Getting better with age - Rfloorcovering news THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE - Congoleum.com
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floorcoveringnews
N E W S PA P E R
volume 31/number 3 I www.floorcoveringnews.net I the industry’s preferred publication I July 18/25, 2016 I $2.00
THE 30 TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
Getting
better
with age
14 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
30 (x2) acquisitions & mergers
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 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
January the stories
Mannington Mills acquires
Linwood Manufacturing
Co., putting it into the
hardwood flooring and
1986
veneering product
businesses. The new
division will operate under
the Mannington Wood
Floors moniker.
February
Felt-backed vinyl flooring
and vinyl asbestos floor
How Stainmaster became
After Joe Maffett
resigns as president of
World Carpets, John
Shaheen is named to
tile are among several
products that will be
affected by the EPA’s plan
the industry’s No. 1 brand
to phase out asbestos.
succeed him. rolling all across America on the
Congoleum and Tarkett By Tom McAndrews, former president, DuPont Flooring Division
celebrate their same day in early September. As
here is the story of out the U.S. The group included the trucks were cruising, a press
100-year anniversaries.
T Stainmaster, a story that
encompasses the vision,
the energy and the courage that
consultants with experience
from P&G and BBDO. They had
spent their year studying every
conference in New York’s Pierre
Hotel gave the flooring media a
confidential preview, followed
April propelled those who took mas- facet of marketing, advertising, days later by a similar presenta-
Robert Van sive risks to make it more than a promotion (both retail and tion to all of America’s leading
Buren is technical improvement in the national) and quality assurance. TV programs and networks
named performance of carpet. It is the They had studied many product (“The Today Show,” “Good
president and
CEO of Azrock.
story of how the name came to features, most “feeding” off the Morning America,” CNN, etc.)
be—a $10,000 “blind” purchase and America’s leading newspa-
The first NWFA from a Philadelphia attorney; of pers (New York Times, Wall Street
convention attracts
170 attendees. the men and women who saw Journal, AP, etc.) and magazines.
May the chance for a major market The first TV commercial—the
Ralph Boe is named breakthrough with, at the time, a “Ricky Plane” commercial, pro-
president of Horizon readily available chemical to be duced by the “Pepsi Team” at
Industries succeeding
Peter Spirer,
upgraded by DuPont’s labs; to BBDO—aired during the second
who remains turn a short-term product advan- inning of the American League
chairman tage into an enduring brand suc- playoffs a week later. This his-
and CEO. cess. It is the story of researchers toric commercial began a nation-
June like Armand Zanato and Bob al advertising campaign, the size
Tarkett unveils Lifetime
Inlaid Flooring, billed as Shellenbarger who, with a and intensity of which had never
easier to install than strategic planner on my staff— been seen before in the flooring
traditional inlaids, hitting Chris Rielly—conceived the first industry—or since.
the market with a sense of something The $10-mil-
lifetime wear and that would be big- lion budget was
product defect warranty.
July ger than a product quickly increased
LDBrinkman, the Burlington Industries improvement, sig- to $20 million as
nation’s largest flooring acquires 92% of Masland, nificant as it was. the telephone
distributor, sells its forming the largest carpet
carpet and floor In the early fall lines at DuPont
mill with $651 million in of 1985, Rielly headquarters in
products operation to sales. Two months later,
U.K.-based Crowther Frank Greenberg
brought Zanato to Wilmington, Del.,
for $57 million. becomes chairman and the flooring divi- went into melt-
CEO of Burlington. sion’s management down. Thousands
to present his of calls were com-
awareness of this ing from across
stain-resist discov- the land asking
ery for carpets—a about DuPont’s
September technology previ- product break-
General Felt Industries ously used by the through in carpet.
purchases Color Tile, apparel industry as a dye-resist established Antron trade name. Axtell, my chief lieutenant,
which operates slightly
under 700 floor covering agent. Unbeknownst to both of The marriage of the newfound and my management team
retail stores throughout the researchers, Zanato and stain resist and the finding of consisting of Koepcke, Koch,
the U.S. Shellenbarger, but known to this group proved to be an explo- McLaughlin, Stucklik, Carna-
Rielly, was the existence of a sive combination. vale, Baucom, DeMirjian, Culley,
An NAFCD survey October confidential six-man marketing In November, 1985, I gave Jones, Johnson and Smith assist-
shows an increasing The Tile Council of
number of carpet mills America launches a
team headed by Bruce Koepcke, the go-ahead to make the mar- ed by the army of retail special-
are bypassing campaign to promote under the direction of Bob riage and instructed his team to ists of TMG, were crisscrossing
distributors American-made tile. Axtell, that had been studying proceed as rapidly as possible to the United States with their
for contract the various instruments and commercialization. Exhaustive “swizzle stick” POP promotion
sales. methods of consumer advertis- pre-market testing under the displays and their bundles of co-
November ing that could stimulate demand strictest secrecy covenants with op advertising funds to further
Fieldcrest Cannon, for DuPont’s carpet products; a four leading carpet mills was ini- fuel the marketing blitz.
parent company of project that had a pre-authorized tiated. These covert mill tests Within weeks, sales to car-
Karastan, agrees to budget of $10 million if the right led, six months later, to a pet mill customers were expo-
acquire Bigelow-Sanford. combination of product and moment of decision. nentially exceeding all forecasts,
General Electric opportunity could be found. The decision was “go!” Eight and in a truly startling effort,
December sells Coronet
Monsanto launches Wear- In a truly secret undertaking more mills were added in the DuPont’s manufacturing organi-
Industries to CI
Dated Gold Label stain- Holdings, headed by
that had only six members of my summer of 1986 based on zation began building multi-
resistant carpet. former World Carpets senior management fully in the DuPont’s fiber capacity and million-dollar expansions,
Armstrong enters the president Joe Maffett. know, the stain-resist technolo- anticipated demand. An intricate working 24/7, breaking all
ceramic business via the gy was married to the findings of but massive rollout plan was records of similar construction
Mannington’s new Allusions is
acquisition of this covert marketing group, orchestrated so thousands of to serve this new demand.
billed as offering “dimensional
Summitville Tiles.
layering” designed to create which had conducted year-long trucks carrying rolls of the new The most senior manage-
FCICA offe
offers a beginners’ luster and depth. consumer test studies through- certified product would be Continued on page 91
installation school.
