Chattanooga, TN — 12/7/17 Carpetland USA COLORTILE® held its 2017 Buying Committee Meeting in Chattanooga, November 13-15, at the Holiday Inn Downtown. The group reviewed new products from Mohawk, Shaw, IVC, Emser, Mannington and US Floors as well as visiting the new Shaw LVT Plant. The purpose of these meetings is to review new flooring products and decide what products to inventory, which programs to employ in the coming year as well as discuss any issues that might affect the group.
Robb Rollinger with IVC shows new products to Carpetland members
According to Kevin Logue, CarpetsPlus COLORTILE’s co-COO and vice president of marketing, the Carpetland buyer meetings provide a venue to establish or enrich rapport between suppliers and Carpetland members. “Our Carpetland buyer meetings give members valuable time with mill executives and they give them a chance to see new products and discuss special group buys as well as make merchandising decisions. Being a member of our group allows members to get first-hand product and industry information from the mills to help them grow their business. They also provide valuable time to network and share best practices,” Logue said.
All of the seven attending Carpetland USA COLORTILE members felt the time spent together is very valuable. Eric Langan, owner of nine Carpetland USA stores in Iowa and Illinois agreed, “It’s nice to see everybody again and be able to discuss issues with my key suppliers. LVT/LVP, WPC and Rigid Core are continuing to grow. As retailers, we must all understand it and have the installation capacity to sell and service it. Our industry continues to change rapidly. Retailers must be able to recognize it, accept it and work with it in order to survive and thrive.”
The group reviewed new products from carpet as well as hard surface suppliers. As cuttings and samples of the new styles were passed around the room, members examined them and their prices and made decisions on each.
The group on the Shaw LVT Plant tour
Jim Ray, Carpetland USA in Appleton, Wisconsin commented, “It’s always a great time seeing the guys again. Mohawk was fantastic! They presented us wonderful products that I placed orders for with my rep when I returned. Hats off to Kevin Logue for doing an amazing job putting everything together for us.”
In addition to choosing products, the close-knit group felt they improved their relationships with key suppliers.
Jon Logue, co-CEO of CarpetsPlus COLORTILE, feels the meeting was a success. “This was a very productive meeting. It’s an exciting time to be in business right now with the strength of the economy and innovations in the flooring industry. Consumer confidence is high, unemployment is at its lowest levels in 16 years and the remodeling index is up 7%.”
