supplier of unique and sustainablefloors. USFloors’ story is one of uniqueness,innovation and growth. The companystrives to provide innovative floors thatmake a difference, such as the patentedCOREtec line. From its humble beginning in 2001, the

company specialized in bamboo. In 2004,USFloors acquired Natural Cork andgained a leadership position as the largestcork flooring importer in the United States.As one of nature’s most renewable and sus-tainable resources, cork is also one of themost environmentally responsible flooringoptions available. Unique in appearance,cork’s distinctive beauty is enhanced by itswarmth, resilience, and comfort underfoot.USFloors’ Natural Cork floors possess the

natural beauty and unique, inherent per-formance benefits of cork flooring and eco-engineered improved performance attrib-utes producing a floor like no other.USFloors’ Natural Bamboo floors are

made from the moso species of bambooand only harvested from plantations ormanaged forests in the tropical mountainregions of China and Southeast Asia. Thesebamboo floors offer the performanceattributes and natural aesthetics of hard-wood flooring, but with an original lookand unique grain character. NaturalBamboo is a sustainable choice but alsogets high marks for its durability, style andaffordability. Four new products wereadded to the collection earlier this year.Castle Combe, USFloors’ FSC-certified

oil-finished hardwood collection, wasintroduced in 2008. The Castle Combe col-lection employs advanced staining tech-niques to produce an antiqued visual to thewood. Castle Combe Floor & Wall offersthe look and feel of most all design styles.From ancient, reclaimed finishes to mod-ern and tailored, Castle Combe Floor andWall will always provide you with modernperformance features of a 21st centuryengineered floor. Launching in 2016 is theCastle Combe Feature Gallery, an all-encompassing display vehicle that accentu-ates the uniqueness of these inspiring,beautifully aged, handcrafted floors.Shortly after launching a brand new

hardwood collection in 2008, USFloorsrecognized opportunities in the commer-

cial market. Thus USFContract waslaunched in 2009. This commercial divi-sion of USFloors initially featured sustain-able cork, bamboo and FSC-certified hard-wood. USFContract later added COREtecto its product offerings under the Stratumbrand. This division’s products are ideal foruse in educational, healthcare, assisted-liv-ing, retail, corporate, multi-family and hos-pitality sectors. In 2012, USFloors entered the luxury

vinyl category with the nationwide launchof COREtec Plus. Eighteen months intothis product launch the company had wit-nessed a strong demand for this new andinnovative luxury vinyl product. With theapplication of an LVT wear layer on top ofa wood plastic composite (WPC) core,along with a click lock profile, USFloorshad created an innovative flooring solutionfor end users seeking a floor that is totallywaterproof, has the texture and look of realhardwood and installs as easily as laminateflooring.COREtec Plus provides a wide array of

benefits. Its rigid construction hides sub-floor imperfections and provides a realisticvisual surface. This construction allows forinstallation directly over existing subfloors.The planks and tiles have an attached corkunderlayment that adds acoustical andthermal insulation, resulting in a quietfloor that is warm and comfortable under-foot.This revolutionary product is offered in

varying plank and tile formats and sizes.

COREtec Plus was first available in five and7-inch-wide planks with tile formats arriv-ing later. The overwhelming success of thiscollection led to the groundbreaking addi-tion of the COREtec Plus XL collection,consisting of 9-inch-wide and 72-inch-longplanks, introduced in 2014.USFloors’ role in the market as a pio-

neer and innovator was confirmed on Oct.13, with the issuance of U.S. Patent #9,156,233. The patent covers all engineeredflooring products with a WPC core and aveneer top layer, with or without anattached backing. This patent is the rewardand justification for the industry-wideacclaim that USFloors received for its inno-vative development of an entirely new cat-egory of waterproof luxury vinyl flooringproducts.Two new collections—COREtec Plus

Design and COREtec Plus HD—wereintroduced at Surfaces 2016. The COREtecPlus Design collection comprises multi-tone and multi-width planks and tiles. Thevariation in color and sizes gives any homea custom, innovative look ideal for everystyle. COREtec Plus HD employs a four-sided enhanced bevel edge for a more real-istic visual.We are 15 years into the USFloors story

and four years into the COREtec chapter.There is enormous growth potential forWPC and composite core products. What isnext? Only time will tell. Keep followingUSFloors as we continue to pioneer theflooring industry.

USFloors: Pioneer in the development of WPC

P A R A L L E LP R O G R E S S

From cork flooring and oil-finished hardwood to innovative waterproof LVT products,USFloors offers retailers a variety of options from which to choose.

resilient

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 67

LVT has taken on a life ofits own over the last fiveyears or so with new prod-

ucts and additional suppliersincreasingly entering the catego-ry. However, the first productclosest to how we know LVTtoday came onto the scene ataround the same time as FloorCovering News in the late 1980s.As someone who has been in theflooring business (specificallyvinyl) for just much of his adultlife as the son of originalMetroflor owner Gerald Raskin,Michael Raskin, president andCEO of Raskin Gorilla Floors,reflected on the evolution of thewhite-hot category.“Before the 1980s there was

never really a true LVT like whatyou see today,” he recalled. “Thefirst solid vinyl floor was more ofa self-stick tile that was primari-ly coming out of Taiwan. My dadsold it to home centers;Pergament was his big customerat the time. He had a higher-end,self-stick product that withoutglue would be considered LVT aswe know it today.”Raskin remembered

Evolution by Amtico—a compa-ny owned by Roger Marcus thatwould eventually merge withCongoleum—being the “oneproduct” on the market in thelate ’80s that was a truly a “luxu-ry vinyl tile” at the time. “It wasmore of a limestone product. Itwas similar to VCT with compa-rable backing and vinyl film,high gloss and measured 1/8-inch thick. It was a hot productback then that sold like crazy.”Next on the timeline reach-

ing later into the ’80s and early’90s was a solid LVT from Tolioffered in 18 x 18 tiles and 4 x 36planks. At the same time GeraldRaskin was developing a similarproduct in Taiwan for MetroflorInternational. The line featuredvery tight granite patterns repli-cated from marble similar tothose found in countertops. Realhardwood planks were used tomimic oak visuals.Working for other flooring

manufactures at the time,Michael Raskin knew there wasa corner of the market Metroflorcould really dominate. “Backthen it was important to offer abetter product for less money,”he recalled. “The styles wereimportant because [Amtico’s]Evolution had nice designs. My

Advancements drive the evolution of LVT

gories of LVT being established,”Raskin said. “You have tradition-al glue down, adhesive strip,floating options and then click,which is really the next genera-tion. And now with the newWPC you’re seeing additionalvariations with different types ofbacking and construction.”With the popularity of LVT

continuing on an upswing,options in style, design and per-

issues laminatecouldn’t,” likewater resistance.“Floating LVTchanged the per-ception of theproduct; it wastaken from aniche-type ofoffering to main-stream. Thatopened up themarket.”According to

Raskin, the firstreal spike in LVT popularitycame in 2006 and it grew fromthere. He recalled the multi-family housing segment causinga major shift as that marketstarted to choose vinyl tiles andplanks over sheet vinyl. Since the introduction of

