While I admit the title of this column may seem a bit strange to our readers in Southern California and the Southwest, for everyone else around the country who has experienced a cold, snowy, miserable winter, you’ll understand.
I've always believed you need to see what customers drive up in, because it can often give you clues on which direction to take them. It’s not to see if they drive an expensive or low-end car, because that will make you assume something and often in the wrong direction.
Many called 2013 “the Year of LVT.” And with good reason: Resilient has been the fastest growing flooring category, and within this rapidly growing segment, luxury vinyl tile (LVT) is thriving (Editor’s note: For the purposes of this article, LVT refers to both luxury vinyl tile and luxury vinyl plank).
As we step boldly and confidently into 2014 it is important to look back at the year behind us. It was philosopher George Santayana who said, “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.”
Certainly there are exceptions to the rule and we had an opportunity to visit one of those when we were in Philadelphia recently to attend the Greenbuild expo and conference.
The first month of the year is already passed us and so has some of the industry’s major markets and conventions—from the all industry type of affairs such as Surfaces, the Atlanta Area Rug Market and Domotex Germany, to major manufacturers and distributors holding their winter markets around the country, to some of the main buying groups.
When it comes to building on the momentum created in 2013, Mohawk Industries went all out with its product introductions for this year—in both its soft and hard surface offerings.
Softer carpet options, wider plank hard surface choices and large rectangular tiles are just a few of the new and innovative product trends Shaw is featuring for retailers and consumers for 2014.