February
floortrends
■ Flooring America Celebrates 20 Years
■ Tile Trends at Home
■ Faster Flooring Installs
Ma
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20
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FLOOR TRENDS (ISSN: Print 2168-0051 and Digital 2168-006X) is published 12 times annually, monthly, by BNP Media II, L.L.C., 2401 W. Big Beaver Rd., Suite 700, Troy, MI 48084-3333.Telephone: (248) 362-3700, Fax: (248) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to non-qualified individuals in the U.S.A.: $152.00 USD. Annual rate for subscriptions to nonqualified individuals in Canada: $187.00 USD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $212.00 (int’l mail) payable in U.S. funds. Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright 2020, by BNP Media II, L.L.C. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Troy, MI and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: FLOOR TRENDS, P.O. Box 2145, Skokie, IL 60076.Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40612608. GST account: 131263923. Send returns(Canada) to IMEX Global Solutions, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON, N6C 6B2.Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to FLOOR TRENDS, P.O. Box 2145, Skokie, IL 60076.For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: hone: (800) 952-6643 Fax: (847) 291-4816.
Style Hub at the DISH: Patterned Manor by Floor Trends Editors
Case Study: Advances in Retail Flooring by Floor Trends Editors
Flooring America: 20 Years of Retailers Helping Retailersby Danielle Clair Simpson
Tile Trends in the Homeby Danielle Clair Simpson
Mohawk Enhances Digital Marketing to Help Retailers Sell More Floorsby Tanja Kern
Flooring Technologies for Easier Installationby Tanja Kern
On the Cover: In just three steps, Daltile’s RevoTile
makes adding on-trend style and design to interiors easy.
Read more about tile trends being enjoyed in the home
on page 28.
March 2020 + Vol. 22, No. 3
8............Editor’s Letter
10..........Let’s TalkFloor
18..........Industry News
24..........New Products
36..........Contractor’s Corner
44..........Sandy Says
46..........Flooring Sales Tip
48..........A Rising Tide
50..........Ad Index
Features
Columns + Departments
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4 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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Igot a call from our director of IT
on Friday saying I’m way over the
limit on my data usage. What can
I say? It’s been a busy first quarter.
Aren’t you all feeling the same?
The first two months of our year
started with a bang—many miles trav-
eled, shoes worn walking the halls of
conventions, and loads of interviews
documented, photos collected, and fea-
tures in the works. It was exciting to see
the fruition of all that hard work from
our contacts paying off in spades, in the
form of new technologies, vignettes and
stories.
From Domotex in Hannover, Harlan
Stone, CEO of HMTX Industries, said
he’s been to hundreds of great shows
in the 38 years he’s been in the floor-
ing and differentiates the majors this
way: “When you talk about Domotex
[Hannover], you’re talking about people
that are presenting their whole ideas.
When you talk about Surfaces, it’s the
salesman and retailers connecting to try
to make some activity take place. It’s
a real old fashioned American selling
show. When you talk about Shanghai,
it’s a sourcing show. There are a lot of
Chinese exhibitors, a couple of non-
Chinese exhibitors, and they are basically
putting on a show to try to get you to
import that product.”
It was my first trip to the Hannover
show, and I was impressed with the
German’s ability to put on a great
event. Well-organized halls, beautiful
exhibits, lots of big ideas and innova-
tions taking place. On the flip side, no
one is headed to Shanghai this spring
for Domotex Asia/ChinaFloor, which
announced it is postponing due to
the outbreak of coronavirus in several
Chinese provinces. Domotex USA,
which had a stellar educational lineup,
also hit some challenges thanks in part
to timing and bad weather—the industry
waits to see what management will do
for 2021.
The International Surface Event
showcased optimism this year. In fact,
we documented lines out the door the
first day of the show and were thrilled
to see an emphasis on the architecture
and design community and also the
continued commitment to growing
installation through both exhibits and
education.
The Southeast Flooring Market
reported a 20% uptick in attendance .
Companies like AHF Products allo-
cated trade show dollars to supporting
their distributor partners through more
regional shows. There’s an overall sense
of grassroots campaigning for business,
which has always been a hallmark of our
business. What was your impression of
show season? Drop me a line at kernt@
bnpmedia.com. ft
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contact Customer Service at:
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Chief Event Officer: Scott Wolters
BY�TANJA�KERN��
CHIEF�EDITOR
EDITOR’S�LETTER
8 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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The World Floor
Covering Association
(WFCA) recently
announced an initiative
to deal with and reduce
the industry-wide installer
shortage. The plan includes
a major investment from
the WFCA, invitations for
other industry entities to
get involved, a network of
recruiting and training as
well as dramatic changes
in the very framework of
the association. We had an
opportunity to sit down
with Scott Humphrey, CEO
of the WFCA, to get an
inside look at this initiative.
The following are excerpts
from that conversation,
which you can listen to at
floortrendsmag.com.
TF: The industry has
been wrestling with the
installer shortage for
years. Earlier the WFCA
announced the launch-
ing of an initiative enti-
tled “We are Part of the
Solution.” To launch
this initiative, the
WFCA took a dramatic
step demonstrating its
degree of seriousness
for this effort. This step
came in the form of a
dollar and cents com-
mitment to the effort
committing $1 million
in seed money, demon-
strating that it indeed
is part of the solution.
Talk about this commit-
ment and how it came
to pass.
Humphrey: In 2013 and
early 2014 we started meet-
ing with Robert Varden and
the Walkers about acquiring
key assets of CFI. At that
point we were aware that
the installation issue had
the potential to become a
crisis. In August of 2015,
we acquired key assets of
CFI. That’s when we first
displayed our desire to do
something that would have
an impact, working with
other entities in the flooring
industry and in the process
form a unifying voice. It’s
difficult to gather support
when you’re not investing in
the solution up front. A non-
profit committing $1 mil-
lion when it doesn’t have a
renewable stream of revenue
coming in certainly sends a
message which is exactly the
message we wanted to send.
We’re serious about fixing
this problem and it will take
the entire industry to do it.
TF: One of the most
interesting parts of the
WFCA’s announcement
was the formation of
the Floor Covering
Education Foundation
(FCEF), an entity dedi-
cated to solving the
industry’s installation
problem. Expand on the
FCEF and its functions.
Humphrey: The FCEF
will be a 5O1c3. We’re in
the process of getting it
created right now and it
will be responsible initially
for three things. First, for
recruiting new bodies into
the industry. Secondly, for
providing scholarships to
those bodies so they can
WFCA:
‘We Are Part of the Solution’
By Dave FosterLet’s taLkFLoor
10 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
In January, the WFCA and
leaders within the flooring industry
launched the Floor Covering
Education Foundation (FCEF) with
a mission to create an industry-
wide, permanent solution to the
shortage of installers.
have an education that’s
not costly to them - and
hopefully no cost to them.
Third the FCEF will be
responsible for placing
these new installers. Also,
there will be a follow-up
to that because no one
wants to continue to sup-
port something if it’s not a
success. We’ll be tracking
the length of time people
stay in the industry once
they’ve been educated. The
foundation will also train
experienced installers.
TF: Do you have in
mind a goal as to how
many installer can-
didates will need to
come into the industry
every year?
Humphrey: According
to research from Blackstone
Research, conducted for the
Floor Covering Leadership
Council the industry will be
short 3,000 to 6,000 install-
ers each year for the next
10 years and that doesn’t
even count the shortages
that already exist. That’s also
not looking at where we are
today, its looking at where
are we going to be and that
number varies based on
whether we have helpers that
can migrate up to installers
or whether we find installers
simply migrating out with
no replacements. If that’s
the case, that number can
increase to 10,000 12,000
per year. That’s a pretty
healthy goal. We know the
first half of this year we will
be setting up the founda-
tion, getting everything
in place, placing the right
people on the board, getting
it established, and looking at
funding, not only with seed
money up front but long-
term funding. By year three
we are aiming at recruiting,
training and placing some
6,000 installers in the field.
TF: Talk about the
recruitment and schol-
arships efforts going
forward.
Humphrey: The big task
before scholarships is finding
the people. Kaye Whitener,
who used to serve as WFCA
national manager of member
relations, has now moved over
to the FCEF. Her job will be
recruiting. She’ll be out there
promoting and educating
individuals as to what is pos-
sible in this industry and mak-
ing candidates aware of the
career path installation offers.
Scott Humphrey,
CEO of the WFCA.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 11
TF: It sounds as though a net-
work of some type will needs to
be setup to generate the num-
ber of candidates, we’re talking
about that and means I suspect
the launching of an awareness
program of some type.
Humphrey: Every group in the con-
struction field is experiencing the same
pain. The question is what do we do
to differentiate flooring? Our biggest
challenge is we have never been really
good at telling our story. Truck drivers
have gotten pretty good at telling their
story. They’re advertising, they’re talk-
ing about income potential and making
a career of driving. We don’t tell that
story. At least we don’t as an industry,
so again, a big part of the focus of the
FCEF is to speak with one voice saying
there are very good reasons for being a
professional flooring installer, really an
artist and a craftsman. We need to tell
the story, enumerate the reasons why
flooring installation is a viable career
and start communicating the story early
in high school so we’re not waiting for
people to graduate and decide if they go
college of go to a trade school and work
with their hands?
We’re looking to tell students early
on what’s possible. We have dreams
of creating a summer work program
where kids in their sophomore and
junior years can begin to work with
professional dealers around the coun-
try and get a taste of the trade so they
can start making career decisions well
before their freshman year with the
help of a guidance counselor.
We also must look to groups that we
are currently not tapping today includ-
ing nonviolent prison groups, native
American tribes. There are many
groups out there that we can reach
out to that are not being touched
today and some of them have already
reached out to us they exist and invite
us in. In our press release announcing
this initiative we showed some image
of mobile classrooms, which is an idea
that will permit us to go where stu-
dents are. They will be responsible for
stocking the school, putting students
in the seats, and we will responsible
for making sure the training takes
place and when it’s done, we drive to
the next location.
TF: Intertwined with this ini-
tiative was an announcement
changing the requirements for
membership into the WFCA.
Tell us about that.
Humphrey: WFCA membership
is basically for primary members,
which to say our members who are
Let’s taLkfLoor
12 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
Register at no cost at Coverings.com#Coverings2020
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professional flooring dealers, both
residential and commercial. Members
who are inspectors, cleaners basically
anyone who really relies on the profes-
sional flooring dealer for their success.
Manufacturers and distributors are
associate members. Their membership
will still have an investment associated
with it. But for primary members it will
be free. And the reason for that is we
want to take any barrier away for com-
ing together to fight this problem. We
seek to unite industry voices and really
make a difference. That means in our
local communities we come together
and have events where we can make
people aware of this trade and educate
them as well. It also means when we go
to Washington D.C. in our lobbying
efforts, we will have a united voice that
speaks much louder.
The first question we get when we
visit Washington is how many people
do you represent? They literally hear
you differently based on the size of
your voice. This move will give us the
ability to unite professional flooring
dealers under one voice so when we’re
in Washington we will be able to gain
attention for the issues impacting us.
Working with a larger group, a group
that is willing to do what needs to be
done to solve this problem is a much
easier and effective way to attack this
situation.
TF: The WFCA’s $1 million
contribution was a way to
really stir the pot, to get this
thing going. How has this move
worked in terms of gaining sup-
port from other entities in the
industry?