Konecto many installationoptions have been introducedfor LVT. “Five or six years agoyou started to see more subcate-

father wanted that crossbetween commercial and resi-dential. We knew there was areal opportunity because wecould offer a 20 mil wear layer,3mm product for a lot lessmoney than the other productsthat were on the market.” In 1994 Michael Raskin took

over Metroflor after his father’spassing. With its newly devel-oped product, the biggest chal-lenge for the company camewith adhesive manufacturerslagging behind in providing aquality product for vinyl instal-lation. “When LVT started totake off is when adhesive com-panies caught up with the tech-nology to make the right [glue]for solid vinyl tile products.There was a damaging chemicalreaction occurring that neededto be fixed. When the rightproducts were introduced thatwas a major breakthroughbecause LVT became more sta-ble and there were less issueswith it. Plus, Asia became moreexperienced with making thistype of product. Early on theonly countries in Asia makingLVT was Taiwan and Japanbecause China was really onlyproducing self-stick tile forhome centers. Then Korea cameon line. Asia was rich in plasticsand [manufacturing] technolo-gy. More experience in Asiabrought more competition. Alot of companies that were mak-ing self-stick vinyl evolved intomaking solid vinyl and the luxu-ry vinyl type of product weknow today.”While it was easy for Europe

to catch on to LVT thanks to ahistory of solid vinyl instead ofVCT, the U.S. market was slowerto embrace LVT because of itscomfort with vinyl composition.“That was a big change thatyou’re actually seeing today,”Raskin said. “A lot of LVT isbeing chosen instead of VCTbecause [LVT] not only looksbetter but people are making aneducated decision with lowermaintenance costs. LVT doesn’trequire waxing.”The next major stride in LVT

was in 2005 when Metroflorunveiled Konecto, the first luxu-ry vinyl floating floor. “The firstreal floating floor was laminate.People were looking for floatingLVT more so on the residentialside because it addressed the

boundsleaps

Manufacturers continue to differentiate their LVT offerings in an increasinglycompetitive marketplace. Shown here is a product from Raskin Gorilla Floors.

formance are still entering themarketplace. Manufacturers areworking diligently to differenti-ate and stay ahead of the fray.“There is a lot of innovation inthe category in order to come upwith a different mousetrap,”Raskin said. “This product hastaken off; we’ll see what hap-pens in the future but right nowit’s definitely an important cate-gory.”

76 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

The World FloorCovering Association(WFCA) sells its cash-cow trade show,Surfaces, to HanleyWood for $40 million.

JulyHome Depot opens TheFloor Store, a stand-alonefloor covering retail outletin Plano, Texas.

Dave Kolb resigns asCEO of Mohawk but will remain chairman. Jeff Lorberbaumassumes therole as CEO.

Alloc and BHK sue eachother regarding theglueless laminatepatent issue.

2000

Cuba in the 1950s was amuch different place thanwhat it is today. It was actu-

ally quite nice pre-Castro, eventhough it was under the Batistadictatorship.I was raised by mymother as an only child; myfather died when I was veryyoung. School was intense. Wehad eight grades of primaryschool and five grades of highereducation. School hours werelong, approximately 10 hours aday. I went to military school forseven years, and when I wasn’t inmilitary school I was in Jesuitschool. That was pretty tough—they taught you discipline.I was enjoying my life as a

teenager. Cuba was a very niceplace in which to grow up. Thenin January 1959, Fidel Castro tookpower. We initially thought it wasa good thing, but we soon foundout he was a communist.As Cuba was turning commu-

nist, my mother and I knew wehad to get away from it. I had justfinished high school. We came toAmerica because my mother wasan American citizen and helddual citizenship. It was a countrywe visited often. I came to America with a

tourist visa. (At the time, if youleft Cuba, you could only leavewith a tourist visa and a returnticket.) You were allowed to takeonly $100 with you. After 30 or60 days of living in Miami Beach,we realized the Castro regimewas going to be around a littlelonger than just a few months, soI had to get a job to generate somemoney. I worked as a bellman atthe White House hotel in MiamiBeach. I made $75-$100 a day onsome days, which was a tremen-

dous amount of money, especiallyfor an 18-year-old.While the money was good, I

couldn't see myself growing oldbeing a bellman and decided todo something for my future. So Iapplied for a job in a departmentstore. In Cuba I had an uncle whowas the president of EastmanKodak in the Caribbean, whichmeant I grew up learning a lot

about photography andcameras. So they hiredme to work in the cam-era department, afterwhich I was retained as acamera buyer about 10months later.I was now making

$100 a week, the sameamount I was oftenmaking in one day as abellman. But back in1960, 90% of people

didn’t make $100 a week.It was enough to supportmy family.I did really well in that

position, so a couple yearslater they added more depart-ments to my responsibilities. Oneof which was the carpet depart-ment, which was my initiation tothe carpet industry. A year later Iwent to work for Miami Rug.They had about 32 stores at thetime and were the market leaderin Florida. I held all kinds of posi-tions there, and I learned many ofthe basics from [co-owner] EvanBaros. Most importantly, Ilearned how to run a carpet store.While I was at Miami Rug I

worked for a brief time with DonLevison, the son of Abbey Carpetowner and founder Milt Levison.A year after Don left he called toask me to come to Abbey Carpet.There I worked for Milt, who wasa very smart, big man—bothphysically and in the industry. Hewas very astute in business and Ilearned a lot from him.

Road to Abbey I went to work for Abbey in thefall of 1972. My first job was totrain franchisees on how to run

the stores we opened up forthem. We would not just sell fran-chises; we would help them finda location, put the store together,open the store and then trainthem how to run both the storeand their business. I was doingthat for a year and half. Shortly thereafter I was asked

to go to Sacramento to do all thebuying, sourcing and marketingfor the company. I had a toughchallenge from my end becausethe stores were not doing well—the whole country was in themidst of the 1973-74 recession aswell as the gasoline crisis.Years later, in 1980, Milt

Levison retired. He had given mea stake in the company for verylittle money on my part. In fouror five years I was able to buy outthe other partners, and in 1986-87 we were able to sell franchisesagain. At that point we had lessthan 100 stores but by 1995 wewere able to grow to 300 mem-bers. I moved the company toFlorida that year because I felt weneeded to be in the eastern timezone; 80% of our suppliers werein that time zone and we wouldbe a lot more effective and effi-cient being in Florida. By 2006 we had grown to 840

stores, and then in late 2007-08the big recession hit. Over thenext five or six years about 40%of flooring retailers went out ofbusiness. Unfortunately severalof our members did not survive.But we have been growing againfor the last few years. I’d like tosee 1,000 stores before I’m done. People ask what I am most

proud of after all these years. Thetruth is I’m not proud of any onething. There are lots of littlethings that make people success-ful. I can say that I am proud ofthe company I built, the friends Ihave, my wife and family, theorganization I have been luckyenough to be around and helpgrow. I am equally proud of mymother, who lives here in Naplesand is about to celebrate her100th birthday.

By Phil Gutierrez, chairmanand CEO, Abbey Carpet

storiestheJanuaryBeaulieu of Americaacquires LDBrinkman, thelargest distributor in theU.S., putting the thirdlargest carpet maker inthe hard surfacebusiness.

Domco Tarkett presidentDave Cicchinelli aims toreposition the company asan alternative flooringchoice rather than as aresilient manufacturer.

Frank Riddick, presidentand COO of Armstrong,is named CEO ofArmstrong Wood

Products replacingFloyd Sherman.

NovemberWalter Guinan, 87, formerCEO of Karastan, dies.

February3M and Pergo team up tobring Scotchgard to laminate flooring.

MarchWitex launches SoundProtect and SilentComfort, two innovationsdesigned to addressconsumer complaintsabout noisy laminateflooring.

AprilThe Dixie Group signs aletter of intent topurchase Fabrica, amanufacturer of high-end carpet.

Mohawk and Shawagree to pay $41million to settle twoclass-action lawsuitsover price fixing.Beaulieu of Americawill settle for $8 millionin 2001, putting thematter to rest.

AugustArmstrong namesMichael Lockhart tosucceed George Lorch aschairman and CEO. FrankRiddick is promoted topresident and COO.

OctoberCongoleum namesMohawk as its nationaldistributor for vinylproducts, leaving about 20Congoleum distributorsgoing up against the giantcarpet producer in certainmarkets.

DecemberArmstrong seeksChapter 11 bankruptcyprotection as asbestos-related claims and hugecash settlementsthreaten its long-termhealth.

CCA Global purchasesthe Flooring America,CarpetMax Canada andGCO Carpet Outlet fran-chises out of bankruptcy.Ron Dunn and Jon Loguebuy back CarpetsPlus.

The American dreamIn 1959, PhilGutierrez andhis mothercame to theUnited Statesin search ofopportunitiesnot availablein Cuba .

Abbey Carpets helps dealers be “The Best,”says Phil Gutierrez, right, shown here withGary Barman, then vice president ofmerchandising and buying.

84 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

Lars von Kantzow istapped to lead Domco

Tarkett's newbrandinginitiative.

