Recent Interviews

Jenny Cross, Sustainability Manager at Mohawk, and Kemp Harr discuss last night's awards dinner where Mohawk named their first GreenWorks Dealer of the Year. Listen to the interview to hear the criteria they used to select the winner which was Kelly's Carpet in Omaha, Nebraska.

John Bradford, VP of Research and Operations, Interface USA, and Kemp Harr discuss Interface's new web based social network on sustainability at www.missionzero.org. Listen to the interview to hear Interface and Bentley Prince Street's business plan around this "facebook" type website for sustainable minded people.

Santo Torcivia and Kemp Harr discuss Santo's outlook for flooring sales in 2009. Listen to the interview to hear which market and product sectors he thinks will remain constant and which will decline.

Recorded Last Friday night at Starnet's Fall Membership Meeting in Kansas City, Jeanne Matson and Kemp Harr discuss the health of the flooring contract dealer market.  Listen to interview to hear the highlights of the meeting and what Starnet's members are doing to continue their success in 2009.

Recorded at the DCS Annual Meeting at Sonoma, California, Michael Vogel and Kemp Harr talk about DCS Partnership's three core brands and the services they offer the flooring market. Listen to the interview to hear how DCS Partnership uses Internet technology to improve their clients processes.

Allen Cubell, VP of Residential Resilient Products, and Kemp Harr disscuss Armstrong's recent announcement to spend $25 million upgrading their Landcaster, PA vinyl flooring plant. Listen to the interview to hear more details about the residential vinyl market and the products they will produce in this converted plant.

Dean Thompson and Kemp Harr discuss the resilient floorcovering market which is doing better in this economy than most other flooring categories. Listen to the interview to hear more specifics about the market and the RFCI.

Al Maghes and Kemp Harr discuss the state of the distribution sector and proved highlights from this year's annual meeting.

Now in his new role as Director of Sustainability, David Wilkerson talks to Kemp Harr about when and how to position green products to consumers. Listen to the interview to hear more about selling green and whether lower oil prices will have an effect on green initiatives at Shaw.

Kermit Baker and Kemp Harr discuss how today's Architecture Index relates to historic economic cycles. Listen to the interview to hear more details about why this current dip should be modest in comparison to the commercial construction dip in the early part of this decade.

Don Finkle, President of Anderson Hardwood, and Kemp Harr discuss the ramifications of the recently revised U.S. Lacey Act which now protects against the import of illegally logged wood. Listen to the interview to hear details about what this will mean to both domestic suppliers and retailers. Don and Kemp also talk about the density and range of species in today's hardwood forests.

With Matt Kahny moving up to lead Unilin's North American operations, Joe Lundgren has been promoted to lead Dal-Tile's marketing strategy.  Listen to the interview to hear where Dal-Tile's business is today and some of the challenges Joe faces as he takes over in this position.

Chris Davis and Kemp Harr discuss the World Floor Covering Associations brand new consumer magazine that hits the newsstands on October 28th. Published by Meredith, the new magazine is designed to show consumers how beautiful floors can enhance a home and hopefully motivate them to consider buying new flooring.  Listen to interview to hear more details about this magazine.

U.S. Floors is the parent company for Natural Cork. In this interview, U.S. Floor's owner, Piet Dossche , provided details about their recent $10 million expansion in Dalton, Georgia.  Listen to the interview to learn more about Piet's growth plans and market strategy for U.S. Floors.

Paul Murfin and Kemp Harr discuss Armstrong's decision to move their annual Las Vegas dealer showroom closer to the Sands Convention Center during Surfaces 2009. Listen to the interview to hear more about this and to also get an update on Armstrong's business in 2008.

In an interview taped last week, Reid Childress and Kemp Harr discuss the specific details of Floor Focus' Annual Retail Display Contest. Retailers are urged to submit their favorite retail showroom display for a chance to win $1000 in prize money.  The deadline for entry has been extended until October 8.

Darius Helm, Senior Editor of Floor Focus Magazine, and Kemp Harr discuss the Cersaie Italian tile show from the show floor in Bologna, Italy.  Listen to the interview to hear more about the traffic, tone, new products, and design/color trends.

Given the recent announcements about additional carpet fiber plant closings, Tom Rennie and Kemp Harr discuss the business conditions that are leading up to these decisions to close plants.  Listen to the interview to hear details about the shift in carpet fiber and the current demand versus the demand 2 years ago.

Howard Brodsky, Chairman and co-CEO of CCA Global, and Kemp Harr discuss last week's Alan Greenberg Memorial Golf Tournament which raises money for the Floor Covering Industry Foundation. Listen to the interview to hear highlights of this philanthropic event and details about what the FCIF does for this industry.

Kimberly Lewis and Kemp Harr talk about the upcoming Greenbuild Show in Boston scheduled for November 19-21, 2008. Due the increased interest in LEED and other green building programs, the number of exhibitors has grown from 800 to over 1100. Listen to the interview to hear more about the highlights for this year's show.

Jenny Cross and Kemp Harr discuss Mohawk's new Green Dealer award whereby Mohawk plans to recognize the retailer with the best sustainable practices.  Listen to the interview to learn about the judges, how to enter and more on the criteria on which each entry will be judged.

Manny Llerena, VP Retail Marketing, and David Duncan, VP Residential Marketing, discuss with Kemp Harr the promotion behind Mohawk's 5th annual anniversary sale. Listen to the interview to hear Mohawk's national and local advertising plans to support this alligned retailer program.

Sam Roberts of Roberts' Carpet & Fine Floors, an 8-store retail chain headquartered in Houston, Texas, and Kemp Harr discuss Roberts' damage and recovery after hurricane Ike. Listen to the interview to hear details about business conditions one week after the hurricane and the affect the tightened national credit situation could have on Houston's recovery.

John Baugh, with Steffil Nickolaus, and Kemp Harr discuss the effect the current credit is having on the flooring market. Listen to the interview to hear John's words of wisdom about where we are now and what it will take bring the market back to a level of normalcy.

Specialty Flooring Retailer, Harry Schillings and Kemp Harr discuss the state of Harry's retail flooring business, Spring Carpets, less than one week after Hurricane Ike. Listen to the brief interview to hear what Ike did to Harry's business and what the current conditions are in Houston, Texas.