Humphrey: We have had meetings
the first week of December 2019 with
the Shaw, Mohawk, and Engineered
Floors, all of which have committed to
financially supporting this initiative.
And shame on the WFCA as much
as anybody for not doing this earlier.
This problem has been around, and
nobody stood up to fix it. We’ve dared
to go around and ask for money to fix
it. We never did offer to put up our
own money, however. This changes
the way everybody perceives the
importance of the issue and how dedi-
cated and committed we are to solving
it. When you note that we are a non-
profit, we don’t have a revenue stream,
we don’t have money coming in that
can supplement what’s going out, but
we are so committed to solving this
issue and we’re committing some of
the money, the returns of which we
rely to keep us afloat, to solve this
problem. ft
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 13
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The official 2020
Design Visionary
of TISE, celeb-
rity designer and
television host
Jennifer Farrell of Jennifer
Farrell Designs, graced the
show’s Style Hub at the
Dish (Design & Installation
Showcase Hub) with her
design-forward eye and
expertise.
“When The International
Surface Event named me
their 2020 design visionary,
they said they wanted me to
tell what I think the trends
and design would be, and
I said no, let’s show what
those trends and designs are
going to be,” Farrell said.
“So they have let me run
rampant and wild to create
these four worlds that really
show where I’m forecasting
our trends going in 2020
and beyond.”
In this four-part series, we
will take a look at the prod-
ucts and inspiration behind
Farrell’s artfully crafted
spaces.
The Patterned Manor
Picture this: You’re at a
17th century English manor,
attending a masquerade ball
hosted by Iggy Pop.
Inspired by traditional
European patterns like fish
scales, florals, herringbone
and plaids, the Patterned
Manor space evoked a sense
of movement and encour-
aged touch.
“What I’m seeing in
design is this movement
toward immersive tactile
dimension experience that
really creates a cocoon of
comfort, so we have very
dimensional pieces that are
meant to be touched and
felt,” said Farrell.
Done in a maximalist,
oversaturated and intensely
dramatic way, the space
exuded a post-modern
energy.
Showcasing what Farrell
believes will be the most
popular dynamics and trends
on the floor this year, the
Patterned Manor featured
herringbone, parquet and
chevron patterns from floor
to ceiling.
“I tell people all the
time the ceiling is the fifth
wall; don’t forget the ceil-
ing because there’s such an
opportunity for drama and
excitement, and this space is
filled with drama and excite-
ment,” Farrell advised.
The highlight of the space,
Farrell turned Shaw Floors’
Geoscape Fan tiles on their
side, and used two grout
hues—a light and a dark—
to add movement and flow
to the walls. Farrell then tied
that into the floral pattern
found on a wall and floor of
the design cube to create a
story within the space.
“In my theory, our flowers
have spilled onto the floor
and then the petals have
blown off on the walls are
flowing into the wind, so
it gives it a sense of move-
ment.”
Lighting plays on that
sense of movement as well,
says Farrell. Having light
that plays in the space
enhances the drama and
makes it feel moody and
intense, rather than dark
and gloomy. Lighting from
Lamps Plus added a nod of
traditionalism, but when
placed in the modern black
cube, they gave a sense of
post-modernism. ft
The PaTTerned Manor
STyle Trend:
TISE: STylE Hub aT THE DISH
Left: Celebrity designer and
television host Jennifer Farrell of
Jennifer Farrell Designs, designed
four spaces for TISE’s Style Hub at
the Dish that expertly and artfully
showcased her style predictions for
2020 and beyond.
14 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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DÉJÀ NEW
Case Study: Advances in Retail Flooring
Flooring For Fashion
When
opening
a new
bou-
tique,
fashion designer Candice
Held incorporates her sense
of style from the ground up.
For two of her recent shops
in Palm Springs, she col-
laborated with Armstrong
Flooring on interiors that
complement and showcase
her silk scarves, clothing and
home textiles.
“My new shop features a
fabulous flooring design using
LVT colors from Armstrong
Flooring,” Held said. “The
LVT flooring is a graphic pat-
tern using Natural Creations
blue hawaiian, black tea, and
champagne tiles. The concept
evolved to a theme of late
70s/early 80s fashion glam
with a touch of rock’n’roll.
Including black as part of the
flooring color scheme keeps
the vibe from skewing too
feminine. After all, the new
shop will also offer men’s
shirts and pocket squares.”
This most recent boutique
is just the latest in a series
of projects with Armstrong
Flooring.
“I collaborated with
Armstrong to create
four original VCT floor-
ing designs based on my
silk scarf designs, for
the campaign, ‘See the
Possibilites,’”Held said. “I
had a blast bridging my
fashion design sense over to
the world of interiors, get-
ting to use my creativity on a
surface I had not previously
explored.”
This earlier collaboration
also included an original
flooring design featuring a
broad palette of VCT colors
for her previous boutique in
The Shops at 1345.
“The beauty of resilient
flooring like LVT and VCT
is that it provides so many
options for color and design,
along with the durability to
handle retail traffic,” said
Deb Lechner, vice presi-
dent of brand marketing at
Armstrong Flooring. “It’s
been exciting to see how
Candice incorporated our
flooring into interiors that
truly capture her style.”
Held’s specialty is vintage-
inspired prints in rich colors,
created using studio artwork
techniques including drawing
and painting with watercolor.
“I’m often asked where
I find inspiration for my
designs. My answer is: every-
where! Palm Springs is full
of inspiration: the colors in
our sunrises and sunsets,
the native desert plants and
animals, the architecture,”
Held said. “Environment is
a rich source of inspiration.
It makes up your identity as
a creative person: the geogra-
phy of where you live, how
you decorate your home,
your hobbies.” ft
Facing Page: Fashion designer
Candice Held’s new shop features
a flooring design using LVT colors
from Armstrong Flooring.
Top Right: The store location in
Palm Springs offered a rich source
of inspiration.
Right: The beauty of resilient
flooring like LVT and VCT is that it
provides so many options for color
and design, along with the durability
to handle retail traffic.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 17
SAN RAFAEL, CALiF.—
Creating Your Space launched
a new dealer and builder visu-
alization technology marketing
tool, Design Now.
Design Now utilizes artifi-
cial intelligence (Ai), allowing
consumers and salespeople
to take a picture of their room
and within seconds view the
dealer’s flooring products in
their space to help finalize the
buying decision.
Molyneaux Flooring in
Pittsburg was the first client
to introduce Design Now and
has been using visualization
to help close business since
this summer.
“i presented the job and
pricing, and the customer
said everything sounded
good, but they wished they
had bigger samples in order
to make a decision,” said
Doug Kaleida, salesperson
at Molyneaux Flooring. “i
then went to my Design Now
visualization tool. i used the
picture i had already taken of
the living room and input the
color of Patriotism the cus-
tomer was interested in. Both
the customer and his daugh-
ter were highly impressed
and said that the picture gave
them a good enough idea as
to how the new carpet would
look and decided to purchase
right then and there. i’ve
made it a habit of having
the visualization tool already
up and ready before each
appointment, for this exact
reason.”
Although there are other
visualization tools in the floor-
ing market today, Design
Now is unique in multiple
ways, according to Jay Flynn,
vice president, Creating Your
Space. The product catalog
allows each dealer customize
their product catalog from the
hundreds of flooring brands
and hundreds of thousands of
products available to visualize
in Design Now. The tool offers
professional, custom videos in
15-, 30- and 60-second ver-
sions to promote the program
through traditional and digital
means. Distribution will be lim-
ited by market area, allowing
dealers to have exclusivity in
a market.
For more information, visit
creatingyourspace.com.
HANNOVER, Germany—
HMTX industries showcased
all of its brands under one
umbrella for the first time
at Domotex 2020 here in
January, demonstrating the
breadth of innovation it offers
to customers globally.
“This was a big, important,
and considered decision to
show at this scale, the size
and confidence that people
should have in our company,”
HMTX CEO Harlan Stone
told Floor Trends. “in Europe,
they don’t know—Metroflor,
our LifeProof brand from
Halstead, and Teknoflor are
part of our group. We always
showed here as Vertex and
Aspecta, but we felt that was
the time for us to show our
breadth. The Metroflor brand
is exciting to our European
customers; Teknoflor is find-
ing tremendous opportunity
to partner with Aspecta cus-
tomers because they have
high-end commercial sales,
and they need a broader
selection of products. it’s a
coming out party.”
While HMTX is sourced
and sold across the globe,
Stone said the company
continues to build its global
business at a much faster
rate than its North American
business.
“We’re pretty mature in
North America,” Stone said.
“We have a set distributor
base, we have a set home
center customer, and we’re
very happy with that. Of
course, you want to expand
our sales penetration, but we
are not looking for new cus-
tomers. At a show like this,
we are looking for all new
countries.”
Aspecta presented hos-
pitality solutions in a hotel
room vignette and featured
a range of Aspecta contract
floors. The new Aspecta
Contours collection debuted
with four patterned floor
designs available in eight col-
ors that enable architects and
designers to apply traditional
parquet motifs in a larger
scale more suitable for both
commercial and residential
settings. The booth will also
previewed Aspecta’s new bio-
based chlorine-free flooring.
Metroflor spotlighted its
Metroforms with Attraxion
Magnetic Attachment
Technology. Licensed from
Magnetic Building Solutions
(MBS), the Attraxion-branded
LVT enables the rapid instal-
lation of flooring by creat-
ing a magnetic attachment
utilizing MBS MagneBuild
magnetic underlayment.
The Teknoflor Coordination
Collection demonstrated how
different flooring elements
coordinate to allow designers
to customize projects ranging
from patient rooms to offices.
For more information, visit
hmtxglobal.net.
Industry news
Creating Your Space Launches
AI Visualization
HMTX Expands Global Reach
at Domotex
Above: Jay Flynn, vice president, and Shannon Vogel, director of social
media, Creating Your Space, showcase new technologies at Domotex USA
in Atlanta.
Above: HMTX brand Aspecta showcases LVT installations
in Hannover, Germany.
18 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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LAS VEGAS—This year
at The International Surface
Event (TISE), Mohawk
unveiled an interactive art
installation by Brooklyn-based
artist Basia Goszczynska to
help attendees visualize the
true impact of plastic in the
world’s waterways. Made
almost entirely from recycled
and upcycled materials and
the different components that
comprise Mohawk carpeting,
“Overflow” demonstrated how
thoughtful product design,
innovation and sustainability in
the flooring industry is reduc-
ing the waste stream.
The installation helped tell
Mohawk’s bottle recycling
story through the lens of its
recently announced support
of The Ocean Cleanup, and
the important work being done
from Atlantic to Pacific and
beyond.
“‘Overflow’ draws attention to
the importance for us to take
responsibility for our waste,”
Goszcynska said. “Because
humanity and our technologies
have evolved so rapidly, the
rest of nature is having a dif-
ficult time adapting. If we hope
to provide future generations
with a habitable planet, it’s
crucial that we, as individu-
als, communities, companies
and governments, all work
to reduce and transform the
waste that we produce. By
inviting participation in the
work, I hope to encourage that
sense of agency and responsi-
bility in my audience.”
