Article Number : 2651 |
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| Date | 11/5/2007 8:22:43 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=2651 |
| Abstract | By Louis Iannaco Uncasville, Conn.—NRF Distributors’ Fall Flooring Market 2007—a one-day sales event taking place here Oct. 16—turned out to be quite a successful show for one of the Northeast’s largest floor covering wholesalers... |
| Article | By Louis Iannaco Uncasville, Conn.—NRF Distributors’ Fall Flooring Market 2007—a one-day sales event taking place here Oct. 16—turned out to be quite a successful show for one of the Northeast’s largest floor covering wholesalers. “Everyone is talking about how busy they are,” said Terry Gray, NRF’s senior vice president of marketing. “Sometimes we sit back in the office and we get that depressing call from somebody telling us business is slow. We ask, ‘What are you doing to change it?’ Here, I’m hearing about all types of things, such as advertising, sales, private installation-only sales. I believe dealers here at this market are doing quite well.” Gray added the one common denominator is all retailers are facing change. “We are selling an installed flooring product; we are not selling $1.99-square-foot flooring. These people understand their goal is to sell a finished product. They will sell the $1.99 stock [if they have to], but they want the end user to come in and get her house decorated by them.” NRF, which took in sales totaling $2 million during the event, attracted dealers from all over the Northeast, including Greg Cluff, owner of Cluff Carpet One in Waterford, Conn., who deals with the distributor for his hardwood and resilient offerings. “NRF has always been excellent,” he said. “The people are great. I’ve never had a problem with their salespeople. But then again, excellent service is part of NRF’s history. And it carries everything.” As the show was chock full of new products and programs, most dealers attending the market seemed to find something to take back to their stores. And as residential business continues to be down or stagnant in many parts of the country, reactions from many of these Northeast-based dealers covered the gamut, ranging from “lousy” or “a little slow” to “good” or “very good” on how their business was doing. A large part of the equation, as always, hinged on location, as operations located in affluent areas reported doing well no matter how poorly housing had been performing. In illustration, business has been good for Tim Hunt, owner of Alpine Flooring in Windham, N.Y. “We are located in the mountains of upstate New York, and it’s a big ski town, so many people have their second, third or fourth homes there,” he said. “It’s been very good for me as we deal in high-end ceramic tile. Many dealers I know are experiencing a downturn right now as school starts, and it will be picking up right before Thanksgiving. But because of where I am, with the second homes and all, I’m fortunate to be there.” Green movement growing One of the more interesting aspects of the show had to do with how the green movement was progressing in the dealers’ respective areas. “It’s a very new and upcoming thing,” said Jenni Hallock of The Floor Store in West Stockbridge, Mass. “We’re getting people coming in all the time asking about it. We’re in an area where there are a lot of very environmentally conscious people. They haven’t figured everything out yet, but they’re progressing. For example, from the people doing just residences and not big commercial areas, they are asking questions like, ‘How are we going to bail recycled pad and get it all to the same place?” Hallock added that she is seeing a whole different sect of designers whose main focus is anything green. “Before you would find designers who would only help you with Feng Shui; now you are finding ‘green’ designers,” she said. “You really need to know what you’re talking about because even if it isn’t around [in your area] yet, you better know the lingo and who is coming out with what, what cushion to use and what carpet to use. It’s huge.” |