Atlantic City, N.J.—Dealers from all across the Northeast came to see what new products and programs Shaw Industries had to offer as the mill kicked off its third annual event here, a two-and-a-half-day football-themed regional show at Caesar’s Resort & Casino. A total of between 1,800 and 2,000 retailers showed up for the event, which even featured a tail-gate party, shopping for items to take back to their businesses for sale during the new year.

With goodie bags complete with miniature footballs, and large screen TVs showing classic Super Bowl moments adorning the showroom floor, both Shaw executives and dealers were in an upbeat mood about the event, which featured new soft and hard surface products, as well as several new programs. Northeast divisional vice president Dan Bechina was certainly pleased with the event.

“It has been going great,” he said. “Last night was our VIP night, which included our Shaw Flooring Alliance, Shaw Floor Studio, and our Shaw Design Center customers, a combined total of 400 customers.

“When customers come in, they want to see what’s new,” explained Bechnia. “So we’ve brought out a collection of new products and different yarn systems, whether it’s branded Anso, which is owned by us now, and branded Stainmaster, which has done real well. We brought out some unbranded products that present a big value for customers. And our hard surface products have been doing great, both hardwood and laminate sales.”

Concerning Shaw’s purchase of Anso ( FCNews, Sept. 19/26), Randy Merritt, Shaw’s executive vice president of sales and marketing, noted the mill’s customers have been able to see the acquisition’s benefits immediately because “the Anso brand has been around for a long time, it’s nothing really new. The change of ownership certainly has raised some questions in the marketplace about the future of Anso. What we’ve communicated to all the customers is Anso is going to continue on. That was a key part of the acquisition, certainly a valuable asset to the transaction.

“We’ve announced new programs for 2006,” he added. “Our message to those dealers who have supported Anso in the past is, Anso has supported them. They look to continue with the program. I believe the question from the customer was, ‘What would be the benefits going forward under new ownership?’ I think what they are learning is, as far as the support from the people and brand, helping them advertise, the retail sales incentive program, ‘Capture the Spirit,’ all that remains unchanged. So they are excited about the fact. Even though there is a new owner, they still have those same programs to rely on.”

“The big changes in Anso is what hasn’t changed,” said Mike Leary, Anso’s director of sales. “The technology is the same regarding the fiber, the key programs we’ve had for decades have only been enhanced. With Shaw introducing so many new products with Anso here, and you will see other mills with Anso fibers at Surfaces, the product offering continues to ramp up. Dealer reactions have been good. This is a people business. The fact that their local representation yesterday is the same as it is today, they’ve become used to working with those people so that they can figure out creative ways and customized ways to use our co-op dollars.”

Among the soft surface highlights during the show was Shaw’s Berber Boutique, a display featuring 24 styles, and Anso Visions, featuring all the mill’s new Anso products. On the hard surface side was the Lam-inate Boutique, featuring a number of the mill’s laminate products; the MVP display, which featured many of Shaw’s new hardwood styles; as well as the Hard-wood Boutique, “which has been doing really well for us,” said Bechina. “The customers are really taking notice of our hard surface products.”

Tim Sharpley, Shaw’s regional manager, hard surface, agreed with Bechina, noting that the company had introduced several new beveled laminate products. “They’ve been a tremendous success, very well received, in different widths, as well as the handscraped doubled-edge product, which has been the talk of the show. In addition to that, we also introduced our Simple Lock longstrip hardwood flooring program. That’s also been a big success at the event.

“Simple Lock is essentially a mixture of different species of hardwood in a glueless locking system,” he explained. “It is installed on, below or above grade, so it’s good for all surfaces. The response has been fantastic. We’ve also had some new ceramic tile floor-and-wall combinations we’ve added to our porcelain mix with additional lines. We also introduced a new solid nail-down handscraped product in addition to some engineered products, a wide-width, handscraped product as well as a 3-in. rotary-cut product.”

“I’ve noticed a couple carpet pieces that were interesting, a couple multi-toned items, a little bit different look on some Berbers, all in a Tactesse nylon, which is interesting,” said Curt Taylor of Taylor Flooring in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. “I am looking forward to seeing more.”

“We bought some new soft surface displays,” said Ken Rosen of 7 West Co. in Wayne, Pa. “That’s what we come to the shows for, to look for new types of products, as well as to have fun and meet new people, including the executives. Our customers really like low-profile carpets, and we’ve liked some of the new introductions from Tuftex. They seem to be a little more price-sensitive than they have been in the past.

“They seem to be gearing into a more commodity market, not low-end however, but more commodity,” he explained. “This pleased us as we do a lot of business with Tuftex. Shaw has come out with some new Berbers, in their softer polypropylenes. In the past I was against selling low-end polypropylenes, but now we sell a lot of them in our store.”

“We saw a collection of high-end, builder’s grade carpet that was really fabulous,” said Josephine Ames of Ames Services in An-nville, Pa. “My major purchase was 40 pieces of the Kathy Ireland rug collection. They’re beautiful, so I bought 40 of them with the display rack. This is the first time for area rugs in my business. I’m starting a home accessories store, so I am putting new Orientals and area rugs in it. We have a separate flooring store as well, this is a breakaway from that. We’re going to offer bedding and linens, it’ll be a one-stop shop for everything.”

“This show affords me the opportunity to see everything Shaw carries, whereas when someone visits me at my store I might not get the full array of what he has to offer,” said William Brooks, president of Paulson & Co. in Swarthmore, Pa. “I just bought some nylon area rugs from a rep, but this lets me see the full line. That’s why I like coming to shows like this. Some of the olefins here, Shaw has managed to soften up quite a bit. They have got a really nice feel. It is different. My background is in area rugs, so I am always curious to see what’s new in the business and how it is changing. Shaw has done a really very nice job with its collection.” - Louis Iannaco