32 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
the stories
1987
February
3M introduces Scotchgard
Stain Release, a system
the company claims is the
first in the industry to
March offer combined
Abbey Carpet announces soil and stain
plans to open 200-plus protection for
franchised floor covering carpet.
showrooms within the
stores of national
department store chain
Montgomery Ward. The April
company says it is the The latest hardwood
first time independent trends, according
carpet dealers can to the NWFA, are lighter
establish shops within finishes and more
this type of national chain. narrow widths.
May
Tarkett launches its 12-
foot-wide Lifetime Inlaid
flooring system to
minimize seams. The mills that Shaw Industries gradually acquired over time made
Dave Cicchinelli sense from a strategic standpoint. The purchases not only increased
is named the company’s market share, but also added new capabilities.
president of
Carpetland USA.
Dean McKinney is tapped to
lead Flex, the industry’s first
consumer credit
Pepperell purchase was the
program.
July
Collins & Aikman pegs
shot heard around the world
Charles Eitel as
By Bob Shaw, chairman and CEO, Engineered Floors
president of its floor
covering division.
f you go back to 1987 [when I any significant degree. We had a
I was president and CEO of
Shaw Industries], we basically
had a lot of risk capitalists raiding
bunch of mills doing between
$100 million and $300 million.
Ultimately, aside from
the textile mills because they had increasing market share, we were
large sums of money in their trust looking for consolidation of a
department. Pepperell was under mature industry. As much as we
siege and had to raise cash. It was wanted to consolidate, DuPont
consolidating back into the textile wanted to keep it separated. And
business and the WestPoint (car- only when you get large enough
October pet) division was something it can you backward integrate into
PermaGrain offers the could sell because it was not core the yarn business and extrude
industry’s first acrylic- to its business. Bob Shaw your own fiber. We needed to do
impregnated product,
Tupelo Wood Plank, said
Cabin Crafts was our target; it that to compete with the Allieds,
to combine color had a good name. That basically to get the growth patterns Wall Monsantos and DuPonts.
consistency with moved Shaw Industries into the Street demands. If you asked me 30 years ago
November performance. upper end of the carpet industry. I knew very simply there could where consolidation would end
David Hartman is named Swedish Up until that time, Shaw had just only be two types of companies: and how many major mills there
vice president of company Kährs been a low-cost commodity pro- those that would be acquiring and would be today, I would have told
marketing for sets up shop in
Mannington’s ducer. those that would be acquired. And you there would be a leader, a
California with
resilient Throughout all the acquisi- there was no chance Shaw strong second, a weaker third and
Ulf Kähr as president.
division. tions we made, we never Industries would ever be acquired. a bunch of also-rans. All you have
approached mills; they We believed we were the low-cost to do is look at the automotive
December approached us. The following year producer, and in a commodities industry. Before the Japanese
The Retail Floorcovering
Institute changes
Armstrong came to us with Evans business the low-cost producer is came in, you had General Motors,
its name to the & Black. Armstrong had the always the winner. And no matter you had Ford as the strong com-
American asbestos problems and was look- what we advertise, we are in a petitor and Chrysler was the dis-
Floorcovering Association. ing to spin off all it could beyond commodities business. tant third. And No. 1 makes three
Dennis Draeger is its core business. Like Pepperell, it The consolidation continued times as much money as No. 2 and
Armstrong’s new group was consolidating back into its for a few reasons. First, by making No. 3 combined, and that was
vice president of resilient. core business. acquisitions you advertise you are about the case in the carpet indus-
New divisional vice The reality is there is nothing in the market for more acquisi- try. We were always the low-cost
presidents of sales and unique about our industry. As tions. And you have to be able to producer and had done more
marketing at Shaw: Randy any industry matures, as it gets afford it. We were the only public backward integrating. We bought
Merritt for Philadelphia closer to the GNP, there will company, so we had access to pub- Honeywell and extrusion from
Carpets and Don Whitfield always be consolidation, and it’s lic money that others did not. Beaulieu. The more backward
for Cabin Crafts.
always the stronger buying the Second, there were too many bor- integrating you do, the more
Congoleum takes the weaker. And a fast-growing, pub- derline successful carpet mills— added value you generate. The
wraps off Triumph, which lic company must get into acqui- those having value, but not gener- more added value, the greater
features a high-gloss
sitions as well as grow internally ating enough money to grow to capability of controlling the profit.
urethane finish.
34 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
January the stories
Frederick Berman,
chairman of Benj.
Berman, passes away
at age 78.
1988
February
Dorsett Carpet Mills
becomes the first
Horizon Industries, like the mythical
American carpet
manufacturer to extrude
its own BCF nylon.
phoenix, literally rose from the ashes
Roger Hunt is named
March executive director By Peter Spirer, CEO of MaxWoods when heated, dispersed water and extinguished
Jim Trawick is of the Flex the flames. Both developments came within a year
the new president of ack in 1972, a company rose from a disaster of TCA’s misfortune.
