More About Mohawk and Shaw's Trade Show

As I mentioned before, I attended two trade shows last week in Atlanta. At the Shaw Industries' show I was particularly impressed with the addition to some of their green products line. Namely, Philadelphia Carpets' Clear Touch line and Queen Carpets' Anso Choice line. Both lines offer enviromentally friendly carpets and have added some new great looking carpets for more choices to the consumer. Both carpet brands (Queen Carpet and Philadelphia Carpet) have added new offerings to their commercial carpet tile line. Since American Carpet Wholesalers does a ton of commercial work, I was quite excited.

Shaw Industries acquired both the Anderson Hardwood and Zickgraf Hardwood companies and gave me the opportunity to visit with reps for these products (Calvin and Tony) as well as my reps from Shaw( Chris, Vickie and Jacob). Overall, for me it was a good show. New products, great friends, good conversation, and a terrific lunch on Shaw. The interest in the new products was upbeat and traffic seemed to be up from last year.

At the Mohawk show it was a little different story. Not nearly as upbeat and traffic seemed to be down. However, I did get to visit with my reps which is always a pleasure, especially Congoleum.
Congoleum has a distribution relationship with Mohawk and show their products at the Mohawk regional shows. DuraCeramic Tile by Congoleum is one of my top selling products and just to say hello to Pete and Mike is a reward in itself.

One thing I did take note of and was very interested in was a booth at both shows by a third party vendor. It is Installerpool.com. Their concept is new and unique and I certainly hope it takes off. I will post more on this subject once I spend a little more time with them at Surfaces.

......the best carpet...Part 2

Now that you know that I believe there is not a best carpet, only a best carpet for a particular application, let's explore the manufacturers. Is one better than the other? That depends on who you ask. Not too long ago we had hundreds of different manufacturers, but with industry consolidation over the last decade and a half, we now have only 3 or 4 major manufacturers owning 20-30 different brands collectively. Plus there are 15-20 independent reputable manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada. There are only a handful of companies that make the manufacturing equipment all these carpet mills use to produce their carpets. As well as just a handful of producers of the fibers used to make these carpets with some of the major manufacturers buying up these producers to better their market position.

So it really boils down to which carpet mills have the best quality control, is the most innovative in product development, and can keep the manufacturing cost down to produce a great value for the ever cost conscious consumer. Using my 35 years experience in the carpet and floor covering industry, Shaw Industries year after year has been the leader in producing cutting edge carpet styles while maintaining quality and cost controls that are second to no other carpet manufacturer. Shaw Carpet brands include such long established names as Cabin Crafts Carpet, Philadelphia Carpet, Queen Carpet, Sutton Carpet, Tuftex Carpet, and many commercial carpet mills.

My second favorite is Beaulieu of America. While green is in, Beaulieu has been producing enviro-friendly carpet for years. Just in the last 5 years I have seen their quality improve at a much faster pace than any other carpet manufacturer. Innovative styles and fibers have established Beaulieu Carpets as some of the finest in the world. In February of this year, Beaulieu intoduced their newest brand "Bliss by Beaulieu". This brand is not simply an acquisition, but a new launch geared to appeal to the female consumer. It will truly compliment their long existing brands such as Beaulieu Carpet, Coronet Carpet, Hollytex Carpet, and their many commercial carpet mills.

Dixie Home Carpets is coming of age with carpet lines geared to the core consumer as well as some upper end lines geared more toward designers. Of some of the major idependents, Kraus Carpet (a Canadian mill) is one of our favored suppliers. One of the California mills that has had great success is Royalty Carpet Mills and for specialty prints and florals, Milliken Carpet Mills cannot be beat. For carpet designed with kids in mind, it's Joy Carpets. There are several lesser known mills we deal with for value priced carpets Supreme Carpet, Cherokee Carpet, Southwind Carpet along with others.

There is my list of the best. If I have left any mill out, it was intentional. Next I will give my opinion on laminate floors and laminate brands.