Shaw will purchasehalf the assets of Dixie.

The Mohawk Group introduces NuSprayLok, a revolutionary adhesive technology.

Laminate sales hit the$1 billion mark.

2003

The introduction of theInternet and web browsersbecame mainstream in the

early to mid 1990s, and by 1996most publicly traded companiesdetermined a solid web presencewas vital for optimal market expo-sure and success. Smaller compa-nies continued to catch on; in2016 a business essentially doesn’texist without a website.

Though only in existence forabout five years, FloorForce hasbecome a leader in digital market-ing for the flooring world, design-ing and implementing some of thebest websites in the industry.John Weller, the company’s vicepresident, has witnessed first-hand the evolution of flooringretailers’ interest in and accept-ance of an Internet presence.

“When we started the com-pany I would venture to say closeto 50% of retailers we had discus-sions with had no presence at allon the web, meaning they didn’thave websites,” he said. “This wasonly five short years ago. Today, Icould say 95% of the retailers wehave in our database have a webpresence of some sort.”

The definition of web pres-ence has certainly changed justfrom 2011. Five years ago manyretailers had basic, bare boneswebsites with simply a phonenumber, address and usually acontact form so they can get intouch with possible leads. “Thatwas a viable website solution for aconsumer trying to find a flooringstore,” Weller said. “Today there isa stark difference in that a con-sumer demands to have a relation-ship with a company. We knowfrom tracking and talking toGoogle that in 2014 a consumerwould go to 12.2 websites beforeshe would begin to choose a floor-ing retailer. In 2015 that number

rose to 16; there is no telling whatthe final figure will be this year.”

With big box stores like HomeDepot and Lowe’s, in addition toonline shopping giants likeWayfair, providingproduct informationand reviews, con-sumers expect thesame from other busi-nesses including localflooring dealers. Theywant to review prod-uct catalogs, learnabout the companyand the store’s values

and, most important, they want tosee what past customers have saidabout their experiences.

“You could see the differencein websites today from what theywere previously,” Weller noted.“Today there are full product cata-logs, information about servicesand products, and reviews areextremely important. The storethat provides information in themost professional, concise wayand makes it easiest for the con-sumer to interact with them anyhour of the day will be the retailerwho will attract and convert themost customers.”

With that, another key benefitto a complete website is the abilityfor the consumer to access a store’sinformation 24/7/365. Because vis-iting a brick-and-mortar store is no

longer step one in thebuying process, aretail establishment’sinformation andproduct lineup mustbe available online atall times. “Traditionalstore hours are nolonger relevant totoday’s consumer,”Weller said. “Today,thinking a consumeris going to shop 9 to 5is irrational; sheshops from home

online at 2 a.m., and you musthave a way for her to interact withyou and get through a few touchpoints of your company or you’llbe lost. Then the guy who has all of

these components working forhim will secure the relationshipand the next day he will get thephone call.”

Post-recession marketing The recession played a significantrole in affecting consumers’ shop-ping habits. With money becom-ing tight for the average American,a lot of time and research were putinto making major purchase deci-sions. In 2006, Weller recalled, theeveryday retailer “was in a verynice spot” while big boxes werecreating grand retail storefrontsand using Internet marketing.However, the consumer was stillcomfortable with the way thingswere in the independent channel,which controlled a larger part ofthe market then.

When the bubble burst in2007 consumers began to spendmore time researching before buy-ing. At the same time, independ-ent retailers started to pull back onwhatever advertising they wereutilizing because of budget con-straints. Google became the placefor ads as consumers were spend-ing more time using searchengines to find out about productsand stores.

“The door was wide open forbox stores and larger retailers to bethe only ones [to show up onGoogle] so they picked up a lot ofmarket share,” Weller explained.“That was a pivotal point in howthe Internet and consumer searchtrends really moved market sharefrom independents to big boxes.”

Evolution of retail websites alters consumer buying habits

storiestheJanuaryHoneywell buys BASFFiber Business.

Mannington incorporatesDuPont Teflon into itshard surface products.

Mannington and Tarkettjoin forces tomanufacture VCT.

OctoberDuPont unveils animproved Teflon advancedcarpet protector.

MarchCarpet One teams up with Good Housekeeping,expands Liz Claiborneofferings.

AprilInterfacebrings carpettiles to theresidentialmarket withthe launch of InterfaceFlor.

MayLDBrinkman files forbankruptcy.

DecemberFor the first time Domotexwill feature stone andceramic flooring.

SeptemberCCA Global Partners andFCIF announce the firstannual benefit golftournament.

NovemberQuick•Step expands itsU.S. production.

Tony Sturrus is namedpresident of Pergo.

Domco Tarkett changes itsname to Tarkett as part of aworldwide branding initiative.

Nebraska Furniture Martopens a new mega-storein Kansas City.

JuneDue to the outbreak ofSARS in Canada, theNAFCD reschedules itsfall meeting fromToronto to Chicago..

JulyColumbia Flooringannounces plans toforego Surfaces in2004.

Jeff Sills joinsAnderson as COO.

AugustMohawk acquires Lees’carpet business in abankruptcy deal.

Resilient prices areon the rise, as bothCongoleum andDomco Tarkettannounce price hikes.

86 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

JulyUnilin begins construction of600,000-square-footmanufacturing facility.

Tarkett announces it willproduce FiberFloor inNorth America.

2004 storiesthe

AugustMannington expands itswood making capabilitieswith $35 millioninvestment.

OctoberInvista debutsStainmaster carpet cushion.

FebruaryFormica exits the flooringbusiness; Shaw buys manufacturing facility.

Hartwig Siermerling isnamed president/CEO of Witex.

Misco Shawnee andDenver Hardwood calloff their merger talks.

MarchUlf Mattsson resigns aspresident/CEO ofTarkett's North AmericanBusiness.

MayJim Gould is namedchief productofficer atCCA Global.

Witex AG sells off itsNorth Americanoperations.

Pergo files patentinfringement lawsuitagainst Faus.

JuneFrank Ready is promotedto president, CEO ofArmstrong FlooringNorthAmerica.

DecemberMohawk unveils itsSmartStrand fiberfeaturing durability ofnylon and permanentstain resistance.

SeptemberPergo expands itsproduct offerings toinclude hardwood.

NovemberEvan Hackel is namedpresident of Carpet One;Vinnie Virga will headFlooring America whileDean Marcarelli takesover Stone Mountain/GCO.

Nafco launchesPermaStone.

Armstrong relaunchesits Robbins hardwoodline.

Edge Flooringlaunches patentedinterlocking systemfor ceramic tile.

Unilin announces $80million investment tobuild a plant in NorthCarolina.

Congoleum teams up with3M for new resilientproduct line namedXclusive.

T he year was 1976 when Ipulled into town in myChevy Vega station wagon

with everything I owned in theback of it. I had been hired out ofthe University of South Carolinato work for Shaw Industries, andI was about to embark on a train-ing program that would be theprecursor for the Shaw LearningAcademy, not only among thebest training programs in theindustry, but one that has beencited time and again as amongthe best in the country.I was the first “official”

trainee to come out of the pro-gram. Back then it was referredto as the Management TrainingProgram, which lasted a full yearand encompassed all aspects ofthe business. You learned every-thing about carpet—how it wasmade, how it was sold, etc. Todaythe program has been separatedinto two core paths, one for salesand one for operations, witheach lasting 12 weeks. It hasbecome a learning institution. I remember my first real

week. I went to Weaverville,N.C., with Mel Hibbard to helpwith yarn problems in a spinningmill. I would listen to Mel for theentire car ride about carpet yarn,and I would take notes along theway. About a month or so later,

the next training componentstarted, and then the next one. Ithink the second trainee wasDavid Wilkerson, now Shaw’scorporate director of sustainabil-ity. Here’s how it worked: Iwould take notes, then pass my

notebook to David. He wouldread my notes, add to them andthen pass it to the next guy. Weended up living together and

became best friends—and stillare 40 years later. That’s the waythe training program works: Abond is formed amongst theyoung men and women who gothrough the program together.Mickey Long was a trainee.