B
consumer
Domco’s U.S. division. credit program. to become a storybook success. Forced to discontinue shipping failing carpet
Dorsett Carpet Horizon Industries was named for the tiles, TCA sold its tile cutting equipment to a
mills becomes the uncanny ability to look way beyond where you can startup venture in the commercial sector called
first American carpet see, to find a place of wonder called the horizon. Interface. We changed TCA’s name as well. The
manufacturer to Originally, the company was TCA, Tile Company of only things remaining were our building and a
develop and extrude its
own BCF nylon, the
America. Within three years it had become an ash large tax loss to carry forward. The newly named
company claims. heap of failed dreams. This little enterprise made company, Horizon Industries, was based on an
the first carpet tiles in the U.S., 12 x 12 nylon shag indeterminate future but a very real philosophy.
May squares with attached foam rubber cushion. In a word, this philosophy was “dare.”
Odyssey acquires J.P. Merchandised as Carpet As the smallest of the
Stevens carpet group. in a Carton, every more than 300 carpet
Don Finkell is appointed Sears, Montgomery Wards mills of the time (1972),
president of Anderson and JC Penney store in Horizon needed to be
Hardwood Floors. America sold them. For a noticed. Barwick Carpets,
World Carpets appoints year or two TCA squares then the industry’s largest
June Bill Waters vice were a retail sensation. manufacturer, had just
Congoleum launches president of marketing And then the bottom introduced cut and loop
Marathon, its first heavy for all divisions. fell out. technology, made with
duty inlaid sheet,
marking its entrance The Federal Trade newly designed electron-
into the commercial Commission (FTC) decid- ic scroll pattern tufting
sheet goods market. ed to check the compli- machines. Desperate for
ance of the carpet indus- success, we decided to
try with recently enacted roll the dice and buy one
regulations passed by of these machines. We
Congress, requiring all felt sure that the beautiful
August home textiles to pass cut and loop designs
Carpet One introduces a the Textile Flammability would stand out among
national real estate
program, a sales Act. Lawyers from the the pedestrian, base-
training plan and its own FTC’s Compliance section grade cut piles, level loop
credit card. descended on north tweeds, polyester “splush-
Georgia carpet mills, pick- es” and shags. After all the
ing up samples and testing turmoil with TCA we
Monterrey Carpets is
purchased by Larry Jones
them to see if they passed the methenamine pill opted to roll the dice to regain lost time.
and Kevin Allen. test, the standard established for determining the In hindsight, our act of desperation was the
burn spread of a high energy ignitor (the pill) on perfect stroke. We needed a major breakthrough
Armstrong announces plans
to purchase all outstanding
home textiles, including carpet. Few, if any, did. and we got it. Beau Rivage, Horizon’s first product
shares of American Olean The industry was in deep doodoo. introduction, was a big hit. With the bravado
capital stock from National Lacking the technology to slow the spread or springing from success, we followed up with
October Gypsum. extinguish the burning pill, the carpet industry Mystique, Sabra, Le Plaid, Le Mans and
Stanton Carpets was a sitting duck, and failures were found from American Folkweave. The more daring our
acquires Carpet
Distributors of America. the largest manufacturers to the smallest. TCA, designing became, the faster the business grew.
being in the latter category and easily identified As it turned out, consumers were starved for
Changes at LDBrinkman:
Jeff Sills is
by its red, white and blue boxes in every chain innovation. When they discovered it they
named senior store in every state, was the company the FTC responded enthusiastically. We even made a
vice president deemed easiest to prosecute and least able to remarkable pattern (which didn’t sell) based
of sales and defend itself. Within a year or so following its on the hippy era LOVE design. Then we intro-
marketing; Mike march through Georgia, the FTC lawyers forced duced the industry’s first line of printed animal
Klingele is us to recall 15 months of production. When the skin patterns, a blockbuster called Safari.
appointed president of
the West Coast division. goods was returned, it was sent to the Dalton We had our failures. Sampling a product with
December dump to be destroyed by burning. Thus, did TCA little or no financial recovery is risky business. We
The Chicago Merchandise DuPont signs a letter of perish in the flames. learned to manage risk by seeking the opinions
Mart cancels its retail intent to purchase Note: TCA’s legal defense had to be abandoned of dealers before launching, and then sampling
residential market for Hercules’ olefin carpet
January, citing a shift in fiber business. The move
when it became financially unable to continue the only a small percentage of our customers to test
focus to designer/ will more than double fight. Two prodigious events followed: The reaction before going full blast.
specifier. DuPont’s olefin fiber large companies whose carpets failed to pass the By 1980 we had passed Barwick in size and
capacity. “pill test” banded together and sued the FTC, using were among the top 10 carpet mills. In 1983 we
Milliken improves its TCA’s exact claim, namely that Congress had not went public, and in 1992 we became
successful Capture given the Federal Trade Commission the authority Mohawk’s first acquisition. Our high-risk philoso-
dry carpet cleaner. to recall. TCA’s lawyer, Dick Gimer, was retained phy hadn’t changed, but we did manage to slip in
by these major mills to press the case. He won, some commodity products to pay the light bill.
hands down. Secondly, latex chemists developed a Moral of the story: Follow your instincts
sure cure for extinguishing the methenamine pill, unless (or until) they lead you up a blind alley.
a chemical known as aluminum trihydrate, which, Then, throw the Hail Mary pass.