The work serves as a
“canary in a coal mine,” warn-
ing about what will become of
the world’s oceans if human-
kind fails to take responsibility
for its waste. Commissioned
by Mohawk FIooring North
America, and built using
materials sourced from its
Summerville, Ga., recycling
facility, “Overflow” incorpo-
rates the various stages of
transformation that single-use
plastic bottles undergo during
the manufacturer’s patented
Continuum recycling process:
from bottles, to flakes, to pel-
lets, to filament, and finally
to Mohawk’s EverStrand and
EnviroStrand carpeting.
By inviting audience partici-
pation and interaction—TISE
attendees were invited to
contribute their single-use
plastic bottles to the sculpture
and lounge on the sculpture’s
carpeted beach—the work
acknowledges the role and
responsibility of every indi-
vidual and company.
“Ultimately, I hope to shift
perceptions about our waste,
and plastic in particular, from
something that is abject
and easily discarded, into
something that is precious
and worthy of our attention,”
Goszczynska added.
To learn more, visit
BasiaGoszczynska.com and
MohawkSustainability.com.
Industry news
Mohawk Calls Attention to Ocean Plastics Crisis
Above: Artist Basia Goszczynska enaged with TISE attendees, answering questions about the creative process
inspired by the rising tide of issues caused by plastic products.
Above: TISE attendees were invited to contribute single-use plastic bottles to the sculpture.
Inset: Basia Goszczynska.
20 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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DALTON, GA.—The Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF) will cel-ebrate its 40th anniversary with a benefit gala on May 2, 2020. The black-tie event, held in the Rainbow Room at the top of the Rockefeller Center in New York, will honor three individuals who have made a lasting impact on the flooring industry:
Howard Brodsky, co-founder, chairman and CEO, CCA Global Partners; Jeanne Matson, retiring president and CEO, Starnet; and Dana Teague, vice president, design group at Informa Markets.
“The gala will celebrate what we have accomplished together, while also helping to ensure the future suc-
cess of FCIF,” said Charlie Dilks, chairman of the FCIF and CPO at CCA Global Partners. “In 2020, we are looking to reach a $1 million in revenue to help families in need.”
According to the FCIF, representatives from major players in the floor covering industry will join to celebrate 40 successful years for the
vital organization that has helped thousands of employ-ees and retirees from the floor covering industry. FCIF’s grant program helps families cope with catastrophic illness-es and life-altering injuries by providing grants for basic needs such as medical care, housing, and food assistance.
“The FCIF gala has the power to unite flooring manu-facturers, retailers, distribut-ers, suppliers, and installers all under one roof for a magical evening,” said Scott Humphrey, vice-chairman of FCIF and CEO of the World Floor Covering Association. “FCIF provides the oppor-tunity to come together on common ground to benefit those in our industry who find themselves in need.”
For more information, visit fcif.org/gala.
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF. —Custom Building Products is helping to “move that bus” as building solution partners on HGTV’s reboot of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Hosted by Modern
Family actor Jessie Tyler Ferguson, the iconic reality show celebrates local heroes and their families by provid-ing dramatic, life-changing home renovations during the 10-episode season.
Following the plans of three new designers—Breegan Jane, Carrie Locklyn, and Darren Keefe—Quikrete, Pavestone and Custom Building Products join other Extreme Makeover:
Home Edition partners to deliver dream homes in each episode. The show will also welcome surprise visits by HGTV personalities Tarek El Moussa and Jasmine Roth, and celebrities includ-ing LeAnn Rimes, Laila Ali, Anthony Anderson and Derek Hough.
Custom Building Products contributed Fusion Pro Single Component Grout, Prism Grout, Versabond Thinset Mortar, MegaLite Ultimate Crack Prevention Large Format Tile Mortar, WonderBoard Lite Backerboard, RedGard Crack Prevention and Waterproofing Membrane and other related materials for kitchen and bathroom projects.
For more information, visit custombuildingproducts.com.
FCIF 40th Anniversary Gala to Honor Industry Impact-Makers
Custom Featured on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Howard Brodsky,
Jeanne Matson,
and Dana Teague
will be honored
at the FCIF gala,
which aims to help
the foundation
raise $1 million
in 2020 to help
families in need.
Left: QuikKrete, Pavestone and
Custom Building Products join other
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
partners to deliver dream homes in
each episode
22 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
Industry news
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 23
FAIRFIELD, N.J.—
ProSpec, a project marketing
company that helps promote
interior and exterior finishes
to the project design, speci-
fication, and construction
communities, recently hosted
an educational event that
covered specification, fabrica-
tion and installation methods
of large-format porcelain pan-
els. The program featured two
sessions: an AIA-accredited
continuing education presen-
tation on gauged porcelain
tile systems, which covered
the design benefits and
possibilities of large-format
porcelain, and hands-on
fabrication and installation
training with Mapei and Alpha
Tools that covered cutting,
troweling, lippage control and
countertop fabrication.
Casalgrande Padana, a lead-
ing manufacturer of Italian por-
celain tile, showcased its latest
collections. ProSpec’s Fairfield
location is designed to receive,
display, and transport large-
panel porcelain materials using
the latest industry proven tools,
including a custom crane. The
location routinely stocks 18 x
36, 36 x 72, 24 x 48, 46 x 102
and 63 x 126 sizes for available
to commercial trades for imme-
diate installation.
Mapei, a leading manufac-
turer of adhesives, grouts and
related care, demonstrated
waterproofing and shower
stall installation featuring its
AquaDefense, Ultraflex LFT,
LHT and Ultralite Mortar Pro
to adhere the large panels to
the onsite mock up structure.
Alpha Professional Tools
demonstrated its precision
grinding and polishing tools at
the event.
ProSpec focuses on
product presentation and
recommendation to the
project team – the owner,
architect, designer and con-
sultant. Other groups within
the company – ProTile,
ProStone, ProTerrazzo,
ProWood and ProExterior
Systems – are designed
to provide contractors with
customer service and logis-
tics for materials that are
delivered on time and on
budget.
For more information,
visit prospecllc.com.
Prospec Hosts Gauged Porcelain 101
Top Left: ProSpec hosted the event at its new state-of-the-art facility in
Fairfield, N.J., which focuses on stocking large-format porcelain tiles.
Left: Participants gained an understanding of the design benefits and
possibilities of large-format porcelain.
Above: The hands-on tool and installation demonstrations allowed
onlookers to see the benefits of the large panel size installation
techniques.
DW Select Offers Durability,
Color and Design
Dream Weaver offers a new
line of style and design-focused
patterns, textures and colors into
a standalone collection called DW
Select. Comprised of 13 styles
initially, these carpets have been
hand-selected and vigorously
tested. Featuring the proprietary
twistX technology, Dream Weaver
use a patented manufacturing
process to blend multiple fiber
components that result in industry
leading wear ability and unique
styling capabilities.
engineeredfloors.com
Anderson Tuftex Takes
Inspiration from Ancient
Stories
The Yin collection takes
notes from ancient Chinese
philosophy, rooted in the ideal
of the yin and the yang. When
balanced, one finds harmony,
but it’s within the darker depths
of the yin where stories quietly
unfold. Infinite inspiration can
be found in the shadows of the
Great Wall, ancient latticework,
traditional roof tiles and carefully
placed stone architecture, and
they inform this patterned and
textured carpet collection.
andersontuftex.com
Campus by Shaw
Contract Celebrates
Bauhaus Design
Campus is a Cradle-to-Cradle
Certified carpet tile collection
inspired by the teaching of
Bauhaus, which exemplifies
collaboration across multi-use
spaces. The modern campus is
no longer just a place of learning
or commerce, but a hub for
innovation and inspiration. The
Campus collection of carpet
tiles interweave the strands of
creativity, contemplation, and
collaboration with artistic intent
to deliver designs that reflect the
spirit of the modern campus.
shawcontract.com
Godfrey Hirst
Incorporates New Colors,
Textures and Fibers
Mohawk developed nine
introductions for Godfrey
Hirst within the SmartStrand,
EverLux Nylon and wool
categories, along with a
redesigned merchandising
system. “Everybody wants
carpet with striking visuals and
interesting colorations,” said
Jason Randolph, senior vice
president of residential sales.
“With Godfrey Hirst, we strive
to innovate within the premium
fiber categories and keep
constructions timeless.”
godfreyhirst.com
1
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3
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PRODUCTS
24 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
EarthWerks Encourages
Loud Living
2020 is the year to live loud,
according to EarthWerks,
which launches 14 new styles
of waterproof WPC products
with cushion backing as part of
its Core collection. Core WPC
products feature an enhanced
cushion backing for better sound
absorption and comfort underfoot.
The complete waterproof
collection offers 54 SKUs.
earthworks.com
Karndean Adds Versatile
Stone and Concrete
Visuals
Karndean Designflooring
adds eight new stone visuals
to its LooseLay range. This
non-interlocking floating floor
is notable for multi-directional
visuals, speedy install time,
acoustic properties, individually
replaceable tiles and seamless
transition to commercial carpet
tile. Known for original product
designs, these distinctive new
visuals replicate the in-demand
looks of travertine, concrete and
slate in a 20-mil loose-lay LVT
format.
karndean.com
Bruce Launches
Affordable, Easy-Care
Rigid Core
Bruce LifeSeal is a new rigid
core flooring that delivers 100%
waterproof protection for homes
and light commercial spaces.
The floor is built to withstand
dents, scratches, spills, stains,
and fading from sunlight. The
proprietary core construction
eliminates air pockets, which
results in increased product
hardness and protection from
moisture. It is dimensionally
stable and doesn’t telegraph
subfloor imperfections.
ahfproducts.com
TruCor Offers Tile
Looks in SPC
The Dixie Group expands its rigid
core offering with TruCor SPC in
eight new styles with realistic grout
joints. An alternative to porcelain
and ceramic tile, the collection
is constructed of about 75%
limestone and about 25% PVC.
The waterproof multilayer flooring
offers Integrated Grout Technology
(IGT) that creates a 2-mm. grout
joint between the tiles. The
collection includes 12 SKUs in 12
x 24, 18 x 24 and 24 x 24 formats,
and all products come in 7.0-mm
thickness, 20-mil. wearlayer, and a
protective coating.
trucorfloors.com
1
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3
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floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 25
For two decades,
Flooring America
has been help-
ing independent
flooring retailers
strengthen their businesses
from the inside out; offering
the guidance and support
members need to be in busi-
ness for themselves, but not
by themselves.
“We’re retailers help-
ing retailers,” said Keith
Spano, president of Flooring
America, Flooring Canada,
International Design Guild
and The Floor Trader.
“Everyone on our team has
a retail background which
I think is unique in our
industry.”
Working exclusively for
its membership, Flooring
America is assisting with
everything from marketing
and advertising to finding
propriety and exclusive prod-
ucts for members’ showrooms.
It is also lending a hand to the
often unaddressed and more
difficult side of a business, like
family transitions and succes-
sion planning.
“There’s a trust that we
have in [members] and they
have in us that has really
helped us grow and take
market share over the last
10 years,” said Spano.
Shifting its focus to what
Spano refers to as block-
ing and tackling, Flooring
America is walking members
through ways to: sell the
whole project, protect their
margins, increase their mar-
gins and sell fashion, not com-
modity. “These sound like
soundbites, but they really are
just basic retail blocking and
tackling that are critical to our
members’ success.”