So was Scott Sandlin, BlaneHaywood, Steve Sieracki, TreyThames, John Stephens, KevinSanders and DannyCrutchfield—all executives atShaw today. They all came herefrom different parts of the coun-try. We all learned how carpet ismade. As the program developed

we began to teach about how tosell. If you look at our fieldorganization today, about halfstarted in the training program.And if you look at Shaw fieldmanagement, that number isabout 60%.The funny thing is I never

thought about carpet muchgrowing up. We had some carpetin one room in our house; therest was pine floors. When I leftthe little furniture town ofLexington, N.C., I did not knowwhere the future would take me,but two things I told myself:“Don’t work in the textilesindustry (as my Dad haddone), and don’t move to asmall town.” We see how wellthat worked out.As I began the training

period I learned about everyaspect of manufacturing. Butonce we started expanding ourdirect sales, we realized we need-ed more salespeople. Moreimportantly, we learned it wasbetter to teach people how wewanted things done than to justhire salespeople from other busi-nesses. We also found we were alot more successful if we hiredsomeone from New Jersey tocome and train and then go backto New Jersey, rather than take akid from South Carolina andsend him to the Northeast. Thejob was hard enough. That’swhen we began recruiting fromcolleges around the country. Ourrecruiters have learned what welook for, and they have done agreat job building strong rela-tionships with the universitieswhere we recruit, and these rela-

Shaw Learning Academy: Breeding ground for excellence

A day in the life of a Shaw Academy trainee

By Randy Merritt, president, Shaw Industries

By Danny Crutchfield, director of corporate training

As a trainee, Randy Merritthimself took copious notes on theway to Weaverville, N.C., wherehe learned about carpet yarns.

Continued on page 150

Iwent through the sales train-ing program and was a terri-tory manager for several

years, and in the early ’90s wasasked to come back andredesign the program. In 2005we combined a number of train-ing groups across the companyto form the Shaw LearningAcademy.Over time the program has

evolved, but the commitmenthas never wavered. When the

economy got tough, we contin-ued to invest in the training pro-gram. More than once, a mem-ber of our management teamwould ask if we should cut it toeight or six weeks. The answerwas always no. We need thismuch time to train and preparethe students properly in orderfor them to take care of our cus-tomers the way we expect themto. In the spirit of that commit-

ment, we have always tried newthings. When we brought E&Bon board we had 55 trainees. Wetrained in shifts. We cut from 16weeks to eight. But we learnedeight weeks isn’t nearly enoughtime. The process begins with

recruitment. After that we putthem up in “the Valley,” anapartment complex with 48units. Between our salestrainees, our OMTs and co-opstudents, we have every unit. It

Continued on page 150

94 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

The innovations that transformed the industry

groundbreakersthe

F rom Stainmaster to sustainable carpets, the flooring industry has produced its share of innovations over thepast 30 years. Driven by new technology and forward thinking ideas, today’s flooring landscape looks much

different than it did in 1986, long before the Internet, bio-based carpet fiber or laminate entered the picture. Here are 30 meaningful breakthroughs over the last three decades.

ALUMINUM OXIDEAluminum oxide is the hardest mineralon the planet after diamonds, and thisnatural element has become an

important wearlayercomponent. It was firstintroduced in laminateflooring, which helpedpropel the category due toits unsurpassedperformance attributes. Asa result, its use quicklyexpanded to numerousflooring surfaces,especially better grade

wood floors, where the finish helped

avoid scratches.The first aluminum oxide finished

hardwood floors debuted on Anderson’sRhinoTuff products. This improvementincreased wear resistance significantly,providing more abrasion resistance tothan traditional polyurethane, thecompany stated during the product’srollout in 1996. Aluminum oxide finishesare much tougher than the standardpolyurethane applied on-site, experts say.The net result: Consumers can expect 20 to25 years from a factory-applied, aluminum-oxide finish versus 10 years for an on-sitepolyurethane finish.

The use of aluminum oxide has grownas the industry developed more creative

ways to use the mineral as aperformance enhancer.

Congoleum’s offering was known asUltraShield wearlayer, a patented nylonand aluminum oxide reinforced surfacefor exceptional durability and superiorresistance to stains and scratches.Partnering with 3M in 2004, thecompany introduced Xclusive resilientflooring featuring Scotchgard Protector.This new flooring combinedCongoleum’s innovative technology anddesign excellence with ScotchgardProtector’s dirt and grime repellency,taking the use of aluminum oxide tolevel not seen in previous iterations ofvinyl flooring.

BUILT-IN STAIN-BLOCKING CHEMISTRYIn the 1980s, DuPont created a stain blocker chemistry that would help “block”stains on nylon carpets. In 1986 it launched Stainmaster, and it would become oneof the most enduring brands in the history of flooring.

So strong a brand that many think it is a type of carpet. Stain-blocking chemistrywas truly one of the great innovations the industry has ever had, and is now astandard feature on most carpets. It is a process applied to fibers before they aresent to the mill. While no carpet is stain-proof, the Stainmaster process madecarpet nearly that way. “Stainmaster was almost two years in the making,” TomMcAndrews, director of DuPont’sCarpet Fiber Division, said at the time.“It’s a new product, a new concept anda major, new marketing approach. Weconsider this a historic day for ourindustry.”

Several other fiber companiesquickly followed DuPont with theirown stain-blocking products.Monsanto launched its under thepopular Wear-Dated brand in theform of Wear-Dated Gold. FollowingMonsanto was Allied with Worry-Free under its Anso brand. Then came BASF andthen Hoechst Celanese with a branded version of its Trevira polyester.

CLICK SYSTEMSVery few innovations are revolutionary,but the introduction and proliferationof the mechanical locking (click)system in the mid-1990s was certainlytransformational and one of thegreatest technological innovations theindustry has ever seen.

It began in laminate with Alloc using a Välinge system in 1996, followed by Unilinwith Uniclic, and that precipitated a flurry of activity that would change laminate,then wood and now resilient with the new luxury vinyl tile products and even ceramic.

Within five years of being introduced to the mass market, nearly 100% of alllaminate flooring had been converted to some type of glue-free locking system.Today, these same systems are finding their way into the other product categories.Engineered wood was the first non-laminate category to incorporate a mechanicallocking system. Mills are now using it for solid wood floors, as well as tile andcertain types of resilient.

The advent of the first mechanical locking system—generally agreed to be fromDarko Pervan, CEO of research and development company Välinge—has led tonumerous click system methods hitting the marketplace, along with upgrades andvariations to the original Välinge system. There are even systems designed to workwith carpet, but they have not taken off as quickly as the hard surface ones.

In all, these glueless systems are rapidly changing how flooring is installed.

BIO-BASED FLOORINGToday, more than ever, designers and consumers areclamoring for alternatives to petroleum-basedproducts. The flooring industry has been at theforefront in responding to consumer demands forproducts with recycled content and aggressivemethodologies for production and reclamation.

Several initiatives abound. Fiber manufacturerInvista came out with a bio-based alternative madefrom castor bean oil. Called Bio-Antron, it is anagricultural-based version of its premium AntronLegacy nylon which is widely used by commercialcarpet mills manufacturing contract carpet. Mohawkintroduced the first bio-based fiber made partiallyfrom corn sugar. SmartStrand, made with DuPontSorona polymer, represents a breakthrough in carpet

fiber technology, producing a superior type of fiberthat combines exceptional durability with permanent,engineered in-stain protection that won’t wash orwear off. At the same time, it offers environmentalbenefits. 

To further the effort, Armstrong came out with aflooring made with rapidly renewable resourcescalled Migrations. This product exemplifies what ispossible in resilient flooring by providing additionalenvironmental attributes and combining them withenhanced performance over composition tile. Thisbio-based tile, or BBT, uses a polymer calledBioStride that contains bio-based rapidly renewableingredients. The tiles can be used where compositiontile currently is used; no new training, equipment orcleaners for maintenance purposes are necessary.BBT features twice the indent resistance, five times

greater impact resistance and is two-and-a-halftimes more crack resistant than traditionalcomposition tile.