42 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
January the stories
Bob Van Buren is named
president and CEO of
Azrock while continuing
in his role as
1992
president
and CEO
of Domco.
February
American carpet mills
have been ordered by the
How Carpet One blossomed
Canadian Department of
National Revenue’s
customs and excise branch
into the premier retail group
to pay anti-dumping duties
between 5.3% and 5.5% on By Steven Feldman together and have some prod- in, and they all said yes.”
March all product sold into ucts together.” The premise presented to
More than 2,500 retail- Canada.
ers, contractors and
(Reprinted from the Carpet One It was a different time back these 11 retailers was relatively
designers attend Expo Shaw’s purchase of 25th anniversary issue, published then. “Home centers were just simple. Running a successful
East ’92, an industry Salem Carpet Mills will by FCNews in 2009.) becoming a factor. The industry carpet store was likened to an
tradeshow put on by push the company over was fragmented. There were equilateral triangle with the
Floor Covering News at the $1 billion mark in
he vision was to build a co- 400 mills. At the time $200 mil- three sides consisting of buying,
the Meadowlands
Convention Center
in New Jersey.
annual sales and give it
a market share of
approximately 31%. T operative where floor cov-
ering retailers could
achieve the same market advan-
lion was a huge mill. The mar-
ket share of the largest mill was
just 2%. So I think we saw an
management and marketing. On
the marketing side was direct
mail, television, radio and print.
tages as the national chains. The opportunity.” Under buying was purchasing
mission was to formu- more competitively
late a plan that would and private labeling.
combine marketing Management centered
May with buying power and on all facets of training.
BASF files for a patent management tools. The “From day one, we
that will allow it to result was Carpet One. believed strongly that if
recycle carpet made with
nylon 6 by depolymerizing
It was 1984 when we only focused on
the fiber into reusable Howard Brodsky and buying we weren’t
caprolactam, its Alan Greenberg, friends going to help anybody,”
original monomer. from their days as influ- Brodsky said. “If all we
ential members of the did was management,
Retail Floorcovering then we couldn’t get
Institute (RFI), began the margins we want-
thinking about what ed. We knew we had to
would formally be leverage all three—
July launched as Carpet Co- including marketing—
Carpet One starts Carpet op of America. Their together. All three had
One University, a target was aggressive at to be working together
comprehensive training the outset but rather modest in Brodsky and Greenberg simultaneously.”
‘
program that tours the
hindsight: 330 retailers. Not in began to do their homework.
country in an effort to
educate and their wildest dreams could they First, they met with each other The early days
motivate have ever imagined a meeting and started listing things that Sandy Mishkin, the only presi-
salespeople. August with 11 other retailers in would be part of the concept. dent Carpet One has ever known
Mohawk purchases Horizon January 2005 spawning inar- Next, they looked at other and one of the industry’s greatest
’
Fabrica starts listing Industries for $86.5 guably the most powerful retail organizations that had some negotiators, was a key compo-
square-foot prices next million. With combined flooring entity, a group that col- similarities. nent from the start, convincing
to square-yard prices sales of approximately
$630 million, Mohawk lectively sells more than $4 bil- Then they started talking to the mills to sign on. It wasn’t
in an effort to end
consumer confusion becomes the industry’s lion annually. experts from other industries easy. Many of the mills did not
about price and second largest carpet mill. The story is one for the like Larry Zehfuss, CEO of the see a group of dealers getting
quantity needed. The industry debates the Harvard Business
merits of fiber companies’ School: How to build a
strategy of selling what
would normally be
successful co-op. The At the time $200 million was a
story is also an unlikely
October
branded fibers to mills as
one. Greenberg had left huge mill. The market share of
unbranded goods.
DuPont’s Partnership for his family business, Tile the largest mill was just 2%. So I
Carpet Reclamation is Town, to launch Sun
launched. This network of Carpet in St. Louis. think we saw an opportunity.
companies will work Brodsky’s Dean’s Carpet
together to collect and —Howard Brodsky
distribute post-consumer in Manchester, N.H., Co-founder, chairman and co-CEO, Carpet One
carpet products. was the typical All-
Lees Carpets launches American dealer. But together, ServiStar hardware co-op. “We together as positive for them. So
Lees for Life, which November they were as good as it spent an afternoon in Butler, Carpet One did what anyone
features a patented The industry blasts the gets. “Alan and I built a great Pa., trying to understand the would do—it phoned a
process that allows CBS Network after fea- friendship,” Brodsky told idea of a co-op. We came away friend. “The original mills were
products to resist turing a segment con- FCNews. “We were both presi- with the feeling that this would personal, close friends, and
stains for the life of cerning
the carpet. dents of RFI. Then we were co- be a great concept for us.” that’s who sold us,” Brodsky said.
the effects of carpet
and IAQ, stemmed from chairs of the Billion Dollar From there Brodsky and “Doug Foster of Salem and Don
December Anderson Labs reports Carpet Sale. That was the first Greenberg started to formalize Mercer of Mohawk were the
Congoleum and Amtico that have been denounced event we did together, and we the business plan. “We put our early supporters. We wanted to
merge with Roger Marcus by the industry and other knew a lot of dealers around the concept together and invited 11 get some private-label lines and
named president and CEO. experts. country. After that was success- people to Atlanta, friends we a better discount than what was
The flooring industry’s Hoechst unveils Trevira ful, we started strategizing: knew from different parts of the being offered to the market. We
Hall of Fame is One, an all-polyester What would happen if we got a country, and all we had was a were able to get a pretty wide-
announced with carpet system that is
completely recyclable. group that would buy together, flip chart of the concept. We ranging collection that we
11 people named as market together, advertise asked them if they wanted to be branded Carpet One.”
inaugural members.