Driving Sales Home
Eight years ago, Flooring
America introduced the
‘Where Friends Send Friends’
campaign to differentiate
itself. “At the time, if you
took our ads and Depot’s ads
and every other retailer out
there, the ads were all the
same,” said Spano. “Where
Friends Send Friends came
in was to give a voice that
was own-able and different;
being the place where friends
send friends, the most rec-
ommended store in North
America—that was going to
be our unique selling propo-
sition.”
From day one, the cam-
paign has resonated with
members and since then,
it has been reshaped and
restructured through the
years to make the most sense
for members and business.
Along the lines of the
Where Friends Send Friends
campaign, Flooring America
is continuously seeking
ways to improve the busi-
ness of its members. “The
most important thing we
can do is provide tools for
our members to make them
more profitable, close more
sales, keep them ahead of the
Flooring AmericA:
20 years of retailers Helping retailers
Above: The Flooring America
team is celebrating 20 years of
offering the guidance and support
its members need to be in
business for themselves, but not
by themselves.
26 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
By Danielle Clair SimpSon
curve when it comes to com-
petition and help them from
a succession standpoint to
operationalize their business
to the point where its profit-
able and they can pass it on
and create a legacy for their
family,” said Spano.
Working even when
salespeople aren’t is Drive,
Flooring America’s market-
ing automation platform that
Spano says is giving good
salespeople the ability to be
great salespeople.
“We find that the chal-
lenge that retail sales profes-
sionals have isn’t necessarily
getting the customer in the
door, certainly traffic is
always an issue, but really it’s
about how do we make sure
we don’t lost any leads? And
making sure you’re convert-
ing those leads into a poten-
tial opportunity or sale,”
said Frank Chiera, senior
vice president, marketing
and advertising of Flooring
America/Flooring Canada
and The Floor Trader.
A year since Flooring
America introduced its
membership to Drive,
roughly 160 stores are cur-
rently on board and reaping
the benefits of the platform,
and by March, Chiera pre-
dicts there will be about 250
to 300 stores using Drive.
“The Drive stores versus
the non-Drive stores are see-
ing about a 12.6 percent lift
in overall incremental closed
sales versus the stores that
are not using Drive that are
seeing about 3 percent lift in
closed sales,” Chiera said. “So
the net impact with Drive
is about a 10 percent lift in
sales. If you analyze that, for
a typical store that represents
about another $250,000 in
incremental sales.”
As Flooring America looks
to the next 20 years of busi-
ness, Spano reflects on just
how far Flooring America
and its membership have
come. “When we first started
syndicating social media
content for our members,
we gave everyone iPads, and
they didn’t know how to turn
them on. And now, they are
all wizzes and they know we
are here to help them if they
need something.”
Because of this relationship
of trust, Flooring America
members have been willing to
try the new things proposed
by the group, and because of
that, Spano is confident that
the group’s future is bright.
“The next 20 years, the
future is very bright,” he said.
“We continue to take market
share. We continue to grow.
Because of the last 10 years,
our members are much more
digitally savvy than I would
say the rest of the industry
and that has really given them
a terrific foundation for every-
thing else that comes about,
whether it be Drive or geo-
fencing or text and chat and
all these different things that
we’ve come out with.”
And with third and fourth
generations up-and-coming
in the business, Spano says
Flooring America has the
wind at its back and a phe-
nomenal legacy ahead. ft
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 27
Tile Trends in The home
By Danielle Clair SimpSon
From soothing pal-
lets to sense-evoking
materials and pat-
terns, homeowners are
creating spaces that
make them feel good and promote
a sense of wellness and comfort
through design. In this issue of
Floor Trends, we explore the tile
trends that are lending to a “feel
better” experience at home.
Wellness in Design
“Wellness in design is a rela-
tively new concept that’s become
popular just in the last few
years,” said celebrity designer
and television host Jennifer
Farrell of Jennifer Farrell Design.
“That’s going to really take off
in 2020 and beyond. We are all
looking to feel better. We are in
a place where we are trying to
feel better and design is coming
into play in a whole new way.
So that you’re experiencing the
space with all of your senses.”
Farrell says homeowners want
to come home to a space that
not only looks good, but they
also want to feel good in their
space. This is inspired by aes-
thetic beauty and tactile com-
fort, and Farrell says we’ll see a
lot of that in modern organics.
According to Houzz, modern
organics, or organic modern,
is a design term referring to a
balanced mix of modern lines,
neutral palettes, natural materi-
als and textures, which designers
like Farrell are exploring in vari-
ous ways using tile.
Be it on the floor or on the
wall, and in some instances, even
on the ceiling, tile is helping
to achieve what Farrell calls an
immersive tactile dimensional
experience that creates a cocoon
Left: MSI’s Ivory Onyx is allowing
homeowners to enjoy the realistic look
of stone in both indoor and outdoor
applications.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 29
of comfort for homeowners
through dimensional pieces
and organic imagery.
Color
Color-wise, we are moving
toward a more soothing pallet
in a range that Farrell refers to
as “smoky sunset” which fea-
tures colors along the lines of
burnt rose, faded denim, pale
sky and taupe grey.
A color trend that’s being
celebrated by MSI, Emily
Holle, director of trend
and design, has dubbed this
soothing pallet Sun-Washed
Chic. “It’s really about the
warming trend and the fact
that white and gray have
been a mainstay in the design
world for a few years now,
and what we are seeing is
warmer pallets. So the cream
tones are coming in, blonde
tones in wood, warmer grays
and a mixed and blended
look. Just a toastier forecast.”
Enhancing that trend are
products like MSI’s Ivory
Onyx which mixes a range
of grays and blondes to bring
warmth into the product and
give homeowners the realistic
look of stone they’ve come
to appreciate from MSI. And
with unemployment at an
all-time low, rising wages and
stock market prices up, MSI’s
director of sales and market-
ing, Mannie Llerena, says con-
ditions are as good as they’ll
get for consumers to be able
to purchase the dream homes
and the dream surfaces that
they always thought about.
Answering the call, MSI
continues to lead in the
production of natural stone-
inspired looks. “Because our
origin was natural stone, we
really believe that we do these
natural stone porcelains bet-
ter than anyone else with the
way that we take a lot of care
into colorations, veining and
how it looks,” said Llerena.
Experiencing the space
with all senses is desired, and
Farrell says homeowners are
doing that with products
like Shaw’s Chateau Woven
Above: Consumers are flocking to
larger, wide planks, which Emser
Tile’s Mara Heras says opens up
a continuous surface within the
home.
Left: Surfaces with texture provide
a splash of luxury and intrigue and
Marazzi is speaking to that trend
with new products like Artezen.
Tile Trends in The home
30 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
Mosaic. “What’s beauti-
ful about this is that it’s so
dimensional that you can’t
keep your hands off it. So
you have this really pleasing
experience not just looking
at something but actually
feeling it.”
Surfaces with texture
provide a splash of luxury
and intrigue and Marazzi is
speaking to that trend with
new products like Artezen,
a line that is inspired by
handmade ceramics with
an undulated surface and
translucent glaze to create a
beautiful flow of movement
across the installation.
“Bold pops of design are
one of the hottest trends in
the industry, from residential
areas to commercial,” said
Micah Hand, senior market-
ing manager of Dal-Tile,
parent company of Marazzi.
“The amazing thing about
this trend is that it allows
designers and homeowners to
create a space that is unique,
especially as there are so many
products to choose from. Our
newest collections draw bold
inspiration from nature, from
earthy blues and greens to
marble and concrete aesthet-
ics. We want customers to
create spaces they love, and
our products are designed to
support that desire.”
Artezen features geometric
shapes like Hex and Picket,
brick joint and herringbone,
and is available in three neu-
tral colors, including a shim-
mery bronze metallic and two
beautiful shades of blue.
Size
In tile, size matters,
and planks in residential
applications are continuing
to get longer and wider.
“We know that larger
formats are important,”
said Llerena. “Things are
getting larger and there’s
a demand for 24x48 and
35x35.”
Larger planks means
fewer grout lines, which is
something consumers are
enjoying in their homes for
multiple reasons, says Mara
Heras, vice president of
marketing for Emser Tile.
“It’s clean visually, it opens
up a continuous surface,
especially when it comes to
the panels. You can do a
whole shower, you can do
an entire countertop; a wall
with minimal seams. Even
on the floor, if you do a
23x47 or a 31x31, it’s fewer
grout lines and less labor.”
Fewer grout lines creates
a more seamless environ-
ment, and homeowners are
enjoying that trend from
indoors to outdoors, as they
continue to spend more time
enjoying their outdoor spac-
es and seeing them as more
of an opportunity for design,
rather than just a function.
In response, MSI has pro-
duced products that make
that possible. “We have a
1cm-thick product that goes
inside the home out to a
2cm paver that can be used
in any outdoor application,”
said Llerena.
DIY
Appealing to the DIY
homeowner is Daltile’s
RevoTile, which is an in-
novate product that is sure
to revolutionize tile industry.
Installing in just three easy
steps, RevoTile offers “Real
Beauty. Real Porcelain. Real
Fast.” says Scott Maslowski,
senior vice president of sales
for Dal-Tile Corporation.
“The beauty, durability,
and value that porcelain tile
adds to a home makes it an
aspirational product, highly
desired by homeowners,”
said Maslowski.
By simply placing the
underlayment, clicking the
tiles together and immedi-
ately grouting, homeown-
ers—on their own—can
add the style and designs
they desire by way of
Daltile’s state-of-the-art
printing technology, Reveal
Imaging, which brings to
the RevoTile collection real-
istic color, detail and vein-
ing that are unique on every
single tile. ft
Left: Daltile’s RevoTile makes DIY
for the homeowner easy with just
three simple steps.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 31
Mohawk EnhancEs Digital MarkEting to hElp rEtailErs sEll MorE Floors
Since its inception in
2016, Omnify has
been helping retail-
ers use digital to drive
more feet through the
door for Mohawk flooring. In
2020, Mohawk’s digital market-
ing program will provide a more
streamlined user experience with
an optimized core set of features
– enabling retailers to choose the
right solutions for their stores and
control how they compete in their
local markets.
“Today, 87 percent of consumers
are hunting for products on digital
channels,” said Karen Mendelsohn,
senior vice president of market-
ing. “This means that in order to
succeed, specialty retailers need to
extend their stores beyond their four
walls. They need to be at the fore-
front of the digital revolution. That’s
exactly why we developed Omnify
and why we continue to invest in
the program. Mohawk is committed
to providing our retail partners the
best tools and support they need to
win in the changing world of retail.”
This year, Mohawk’s digital
programs will put more control
into retailers’ hands, allowing them
to choose the right solution for
their businesses rather than a one-
size-fits-all approach. In the past,
Omnify offered a standardized
website. Today, the program allows
retailers to customize the website
with the help of FloorForce.
“Because Omnify has been
in the market for a few years,
Mohawk is armed with meaning-
ful feedback to help guide its
evolution,” said Seth Arnold, vice
president, residential market-
ing. “The vision was clearly right
and working. When it was first
released, Omnify was a one-size-
fits-all package. We handled all
Left: Today, 87 percent of consumers are
hunting for products on digital channels,
said Karen Mendelsohn, senior vice
president of marketing, Mohawk.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 33
digital properties – websites,
social and CRM. Now we
are unbundling the package
so each retailer can partici-
pate in a way that works best
for them.”
