SPECIAL
FEATURES
Impressions
of Surfaces 2001
WOW!
2001 marks FlooringGuide.com's first coverage of Surfaces, and
it did not disappoint. We were privileged to visit with many of
the major manufacturers as well as some of the smaller ones too.
We predictably met with nearly all of the other Internet companies
represented and exchanged many positive stories with each other.
Many exhibitors went out of their way to provide very warm and
welcoming environments for attendees who gathered at the Sands
Exhibition Building again this year. Wide aisles, bright displays
and many new and innovative products and services for the floor
covering industry greeted attendees.
Of the thousands of products on display, several caught our eye.
Unilin Décor of Belgium featured their new "Perspective" and "Tiles"
in their very successful Quick-Step (Steps in Canada) laminate
flooring. Peter Barretto, President and CEO of Quick-Step USA
was very gracious with his time and showed us all aspects of these
new revolutionary products. Mr. Barretto explained, "This new
line of beveled edge Laminate (Living Surfaces Perspective) will
change the industry. It will be launched later this year and we
expect very good things from this product."
We were very privileged to have had the opportunity to meet with
Kathy Ireland, who along with Shaw Industries launched Kathy Irelands
Shades of America". This line of wall to wall carpet has 90 colors
in 4 distinct styles. The merchandiser is incredible; dubbed the
"Color wall" it is very effective. Ms. Ireland takes a hands on
approach and much her own personality and style is reflected in
the latest addition to her Home Collection.
Gem-Tiles introduced the flooring industry to "real gem stone"
tiles and borders. We were very impressed and pleasantly surprised
by the reasonable pricing. As Marty Miller, President of Gem-Tiles
explained to us, "we are currently looking for a network of dealers
and hope to have this in wide distribution soon." We wish Marty
and everyone at Gem Kingdom nothing but the best.
Rochelle Mortensen and Barbara Smith of Group Bolton graciously
explained some of the finite details of what's new and exciting
form the Tri-Pac family of Hardwood Flooring companies. Mortensen
and Smith are the Public Relations Spokespeople for Bruce Hardwood,
Bruce Laminate, Hartco and Robbins. Look for new dynamic websites
form the Armstrong owned Tri-Pac group.
FlooringGuide.com, placed a high priority on Internet based companies.
We gained further information and understanding of iFLOOR.com,
FloorsNow.com, globetiles.com, gotmarble.com and others. All expressed
knowledge of FlooringGuide.com which was quite encouraging for
us too. "It's nice to know people are using us", said FlooringGuide.com
webmaster Bob Gunther.
In general we were very impressed by the quality of the exhibitors,
attendees and products shown at Surfaces 2001.
Author:
Jason Walker - FlooringGuide.com Editorial Staff
Jason Walker is a Professional Flooring Consultant
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