Hanley Wood Launches TileExpo, East Coast Event
Dallas—Hanley Wood, the owner of the Surfaces and StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas trade shows in Las Vegas, announced the formation of two major events—TileExpo and The International Surface Event East.
In addition, the Surfaces and StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas shows, which had been dubbed S2, will now been called The International Surface Event as they will incorporate the new TileExpo, which will feature a wide array of the world’s most innovative, trend-setting, and distinctive tile products, noted Dana Teague, vice president of Hanley Wood Exhibitions.
The International Surface Event will take place in Vegas, from Jan. 27 to 30 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Convention Center.
The International Surface Event East, she added, will bring “the value and impact of the [the Vegas event] to the East Coast starting October 2014.”
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Shaw to Build Carpet Tile Plant in Georgia
Adiarsville, Ga.—Shaw Industries announced an $85 million investment to build a carpet tile manufacturing plant here, with construction scheduled to begin next year.
Shaw said the facility, which will be between 600,000 and 700,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, will be built on 117.6 acres and create 500 new jobs. The Adairsville announcement comes at the same time Shaw is opening a carpet tile plant in China to serve the Asian market.
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Mirage’s 30th Anniversary Sale
Saint-Georges, Quebec, Canada—To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of its Mirage brand of hardwood flooring, Boa-Franc, its parent company, has announced a sale from Oct. 7 through Nov. 30.
Taking place throughout the U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec, consumers will get a $.50 per square foot rebate on all Mirage floors during this special promotion, noted Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing.
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CRI Unveils New, Updated Protocols
Dalton— The Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) has introduced a new category for interim carpet maintenance systems under its Seal of Approval (SOA) program, and has also released a revised edition of its Commercial Model Specification, which is designed to quickly and effectively communicate important information on carpet performance characteristics to a number of user audiences.
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Mapei Helps Train Inspectors
RICHMOND VA.— Mapei’s national technical presenter, Sam Biondo, recently spoke at a three-day workshop here for flooring inspectors, where he discussed proper surface preparation and adhesive application.
The workshop was part of a continuous training program hosted by Inspect Solutions to update its network of independent inspectors on the most recent innovations in the flooring industry.
Ron Gould, CEO of Inspect Solutions, said the group gained a great deal from Biondo’s seminar: “He gave an excellent presentation” that was “professional, entertaining, interesting and informative. It was one of the most talked-about by the inspectors, who felt the information he presented was invaluable.”
Inspect Solutions is a nationally recognized inspection service company providing independent certified-flooring and installed-product inspections for carpet, wood, laminate, tile and marble. In addition to providing independent inspectors for private and corporate clients, it has developed a database that reflects trends in many aspects of flooring and installations.
Kevin Carroll, Mapei’s business development manager and the person who arranged for the company’s participation in the workshop, said “This was an important opportunity for Mapei to work with inspectors who are charged with determining if there has been an installation failure and what may have contributed to it. We concentrated on the new multi-characteristic adhesives that are used for moisture barriers as well.”
For more about Mapei, its products and the various educational opportunities it offers, call (800) 426-2734.
StonePeak Earns Green Squared Certification
Crossville, Tenn.—Porcelain manufacturer StonePeak announced every tile produced in its manufacturing facility here has earned the Green Squared certification seal for environmental friendliness.
Green Squared is the Tile Council of North America’s (TCNA) third-party sustainability certification initiative, and is the first program of its kind written exclusively for tiles and tile installation materials in North America. Green Squared is based on the ANSI A138.1 standard, which contains the social and environmental sustainability criteria for porcelain tile, among other tile and installation materials as well.
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Beaulieu Gets Into Luxury Vinyl Market
Dalton—Beaulieu America has begun offering a complete offering of luxury vinyl flooring (LVF) on a limited basis to specified regions, with plans to eventually roll it out across the country.