96 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

INLAID VINYL FLOORINGAlthough inlaid vinyl tile floors are more expensive than othertypes, this particular flooring offers long wearing beauty.Inherently thick and soft, some inlaid vinyl floors have extralayers of foam to provide added underfoot comfort and to mufflesound. Because the colors and patterns go all the way throughthe vinyl to the backing, they don’t wear off.

When inlaid flooring is installed, the pattern is carefullymapped out before installation begins, and the pieces of theflooring are meticulouslycut and put together likea puzzle. Some inlaidflooring may includeaccents in othermaterials to add evenmore contrast to thedesign. The benefit ofinlaid is that the colorand pattern gocompletely through theflooring, making it moredurable than standardvinyl flooring where thepattern or color is just onthe surface.

The inlaid colorconstruction processArmstrong developedexactly positions millions of tiny color granules through as manyas 10 unique, hand-cut stencils. This process builds the color andpattern into the floor, from the backing to the wear surface,creating handcrafted designs of richness and depth of color.

Manufacturers such as Armstrong, Congoleum, Manningtonand Tarkett have all developed excellent reputations forquality and selection of this technology. Most flooringshowrooms as well as discount building material stores willsell inlaid vinyl tiles.

groundbreakerstheEPIC HARDWOODShaw has always been at the forefront ofsustainability; this was more evident than ever withthe launch of the innovative Epic hardwood in 2007.The product uses 50% less newly harvested wood thanconventional 3⁄8-inch engineered flooring. Plus, itsEnviroCore is a high-density core board made fromrecycled post-industrial wood fibers that are otherwiseburned or put into landfills. Finally, Epic’s premiumveneers come from managed forests.

But Epic hardwood became a top seller for morethan just its environmental attributes—it was also thefirst of its kind in terms of aesthetics and performance.

Originally designed with longer-than-average boardlengths, two thicknesses (3⁄8-inch and 3⁄4-inch) and twowidth options (3 3⁄4- and 5-inch), Epic hardwoodprovided the consumer with aesthetic optionspreviously not available. The technology was largelybuilt around a proprietary core that yields significantbenefits for retailers and builders alike. The core wasproduced with densely compressed wood fibers fusionbonded in a non-directional format. That uniqueconstruction eliminated core voids and providedunsurpassed structural integrity, impact resistance,moisture tolerance and dimensional stability, allwhile using fewer trees resulting in less waste. Theoriginal Epic contained all five of the consumer-

desired species: oak, maple, hickory, walnut andcherry to attract a wide assortment of homeowners.Additionally, Epic was protected with Shaw’s premiumDuraShield finish ensuring the floors would looknewer longer and perform for decades. Epic was andremains the fasting growing wood flooring productsince inception.

FIBERGLASSWhen it was first introduced in the 1980sfiberglass failed due to buckling issues.But like many great innovations, theinitial failure was not a stumbling blockbut an inspiration for a company likeTarkett, which re-introduced the concept20 years later with FiberFloor, a productthat became an industry hit.

Today, the leading vinyl flooringmanufacturers have incorporated aspecial fiberglass backing that addsstability, durability and makesinstallation much easier over a variety of

sub-floors. The fiberglass backing isextremely flexible and helps overcomeminor irregularities. Mostmanufacturers say their fiberglass-backed vinyl floors can be installedeither loose-laid or glued down withspecial pressure sensitive adhesives.Fiberglass is the fastest-growingsegment of sheet vinyl and has receivedprops for its performance andaesthetics, as well as offering the mostinstallation options. 

Since Tarkett, several companieshave followed with their own offerings.Congoleum’s AirStep, for example,

delivered the next generation of flexiblesheet flooring by marrying theadvantages of fiberglass with that oftraditional felt.

The future looks bright for fiberglass.To illustrate that point, Armstronginvested more than $25 million in itsLancaster, Pa., facility to convert it to astate-of-the-art fiberglass plant, and IVChas spent more than $75 million to builda new plant in Dalton. That is on top ofthe investment Tarkett made over fiveyears ago to transform its Farnham,Quebec, Canada, factory to makefiberglass flooring in North America.

fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 99

LVTWhen DuraCeramic wasintroduced in 2003, the producthelped revolutionize the luxuryvinyl tile category as the firstlimestone composite tile of itskind, with patents on both the

wear surface and the bevelededge cut. But the history of LVTdates further back. In 1988, a U.S.federal trademark registrationwas filed on behalf ofCongoleum for “Luxury VinylTile.” The trademark was latercancelled. Today, numeroussuppliers large and small aresuccessfully marketing LVTproducts and reaping thebenefits of a hot product thathas been fueled in part byconsumers’ desire for good-

looking, value-orientedproducts. 

Mannington’s Adura wasanother breakthrough for LVT.Adura opened the door for woodlooks with a visual closelyreplicating the look of wood, aswell as tile or stone and becamean award-winning product.

Metroflor’s Konecto was aninnovation that combined thebenefits of wood, laminate andresilient flooring. It featured a12mm top layer adhered to a

ceramic bead finished to an8mm high density fiberboard.Michael Raskin, president ofMetroflor at the time, calledKonecto “a true problem solver,”a product that was easy toinstall, flexible, extremely waterresistant, durable andaffordable. “It was a differencemaker to the bottom line for allour partners,” he said. “Veteransin the industry would tell methis is a once-in-a-lifetimeproduct for them.”

The rapid rise in LVT mirrorsthat of laminate in the late1990s and has drawn scores ofsuppliers from China looking tocash in on this category.

LVT WEAR LAYERTECHNOLOGIESIn recent years manufacturershave created advanced wearlayers to improve bothdurability and aesthetics.

One of the very first LVTsurface protection innovationscame from Congoleum in 2000via a surface incorporatingnylon and aluminum oxide inthe wear layer to preventscratching.

Other examples includeMetroflor’s Engage Genesisstructural LVT, which featuresa ceramic bead overlay treatedwith microscopic ceramicparticles suspended in a UV-cured urethane coating.

Then there’s Scratch Resistfrom Mannington whichfeatures a patentedperformance coating withaluminum oxide to help keepfloors looking newer longer.

Similarly, Raskin’s G88advanced nano-ceramic beadcoating system offersantimicrobial and anti-fungalproperties, while both Tarkett’sPermaStone and Nafco’s luxurytiles offer the Tritonite wearlayer that contains millions ofceramic micro spheres in theurethane finish. CeramGlazurethane coating from Novalisprovides extra protection onwear layers of its LVT products.

Not to be outdone,Armstrong’s Diamond 10technology is featured on itsnew Vivero luxury line providesextra durability and“unprecedented” scratch andstain resistance in addition tocleanability. 

110 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

storiesthe

July Mohawk agrees to purchase the assets offour manufacturingfacilities of ColumbiaFlooring. The acquisitionenables it to fully participate in the woodflooring market.

2007

They were once the kings ofthe distribution universe,leaders with marketing

muscle, product prowess, and—atleast for a time—a dominant posi-tion as the No. 1 wholesaler.Among the list of the once vener-able distributors were Kane-Berman, LDBrinkmanand Hoboken—all ofwhich rose to promi-nence before ultimatelylosing their way.

Following is a sum-mary of their rise andsubsequent fall.

Kane-BermanFor the better part offour decades, KaneCarpet was a dominant flooringdistributor in the New York met-ropolitan area. Led by the father-son team of Eli and AlanBraunstein, Kane was the leadplayer in the 1970s and 1980s. Itwas the first to: add upstatebranches; have on-the-road show-rooms in vans; and develop a pri-vate-label carpet line. Kane wasalso the first distributor on theEast Coast to computerize itsorder entry systems and employan on-staff computer technician.

For more than 50 years, thecompany never experienced somuch as one money-losing quar-ter. But then things began tochange in 1990. A new computerfrom a major company that wouldsoon leave the business was a fail-ure. Orders were lost or sent tothe wrong address. Generallyspeaking, technical support waslacking. In just six months Kanehad incurred millions of dollars inlosses.

In an ill-fated move, Kaneattempted the acquisition of rivalBenj. Berman. The proposedmerger was designed to create awholesale powerhouse.