44 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
January the stories
The 65-store chain
Carpeteria is expanding
its Western regional
presence by opening
1993
stores in Arizona,
Colorado and Texas.
How Tarkett took aim at Circle A
GOAL WAS TO PROVE ITSELF AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ARMSTRONG
March THROUGH PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING
Mohawk purchases
American Rug Craftsmen
for $20 million. like I did. I got a lot of hell, but I
By Ingvar Backhamre, former CEO, Tarkett Inc.
A storm that dumps learned from it.
24 inches of snow causes t was 1981 when I left that there was no one in the We developed products
April
DuPont introduces three
branded fibers—
the roofs of more than
50 carpet mills within a
30-mile radius of Dalton
to collapse. Most mills
I Sweden, the country I called
home throughout my entire
life, to become CEO of North
industry who had read any of
these studies. But we knew
about it. We followed all the
where we could prove they were
better than Armstrong’s. That’s
because we could never follow
Stainmaster Plus, are back to full operation American operations for the Armstrong in their strategy.
studies about asbestos. I felt we
MasterLife and Grand 10 days newly formed Tarkett, Inc. could not continue to produceThey spent tons of money in
Luxura—that will be used after the Tarkett had just acquired with asbestos when workers onconsumer advertising. If we
by only 18 mills. The storm hit.
GAF’s worldwide flooring busi- tried to copy them it would have
the floor could get sick. So this
company also announced ness for $56.6 million because decision was the right thing been suicide for our company.
the formation of the
DuPont MasterStore we needed a distribution net- We did, however, do enough
from both a strategy and moral
concept with the ultimate May work in the U.S. The company point of view. consumer advertising to keep
goal of having between Tarkett goes head-to-head was so badly managed in both Without any question, ourthe distributors somewhat
2,000 and 3,000 locations. with Armstrong’s Corlon the U.S. and Europe, and we best product development was happy.
line. Ingvar Backhamre,
Tarkett’s president and
were the only company in the non-asbestos. Carl Sempier (the Instead, we chose to spend
CEO, debuts a gun-slinging world willing to purchase both former CEO of Mannington) our money in trade advertising.
cowboy outfit in making businesses. They could not sell said to me at one point, “YouWe had more trade advertising
June the announcement. their European business; we than Armstrong, Mannington or
saved the entire industry from
Mohawk signs an were the only one willing to take Congoleum. It was through
complete disaster.” If I did not
agreement for
$140 million with it on because we knew how to trade advertising where we chal-
take action in the asbestos area,
Fieldcrest Cannon to correct it. lenged Armstrong.
things would have continued as
purchase its Karastan Their strategy in the U.S. was they were for another five to We were specific. We chal-
Bigelow carpet unit. July a complete disaster. They had no lenged them one area at a time.
eight years. I can’t imagine how
Karastan’s $236 million unique products. The profes- much more damage would have The only way to do it right is to
Kentile Floors will no
in annual sales will
longer produce residential sionally installed segment was been done. As of September have credible, independent, fair
push Mohawk ahead of
resilient flooring. the most important business. 1981, we did not produce withtesting. No Mickey Mouse test-
Beaulieu into the
No. 2 spot among carpet But it was not a priority for GAF. asbestos. ing. And after that you must
mills with $835 million. They did not spend on product Then I studied Armstrong.keep referring to those tests.
August
Shaw continues its
development and had no mar- How does a disaster company What Armstrong didn’t
expansion in the U.K., by keting strategy. They could not like GAF compete? Armstrong
purchasing Abingdon develop a marketing strategy was great in many areas,
Carpets. Combined with because they didn’t have the but I particularly
its recent acquisition of products. What they would do is applaud their mar-
Kosset Carpets, Shaw is
give distributors a 3% discount. keting strategy.
September considered to be the
George Lorch is elected largest seller of carpet in That is a stupid strategy. One weakness:
president and CEO of the U.K. When I took over, I had to They had not
Armstrong World Mannington changes at change everything. The first developed enough
Industries, replacing the top: Scott Smith, thing I did was analyze our com- new products in the
William Adams, who chairman and CEO, has petitors. At the time, Armstrong last seven years. So we
remains chairman. resigned after 18 years was by far the largest manufac- put a lot of resources
with the company. Tony turer of vinyl in North into product
October Kelly, COO, will assume
Smith’s CEO duties. America—and the world—and development.
The EPA is unable to we were the largest in Europe We took our Ingvar Backhamne
independently replicate the Meanwhile, Keith
finding of Anderson Campbell has been and second largest in the world. best man from president & CEO,
Laboratories concerning named executive vice As such, we had no interest in E u r o p e , Tarkett, Inc.
carpet emitting toxic fumes. president and Ed Duncan positioning ourselves against brought him
senior vice president of
Shaw’s much anticipated marketing. Mannington or Congoleum. We over and invest-
TrustMark retail wanted to position ourselves as ed in product development.
program hits the street the alternative to Armstrong, a I had meetings every other
with an initial offering November very fine company that I have week in Whitehall. I guided
of 150 residential styles. Ed Weaver, chairman and always respected. the team product by prod-
The mill sets a goal of CEO of Diamond Rug &
2,500 U.S. retailers to My only way of accomplish- uct, and what I expected
Carpet Mills, dies of a
buy into the full- heart attack at age 48. ing that goal was to generate them to develop. If you
disclosure program. some good attention. Everyone challenge people they will
Charles Eitel is new CEO
was neglecting us. GAF had no respond.
of Interface.