Most importantly, Omnify
gives retailers everything
they need under one roof,
minimizing the time spent
implementing to help them
focus on closing more sales.
Not only does Omnify help
save retailers’ time, it helps
save them money. Retailers
can save, on average, over
$7,500 compared to other
digital marketing services in
the market.
The services include a vari-
ety of solutions.
Digital marketing includes
high-definition Mohawk,
Karastan and Pergo Extreme
product catalogs; enhanced
video and product photogra-
phy; national and local eye-
catching branded campaign
assets; syndicated, best-in-
class blog posts; and a wide-
ranging catalog of Mohawk
Home and Karastan rugs to
compete in the digital mar-
ketplace without the cost,
time and distribution of
ecommerce giants.
Lead capture and nuture
helps dealers convert poten-
tial customers and nurture
existing leads to close more
sales with engaging lead
conversion pages and incen-
tives to motivate store visits;
automated email campaigns
to keep retail stores top of
mind; a leading chat solution
that automatically captures
and qualifies leads 24/7; and
a valuable customer relation-
ship management tool to
track, manage and assign
leads in one convenient place.
Reputation management
helps retailers share their
long-standing reputations
online with custom review
microsites for dominating
local search and showcasing
reviews from 150-plus sites;
review aggregation for moni-
toring customer feedback on
one centralized dashboard;
review management to
improve visibility and build
confidence with customers;
customer experience and
review request campaigns
to generate authentic, trust-
worthy ratings and reviews;
and reputation analytics to
dive deeper into customer
feedback.
Lastly, reporting helps
retailers make more
informed decisions based
on learnings that cover
website analytics and con-
tent engagement analytics
to track and measure how
shoppers interact and engage
with Mohawk content and
products online; digital
campaign performance
with real-time results; and
a benchmark indicator to
benchmark performance to
other players in the market
with industry data.
Five Star
Enhancements
With an overwhelm-
ing abundance of flooring
options for consumers to
choose from, Mohawk devel-
oped Five Star to provide
specialty retailers with a
seamless showroom experi-
ence that makes Mohawk
flooring the easy choice.
“The purchase journey can
be overwhelming for consum-
ers. There are multiple choices
the shopper has to make –
everything from décor, brand
and even where to buy. That’s
why it’s imperative that the
showroom simplifies the pur-
chase decision rather than cre-
ate more questions,” Arnold
said. “With Five Star, we can
help retailers provide brand
consistency across online
and in-store experiences for
informed purchase decisions.
That’s why we invest heavily
in marketing assets, signage
and displays that tell our
brand stories and educate
consumers about Mohawk
products.”
Five Star invests in branded
marketing and storytelling
to help retailers accelerate
a customer’s purchase. Five
Star gives retailers the ability
to standout with updated
materials that help bring
Mohawk brand campaigns to
life in the showroom; nation-
al promotions that attract
consumers and close the sale
with point-of-purchase kits
and customizable advertis-
ing offerings; and a product
assurance, which offers war-
ranties and enhanced pro-
tections, such as Mohawk’s
60-day satisfaction war-
ranty—available exclusively
to Five Star retailers.
Retailers can invest in their
showroom with exclusive
dealer incentives and vendor
discounts and simplify the
shopping experience with
in-store financing that makes
choosing the perfect flooring
solution easy and affordable.
To enhance business devel-
opment, Five Star also offers
a vast collection of resources
designed to empower retailers
and their team with the tools
and knowledge to optimize
every aspect of their business.
Through industry insights,
dealers can grow business by
staying informed on industry
trends and retail best prac-
tices and remaining up to
date with the best ways to
attract customers, increase
Left: Mohawk’s Seth Arnold and
Jenna Bloom and Madeline Webb
of FloorForce share the benefits
of Mohawk’s digital solutions at
TISE 2020.
Mohawk EnhancEs Digital MarkEting
34 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
store traffic, grow sales and
improve store operations.
The peer-to-peer network
helps dealers connect with
peers in the industry who can
help analyze goals and strate-
gies and develop plans to take
business to the next level.
Through education, deal-
ers can also earn more about
every aspect of the floor-
ing business from industry
experts through enrichment
courses and tools that cover
everything from how to hire
and retain the best employ-
ees, to overcoming industry
challenges.
Neighborhood Ad
Manager
The number one chal-
lenge specialty retailers face
today is getting people in
their front door. Mohawk’s
Neighborhood Ad Manager
provides retailers a solution
– local advertising designed
to reach shoppers and drive
traffic in store.
“Today’s increasingly
competitive market has
seen the emergence of new
channels with enormous
ad budgets,” Arnold said.
“Buyers have more choices
than ever before, but too
many choices leave many
shoppers frustrated and
overwhelmed. This is why
Mohawk believes specialty
retail has a unique advan-
tage. What customers really
want is the time, atten-
tion and guided shopping
experience that only spe-
cialty retail can provide.
We know this because
millions of consumers
are searching the internet
for answers. That’s where
Neighborhood Ad Manager
comes in—to reach these
local shoppers and bring
them in store.”
Through the
Neighborhood Ad Manager,
specialty retail partners
receive supp support with an
informed advertising spend.
“The big question we
get is how much advertis-
ing should someone be
doing?” Arnold said. “With
Neighborhood Ad Manager
we give you the ability to
figure out in your market
how much to spend. We
can tell by zip code who’s
in the market, what people
are searching for, and how
much you should be spend-
ing to get that optimal
response
The program offers tai-
lored ads for the local mar-
ket, optimized landing pages
and lower costs per lead. In
addition, retailers can also
use available co-op dollars
to cover up to 75 percent of
their ad spend.
“Mohawk knows that our
flooring doesn’t sell itself,”
Arnold said. “We rely on
our retail partners to connect
shoppers to our products.
In return, retailers can rely
on us to drive customers
to their stores. With the
size and scale you’d expect
from the biggest brands in
flooring, Mohawk has the
resources to deliver advan-
tages they won’t find any-
where else.” ft
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floortrends
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 35
The commercial floor-
ing contractor par-
ticipates in a vibrant
construction industry
full of innovation, amaz-
ing contributions to the
quality of life in our com-
munities, and individual
fulfillment. According to a
focused study by the World
Economic Forum and the
Boston Consulting Group,
the construction industry
accounts for more than 6%
of the global gross domestic
production (GDP) in addi-
tion to enabling commerce
and productivity in all its
forms. The U.S. construc-
tion industry has enjoyed
a solid 10-year conomic
expansion. In addition, the
industry is benefitting from
a healthy segment rotation
which allows firms to rede-
ploy resources to serving
educational and institution-
al markets as multi-family
and retail segments begin
to slow.
According to Dodge Data
& Analytics, total construc-
tion starts are expected to
reach $776 billion in value
for 2020. This is a mas-
sive amount reflecting the
value of the entire industry
across all segments. Despite
our combined marketing
efforts, it is unlikely we
will be able to convince
society that flooring mate-
rials should be widely
utilized in parking decks,
dams, and water treatment
facilities. It is helpful for
the flooring industry to
focus on the end use seg-
ments of commercial and
institutional buildings
where flooring accounts for
a large percentage of the
total project value. That
value is predicted to be
greater than $260 billion in
2020. What a great oppor-
tunity!
Despite our amazing con-
tributions, like most indus-
Trends ImpacTIng The general conTracTorand professional Flooring contractor
By Mark Bischoff
President and ceo, starnet WorldWide
coMMercial flooring PartnershiP
contractor’s corner
Tarkett’s New Showroom in New
York City, which was installed by
Starnet member Consolidated
Carpet.
36 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 37
tries, we have many areas for
improvement. The flooring
industry has opportunities to
improve processes and opera-
tions, innovate with strategic
business models, and estab-
lish formal organizational
cultures. Our general con-
tractor clients have the same
opportunities for improve-
ment. Our industry does not
have to change overnight.
It is estimated by Boston
Consulting Group that just
a 1% increase in construc-
tion industry productivity
could return more than $100
billion in value to GDP.
Productivity has many ele-
ments but, in this article, we
can share some areas where
the interest of the commer-
cial flooring contractor aligns
with the professional general
contractor to improve our
industry and deliver the value
of enhanced productivity to
society.
Safety
A safe construction
industry is a productive
industry. Our general
contractor partners must
provide safe environments
for their workers and sub-
contractors to attract talent
and business partners. In
addition, their end user cli-
ents expect them to deliver
a solid safety record as part
of the risk mitigation role
they play. It is fundamental
to their value proposition.
In the global competi-
tive environment, safety is
not a response to regula-
tory oversight. Safety is a
foundational element in
a great workplace culture
and achieving the highest
levels of productivity pos-
sible. In order to work well
with a professional general
contractor, a Starnet pro-
fessional flooring contrac-
tor must already have an
established safety program.
Without that workplace
culture of safety as a condi-
tion of employment, suc-
cessful project execution
becomes nearly impossible.
In addition, good safety
records are rewarded by
access to project oppor-
tunities, access to capital,
and lower costs. All those
elements contribute to
industry productivity and
the profitability of Starnet
member firms.
“New York metro is a
highly regulated construc-
tion environment and we
have to manage the safety
of the public in addition
to the safety concerns
normally associated with
a construction site,” said
David T. Meberg, president
and CEO Consolidated
Carpet, a Starnet Member.
“Occupied spaces in a
densely populated work
environment are huge chal-
lenges. Consolidated takes
pride in our safety record.
Our people constantly
update their training and
certifications in order to
deliver the best support
for our general contractor
partners.”
Project Delivery
Methods
In a quest to contribute
value and “find a bet-
ter way” multiple project
delivery methods have
evolved to best support the
end user clients and the
goals of their building proj-
ects. The most common
project delivery method
is Design/Bid/Build, but
Design Build and other
methods are becoming
more common. The pur-
pose of this article is not
to review project delivery
methods in detail, but to
point out that new meth-
ods are part of the industry
push for innovation and
value. That innovation
effort may be held back
by traditional construc-
tion contract law, outdated
building codes and permit-
ting processes, as well as a
reluctance by the trades to
adapt processes to enable
these delivery methods to
reach full potential. We
have observed that Starnet
member firms are respond-
ing to support our general
contractor partners.
Design/Bid/Build
Design/Bid/Build is com-
monly used in civil projects.
In addition to safety, civil
projects require complete
and thorough document
management processes in
order to provide transparen-
cy and compliance to speci-
fications. The document
management infrastructure,
in order to be effective, must
be part of the te normal cul-
ture at a professional floor-
ing contractor. The level of
detail required cannot be
assembled for one project, it
must be core to the business
Far Left: Cheryl Acierno, President Acierno & Company.
Left: David T. Meberg, President and CEO Consolidated Carpet.
Bottom Far Left: Les Lippert, President Lippert Flooring and Tile.
Bottom Left: Matt Bode, Vice President CB Flooring.
in order to properly support
the sophisticated infrastruc-
ture the general contractor
deploys to remain in compli-
ance with contract guidelines
for these projects.