However, Berman was a badlywounded company and the acqui-sition never got off the ground. InJanuary 1990, Berman announcedit was ceasing operations. Withina year, Kane was out of business.Eli Braunstein passed away duringthe process, and Alan had nochoice but to liquidate.

“I would prefer not to talkabout the fall and preferably the50 years of successful distribu-

tion,” said Alan Braunstein, whenpressed to comment on the dis-tributor’s demise.

In 1991, Alan Braunstein andhis family went into retailingwith Worldwide WholesaleFloor Coverings in Edison, N.J.Today, Alan Braunstein is presi-dent, his son Darren is a vicepresident, and Worldwide

Wholesale—a member of theNational Floorcovering Alliance(NFA)—is one of top dealers onthe East Coast.

LDBrinkmanLed by Lloyd Brinkman and LevonEzell—both members of theWorld Floor Covering Association(WFCA) Hall of Fame—thepower duo founded LDBrinkmanin 1960 as a distributor ofCongoleum-Nairn products in theDallas-Fort Worth area. Through aseries of mergers and acquisitions,notably joining forces with GiffenIndustries in the late 1960s,Brinkman grew to become theindustry’s largest wholesaler. Atits peak, Brinkman operated inthe southwest, southeast and onthe West Coast—38 states in all—and generated annual revenue of$400 million.

Tom Karol, who took over asCEO, said LDBrinkman was notonly the largest distributor, but itsprofitability dwarfed those otherflooring wholesalers. “We ownedHollytex Carpet Mills and so wehad essentially our own carpetline,” he said. “We did a lot of busi-ness with national accounts.Hollytex also did special orderceramic and special order hard-wood.”

When Beaulieu of Americapurchased LDBrinkman andHollytex, Beaulieu went frombeing the third-largest carpetmanufacturer to the most fullyintegrated maker and seller offlooring related products in theindustry.

The makings of the deal beganin mid-1999 when the two compa-nies sat down to figure out ways tofurther expand their distributionnetworks into a national pres-ence.

At the time, Piet Dossche waspresident of the residential divi-sion. In a Jan. 24-31, 2000 articlein FCNews, Dossche said,

“Compared to Shaw andMohawk’s distribution networks,we were behind in a number ofareas, such as logistics and totalservice ... Brinkman, we figured,could help us fill a need veryquickly as it was the largest inde-pendent distributor. By havingBrinkman as a partner the two ofus could cover the country coastto coast overnight. And we couldprovide a complete array of prod-ucts and resources.”

At the time, Karol said: “Thegoal is to create the most con-sumer-friendly network in theindustry. Beaulieu has great peopleand resources and we have greatpeople and a great infrastructure.The task is joining the two entitiesinto one cohesive network.”

Looking back on that time,Karol told FCNews recently,“Beaulieu wanted to compete on ahead-to-head basis with Shaw andMohawk, so they figured buyingthe best distributor would be agood move for them. Why did wesell? I don’t know. The thoughtprocess was we were going to getpaid a lot of money.”

LDBrinkman, which ownedits own trucking fleet, wouldbecome a national distributor aspart of the Beaulieu organization.Together they would create acompany that could be the leaderof the industry.

However, the merger betweenBeaulieu and Brinkman neverworked out— for a multitude ofreasons. In March 2002,Beaulieu, as part of a restructur-

The rise and demise of No. 1-ranked distributors

By Ken Ryan

January Armstrong debuts woodflooring with mechanicallocking system.

August Flooring distributor J.J.Haines enters the Floridamarket through its acquisition of Orlando-based Wheeler.

October Flooring distributor J.J. Haines acquires Orlando-based Wheeler.

March Fifteen years after itsbirth, StarNet has growninto a successful andinfluential 165-memberflooring cooperative.

Alan Greenberg, one ofthe architects of CCAGlobal Partners, thelargest floorcovering retailgroup, loses hisbattle withcancer.

For the first time since1963, when the long-running ArmstrongCircle Theater wentdark, Armstrong hasreturned to prime-time advertising withthe launch of four 15-second TV spots.

April The Floor CoveringInstallation ContractorsAssociation (FCICA)celebrates its 25th

anniversary.

May Six months after acquiringPergo, Pfleiderer namesGeorge Kelly presidentand CEO. As part of therestructuring, Kelly willoversee and direct allNorth American flooringoperations.

To better support its customers in the PacificNorthwest, Armstronghas set up a newdistribution arm to servesix Western states.

June To resolve a 10-yeargovernment investigation,Carl Bouckaert and MiekeHanssens, owners ofBeaulieu of America, step down.

December Two hard-surface mills—Wood FlooringInternational and EdgeFlooring— announce theyare going out of business.

September Bud Seretean, anentrepreneur,sportsman,philanthropistand founder ofCoronet Industries,passes away at 83.

November Hoboken Floors shuts itsdoors after 77 years inthe business, capping atumultuous downfall forthe industry’s largestdistributor.

Two months after hisbrother Ira resigned,Joel Lefkowitz stepsdown asCEO ofHobokenFloors.Mark Steele is tapped asthe new head of thestruggling distributor.

The WFCA expands itscertification program bypartnering with Armstrong,CCA Global and Mohawk.

Continued on page 152

‘‘’’

Beaulieu wanted to compete on ahead-to-head basis with Shaw and

Mohawk, so they figured buying thebest distributor would be a good

move for them. —Tom Karol, former president, LD Brinkman

114 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

storiesthe

August Despite hardwood losingone-third of its annualsales because of theeconomic downturn,Armstrong rolls out 126 wood products, itslargest intro ever.

2009January Surfaces, the industry'slargest trade show,turns 20.

Mohawk launches itslargest national saleever, building itscampaign around surveyfindings from nearly18,000 consumers whosaid what gets theminto a store andpurchase.

July Nearly 10 years afterpurchasing the Rug Décorchain from ShawIndustries, CCA Globaldivests itself of theoperation, saying thebusiness is no longercentral to its flooringstrategy.

September Armstrong and Beaulieuform a strategic allianceto offer home builders andfacility managers aflooring portfolio designedto meet all their hard andsoft surface needs.

February Cushion manufacturerFoamex files for itssecond Chapter 11, twoyears after emerging fromthe first.

iFloor has life again. Thedefunct Internet retailerwas brought back to lifeafter a Chinesemanufacturer agreed topurchase the etailer outof bankruptcy.

Shaw enters into a jointventure with DAKAmericas to build thelargest recycled PEToperation in America.

Congoleum's realisticgrout looks in itsDuraCeramic productsare now patent protected.

March Amendments to theLacey Act prompthardwood flooringsuppliers to meetstringent requirements.

April The FTC determines thatPTT, the fiber used inMohawk's SmartStrandcarpets and previouslyclassified as polyester,merits its own subclass.The ruling is the firstnew fiber classificationsince nylon.

June One hundred yearsafter introducingthe category,Armstrong hasrelaunched linoleum withnew style and design aspects.

Rite Rug, which began as acarpet and rug retailer,celebrates its 75thanniversary as amuch larger andmore diversifiedretail organization.

May Mohawk Industries is the winner of the BestOverall Manufactureraward, taking honors inthe 13th year of theAward of Excellencecompetition.

November For the first time in five years, Armstrong willexhibit on the show floor ofSurfaces. The company willbring its entire portfolio in a12,000-square-foot booth.

W hen asked to reflect onhow the World FloorCovering Association

(WFCA) has changed since FloorCovering News launched in 1986,I could only come up with one ofour objectives that hasn’tchanged, which is the focus ofour current mission state-ment: “The purpose of theWorld Floor CoveringAssociation is to ensure thesuccess and profitability ofprofessional floor coveringdealers and to protect theircommon interests.”

Just like 30 years ago,we can accomplish moretogether than we can apart.For those who might notknow, this was the case 30years ago for our industry’stwo main trade organiza-tions.

The Western FloorCovering Association wasfounded in 1959 to givedealers along the WestCoast a venue to cometogether to seek solutionsto common problems aswell as share best businesspractices. As it grew, itsmain emphasis was onholding conventions and tradeshows. This focus resulted inSurfaces, which launched in LasVegas in 2000.

