By Louis Iannaco
What makes a top seller, well, a top seller? Why do certain carpet styles rise to the top of the sales chart while others never make it out of the starting gate? And what are currently some of the best selling broadloom products on the market today?

As dealers seeking to raise their profits are always looking for new ways to pique their customers’ interest, an informative introduction to some of those best sellers is in order. The following are what’s hot right now from some of the major players in the industry.

Beaulieu of America

For Beaulieu, the word is bliss. “Our new Bliss Collections are the hottest selling styles we have right now,” said Jeff Meadows, executive vice president. “Consumers are really realizing the value of the color wall displays.”

The Bliss Color Wall was introduced at Surfaces this year and was designed after extensive consumer research of women floor covering shoppers across the country, he noted. It features handy, concealed storage of take-home samples, eyelevel color and texture comparisons and a simplified shopping process called “1, 2, Done!”

Bliss Healthy Home is made with Beaulieu’s Green Smart PET Polyester with Silver Release antimicrobial technology that inhibits bacteria and the growth of mold and mildew. Bliss Natural Comfort is made with the mill’s continuous filament PET polyester. Both are treated with Magic Fresh, which is designed to destroy odors.

Gulistan

Gulistan’s chart toppers include its Bella Vista collection. “Sales of our Bella Vista line continue to be on an upward trend,” said Tony Prepsitino, vice president of sales/marketing. “The collection is the perfect marriage of texture and color. It consists of nine styles—six LCL patterns, a texture, a frieze and a loop, all available in 60 common colorations using Tactesse fiber.

“In addition,” he explained, “we’ve followed up with styles using Tactesse that compliment and enrich our offering ranging from Charm and Elegance, a better/best, solid color, dense texture using Invista’s latest generation of fiber that provides a supple yet soft hand, to Park Avenue, a tonal heavyweight texture that emits a warm, rich visual giving consumers an option in solid colorations to Frisco and Camellia, a better/best space dyed frieze.

Karastan

From Karastan comes a pair of hot-selling broadlooms, Essential Living and Madison Avenue Mod. “Essential Living is an easy sell because it offers consumers everything they could possibly want in a carpet,” said Vickie Gilstrap, vice president of residential color and design. “Aside from being a beautiful, well-styled Saxony with an extensive 40-color palette, Essential Living is made from a new generation of carpet fibers—SmartStrand with DuPont Sorona renewably sourced polymer.”

The patented SmartStrand combines the qualities of nylon and polyester into one fiber that is stain resistant, durable, soft, easy-to- lean and long lasting, she noted. “And, since 37% of the polymer is bio-based, it’s an environmentally friendly choice.

“Madison Avenue is one of Karastan’s best-selling woven wool carpets, and it’s easy to see why,” she explained. “Its tight weave gives consumers the sisal-like look they love, along with textural dimension that comes from a random patterning of high and low loops. The combination gives Madison Avenue Mod a versatile quality that can be dressed up or dressed down, depending on the décor.”

The performance and beauty of wool is another key selling point along with a color selection that gives consumers a fashionable range of choices, Gilstrap concluded.

Mohawk

According to Bart Rich, the mill’s new director of brand management for Mohawk soft surface products (see story on page 5), leading the company’s current top sellers is Everstrand, “a value priced, durable product made from recycled bottle. Its green angle is very popular with consumers. Another top seller for us is SmartStrand, with its superior quality, built in stain protection, exceptional durability and incredible softness. It also features a green angle (DuPont Sorona).”

Shaw

Shaw currently has several top-selling styles in its residential portfolio. Game Changer is a BCF nylon twist, while Enforcer is a BCF PET polyester twist. Like Enforcer, Domineer is also a BCF PET polyester twist product, while Mill Classic is a polypropylene graphic loop.

Finally, the manufacturer’s No Limits is currently the company’s best selling nylon textured loop product.

Stanton Carpet

As Jonathan Cohen, COO, noted, Stanton Carpet has experienced great success with its Noblesse tufted wool products. “Our best sellers for 2008 are the products within the Noblesse Collection. The success of these products is credited to the stocking roll program, which offers a considerable savings off the cut-order pricing. Retailers that stock the Noblesse products are able to achieve higher margins and provide an incredible value.”