“In order to secure and
execute large complex
projects in the Washington
D.C. area, we have in place
a full document manage-
ment system,” said Matt
Bode, vice president, CB
Flooring, LLC, a Starnet
Member. “This includes a
full-time submittal coor-
dinator, payroll manager,
contracts manager, and
dedicated project coordina-
tors. Being located in the
backyard of the federal
government and some of
the largest development
projects in the country, we
believe this is a competitive
advantage with our general
contractor partners.”
Design Build project
delivery offers distinct
advantages to the owner.
Design and pricing take
place at the same time,
with the general contrac-
tor working collaboratively
with the designer. Design
Build projects can deliver a
building at budget, shorten
preconstruction time, and
dramatically decrease the
time frame. Managing and
documenting changes and
communicating with the
building team in a way that
supports low risk decision
making is essential in the
design-build process. This
experience must be deliv-
ered by a combination of
experienced staff members
at the flooring contrac-
tor supported by effective
technology and visualization
tools. The combination of
the confidence and experi-
ence of a veteran associate
and the documentation
through technology tools
enables the Design Build
delivery process. Many pro-
fessional flooring contrac-
tors find these projects to
be more personally reward-
ing in addition to the nor-
mal fulfillment of a flooring
contract project. Their skills
and knowledge as a profes-
sional are valued in this
delivery process.
Cheryl Acierno, president
of Acierno & Company,
LLC, a Starnet Member,
said: “Communication
and teamwork. Flexibility
and cooperation with the
design team are critical, and
the earlier the collabora-
tion starts, the better every
building team member
meets the client’s needs,”
We provide a lot of value
to Design Build contractors
because of our experienced
staff and our software sys-
tems. Our team is highly
skilled in product knowl-
edge and specifying materi-
als, ensuring that a client
selects the appropriate prod-
uct for a specific space.”
Scheduling and Project
Management
Most general contractors
plan and schedule their
projects in a similar fash-
ion, developing schedules
at each level of design and
financial impact. A detailed
plan is developed for all
major activities during the
project’s life cycle. Each
firm is different, but some
are deploying sophisticated
and well-staffed scheduling
departments. Many staff
positions in scheduling at
the largest general contrac-
tors require professional
certification. In addition
to working with project
schedules, these associ-
ates increase accuracy and
efficiency by developing
collaborative methods that
may strengthen processes
with capable subcontracting
firms like Starnet members.
The level of expertise in
the general contractor com-
munity is being matched
by project management
associates at professional
flooring contractors across
the Starnet membership.
The quality of Starnet
member project manag-
ers, supported by ongoing
training and certification,
helps ensure the productiv-
ity and collaborative com-
munication necessary to
deliver value for the end
user. They can work more
efficiently because they are
familiar with many of the
concepts and tools used
by the general contractor
every day. These profes-
sionals working together
collaboratively using formal
scheduling and project
management tools deliver
enhanced productivity. In
addition, formal training
can minimize gaps in gen-
erational communication
style, support flexible deci-
sion making, and anticipate
project gaps or constriction
in order to mitigate sched-
ule drift. Lastly, profes-
sional project managers
protect the end user from
unpublished compromises
that impact the long-term
performance of a build-
ing. Documenting change
orders and schedule com-
promises protects the client
if they encounter problems
post-occupancy. Project
close out documents will
help to guide the long-term
maintenance and manage-
ment of the interior space
for the end user.
According to Les Lippert,
president Lippert Flooring
and Tile, a Starnet Member:
“Our project managers
focus intently on docu-
menting all of the commu-
nication before and during
the installation phase. In
addition to keeping all par-
ties involved in the project
fully informed, this practice
enables us to accurately
refer back to specific deci-
sions and actions that may
need to be revisited during
the one-year walk-through,
or at any other time post-
occupancy. Having a
complete record of all com-
munications is both a risk
management necessity and a
quality of service value add.
Project close-out document
submittals furnish the cli-
ent with an authoritative
account of the flooring
materials used, installation
and maintenance specifics,
and the details of product
and installation warran-
ties. It is the roadmap for
facility managers to follow
to maximize the return of
their investment in flooring
over the longest possible
timeline.”
Starnet members work
collaboratively with gen-
eral contractor partners to
deliver value in the built
environment every day. Our
partnership continues to
be more sophisticated and
valuable as society demands
more and more from their
space over time. ft
ContraCtor’s Corner
38 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
Thank you to the Floor Covering Industry Foundation donors!FCIF depends on contributions from industry manufacturers, distributors, retailers, buying groups, trade
associations, vendors, and individuals. Donations provide the assistance directly to flooring industry
workers when coping with life-altering injuries, severe disabilities, and catastrophic medical events.
Diamond $50,000+CCA Global Partners
Engineered Floors
Mohawk Industries
Shaw Industries Group
World Floor Covering
Associa�on
Platinum $25,000 -
$49,999The Interna�onal Surface
Event/ Informa Markets
Mannington
Gold $10,000 - $24,999Abbey Carpet
All Tile / Carpet Cushions &
Supplies
American Biltrite, Inc.
The Dixie Group
Domotex
Emily Morrow Home
Emser Tile
FEI Group
Helen And Harry Saul
Founda�on
Phenix Flooring
PSW Arizona
Redi-Carpet
Resilient Floor Covering
Ins�tute
Spartan Surfaces
Silver $5,000 - $9,999Arrowstar
Art Guild
Congoleum
Degraaf Interiors
Sharon Greenberg
J.J. Haines
Karndean DesignFlooring
Linron Corpora�on
Mullican
Na�onal Floorcovering
Alliance
Promo�onal Spring
Republic Floor
RFMS
Stanton Carpet
Bronze $1,000 - $4,999Steve Abernathy
Acierno & Company
AHF Products
Ansira
Armstrong Flooring
Atlanta Flooring Design
Centers
B.R. Funsten & Co.
Jeanne L. Balusik
Beauflor USA
Andrea Blackbourn
Carl Bouckaert
Brown Smith Wallace
Cain & Bultman
Carpenter Co.
Carpet Spectrum
Central Alabama Flooring
CommCrea�ve
Couristan
CR Produc�ons
Customer Analy�cs
Dalene Hardwood Flooring .
Floor Covering News
Floor Covering Weekly
Forbo Flooring Systems
Foss Floors
Future Foam
FXI, Inc.
Healthier Choice Flooring
Hunter Douglas
iGAD Produc�ons
Invista
Kaleen Rugs
Tanja Kern
Legge� & Pla� Flooring
Products
Marke�ng Alliance Group
MasterBrand Cabinets
MC2
Michael's Carpet
Milliken Flooring
Momeni
MP Global Products
Mr. G's Flooring America
Nebraska Furniture Mart
Margie & Sam O'Krent
One Smooth Stone
Peerless / Beaulieu Canada
PNC Financial Services
Riezman Berger, P.C.
Shnier, Gesco
Sid's Carpet Barn
Southern Wood Flooring and
Supply
STI Polymer
Synchrony
Tarke�
Verndale
WarmUp, Inc.
Kaye Whitener
Xactware
Genesis $500 - $999Abbey Capitol Floors and
Interiors
Accu-Cut Brockie
Interna�onal, Inc.
Arlun & FEI Group
Avalon Flooring
B.T. Mancini Co., Inc.
Beasley Flooring Products /
Floors For Life
Brentwood Flooring America
Carpet One of Livermore
Carpet Works
Carpe�ng by Mike
Commerce Bancshares
Founda�on
Cornerstone Solu�ons Group
D & R Floor Covering
Design Materials, Inc.
Floorcra�
Floorcra� Carpet One
FUSE Alliance
Chet E. Grisso
Hamernicks Decora�ng
Sco� Humphrey
Indusparquet
ITEL Laboratories, Inc.
Tom Jennings
Joy Carpets
Kane Carpet
Kas Rugs
Kellor Logis�c Solu�ons
Liminality
Linoleum City Inc.
Mathews & Parlo Carpet
Northwest Trends of Spokane
Nourison
Novalis Interna�onal
Orian Rugs
Pat's Carpet Outlet
Roy Lomas Carpet Contractor
Saturn Freight Systems
SP Floors & Design Center
Stevens Omni
Sarah & Wendell Presco�
Taylor Adhesives
Tranzpartners
Versatrim, Inc.
Fred Williamson, Jr.
Xpress Global Systems
Thank you to the following for
making planned and endowed
gi�s: William A. Gold
Endowment, Laurence & Robin
Nagle Charitable Remainder
Trust, Alan Greenberg
Memorial Fund, and Shaw
Industries.
Donors & sponsors are listed
at the $500+ level who were
reported by Dec. 15, 2019.
workers ba�ling catastrophic medical condi�ons
get back to normal life.
Shout out to the donors who are helping industry
fcif.org
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tion layer, Schönox RS 50
foam tape, and Schönox AP
Rapid Plus. This provides a
fast and cost-effective sub-
floor renovation system. The
system aims to reduce labor
expenses as well as excessive
time and material waste, and
once the system is in place,
you have a smooth, level,
and long-lasting surface
ready for installation of a
variety of floor coverings.
The system improves the
impact sound insulation and
sound transmission rate as
well as thermal insulation.
It is suitable over wood sub-
strates and is a self-bearing,
fire rated construction.
hpsubfloors.com
Resilient Installation
with No Moisture
Testing Required
This year, Taylor Adhesives
is promoting a game-
changing installation solu-
tion for resilient flooring.
Resolute unlimited moisture
barrier resilient flooring
adhesive features unlimited
moisture control from both
tropical liquids and substrate
vapor—with no moisture
testing required. The safe
one-part chemistry makes it
a faster, more install-friendly
alternative to two-part epoxy
systems. Engineered for
heavy rolling loads and other
challenging commercial envi-
ronments, the adhesive works
on LVT, LVP, sheet goods,
rubber, linoleum, SPC, SPC,
cork-backed hard surfaces,
Flooring Technologies
for EasiEr installation
Above: Taylor Adhesive says
Resolute is a faster, more install-
friendly alternative to two-part
epoxy systems.
40 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
cork flooring and underlay-
ments, VCT/VET and rub-
ber and vinyl stair treads. The
fast-curing formula creates
a high-strength, waterproof
bond, and the self-leveling
technology reduces tele-
graphing. Plus, it’s LEED
contributing.
tayloradhesives.com
Install Tile with a Click
Seeing a need to cut
time for installers, Daltile
launched RevoTile, a revo-
lutionary, patented, floating
floor system that installs
Daltile porcelain tile two
times faster than traditional
tile, saving time and money.
RevoTile installs in just three
easy steps 1) place underlay-
ment 2) click together the
tiles and 3) grout. Once
grouted, the perimeter is
sealed and RevoTile is then
a waterproof flooring system.
RevoTile porcelain tile is
offered in 26 marble, wood,
stone, and concrete looks.
With RevoTile, a tile floor
can now be completed in
one day. The company says
the solution expands the
labor pool, allowing it to be
quickly installed by profes-
sional tile installers as well
as LVT, laminate, and hard-
wood installers. In addition,
RevoTile reduces the mess
and length of time involved
in traditional installation.
No product acclimation is
required during installation;
RevoTile installs right over
many existing floors, avoid-
ing the need for demoli-
tion and removal; there is
no mortar drying time, no
messy two-part grout, and
no return visits.
daltile.com
A Primer You Can Use
in Occupied Spaces
When you’re renovating
an existing space, there’s
usually no way to get around
the inhabitants feeling put
out by the inconvenience of
a flooring remodel. Mapei
introduced Primer X, a fast-
drying, high-performance,
low-VOC, water-based,
acrylic primer, to help in
these environments. It is
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 41
Above: Schönox Renotex 3D
System is a versatile and cost-
effective subfloor renovation
system for multifamily projects.