The American FloorcoveringAssociation (AFA, originally theRetail Floorcovering Institute)was founded in 1973 with a plat-form that was very much orient-ed toward education, legislativeissues and combined dealer pro-motions. In the early 1980s therewere an estimated 300-plus car-pet mills. A decade later thatnumber was less than 100 andstill shrinking. By the early 1990sour industry was going throughrapid consolidation at everylevel. The trend was affectingflooring distributors and retail,where buying groups seemed tobe popping up everywhere.

As the business model waschanging for the industry as awhole, it was decided the modelfor trade associations needed toconsolidate as well. The thinkingwas the AFA had a larger mem-ber base and more educationalopportunities, while the Westerngroup had greater resources topromote due to the initial suc-cess of Surfaces. As a result, on

Jan. 1, 1995, the AFA and theWestern Floor CoveringAssociation consolidated theiroperations into the World FloorCovering Association (WFCA),forever changing the way theindustry works. Today, theWFCA is not just the industry’s

largest retail advocacy group; itrepresents the entire flooringindustry from the installer to themill through numerous pro-grams, services and affiliations.Through a series of mergers andacquisitions, the WFCA todayowns or manages such entitiesas: Certified Flooring Installers(CFI), Floor Covering IndustryFoundation (FCIF), and theFloor Covering Business toBusiness Association (fcB2B)while maintaining working rela-tionships with the FloorCovering Leadership Council(FCLC) and North AmericanAssociation of Floor CoveringDistributors (NAFCD). As theindustry continues to change theWFCA has adapted to currentconditions.

Holding true to its origins, oneof the leading ways the WFCAgives opportunity to our industryis in the area of education.Whether the topic is installationtraining, on-site training for bothsales associates and management,or estimating training to multi-day “boot camps,” the WFCA has aprogram for you. Starting thisAugust, WFCA University will

present an initial menu of 40online modules especially gearedtoward managing an independentflooring store. A great way todefray the cost of education is byutilizing the WFCA TradeScholarship Program to assistwith paying direct tuition costs.This program is there for allWFCA members to share.

The engine that hasfueled this journey is theannual trade showSurfaces, now referred toas The InternationalSurface Event (TISE). Atthe time of the merger thatcreated WFCA, the lateChris Davis was hired tonot only oversee the newlymerged association butalso to take Surfaces to ahigher level. And that isprecisely what he did. Fiveyears after joining WFCA,Surfaces grew to the 21stlargest trade show in thecountry. This success led toa significant purchase offerfrom Hanley Wood for theshow’s ownership. TheWFCA board approved thesale, allowing us to returnthe funds to our industry ina variety of productiveways. Though the show’s

ownership has changed, theWFCA continues to be the majorsponsor of Surfaces.

Sadly, we lost Chris to cancerin February 2012 at the age of 64.After a year-long search, theWFCA appointed ScottHumphrey to be its chairmanand CEO in the spring of 2013.Under his guidance, the WFCAhas continued to keep pace withthe ever-changing flooring indus-try. We have continued to growand add new programs and bene-fits for our members, and thefuture looks bright.

As my good friend and fellowWFCA chairman Ron Leach saidin 2009 during a toast to ChrisDavis at our 50th anniversary cel-ebration, “Chris has been withthe WFCA for the most incredi-ble 15 years of its 50-year history.He has certainly set up the organ-ization with its Surfaces annuityfunding to last for another 50years into the future. When he isfinished, we’ll just have to findanother leader that can keepreinventing the organization.”

Don’t worry, Ron; in ScottHumphrey we’ve found such aperson.

The transformation of the WFCA By Tom Jennings, vice president, professional development, WFCA

Surfaces (now known as the InternationalSurface Event, or TISE) launched in Las

Vegas in 2000. The event is the focal point ofWFCA’s educational, marketing and

networking initiatives.

116 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

storiesthe

Sandy Mishkin, co-founder of CCAGlobal Partners andthe only president theorganization hasknown, receivesFCNews' LifetimeAchievement Award.

July Dow Chemical sellsStyron to a private equityfirm that plans to run it asa standalone business.

Stanton buysSchumacher’s carpetbusiness to reinforce itsstrength in high-endmanufacturing.

2010

DALTON—Under Robert E. “Bob”Shaw, Shaw Industries evolvedfrom a small North Georgia dyebusiness to the largest carpetmanufacturer in theworld. When thecompany wasacquired byBerkshire Hathawayin 2001, Bob Shawstayed on as CEOuntil his retirementin 2006, havingcemented his legacyas one of the truelegends of the car-pet industry.

End of story? Not so fast.Most will work their entire

lives and never make businesshistory. Bob Shaw works every-day to rewrite it. The housingbubble burst and the flooringindustry started to tank. Daltonunemployment was skyrocket-ing above 25%. Things weregrim in 2008 and getting worse.For Bob Shaw, it was a perfecttime to hang up the golf clubsand start building anotherdynasty: Engineered Floors.

It was 2009 and Bob had justturned 78.

Shaw said he could havebuilt Engineered Floors any-where but he chose to keep it inhis beloved home of NorthGeorgia and Dalton. It’s wherehe grew up, where his mothertaught school, where he was ahigh school football star andwhere people just “know car-pet.”

But while the location maybe familiar, the approach withEngineered Floors was anything

but. For his next industrial mas-terpiece, Bob Shaw didn’t goback to the drawing board. Hethrew out the drawing board and

started over with acompletely newone. Because heknew that in orderto build a carpetcompany from theground up, and onethat would not justsurvive but thrive,you couldn’t dothings the way theyhad been donebefore. You had to

reinvent them. And that’s whatBob Shaw set out to do with thecompany’s promise: “InnovationReinvented.”

By 2010, just a year after theofficial end of the GreatRecession, Engineered Floors’first plant in Calhoun was pro-ducing its own PureColor solu-tion- dyed PET carpet. The com-pany purchased Dream Weaverand constructed two moreplants, both in Dalton, with thenewest becoming the largest sin-gle carpet-making facility in theworld. It still has expansion areato boot and is named after ClayShaw’s favorite hunting dog“Sam.” Altogether, EngineeredFloors currently has 3.2 millionsquare feet of carpet productionunder roof.

The not-so-secret sauce isthe Engineered Floors model ofdisruptive technology by usingthe newest equipment, stream-lined processes, full integrationunder roof and its own solution-dyed carpet fiber called

PureColor. As the price differen-tial abated with more supply,Engineered Floors also begansolution-dyed nylon productionin 2015, thus furthering its goalto become the largest carpet pro-ducer anywhere. And with themerger of J+J Flooring Groupand launch of its Pentz brandthis year, the company began itsmove into specified commercialand Main Street, respectively.

It’s been said that Bob Shawhas the uncanny ability toknow where the market isheaded before anyone else. Heproved it in the ’80s withindustry consolidation andagain seven years ago with atotally new approach to carpet.Both have had a lasting impacton the carpet industry.

But what’s the secret to thesuccesses of the man behind itall? James Lesslie, executive vicepresident of sales and market-ing, provided a story. “When Mr.Shaw was in his early 20s, hewas involved in a very bad caraccident that broke his arm sobadly he had to wear a cast andpins for two years. Most peoplewould have given up doing any-thing after an injury as severe asthat, much less athletic. InsteadMr. Shaw became an excellentgolfer and competes in tourna-ments even now.”

“Adversity,” Lesslie pointedout, “doesn’t faze him. Nothingsets him back and nothing slowshim down. He’s proud of hisScotch-Irish determination. ToMr. Shaw, work is not work. Hejust loves what he’s doing thatmuch.”

The re-’Engineering’ of Bob Shaw

September Pergo realigns its NorthAmerican operations in amove aimed at reinvigoratingthe brand with specialtyretailers.

January CCA Global andArmstrong commit to adirect service relationshipthat essentially bypassestraditional distribution.

California passesAB2398, the nation’sfirst carpet stewardshiplegislation. It places a5-cent consumer tax onevery square yard ofcarpet sold in the state.The money is to be usedto help divert carpetfrom landfills.

