Houston—When Tarkett announced earlier this year it was changing its corporate identity, one of the reasons cited was to better reflect the company’s global presence and vast amount of resources. And, while the official launch of its new image and new direction will take place in January at Surfaces ’04, and at Domotex by its parent company, Tarkett has begun the process of letting the world know how it’s global resources can be a benefit to customers and end users. The first step has been taken with the unveiling of its new corporate logo—a sphere which highlights the manufacturer’s continuous development and commitment to innovation, along with underscoring its worldwide presence and dedication to professionalism.

Ulf Mattsson, president and CEO, noted, “As we look to increase our brand identity and leverage our full potential in the flooring industry, we chose a new corporate symbol which defines our new image and our new direction while preserving a corporate heritage based on professional expertise and quality of workmanship.” In addition to a new logo, Tarkett’s commercial division is undertaking one of its largest product launches. With 11 new and enhanced products totalling more than 60 SKUs as well as a number of high-impact sales tools, officials are calling this one of the biggest introductions in Azrock’s 71-year history.

Gilles de Beaumont, president of Tarkett Commercial called this “one of the more all-encompassing and important launches in Azrock history. Not only are we recoloring and enhancing some of our best selling products, we’re introducing unique looks new to the category, including new colors and larger format tiles.” Everything being introduced, he added is a direct result of extensive surveys the company conducted with architects and designers as well as facility managers and end users. “While style is the most important factor to our customers,” Beaumont explained, “we are also incorporating features that go beyond aesthetics—items that are important to the building industry in terms of safety, product performance, pricing and maintenance.”

This introduction also spotlights Tarkett’s efforts at being an environmentally responsible company, said Diane Martel, vice president of marketing. She noted 45% of designers are unsatisfied in this area. “While there is a need for durable, well designed products, they also want manufacturers to have more of a commitment to being ‘green.’ And this is an area we excel in at all levels of the company. “At every stage of every product’s life cycle,” Martel continued, “we make sure we’re dong all we can to eliminate or minimize any potential impact on the environment. This approach holds true across all product lines, for every plant we operate around the world and every truck we drive.” As an example she noted how the company is utilizing scrap wood from one plant to help heat another facility, not to mention having recycling and reclamation programs in place as well as designing products with an eye toward conserving raw materials, natural resources and energy.”

The products Tarkett is rolling out under the Azrock brand exemplify the mill’s initiative to showcase it global resources, design ability and innovation. They include, Plaza Marble, StoneGlow and Milano. Plaza Marble is a premium homogeneous composite tile offered in the Azrock Better Flooring Solutions line and features a number of unique attributes. First is the fact it replicates the look of natural marble because no two tiles are exactly alike. Second, tiles are not grouped in manufactured dye lots, allowing a more natural shading to reflect the color variation and veining of natural marble. Also, the configuration contains a swirl to further imitate marbel. Finally, while the fivecolor, 1/8-in. gauge line comes in the traditional 12-in size, Tarkett is able to offer this collection in a 12X24-in. format, “allowing for more intricate design possibilities,” said Graeme Hendry, product development manager.

“We wanted to offer commercial venues a flooring option in line with the current trend toward using natural looking materials,” he explained. “There are so many facilities for which a marble floor would help to convey a stylish, upscale look but, until now, pricing had always been prohibitive. With Plaza Marble, users can have an extensive marble floor at a reasonable cost.” StoneGlow in an innovative breakthrough in that it is not only a functional and durable commercial floor, it provides a safety measure in the event of power outages. With the recent blackout that affected 50 million people in the North-east and Canada, having a floor like this becomes more important, Hendry noted. “Evacuating a building in daylight is rarely a problem,” he explained, “but in the dark or smoke-filled conditions it can be confusing. When emergency exit routes are no longer visible, it’s easy to panic—and it happens more often than most people realize.”

In fact, in the U.S. alone, more than 3,000 power outages are reported each year, and most of them last more than one hour. StoneGlow incorporates photoluminescent chips dispersed evenly across the 12-in. tiles. These chips absorb and store light energy, from natural sunlight to fluorescent lighting. When dark, they glow in a cool blue hue for up to two hours. Hendry said, under normal lighting, the floor, which is available is five neutral colors, is an unobtrusive and integral part of the overall interior design This allows designers to create a beautiful environment an still provide easy-to-navigate es-cape routes. Milano, which replicates the look of natural stone in a 16-in. format, is available as both a solid vinyl tile (SVT) as well as in a slip resistant (SR) version.

Available in 12 colors, it features multicolored chips pressed into the tile to give it a variegated appearance. When combined with the larger tile size, Hendry said it helps to expand the creative options for installation. “We wanted to enhance our SVT line by offering a more contemporary look,” he explained. And, because it contains more vinyl in it, it is not only durable, but flexible enough to conform to any sub-flooring irregularities while adjusting to expansion and contraction issues. The SR version of Milano comes in five colors and offers the end user both safety and aesthetics for heavily trafficked areas. Having the SR feature is something Tarkett has done with a number of its products beyond Milano, including Cortina Grande, Granite, Stoneglow and Solid & Feature Strips.

Hendry pointed out that “while pedestrian safety is obviously of the utmost importance, especially in commercial settings, it is critical to note that according the National Safety Council’s 1998 ‘Accidents Facts’ report, slip-falls are second only to motor vehicle accidents for workers’ compensation claims.” As a way to showcase it various SR floors, Tarkett has created a Safety Package, which groups the five products to highlight their versatility in terms of being able to coordinate various designs and applications so designers need to look to just one place to meet all their needs. “As specifies and designers determine what kind of flooring each project needs,” he said, “they have to consider a wide range of factors—the function of the space, aesthetics, maintainability, durability, comfort, acoustics, indoor air quality and cost. This package illustrates how Azrock floors can tolerate just about any application.”

With so much to show and talk about, including the fact these new products are already in production and available, Tarkett officials are taking their message on the road. Senior managers are scheduled to meet with more than 400 distributor salespeople over an intense three-week period which began Nov. 2 and runs through Nov. 21. And to emphasize their commitment to getting them products and programs in a timely basis, sales representatives will have the necessary tools within 24 hours following each meeting. Beaumont said these meetings “underscore the importance of the Azrock launch, not to mention our commitment to direct communication with our distributors who are a key conduit to the end use customer to guarantee realistic pricing, optimum service and available stock.”

Kathy Holdridge, director of communications, said the meetings are “critical pathways between manufacturer and distributor. We want to create an open forum where our distributors can learn about our new products and work closely with the Tarkett management team. “Our goal, she concluded, “always has been to determine how best to service our customers and provide them access to our products and programs.” For more information on any of the new Azrock products or services, call 800/877-8453.