December power. Everything they were I traveled more than my
Mohawk’s purchase of selling was on discount. So the competitors. I knew where we
Aladdin Mills for $386.5 first area where I really made were weak and where we were
million sets an industry
record as the highest
noise was with asbestos. strong. Customers will tell you,
amount paid for a mill The interesting thing is sev- and I wanted to know. I visited
acquisition. The purchase eral analyses in the market about retailers who we had business
will push Mohawk’s asbestos were all from the U.S. I with and those who we did not.
annual sales to more than had a problem understanding No one traveled in the market
$1.3 billion.
fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 45
know was that I re-hired the mar-
knew American law keting director I
as well as my com- had fired. He was
petitors. They said bluffed into giving
we will take you to a proposal to that
court. I said you major distributor.
could do that, but if That distributor
you want to get rid of went back to his
my ads, the best way current vendor.
is to convince me I’m Word leaked out
wrong. Then I will and distributors
drop my ads and lost confidence
apologize. If you and didn’t want to
can’t do that then it is invest.
none of your busi- The most
ness. Then I would important things
ask if they had in- about being a man-
house lawyers. I told ufacturer are R&D
them in-house and marketing. If
lawyers are not the best in the Armstrong product after prod- focus on marketing. Stupid. And up with Tarkett. My first you don’t have the products, and
marketplace. I had Rudy uct, the press asked if I was will- when it comes to distribution, if thought was are they serious or you can’t copy the market leader
Guiliani as my lawyer. This was ing to meet Armstrong. Where? you lose a distributor you can- are they going to go back to because of economies of sale,
before he became mayor of New I suggested the O.K. Corral not wait one year to appoint their present vendor and press you must be better in some key
York. He is a wonderful man. because that is the best-known another. What happens with a them for concessions. So I was areas. For us, eliminating
Rudy and I speak the same lan- Western. Life is too short. That dealer base? They go to some- dragging my feet. Eventually I asbestos was critical.
guage. So the very last meeting I Clint Eastwood ad may have one else. said, “I cannot legally terminate I moved back to Sweden in
had with them they offered me a been a little provocative, but it Another issue I remember: five distributors in your area 2013 after 32 years in the U.S. We
compromise. I turned this down. was just another way to have a There was a big distributor in and give the line to you.” He said stayed much longer than I had
Armstrong is a very fine com- little fun. the U.S. who handled vinyl for a he was still interested. Then I planned. I love the United States,
pany. They would not have been competitor. He came to me and knew he was just playing us. but it is nice to be home again
the biggest in the world if they Passing the torch said they were thinking of lining When I left Tarkett they had with old friends and family.
were not very good in many I retired from Tarkett in
areas. In my ads I never said they 1997, and the company has
were bad. I just said in some struggled to achieve the level of
areas we were better. For us to be success we enjoyed in the 16
trusted by the retailers, we need- years I served as CEO. I am
ed to prove we had several prod- often asked why. I would say I
ucts better than Armstrong’s. We was very independent within
got so many more retailers Tarkett. I was not only CEO for
because of those ads. Tarkett Inc., but I was executive
Everyone thought we were vice president for the whole
going after Armstrong. That was group for more than 10 years. If
not true. We were just out to you take the market strategy in
position ourselves as an alterna- U.S., I did it by myself. We went
tive to Armstrong. You must from a losing company in North
have a very simple message for America to become the most
the market. So we never tried to important company profit-wise
badmouth them. We never tried within Tarkett worldwide.
to say they had bad products. We I did it very differently than
just tried to say in some areas we Europe. Their consumer busi-
were better. We had no hard ness in Europe was not good.
feelings toward Armstrong. They They were selling vinyl as a
were the best in the industry. commodity business based on
One of those products was thickness. My boss came over
Lifetime Inlaid Flooring, which from Europe and asked me
we positioned against their suc- about the thickness of some
cessful Solarian line. It was a dif- products. I said it was irrelevant.
ferent kind of inlaid, and it was He was mad at me. Everyone
12 feet wide where we eliminat- talked about thickness. It was
ed most seams. If there was one stupidity.
problem with Solarian it was The management from
seams. Our product was also bet- Europe after me messed things
ter in wear tests. It beat Solarian up. Do you think they wanted to
by far. ask for advice from the previous
People also remember the boss? They didn’t understand
trade ad I once ran with me how it works in America.
wearing a black cowboy outfit Everyone here got it right:
holding a couple of guns where I Armstrong, Mannington,
challenged Armstrong to “make Congoleum, us. We stressed it
my day.” You know, we must even more with our product
have some fun, too. I found the development. Europe focused
flooring business boring. They on construction. It was like hav-
were no fun. When I challenged ing an engineer come in to
46 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
the stories
1994
February
An estimated 29,000 people
turn out for Surfaces ’94,
officially marking it as the
industry’s national show.
A new “floating floor”
lands in U.S. Italy’s
Abet Laminati debuts a
high-pressure
decorative laminate to
the U.S. builder market.
April
Domco buys National
Flooring Products Co.
(NAFCO) to bolster its
residential tile business.
May
Color Tile, the nation’s
largest specialty retailer,
has added carpet to its
product mix as soft
surface sales are greatly
June outpacing the rest of the
Dixie Yarns will purchase industry.
Patrick Carpet Mills.
Primarily a high-end
commercial mill, the
West Coast company had
sales of approximately
$20 million in 1993.