Released under the Bliss brand name, Karel Vercruyssen, co-CEO of Beaulieu America, said the LVF collection features planks and tiles in the most sought-after styles, both floating and glue-down installations, branded grouts and adhesive, and FloorScore certifications for indoor air quality. Along with being tested for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), exceptional wear resistance and dimensional stability, Beaulieu added a proprietary antimicrobial plus antifungal finish to all its LVF flooring.
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RFCI Releases EPDs for Resilient Flooring
LAGRANGE, GA.—The Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) released five industry average Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), making resilient the first floor covering category to offer industry average EPDs, noted Dean Thompson, president.
An EPD is a comprehensive disclosure of a product’s lifecycle-based environmental impacts and is often compared to a “nutrition label” of sustainability. It documents environmental impacts from cradle to grave and offers a picture of effects on the atmosphere, water and earth. “An EPD helps specifiers and purchasers assess lifecycle impacts and environmental attributes and facilitates product evaluation using factual data that is objective and transparent,” he explained.
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Max Windsor’s First Half Sales Show Business Improving
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CALIF.—When Max Windsor introduced its new collections at Surfaces, spearheaded by the Magique line, little did the wood company know there would be magic in terms of sales.
Fernando Ornelas, national sales manager, said for Surfaces “our mantra was ‘The Magic of Max,’ and we half-kiddingly predicted that as part of this magic, Magique would ‘disappear the competition.’ Obviously, we don’t believe that it has, because we feel them out there every day, but they’re hearing our footsteps, as Magique has gone above and beyond our expectations.”
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DuChateau Honored as One of Nation’s Fastest Growing Companies
San Diego—Hardwood flooring manufacturer DuChateau has been honored for the second year in a row by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the U.S.
In the magazine’s ranking of the Top 5,000 companies, DuChateau not only placed an impressive 1,221 overall, it took the No. 36 spot in the top 100 construction companies and placed number 32 in the San Diego metro area.
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NWFA Names Keynote Speaker, Contest
St. Louis—Dark Horse Recording founder and CEO Robin Crow has been announced as the keynote speaker for the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) 2014 Wood Flooring Expo, April 16 to 19 in Nashville, Tenn., at the Music City Center.
Crow will speak at the opening general session on Thursday, April 17, about building and growing a successful business through innovation, evolution, and thinking outside the box.
Dark Horse Recording has set the gold standard for customer service and excellence in the recording industry, noted NWFA’s Michael Martin, executive director. Popular artists such as Faith Hill, Neil Diamond, Taylor Swift, Matchbox 20 and Tim McGraw call Dark Horse “home.” Crow who was an RCA recording artist for many years, is also the author of “Evolve or Die,” which outlines seven steps to reinvigorate your business.
Online registration for the show began Oct. 1. To learn more, go to nwfa.org/expo-home.aspx.
In other news, NWFA is now accepting entries for its annual Wood Floor of the Year contest. It is open to all NWFA member companies and winners will be announced during the Wood Expo at a special Wood Floor of the Year Awards Dinner on Friday, April 18.
The awards were developed to encourage and recognize innovative craftsmanship and design in wood flooring installations. Since the program began in 1990, more than 200 awards have been presented to NWFA member companies throughout the world.
The deadline for entries is Jan. 10.
To learn more, contact Liz Peuster at liz.peuster@nwfa.org, or call (800) 422-4556.
Armstrong Supports Homes For Our Troops
LANCASTER, PA.—Armstrong has partnered with Homes for Our Troops (HFOT), a national non-profit, non-partisan organization that builds homes at no cost to severely wounded veterans. These projects depend on labor donated by contractors and skilled workers and from donated materials, such as flooring from Armstrong.
The manufacturer recently helped three wounded Marines—Corporal Tony Mullis, Corporal Michael Boucher and Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh—receive new homes.
Corporal Mullis and his wife Jeanie were given the keys to their brand new home in Hawkinsville, Ga., and then helped to break ground next door on his friend’s Corporal Boucher’s specially adapted home.
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