Rick Brian is president of R. B. Brian and Associates Inc., a management and marketing consulting company which he founded in 1997. His clients are primarily manufacturers and distributors in the hardwood flooring and building products industries. He is the former president of Robbins Hardwood Flooring, and is a past board member of the NWFA, MFMA and NOFMA. RBBA is headquarted in Southern Pines, N.C. You can contact him at rbrian@RBBAinc.com or through his website: wwwRBBAinc.com.
It amazes me how many people suffer from allergies stemming from dust, mold, mildew, bacteria, dust mites and countless other microorganisms that can be present throughout the home and workplace.
We should all be pleased to see the recent positive upward trend in residential home building. But surprisingly in many areas, the light commercial construction markets have also begun to show signs of life after several years of decline.
Perhaps the most significant of all “floor trends” and one which will bear the most impact on our industry, is the size and direction of the U.S. housing market.
Bamboo is one of the oldest building materials known to man, widely used in East Asia and the South Pacific. Oddly, it has had only a limited history of commercial use in the United States.
Hardwood is a product of nature and therefore imperfect. But in her grand scheme, Mother Nature created perhaps the ultimate building material. Consider hardwood’s beauty, variety of species, structural integrity, and overall versatility, especially as it pertains to hardwood flooring.
You’re a successful floor-covering retailer or flooring contractor who has spent many years primarily working the residential home building and remodeling markets. But have you ever found yourself walking through a shopping mall where a new store was being built, seeing the hardwood floors being installed, and wishing that you got kind of work?