Queen Carpet acquires
Tuftex Industries, the
July
Recycling is the buzz
word at NeoCon ’94 as the
Coming to America:
second purchase of a
West Coast mill in a
week.
A&D community starts
showing a big interest in
environmentally friendly
The Pergo phenomenon
Diamond, Dixie, options.
Interface, Mohawk, By Jim Gould, president, Floor Covering Institute
Queen and Shaw are
among the carpet mills n the 1980s, in the small for foreign manufacturers. In
I
Maxim acquires GCO Carpet
subpoenaed by the U.S. Outlets for an estimated Swedish town of Perstorp short order, Misco had a new
Justice Department in a $10.5 million. The purchase
federal antitrust probe. Village, a laminate countertop product and DSI had a new
gives Maxim access to the
cash-and-carry business.
manufacturer began experi- client.
menting with laminate that Pergo’s president, Lars von
August could be used for flooring. Kantzow, had only recently been
Pergo laminate is now From its production facility hired away from Cricket Lighter,
available in the U.S. The in Trelleborg, Sweden, Pergo was a division of Gillette (formerly a
national rollout of its
revolutionary floor is launched into Austria, Germany, division of the Swedish Match
being led by France and Scandinavia, where it Co.) where he had proven his
Color Tile September was an immediate hit. ability to capture market share
and Carpet Chris Davis is named With momentum behind it with a new product. As we dis-
One. executive director and and looking to broaden its mar- cussed his challenges, it became Lars von Kantzow
CEO of the Western Floor ket, Pergo took the product to evident he was committed to
Covering Association in Domotex Germany, Europe’s understanding the industry and It took awhile to organize all
preparation of its merger
with the American largest floor covering show. That doing whatever it took to make the pieces before the launch. To
Floorcovering is where, in 1992, Paul Murfin Pergo succeed. To head up U.S. guarantee sales and recruit dis-
Association. (now CEO of IVC) and I stum- marketing and advertising, Lars tributors, one-year exclusive
October Close to 200 installers from bled upon the Pergo exhibit. hired Bill Dearing, previously agreements were signed with
Industry mourns the around the country come to Paul and I were at the show look- director of U.S. sales at Cricket Alan Greenberg for Carpet One
passing of Harry Saul, Kansas City, Mo., for the ing for new wood suppliers for and currently president of the and Larry Nagle for Color Tile.
founder of Queen Carpet first-ever convention of the Misco Shawnee, my Midwest North American Laminate With retailers in place, Lars
and philanthropist. International Certified
He was 85. Floorcovering Installers distribution company. Pergo Flooring Association. Other recruited a network of the best
Association (CFI). piqued our interest. The members of his Cricket team wholesale distributors in
installed planks looked like eagerly rejoined their leader. America. Without established
wood but something about it Timing for a new product in competitors in the market,
November
Western Solutions, a was different. Little did we know the market could not have been enhanced profit margins for dis-
division of E.T.C. Carpet then how the chance discovery better. Consumers and retailers tributors and retailers sweet-
Mills, is the first carpet would change our lives and the were tired of the same products ened the proposition. Prices and
manufacturer in the U.S. industry. with their worn appearance and margins held firm while the con-
to say it will make all its We learned that Pergo could maintenance problems; retailer sumer benefited from a new
products out of
not launch in the U.S. market and distributor profit margins product with improved perform-
December recyclable nylon fibers.
had been squeezed to a mini- ance.
Mohawk purchases
because it lacked the infrastruc-
Galaxy Carpet Mills from ture: warehousing, logistics, mum as flooring categories When Pergo launched in the
Peerless Carpet Corp. sales force and internal opera- became commoditized. U.S., Misco was the first distrib-
for $42.4 million. tions. Ironically, two years earli- Everyone was ready for some- utor and my company DSI was
er I had created Distribution thing new; Pergo had the prod- the machine behind the curtain
Services Inc. (DSI), specifically uct and the management, DSI taking orders, warehousing and
to handle logistics in America covered their logistics stateside. processing claims. Everyone
‘
fcnews July 18/25, 2016 I 47
’
dialing 1-800-PERGO
reached a DSI/Misco As one very close to the operations of earlier DPL products. original distributors.
employee who Competitors introduced While today the DIY market
answered, “Thank you
of Pergo, I watched Lars von Kantzow beveled edges, embossed-in-reg- represents more than 60% of
for calling Pergo.” orchestrate sales, advertising, marketing ister designs and glueless instal- laminate sales, back then the
Orders shipped from lation systems. The family that decision to sell to big boxes was
DSI’s Pergo inventory and operations with wizardry. controlled Perstorp chose not to questioned and criticized.
to distributors across immediately respond by invest- Today, Pergo lives on as a divi-
the country, and —Jim Gould, ing in new equipment, and sion of Mohawk Industries
president, Floor Covering Institute
Carpet One and Color Pergo fell behind as a conse- joined by its once archrival,
Tile exceeded every- inate what had become an Harvard School of Business. quence. A decision to sell direct- Unilin. Lars von Kantzow is the
one’s—except Lars’— entirely new flooring category. Competition introduced less ly to Home Depot in hopes of CEO of the highly successful
expectations. Post mortem: The fate of expensive direct pressure lami- keeping competitors out of that Nomaco, the world’s largest pro-
Customer satisfac- such a highly successful compa- nate (DPL), overcoming limita- channel broke the support and ducer of synthetic bottle stop-
tion and service were ny could be a case study at the tions in design and performance confidence of many of Pergo’s pers for wine.
paramount to Pergo.
The company flew in
as many pallets as nec-
essary to fill orders
when a SKU sold out.