Left: Resolute
unlimited moisture
barrier resilient
flooring adhesive.
textured to enhance the
performance and adhesion
of self-leveling underlay-
ments over 100%-solids,
epoxy moisture barriers and
other nonporous substrates.
It drives quickly, in one to
two hours, depending on
environmental conditions.
The product also features
high bond to 100%-solids,
epoxy moisture-control
membranes.
mapei.com
Locking Floors with
Enhanced Water
Resistance
Välinge unveiled a new
locking system for enhanced
water resistance at Domotex
in Hannover. With the new
system 5G Hydroguard,
floor manufactures will now
be able to make life easier
for their customers. 5G
Hydroguard feature sa 5G
Fold Down locking system
tailored to provide enhanced
water resistance by prevent-
ing water from penetrating
into the seams of the floor
panels.
“This is the first truly water
resistant two-piece fold down
system on the market,” said
Per Nygren, executive vice
president, Välinge Innovation.
“With greater protection to
withstand the mess of every-
day chaos such as spills, this
innovation makes floors both
incredibly easy to install and
to live with.”
The NALFA 48 hour sur-
face swell test (24 hours with
waterpillar and 24 hours
recovery) has been used to
assess the water behavior
of floor installations with
5G Hydroguard. In wood-
based floorings, the locking
system contributes to signifi-
cantly lower edge-swelling,
thereby ensuring that the
floor both looks and feels
better despite being sub-
jected to wet mopping, acci-
dents and other events from
everyday use.
valinge.com
Installing Metal
Lath Faster
TechLevel WSF Fiber
Reinforced Self-Leveling
Underlayment from
CustomTech eliminates
the labor-intensive pro-
cess of attaching metal
lath to wood subfloors,
so floor covering installa-
tions are faster, easier and
Flooring Technologies For easier insTallaTion
Above: Daltile’s RevoTile uses
a floating floor system to install
porcelain tile quickly.
Left: Mapei’s Primer X
is a fast-drying, high-
performance, low-VOC,
water-based, acrylic
primer.
42 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
more profitable. TechLevel WSF is
a high-flow formula that prevents
slow drying, bond failure, crumbling
and staining. Appropriate for use on
concrete, ceramic tile, terrazzo and
gypsum-based substrates as well as
plywood and OSB, this SLU cures
quickly and develops high early
strength. TechLevel WSF exceeds
industry requirements for substrate
flatness to accommodate a wide vari-
ety of floor covering installations.
customtechflooring.com
Install Floors with No Special
Tools Required
With locking as I4F’s core centre of
expertise, the company’s flagship tech-
nologies, 3L TripleLock and Click4U,
provide unique drop-lock flooring instal-
lation systems that eliminate the need
for an additional insert on the short side.
Both technologies are suitable for all
materials and formats, can be manufac-
tured on existing high speed production
and have multiple installation benefits.
Installation is up to 30% faster than basic
clicks and no special tools are required.
i4f.com
Glueless Locking Across Many
Floor Types
Mohawk’s Uniclic glueless locking
system clicks together floors for fast and
easy installation. The system maintains
constant tension between planks for tight
joints that trap water on the surface, pro-
tecting floors and subfloors. Installers can
also easily replace any damaged laminate
planks with the Unifix tool. The technol-
ogy is used in Karastan LuxeCraft, Pergo
Extreme, Quick-Step, RevWood Plus,
SolidTech and SolidTech Plus brands.
mohawkflooring.com ft
Left: Mohawk’s Uniclic glueless locking
system clicks together floors for fast and easy
installation. Shown here on Pergo Extreme.
Left Middle: WSF is a high-flow formula that
prevents slow drying, bond failure, crumbling
and staining.
Left Bottom: I4F promoted its drop-lock
flooring installations systems at this year’s The
International Surfaces Event.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 43
You don’t need me to
tell you how bad the
installation crisis is.
Chances are you live it every
day. But maybe I can share
with you some of the things
I’ve been hearing that are
giving me a more hopeful
outlook.
I asked Floor Trends’ instal-
lation columnist and all-
around installation guru, Jon
Namba, for his view. Namba
doesn’t mince words.
He says current skills
among installers are not get-
ting better, in fact, they are
diminishing as we see greater
crossover among flooring
categories.
With all of the new prod-
ucts, formats and construc-
tion differences we’re seeing
in flooring lately, keeping
up with all of these changes
is only going to get more
difficult.
Here’s what Namba had
to say. “Installers are getting
into the floating floor instal-
lations because they feel it’s a
fairly easy category of floor-
ing, (but) they don’t under-
stand floor prep and mois-
ture issues. Understanding
waterproofing is something
that is critical to a wet area
and many installers are not
knowledgeable enough. On
the hardwood side, with the
introduction of factory fin-
ished floors, many installers
know only the basics of the
installation and once again
they don’t understand all the
site conditions involved with
wood flooring.” Similar issues
apply to ceramic tile.
Real Progress Is
Happening
So who’s actually doing
something (anything) on a
national level to address the
installation crisis?
The National Wood
Flooring Association
(NWFA) for one. Not only
does it continue to provide
ongoing installation train-
ing classes – at every level
from apprentice to master
craftsman, including courses
to maintain certification
once achieved – but it has
been working to attract
more people to the trade
through an online univer-
sity that to date has resulted
in the completion of more
than 60,000 courses. More
importantly, 78% of users
had never interacted with
the NWFA before!
While this is not meant as
a replacement for hands-on
training, it is a convenient,
cost-effective way to reach
and recruit the next genera-
tion of installers. At the rate
of 75 online courses a day,
the NWFA is making real-
world progress every day.
There’s more: Michael
Martin, president and
CEO of the association,
said, “This past March, we
received an official appren-
ticeship from the U.S.
Department of Labor for the
‘Wood Flooring Specialist’
designation. This is a major
accomplishment as it opens
the door for federal funding
for both the employer and
the apprentice, as well as
some state funding. We are
working with several mem-
ber companies to pilot the
initiative, and are preparing
a roadmap for other mem-
bers to follow to launch the
program in their own com-
panies as well.”
INSTALLATION�OUTLOOK�
Just Got Better
BY�SANDY�MONTEROSANDY�SAYS
Groups like the National Wood
Flooring Association are making
headway on a national level to
address the installation crisis.
Photo: NWFA
44 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
Certified Flooring
Installation Association
(CFI) continues its mission
of providing training and
certification to installers here
at home and abroad. Robert
Varden, vice president, said
the association continues
to push forward its training
agenda and is having good
success.
Improved Outlook
The outlook for the instal-
lation crisis has also recently
improved with the World
Floor Covering Association’s
(WFCA) big announce-
ment to commit additional
resources and has come up
with some creative solutions
toward solving the problem.
We know that the WFCA,
particularly through the work
of the CFI, has expanded its
installation training efforts
and continues to provide
classes throughout the coun-
try (and internationally) but
this new commitment goes
beyond that.
To recap, the WFCA has
pledged $1 million dollars
to the effort. It is bring-
ing various manufacturers
together into a cohesive
effort to support and extend
installation training, and
it has a business plan that
calls for hiring a dedicated
executive director to oversee
these efforts.
Perhaps most exciting of
all is a mobile classroom – a
retrofitted 18-wheeler that
can literally travel around
the country bringing instal-
lation training to local com-
munities.
As Scott Humphrey,
WFCA president and CEO,
told me, the challenge is that
with so few available install-
ers in a time of such high
demand, retailers and install-
ers themselves are extremely
reluctant to walk away from
paid work backlogs to attend
installation training classes
where they don’t get paid.
The mobile classroom will
hopefully make it easier for
working installers to upgrade
their skills and for new install-
ers to begin their training.
I love this idea and I fully
expect this will make a posi-
tive contribution and thanks
to these efforts and others
like it, we are making head-
way. But it is simply not
enough.
Even with the WFCA’s
participation, it will be
years before we see any real
change. In the meantime,
the challenge of finding
installers, and improving
their skill set remains a for-
midable one that will not be
resolved anytime in the near
future.
Who’s Making a
Difference Today?
The good news is that
most retailers, work rooms
and contractors, and distrib-
utors are doing what they
can on the local level and
with some success.
Namba shares this simple
advice that has helped him
navigate these tough times:
Pay more.
He said, “Our success with
our subs comes by way of
compensating them with
what they deserve.” This
approach, he says, not only
creates a better working rela-
tionship with his crews but
it also improves customer
satisfaction. It also leads to
more work. Everyone wins.
Beyond recruitment,
beyond fair compensation
that draws young people to
the trade, beyond available
training and apprenticeship
programs that give them a
clear path to success, there’s
something else Namba
thinks we need to do to
improve the problem with
installation.
It’s about pride and cre-
ativity. “The industry needs
to show the artistic side
of flooring,” said Namba.
“Share the passion for cre-
ating a piece of art on the
floor.”
Fundamentally, the
issue is how do we attract
young people to the field?
That’s something you can
do at home. Bring one of
your young installers to
career day at the local high
school, inform students
about available training,
job opportunities, appren-
ticeship programs and good
pay, maybe even a job
offer. You might just walk
away with your next instal-
lation star.
While, thankfully, floor-
ing’s major associations
have stepped in big time to
offer their help and leader-
ship, the only real solution
is for the entire industry at
all levels to get involved,
including us. ft
Santiago Montero has been
covering the flooring market since
1988. He has spoken to hundreds
of retailers, manufacturers and
distributors as they’ve generously
shared their struggles and their
challenges as well as their
successes and triumphs during this
time of unprecedented change in
the industry. He can be reached at
Jon Namba, editorial director,
Floor Covering Installer.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 45
Asking for the order
after an effective
sales presenta-
tion would seem to be a
common-sense concept.
Yet many salespeople are
reluctant to do so. This may
seem obvious, but most
salespeople don’t ask because
they are afraid of rejection or
of being pushy. Perhaps we
are uncertain about what to
say or how to ask. Regardless
of our reasons, we don’t
ask because of fear, and fear
stops us all.
So, let’s think about what
there is to be afraid of. For
starters, asking for an order
invites rejection. In view of
this, it is important that we
teach ourselves not to look
at rejection as a personal
thing. After all, it is only
our goods and services that
are being rejected. Think of
“asking” as a straightforward
opportunity for the cus-
tomer to accept an offer of
purchase rather than a pushy
demand to buy.
Of course, the very worst
might happen; she might
say, “No!” Oh horrors, she
might even give us an objec-
tion and offend us by telling
us that something isn’t quite
right. If only we had not
asked, she would have kept
her objections hidden. Plus,
we all know that what we
don’t know won’t hurt us,
right?
Excuse the sarcasm, but
unless we ask for a decision,
we may not know what is
really bothering her. So,
instead of a concern and
likely a sale, what we often
hear is that infamous put
off, “Thanks for your time; I
might be back,” and off she
goes to muddle through her
unspoken misgivings. And,
the odds of her coming back
are unlikely.
One thing is for certain,
successful salespeople are not
afraid to ask for the order.
