Events in the floor covering industry have really heated up. Topping the list of recent developments are the change of date and venue for next year’s Coverings show, a fire at Anderson Hardwood’s Clinton, SC manufacturing plant, Flooring America filing for reorganization under Chapter 11, and the 3M Scotchgard reformulation effort.

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The dates and location of the Coverings 2001 event have been changed to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA, May 20-23, 2001. The reason for the change: a need for an earlier show date. The original dates for a return to Orlando were June 13-16, 2001.

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Fire struck Anderson Hardwood’s Clinton, SC manufacturing plant on the morning of June 19. The blaze originated in a sander and was then carried to the dust collection bag house. From there, according to reports, it ignited the sawdust in the bag house. The fire then dropped down to ignite the sawdust fuel storage building and the boiler room.

Automatic sprinklers and a quick, effective response by plant, office and sales staff led to the fire being contained to the boiler house structure until local fire departments arrived. Four hours later, thanks to the efforts of company personnel and four fire departments, the fire was extinguished without injury.

“Thanks to redundancies we have built into our manufacturing processes and systems we have all departments and employees working today (June 20),” said Don Finkell, Anderson Hardwood president. “There was little lost time and production, and there should be no negative long-term effect on our shipments to our customers.”

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On June 15, Flooring America Inc. filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.

Chairman and CEO David Nichols appointed Michael Cherico president of both Flooring America and GCO Carpet Outlet (GCO). Cherico was previously president of GCO Inc., a large franchise of Flooring America. Nichols will remain as chairman and CEO of Flooring America.

Ron Dunn will continue as president of Carpets Plus. Nichols said Flooring America will lay off a significant number of its staff of 300 at the corporate headquarters in Kennesaw.

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Reformulation efforts are in motion at 3M for Scotchgard carpet protector. The reason: the announcement by 3M to phase out of perfluooctanyl chemistry. A new non-fluorochemical formulation will be introduced to market by the end of the year, using the same application methods currently in place. Retailers can continue to sell all current products with Scotchgard protection under the existing labels. According to 3M, their continued use is safe. The application and performance of 3M Stain Release have not been affected.