If an installer did not
follow the installation
instructions, and sub-
sequently caused a
failure, Pergo supplied
new material free of
charge. Since 80% of claims
were installation related, Pergo
started training installers. Later,
certified installers were required
or the warranty was voided upon
installation.
Most importantly, Lars
understood how to build a brand
in a brand-starved industry.
Inheriting a name that was more
reminiscent of spaghetti sauce
than 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 equal
to some corporations spending
in excess of $25 million per year.
Paid advertising was enhanced
by consumers enthusiastically
telling their friends about their
exciting new floor. Word of
mouth spread the news more
effectively than purchased
advertising, an early example of
“peer reviews.”
A simple retail display with a
high heel and a challenge to con-
sumers to try to dent the floor
effectively demonstrated the
Pergo story. Mrs. Consumer
watched in amazement as the
salesperson calculated the cost
of the project with a magic
marker on the Pergo plank then
easily wiped the board clean.
Smokers watched a demo of a
lighted cigarette that did not
mark the floor.
As one very close to the oper-
ations of Pergo, I watched Lars
orchestrate sales, advertising,
marketing and operations with
wizardry. By 1996, Pergo began
to manufacture flooring in
Garner, N.C., continued to dom-48 I July 18/25, 2016 fcnews
January the stories
Industry stalwart M.B.
“Bud” Seretean is app-
pointed chairman of The
Maxim Group, succeeding
1995
Richard Kaplan.
Jeff Lorberbaum is
named president and February
COO of Mohawk Karastan becomes the
Industries while first licensee of the
retaining his new Wools of
responsibilities as New Zealand
president brand.
and CEO of
the Aladdin
division.
April
Stanton Carpet
purchases Royal Dutch
Carpet Mills.
May
Minnesota forms the
Carpet Recycling
Program, CA-RE through
United Recycling. This is
the forerunner to the
industry’s Carpet America
Recovery Effort founded
in 2002.
Shell Oil enters
How Armstrong’s ‘Quest’ for floor space
June
Countertop heavyweight
Wilsonart announces its
the flooring
industry with a
new fiber
paved the way for laminates
entry into the flooring named Corterra. The
industry with a branded company says the poly By Reginald Tucker
ates and consumers alike. of the Quest merchandising pro-
line of laminate flooring. trimethylene terephthalate “The idea was to give the gram. With Armstrong-branded
(PTT) polymer exhibits the t was really about pre- specialty retailer permission to resilient flooring products and
best characteristics of
nylon and polyester.
July
“I senting fashion to the
floor covering retailer at
a time when many companies
feel more comfortable about
being in the interior fashion
business,” said Qualls, who for 17
signature collections gaining
more prominence within home
centers, the company needed a
were not really doing it. That years managed the residential way to address the rising chan-
Perstorp, maker of Pergo was the mindset driving that and commercial flooring brand nel conflict caused by the unrest
laminate flooring,
announces it will break whole system.” strategies at Armstrong. As she that was brewing among inde-
ground on a manufactur- That’s according to Sherry explained: “Everyone at pendent specialty retailers who
ing plant in Raleigh, N.C. Qualls, a former advertising and Armstrong felt it was really struggled to compete head-to-
August Wunda Weve is acquired marketing executive with important that we didn’t differ- head with the big boxes on the
Kentile, at one time the by World Carpets. The Armstrong World
most well-known brand of purchase comes as Industries, reflecting on
resilient floors, ceases Wunda Weve filed for
operations. the concept behind the
Chapter 11 bankruptcy
“Cotton’s Future in Floor protection. development of the
Covering” is a one-day infamous Quest
seminar held in Dalton by resilient floor covering
Cotton Inc. as the merchandising system
organization makes a push that Armstrong official-
to bring the fiber back to
ly launched in 1995.
the industry. October Primarily devised as a
Armstrong sells its Carpet One enters the
American Olean tile wholesale business with means to squeeze com-
division to Dal-Tile the opening of Distribution peting hard surface
International. One in Dalton. products off the show-
room floor, observers
say it actually resulted
November
Dick McAdams, founder of in more space being
Georgia Carpet Outlets devoted to laminate The quest display system with all its
(GCO), has stepped down flooring, then an up and components.
as president and CEO. He coming category.
will continue to serve as Massive and bold in its pres- entiate between resilient and same branded products.
chairman and remain on
December board of Maxim, GCO’s
entation, the Quest display laminate flooring as much as we “Yes, that was a very impor-
Armstrong unveils Quest, parent company. claimed to be the first such sys- wanted to reinforce the fact that tant strategy, obviously,” Qualls
the most comprehensive LDBrinkman, the
tem to utilize large-scale, free- we were giving customers a vari- recalled. “There were a number
program in company standing samples and the first of ety of choices in a display system of products, especially lami-
industry’s largest
history, to roughly 1,000 its kind to incorporate actual that was beautiful as well as nates, that were finding their
distributor and retail distributor, has thrown its
guests in Orlando, Fla. hat into the laminate ring room-scene photography on the functional. The goal was to take way into the big box retail loca-
by becoming the exclusive reverse side of those samples. an elevated approach to the tra- tions. In those days it was very
The management group wholesaler of Fibo-Trespo
that purchased JPS The system was also built on a ditional retail presentation.” important to Armstrong to
in its 34-market territory.
Carpet Corp. from JPS Fibo would ultimately good/better/best platform that But that was only part of the make sure there was a very
Textile renames the become Alloc. appealed to retail sales associ- reason behind the development clear differentiation, and one of
company Gulistan.You can also read