According to estimates, just
by asking for the order, we
can increase our closing ratio
by about 200 percent. Many
customers when asked later
why they didn’t buy say,
“We were never asked.” It is
important that we stop let-
ting valuable business walk
out of our store into some-
place else where profession-
ally trained salespeople know
how to ask for the business.
Still afraid to ask for the
order? Use trial closes to
gauge your success before
asking for the order. Trial
closes take the uneasiness
out of asking for the busi-
ness. Sometimes called tie-
downs, a trial close is not
an actual closing technique,
but a type of question that
clarifies the thinking of the
customer. Trial closes invite
feedback. They are opinion-
asking, not decisions-asking
questions.
Certain trial closes allow
us to evaluate the amount
of headway that is necessary
to achieve the sale while
allowing us to make correc-
tive actions throughout the
selling process. Useful trial
questions such as “How does
SALESMANSHIP�����
Ask for the Order!
BY�BUDDY�WISDOMFLOORING�SALES�TIP
46 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
this fit your room?”, “How
does this look so far?”, “What
are your thoughts on this?”, “Is
this what you had in mind?”
-– are all practical questions
in understanding your cus-
tomer’s “way of thinking”
regarding a positive sales
path.
Other trial closes tell you
about the buying readiness
of the customer. Examples
include: “Based on what we
have discussed, do you have
any questions?”, “What are
the next steps you’d like to
take?”, “Assuming you want to
move ahead with this, when
will you need this installed?”
Another great trial question
near the end of your presen-
tation is, “Is there anything
I haven’t covered yet that is
important to you?” These
types of trial questions tell
you your customer’s buying
temperature or how near you
are to being successful when
you outright ask for the
business.
Another way to take the
dread out of asking for the
sale is to ask a customer
to make a minor decision
which eventually can carry
the major decision. For
example, most installed sales
require measuring. So, an
unassuming question could
be, “Would you like to set
up a measure? This way you
will know the exact footage
and materials for the cost of
the purchase.” By listening
to her response, you receive
revealing feedback as to her
readiness to buy and move
forward.
So, when is the best time
to ask for the order? Let me
tell you my definition of
when to ask for the order:
After all steps of the selling
process are complete, I ask
for a decision when I am
pretty sure a person will say,
“Yes.” The reason I believe
this is that my customer has
given me plenty of feedback
and positive signals partially
in the way of trial closes.
When you have covered
all important points and
your customer has no further
questions, just ask, “Great! If
everything is in order, would
you like to move forward with
this?” We commit no fouls
with these requests and most
customers prefer a straight-
forward wrap up as opposed
to tricky manipulative closes.
How often should
we ask?
While most great sales-
people ask for the order
more than just once, doing
so repeatedly only makes
sense in the context of what
is happening. Obviously,
we do not want to close
when the decision is miles
away. Until then, substitute
untimely “closes” with a
simple, straightforward,
“Tell me more about your
concerns.” However, if there
is a rule of thumb as to how
often to ask for the order it
would be: often enough to
be effective, but not so often
or early that you annoy the
prospect. It is not the closing
question per se that is the
issue, it is the timing and
intent to manipulate that
turns the prospect off. Our
intuitive judgement decides
the exact call.
Suppose despite our best
clues, the horrible does hap-
pen, and she does say “No.”
It happens. But, “no” is
not the end of the world.
Whenever the customer
rejects your closing ques-
tion, think to yourself “not
yet.” If your customer really
means “forever no,” why is
she not already marching
out of the store? What we
are really hearing is “I am
not convinced.”, “I am not
ready.” We simply need to
gather more information and
create solutions. We focus
on what’s missing. If not at
your store, why and how is
she going to find something
elsewhere that better fits her
needs?
Keep in mind customers
will rarely turn you down
without an explanation.
But, if that should happen,
wait a moment, appear to
accept “no” gracefully and
then simply state, “I’m sorry.
I thought you were ready to
go ahead with the purchase.
I didn’t mean to rush you.
Is there something I forgot
to cover?” Or, “May I ask
what’s holding you back?”
Remain quiet and listen for
the response while observ-
ing nonverbal clues. Probe
the resulting concern(s) and
handle them like any objec-
tion with added information.
The truth is that with rejec-
tion (or refusal) we stand to
learn something more about
the customer’s needs so that
we can offer fresh solutions.
Sometimes the customer
may reveal that it is time to
close. For example, when
customers show an indica-
tion of already owning
your product, they may be
sending a green light. If
she says: “What would this
cost with the better pad?” or
“When could you install this?”
Answer the question and
then seriously consider ask-
ing for the order.
One final fear conquer-
ing solution is to force
ourselves to replace a part of
our empathy with ego. We
need empathy to connect
and relate to the customer.
However, salespeople with
too much empathy may
become so afraid of upset-
ting the customer they
become hesitant to push
forward and ask for their
business. To truly help our
prospect, we must some-
times detach ourselves from
our empathies to make
sure we offer the customer
an opportunity to buy.
Customers often put off
making informed decisions
until someone gives them
that slight push.
The best condition in ask-
ing for an order is trust. With
trust our customers become
more open to our ideas,
suggestions, and solutions.
The atmosphere becomes
friendlier, more relaxed, and
the prospect is more inclined
to answer our questions and
to share information freely.
Relate to the customer, dis-
cover her needs, adapt to
her circumstances and the
sale usually develops into a
more than accurate parity of
the correct color, style, qual-
ity and price. Now, it is as
simple as asking for the sale!
For your sake, by all means,
please ask!
Good selling to you! ft
Buddy Wisdom has more than
35 years of wholesale and retail
sales experience. He is the author
of Selling Retail Floorcovering - A
Humanistic Approach (2015 Edition)
http://www.lulu.com/shop/buddy-
wisdom/selling-retail-floorcovering-
a-humanistic-appropach-a-
complete-10yr-write-over/
paperback/product-22165170.html
He can be reached at budhurd1@
gmail.com.
floortrendsmag.com + March 2020 47
Think about Harley-
Davidson and their
amazing following.
Harley-Davidson’s brand-
ing is so tremendous, their
customers have tattoos
made with their logo and
#1 sign. Do your custom-
ers have your logo tattooed
on their right bicep? It’s
doubtful. While it may
be a little extreme to have
people tattoo your brand on
their bodies, there are ways
to build brand loyalty. I’ll
share a few that have worked
for Got You Floored.
Coffee Mugs and Beer
Glasses. Excellent gifts for
potential and existing cus-
tomers, high quality mugs
and glasses provide shelf life
and they keep your brand in
their hands. We take it a step
further and pack them with
Hershey’s kisses and wrapped
in cellophane. Leaving a
parting gift after the measure
has closed more sales than we
could imagine.
“WOW fridge”. When
clients visit our showroom,
the first thing they are asked
is what they would like to
drink or eat. We have a glass-
front miniature refrigerator
in our showroom packed full
of water, Coke, Diet Coke,
Doritos, Pringles chips,
Cheez-Its, Kit Kats, and
more. The snacks have our
signature red color, which
subliminally tells the cus-
tomer they have visited the
right store!
Comfortable
Clothing. Giving away
apparel is another great way
to build your brand. We
make running shirts for peo-
ple. Runners are dedicated.
Runners work hard. Runners
make money. Runners buy
lots of flooring. Runners tell
their friends! Therefore, we
give away Brooks running
gear with our logo pasted
on the back. For example,
we gave away Brooks long
sleeved running shirts 10
years ago and I still see the
shirts on people’s backs at
the YMCA, on the run-
ning trail and at the local
parks. It’s a walking, talking
billboard.
Conference Room. If you
have a facility you are proud
of, loan out your conference
room to customers to use for
meetings. We have property
management companies in
our conference room almost
every week. They get a tour
of our state-of-the-art facility
and we supply them with
coffee and soft drinks all
day. This has caught on so
well that local associations
use our conference room
for board meetings. Imagine
having all the top decision
makers in your target mar-
ket inside your building for
hours. Who do you suppose
their loyalty rests with?
Classy Pens. We invest
in the best possible pens
and put our logo on
them. People actually
call when they run out of
ink and ask for another
one. These are not the
cheap plastic pens people
have drawers full of. They
write well, and people guard
them with their life.
These are just a few out-
side the box ideas to build
your brand. Please email
me at mketterman@gotyou-
floored.com to share your
amazing ideas. After all, a
rising tide lifts all boats. ft
IS�YOUR�CUSTOMER�BASE���
Fanatical About Your Brand?
BY�MATT�KETTERMANA�RISING�TIDE
One way Got You Floored is building brand loyalty is by leaving customers
and potential customers with a parting gift.
48 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
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www.intertek.com/building
Lignomat USA ................................................................. 23
(800) 227-2105
www.lignomat.com
MAPEI ................................................................................ 2
(800) 426-2734
www.mapei.com
MetroFlor .......................................................................... 15
(888) 235-6672
www.metroflorusa.com
Mohawk ........................................................................... 19
(877) ASK-MOHAWK
www.mohawkflooring.com
MSI ..................................................................................... 3
www.missurfaces.com
Shaw Floors .................................................................... 6-7
(800) 441-7429
www.shawfloors.com
US Floors ......................................................................... 51
(800) 250-6690
www.usfloorsllc.com
Valinge ................................................................................ 9
+46 (0) 42 23 78 15
www.valinge.se
Wagner Meters ................................................................. 11
(800) 634-9961
www.wagnermeters.com
Company name pg. no. Company name pg. no.
Editor’s Note. The Advertiser’s Index is provided as a service
to our readers. No liability is created by nor accepted for any
inadvertent errors or omissions.
Stay up to date with valuable training materials for flooring professionals from Floor Trends
Contact Katie to order: 248-244-1275 or [email protected] shop online at www.floortrendsmag.com/books
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A. 2020 BNi Home Builder’s Costbook - $110.95The 2020 BNi Home Builder’s Costbook is the first place you should turn, whether you’re preparing a preliminary estimate, evaluating a
subcontractor’s bid, or submitting a formal budget proposal. It puts at your fingertips accurate and up-to-date material and labor costs for thousands of cost items, based on the latest national averages and standard labor productivity rates.
B. Ceramic Art Tile for the Home - $29.95This book is a wonderful introduction to art tile, loaded with ideas and resources that will charm and inspire. Hundreds of breathtaking
photographs of installations in and out of the home show the work of today’s leading contemporary tile artists. Insightful text guides readers to an informed appreciation of this timeless art and its marvelous suitability for all areas of the home.
C. Environmental Impact of Materials: Floor Finishes - $60.95This report provides a review of how floor coverings have been assessed within The Green Guide to Specification, including the
application of the Environmental Profiles methodology which underlies it. The way in which floor coverings are addressed in building level environmental assessment schemes such as BREEAM and the Code for Sustainable Homes is also explained.
D. Fabulous Floor Patterns (With CD) - $34.95Explore hundreds of floor patterns, from checkerboard patterns and wild tile configurations to floral carpets and faux marble magic.
These timeless historic designs are applicable to any number of contemporary applications. As a bonus, a fascinating exploration of curves and spirals provides a valuable tool for integrating borders and patterns.The enclosed CD-Rom presents the images in various formats, making it easy for designers to experiment with, manipulate, and apply images.
50 March 2020 + floortrendsmag.com
STONE
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