Article Number : 6617 |
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| Date | 5/9/2011 9:03:01 AM |
| Written By | LGM & Associates Technical Flooring Services |
| View this article at: | //floorbiz.com/BizResources/NPViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=6617 |
| Abstract | By Steven Feldman Dream Weaver Carpet and Catalina Home earlier this year formed a sales and marketing alliance that brings floor covering retailers a complete assortment of product. Catalina, based in California for 30-plus years until moving to Georgia in 2009, manufactures higher-end... |
| Article | By Steven Feldman Dream Weaver Carpet and Catalina Home earlier this year formed a sales and marketing alliance that brings floor covering retailers a complete assortment of product. Catalina, based in California for 30-plus years until moving to Georgia in 2009, manufactures higher-end specialty nylon products constructed primarily of Stainmaster yarn systems, while Dream Weaver offers mainstream polyester products at prices ranging from $4 to $17 a yard. Dream Weaver has an agreement to market the trademarked PureColor solution-dyed polyester (PET) fiber supplied by Engineered Floors. As a result, the company created a new product assortment utilizing this fiber. All products are treated with 3M Scotchgard for enhanced performance and feature limited lifetime stain protection; 5-year soil protection, 10-year fade and various texture-retention manufacturing warranties. Industry veteran Gary Hallowell, formerly Mohawk’s vice president of residential sales, heads up the combined effort as vice president of sales and marketing. The idea is to bring the floor covering dealer a product mix that offers the brand recognition of Catalina’s Stainmaster products along with the value inherent in Dream Weaver’s PET. “This product mix will allow us to offer the products most critical to dealers running a successful and profitable business,” he said, stressing that both companies will maintain their autonomy with manufacturing and customer service. “The focus for the two companies is to remain low-cost producers with high-quality standards and service levels.” Both Catalina and Dream Weaver have been forced to reinvent themselves in recent years, due in part to the economy but also to industry evolution. Catalina, which opened its doors in 1974, was hit harder by the recession than most other carpet mills because its products retailed between $45 and $135 a yard, Hollowell said. With manufacturing located in California and the industry located in Georgia, Catalina found it hard to develop a product line that would meet the price demands for today’s more value conscious customer. Catalina decided to move manufacturing to Dalton to be in the heart of the industry. This move has given the company the ability to pull from an endless supply of industry resources. The company needed to lower costs and wanted to add more mainstream products to complement the already unique products it currently makes. These new products give Catalina a product line dealers can use as a go to line to close just about any Stainmaster sale. The California infrastructure made it difficult to get pricing where it needed to be. Now Catalina is producing a product line that ranges from $10 to $40-a-yard to the retailer. On the other hand, the roots of Dream Weaver could not be any further on the spectrum from Catalina. The company was established in 1992 as Divine Mills by Melvin Silvers, the current president and owner, as a promotional products manufacturer that utilized excess yarn capacities to create unique items for retailers looking for value. “All they bought were odd lots, drop yarns, promotional yarns, predominately from Mohawk and Shaw,” Hollowell said. “In the late ’90’s, early 2000s, those types of opportunities started to evaporate. So Silvers started buying solution-dyed polyester, which had just come on the market from a few yarn suppliers, and sold running line products through sales agents. Then he changed the name of the company to Dream Weaver Carpet.” Despite the current market conditions, Hollowell saw an opportunity and was instrumental in bringing the two identities together. After taking a three-year hiatus from the manufacturing side of the business, he began to yearn for a return. He talked to Jensen and soon afterwards to Silvers. That’s when the idea of marketing a new Stainmaster collection and a new product offering from this new polyester fiber that the lines were born. “I proposed the creation of a marketing alliance,” Hollowell said. “I told them, ‘Stainmaster is still the most recognized fiber brand and polyester has the hottest selling price points in the industry. But you will need someone to take you to market. I have relationships with key dealers and an understanding of launching new product initiatives and establishing a professional sales group.’” As a high-quality manufacturer “with no baggage,” Catalina has some of the best equipment in the business, Hollowell said, citing equipment not all manufacturers have—tri-level loops, patterns, etc. “Catalina is able to design and make high-style loop patterns. What it has not done is offer products into more mainstream price points, like traditional cut piles to pull through the rest of the line.” Now the company complements its highest-end offerings with a group of 35-, 46- and 60-ounce products, which Hollowell says is the go-to opening price point for Stainmaster-aligned dealers, on which Catalina will focus on along with National Floorcovering Association members. “We concluded we should make high-style products priced a notch or two below the competition,” he said. “We also went with a 100% Stainmaster Luxerell format— all the newest yarns from Invista. So we have the softest yarns at value-driven price points. The biggest thing about Catalina is the line is focused on limited distribution to independent retailers.” Hollowell is equally excited about the Dream Weaver polyester component to the venture, which targets the multi-family, builder and retail segments. The strategy is to offer a limited color line—between nine and 16 depending on the collection— in order to deliver value and service. Price points range from a low of $4 for an entry-level 18-ounce product to $17 for a 70 ounce. “The colors represent 80% of the business. It is indicative of what sells and where we can provide high value and service.” Aside from service and value, Hollowell said the construction is as good as anything out there. “Everything Engineered Floors has done is state of the art, particularly the extrusion equipment they purchased. The key component is that when you go through the melting process of the polymer, you get more stands per filament than you do with the older extrusion equipment in the industry. This combines a better hand and softer feel with performance. The bottom line is everything is quality and value driven.” Not only do the Dream Weaver and Catalina lines come with new displays for 2011, these products will not be found on every street corner as the focus is on the independent retailer who wants something new and exciting that creates a profit opportunity for them, without being exposed to a saturated product line in the marketplace. “This is a controlled concept targeted toward the independent retailer, bringing a value proposition so the dealer cannot be shopped and can still make money. We are doing everything in phases as part of a two-year strategy. We are taking a rifle approach.” For more information about Catalina, call 800.421.6723 and about Dream Weaver, call 866.706.9745. |