August Wilsonart, once astalwart in commerciallaminate flooring, exitsthe flooring industry.

March Invista partners withLowe’s in a deal thatexcludes Stainmaster fiberfrom Home Depot andother major home centers.

April In a move that fortifiesits solid hardwood supplychain, Shaw Industriesacquires Stuart Flooring.

May Interface forges astrategic alliance withthe Bravo Group to target the Main Streetcommercial market witha line called Stroll.

IndusParquet vows tobecome the top exoticwood supplier in themarketplace as theBrazilian manufacturerends its arrangementwith BR-111.

June Congoleum gets a newlease on life courtesy ofa bankruptcy court judgewho approves thecompany’sreorganization plan.

October Surfaces waives allcharges for its educationconference for those whoregister ahead of time.FCNews agrees to sponsorthe program.

November More than 25,000 peoplefrom 112 countries headto Chicago for Greenbuild.The flooring industrystands out as a leader inthe green movement.

Shaw enters the resilientbusiness, becoming theexclusive distributor ofLG's commercial resilientflooring in the U.S. andCanada.

FLOORING ICON CONTINUES TO MAKE HIS MARK IN NEXT PHASE OF CAREER

When Bob Shawstarted EngineeredFloors, he broughtwith him the newestequipment andtechnology todevelop innovationssuch as a solution-dyed carpet fiberknown as PureColor.

Bob Shaw

120 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

storiesthe

Mohawk unveilsSmartStrand Silk.

Shaw relaunchesAnything Goes!

Roppe’s Don Millerhonored withFCNews’ LifetimeAchievement

Award.

Jeff Fenwicknamedpresident,COO ofTarkett.

2012

O nce upon a time, in thefoothills of theAppalachian Mountains,

there was a small, but creativeyoung flooring company dream-ing to break through in the BigLeagues. This is the story onhow it all happened.

The year was 2010, the placeAnji, China, and we had just dis-covered the solution to theindustry’s lifelong quest forwaterproof plank flooring. Theywere primarily making outdoordecking, one small plank at thetime, coming slowly out of abadly maintained, 20-plus-year-old extruder. Dust everywhere,mixing bag after bag by hand,into a hopper, feeding into theextruder. They called it WPC.

Being a small, niche playerand looking to expand our salesand footprint in the hard surfacesegment of our industry, weneeded to add to our productofferings and outdoor deckingwas on our shopping list. Notbecause it was the hottest prod-uct on the market, but we hadseen how in Europe this was tak-ing off and we believed we couldbring it to our retail partners andbe successful with it. Thestrongest growing product wasclearly LVT, but being true to orunique and/or sustainabilityproduct differentiation, we did-n’t just want to be another

importer of solid, dry back LVT.Solid, click LVT was just aboutbreaking through but still earlyin its development. The bestfloating click LVT on the marketcame out of Europe, with a coreof MDF, a top layer of LVT and acork backing. We liked this con-struction very much, but didn’tlike the “sandwich” of water-proof LVT on top of waterabsorbing MDF, with this prod-uct mainly being used in wetapplications.

So when we saw this PVCmixed waterproof plank comingout of this extruder, we knewinstantly we had found the per-fect core to fit in between thefirst waterproof “flooring sand-wich” (WPC between a layer ofLVT and cork underlayment)and COREtec was born. A com-

plete new flooring product wasabout to be introduced to ourindustry.

Well, it wasn’t quite that sim-ple. It took us a couple moreyears of R&D and many moretrips to China and numeroussample failures to perfect theformula of the composition, getthe product stabilized and up toperformance before we had awinner in late 2012. We appliedfor a patent and introduced it forthe first time to the market dur-ing Surfaces 2013.

Fast forward three years laterand the success of this newlyemerged floor is unmistakenlyphenomenal and even surpassingthe speed by which laminateflooring got accepted by the retail-ers and consumers 30 years ago.

Call it luck, call it geniusproduct development; eitherway, the journey is irrelevant.What counts is getting to yourdestination. The product isbeautiful, performs and resolvesproblems associated with regu-lar, solid LVT flooring, making ita recipe for success.

The question now is, shallwe let it go the route laminatewent or learn from this and pro-tect it from the evil forces driv-ing pricing and quality into theground? Here at USFloors, ourcommitment is unwavering.Our goal is to sustain and drivethis new category for long-termgrowth and profitability for allparties concerned.

How COREtec created a categoryBy Piet Dossche, CEO, USFloors

January Sonna Calandrino, SandyMishkin, Paul Pumphreyinducted into WFCA Hall of Fame.

March Industry mournsthe passing ofChris Davis,CEO of theWFCA.

Lexmark enters theresidential market.

October ’12Derr Flooring Co.celebrates 100 years indistribution business.

February TCNA establishes greencertification.

Bob Moran isnamed CEO ofCongoleum.

April Mack Hale,longtime Invistasales rep, dies at 71.

ReSource CommercialFlooring Networkchanges name to Fuse.

Shaw opens newshowrooms in Mexicoand Beijing.

Invista expandsStainmaster intopolyester.

May CMH Space Flooringacquires Bayard Sales.

August Bentley Prince Streetpurchased by group thatincludespresidentAnthonyMinite.

June Mannington acquiresAmtico.

September Tarkett acquires Tandus.

Armstrong linoleumadded to USDA’sBioPreferredprogram.

November Mohawk buys Pergo for$150 million.

Piet Dossche

COREtec Plus features an extruded core made from recycled wood and bamboo dust,limestone and virgin PVC.

132 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

The products that blazed new trails over the last three decades

game changersthe

They’re come. They’ve gone. They’ve stuck. They’ve set the bar and, insome cases, were surpassed by next-generation latests and greatests.

These are 30 products that for one reason or another made their mark on thefloor covering industry. (Full disclosure: There are actually 35, but are youreally going to count?) Many were the first of their kind. Others were simplytop sellers for a very long time. All could make a case that they would belongin a Floor Covering Product Hall of Fame, if one indeed existed. The best part:There are many more products that didn’t make the list that some peoplewill insist belong. And that’s the beauty of subjectivity.

Here are the 30, ummm 35, significant products in the last 30 years asdetermined by Floor Covering News.

DRESSED2KILLSHAW2002First carpet tile from ShawContract to employEcoWorx backing withEcoSolution Q fiber.Represented thecompany’s first of 26 Bestof NeoCon awards over 15consecutive years.

DURASTONE/DURACERAMIC

CONGOLEUM2002

Billed as a limestone compositefloor, the first groutable LVT;

arguably one of the first true LVTproducts.

ENDLESS WONDER & ENDLESS NATURALSALADDIN1989Wonder was a multicolor jewel tone olefin space-dyedlevel loop matching new colorations with price pointsnever seen until now. Naturals came a year later andfeatured berber tones.

CORETECUSFLOORS2012Niche product becomesa category (WPC,composite, waterproofflooring) unto itself bycombining the best ofLVT, laminate, tile andengineered wood in oneproduct.

FIBERFLOORTARKETT

2005The first floating glass-backed sheet vinylinstalled without the need for adhesivesto be marketed in North America. The

advanced fiberglass technology allowedthe floor to lay flat and stay flat.

FREEFIT LVTGTP INTERNATIONAL 2009The first true floating loose layLVT with an anti-skid backing forstability.

134 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews

game changersthe

INTERFACEFLORINTERFACE2003The first carpet tilesdesigned for theresidential market.

KID-PROOFDIAMOND1993Three heavyweight two-ply heat set olefin cut pileproducts billed as totally stain proof and bleachcleanable. Warranties sold the program. Gamechanger from a marketing standpoint. Eventuallychanged to polyester following Mohawk purchase.

INTELLIGENTSTYLEMOHAWK2009Top seller in Sorona,original product on theSmartStrandcolorwall. Available in60 colors, all in either aplush or frieze, withthree different weightoptions.

INNOVATIONCONGOLEUM1985One year before the launchof FCNews, Congoleumrolled out the first inlaidsheet vinyl.

KONECTOMETROFLOR 2007The first floating LVTto hit the U.S. market.

Continued on page 136